KR|"Echoes of Future" Review #35: Nar-Aja (EoF Edition)

Toy prototype details

Name: Nar-Aja^TM (EoF Edition), aka Hell-Storm Nar-Aja

Subtitle: battle-hardened snake leader

Line: KR|Echoes of Future

Item type: action figure - Nº 28 in the line.

Character details

Name: Nar-Aja

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: female

Home: Tahron

Era: Foundation

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: army corps general.

Background

First appearance: KR|Echoes of Future #3 - The unforeseen fall of destiny

Character summary: a descendant of an ancient lineage of mystical snakes created by the reptilian wizard Sphenorat^TM, who distinguished herself as a formidable battlefield colonel, frequently leading reptilian assaults on mammalian territories and unleashing overwhelming terror in their wake. After Lor-Drek's death and, most profoundly, the loss of her husband Volcrotran, she rose from the remnants of the Spektrosaur army as its new pragmatic and calculating leader, driven more by necessity than ideology. Balancing ruthlessness with a keen instinct for unity, Nar-Aja forged strategic alliances with former adversaries instead of pursuing blind conflict. In the aftermath of a battle with the Rexodons, she emerged as a stabilising force, reuniting the Reptonoid's splinter factions into a single, coordinated power that no longer sought war.

Articulation
Standard (new scheme), with the addition of a tail, which is a ball jointed separate piece. It features two articulation points, two swivels at about one-third and two-thirds of its length.

Description

Head: closely resembling her Foundation version's cobra-like head (but without the hood), characterised by reddish, scaly skin, except for the lower jaw and throat, which are rendered in a greenish (rather than yellowish) tone accented by dark-brown spots. Her right eye is light-blue, while the left one is a darker blue that appears glassy (suggesting it may be artificial) and is marked by a visible scar; a three-pronged ornament extends from between her eyes, branching outward like two stylised golden eyebrows with a light-green central vertical element resembling a cobra. The opening upper jaw reveals two large fangs and a forked tongue sculpted on a pink-toned interior

Body: her scaly skin is characterised by a camouflage pattern of greenish and dark-brown tones, with the limbs marked by broad reddish bands running down their sides. She also features three-digit hands and feet tipped with golden claws (possibly wearing nail guards), as well as a long, slender tail (predominantly reddish with two greenish crossbands), which is a separate piece emerging from beneath the skirt and ending in a pointed, triangular (or spade-shaped) tip where the reddish hue fades into greenish

Wearables: a brown armour with light-green details, echoing her original design but with notable refinements (the neck section is formed from a series of fang- or claw-shaped elements, while subtle gold accents evoke cobra imagery such as eye-like motifs on the chest plate, fang shapes along the abdomen, and a hood-like, scale-textured structure framing the shoulders), three coiled snake-shaped brown bronze bands adorning her arms (two short, slender ones wrapping around the upper right arm and right wrist, contrasting with a much longer, thicker one that forms an elaborate bracer on the left forearm, complete with curved spikes protruding between its loops), two thigh-high brown boots with jagged tops, a brown bronze belt (whose buckle resembles a cobra head), and a light-green skirt that, like the boots, appears to be made from large overlapping leather scales. The boots expose much of the feet (they are only secured by a single loop around the central toe) and parts of the legs (through open diamond cutouts), and are adorned with slender snake-shaped golden elements running along and around the shafts; also, they give the impression of being high-heeled, but each of her digitigrade legs is bent at the knee to accommodate the actual heel suspended high above the ground, with an off-white dewclaw extending downward to lift and support the foot in a way that can’t possibly be comfortable to walk on. Finally, she wears a removable light-green snakeskin cape, pierced with large, irregular holes along the lower edge and split by a vertical slit that allows her tail to pass through. The cape is equipped with an elaborate cobra hood-like collar, made of two flattened, widened expansions that flank her head and meet at the back in a heart-shaped form, while at the front they descend as two separate, segmented extensions (reminiscent of the lappets of a nemes or Ahsoka-style lekku) reaching down to the abdomen, where a sculpted medallion shaped like the Spektrosaur emblem hangs between them (more on this later); the rear surface of the collar is reddish, decorated with a golden motif consisting of two circular patterns connected by a curved line, while the front is yellowish with brownish, radiating spiny ribs and features a hypnotic slit eye-shaped glowing red jewel on each side. Although the hood-collar slightly hampers the head movement, good poses are still possible.

Nar-Aja's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Nar-Aja possesses several abilities, including extending her sharp, stiletto-like venomous dewclaws from her feet while kicking, as well as squirting venom from her fangs in self-defence. While the former ability is not recreated in the figure, the latter is rendered with her signature translucent yellow plug-in spitting effect for her mouth.

Additionally, after shattering the urn that hangs from her neck and contains the ashes of her deceased husband Volcrotran, and “breathing in” his spirit, Nar-Aja can conjure an evil spectre from her jaws splayed wide. The urn is beautifully sculpted, looking like a flame-shaped greenish ampulla encased in a golden medallion, and seemingly fastening her cape, which, in the comics, falls when the chain is ripped. To reproduce this very cool concept, it's necessary to remove the figure's original head and cape, then add a new "collar" piece, which represents an alternate version of her head featuring glowing yellow eyes and the mouth opened to an extreme gape; this piece just sits around the neck ball joint and is kept in place as more pieces are assembled on top. These additional components form a set of skeletal, ghost-like parts, primarily cast in translucent yellow plastic that glows in the dark, and painted with black lowlights. They can be attached in sequence in various configurations, creating the impression that the spirit is gradually emerging from Nar-Aja's body through her mouth. The process begins with the spirit's head, which roughly resembles a horned viper skull, characterised by a triangular shape, black eyes with slit-shaped yellow-green GITD pupils, and two curved dark horns rising above the eyes. The lower jaw can open, revealing a sparse set of small, sharp off-white teeth, including a pair of more prominent downward-pointing fangs. These fangs can be swapped out with a substantially extended version thanks to a removable gums insert, mimicking an extendable/retractable action; each fang features a small forward-facing orifice near the tip, suggesting a hollow venom channel. Also, an optional long, forked tongue can be inserted into a slot in the open mouth (alternatively, Nar-Aja’s spit effect piece can be used). An elongated neck can then be inserted between the spirit’s head and Nar-Aja’s body. This spine-like piece features a series of curved spikes protruding from the sides of the vertebrae, possibly a reference to Emergence Volcrotran’s retractable neck appendages. Optionally, once the spirit’s head is not hindered by Nar-Aja’s stretched-mouth head, a cobra hood part can be added; this hood has visible ribbing on the underside and connects via a removable piece at the back of the head, which reveals a slot to plug it in. Finally, the configuration can be extended further by inserting a torso piece, either between the spirit’s head and Nar-Aja’s body or between the elongated neck and Nar-Aja’s body. This torso is formed from a bundle of snakes, like numerous small serpentine skeletons stretching and slithering in all directions; two of them are larger and longer, textured with bumps and equipped with keeled ridges along the sides, and function as elongated arms with swivel-hinged "shoulders". Each arm ends in an articulated horned viper skull (with an opening lower jaw) in place of a hand; these heads closely resemble the main one, but each features hollow eye sockets and two extra horns below the primary pair, pointing backward and down. There is also an alternate version of these two head-hands, each featuring a group of three smaller snakes emerging from the eye sockets and the mouth.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from her venom-spit effect and the various components used to recreate her spectre-conjuring ability, Nar-Aja comes equipped with two cool weapons: a mace and a shield. The mace is composed of a subtly wavy, greenish wooden handle capped with two light-green, oxidised bronze fittings: the bottom end is adorned with a rattle-shaped ornament, while the top features a striking head with four knife-edged flanges. A knob at its peak is sculpted like a snake head with a gaping mouth and is designed to accommodate Nar-Aja's spit effect; additionally, a portion of the four-flanged head, including the snake head, two flanges resembling a stylised cobra hood, and a shaft normally concealed within the handle, can be removed, echoing the projectile-launching mechanism shown in the comics. The shield appears to be mostly crafted from light-green, oxidised bronze with gold accents, and its design evokes a roughly triangular cobra head, formed by four horizontally overlapping plates, set against a circular backdrop of radiating, intertwined vipers that hold a brown bronze ring in their mouths (like the spokes of a bicycle wheel), around which yet another slender snake coils. The lower section is detachable and can be replaced with an alternate piece that helps represent the cobra with its jaws agape, from which a long, brown bronze blade (shaped like a stylised bifurcated tongue) protrudes. This interchangeable feature mirrors the comic depiction, where the shield’s lower portion slides downward to unleash the blade in a sudden forward thrust, viciously piercing enemies. I love the battle-worn detailing on the shield, and it can also be stowed on her back when she isn’t wearing the cape—it fits neatly into a slot on her back plate, making it easy to carry while also giving protection against attacks from behind.

Additionally, to enhance the appeal of this already striking figure, the package includes a snake-like tail piece that can attach to the spectre’s body. This elongated, partially coiled and highly poseable lower section features three ball joints and a waist swivel, as well as a spider-like tip and a detailed sculpt that carries over the same skeletal, ghost-like yellow GTID design from the upper body. An additional torn, brown fabric belt/loincloth piece (complete with some interesting little silver tags with runes on them hanging from real chains) is included to ensure a secure fit between the two sections.

Finally, Nar-Aja comes with a winged yellow-green energy snake that’s highly flexible and can coil around her shoulders and arm. This isn't shown in the comics, so it's unclear whether it's meant to be an alternate design of the snake companion from her Foundation version or more like the form the spectre takes when it emerges from the urn.

Final thoughts

Overall: Nar-Aja is an outstanding figure and an amazing reinterpretation of the character, definitely a strong example of how much value PoliganToys is packing into the latest KR|EoF releases. This prototype stands out as one of the best so far, thanks to her fresh, distinctive design and the way her new "transforming" feature is executed. The ability to swap multiple parts and create different versions of the character makes her both fun to play and visually striking on display. With the hope of future Spektrosaur soldier army builders on the horizon, Nar-Aja already feels like a perfect centrepiece. This is a great addition to the line, an easy favourite of the year, and a figure I’m genuinely excited to have in my KR display

Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #16: Pyrosaur Siege Warfare Kit (SDCC 2021 Exclusive)

PoliganToys' Comic-Con@Home 2021 exclusive release will be the Pyrosaur^TM Siege Warfare Kit!

These concept art-inspired, Emergence comic book accurate accessories for one of the most iconic Key Raiders vehicles will get you hella excited! The Pyrosaur Siege Warfare Kit is a wicked three-piece set that includes great spring-action military machines, such as a bombard that propels battering ram-missiles and a catapult that hurls large stones, as well as a "mobile launcher" base.

Both the cannon and the catapult are painted in metallic light-blue with silver-grey details, and exhibit tons of tech-mech details (e.g., panels, tubes, wires and pistons) as well as bronze components such as the barrel and the arm-plus-bucket, respectively.

Either accessory launches its projectile by pressing on a spring-loaded lever, and can perch atop the Pyrosaur's main body or at the port on the front of the head/cockpit when the war machine is set in a vertical position (replacing the flying pod/turret), or can even stand alone thanks to the included 4-wheel wooden base.

The set includes two silver battering rams (each with its end in the form of a robotic lizard's skull equipped with bronze tusks, chin spike and sagittal crest) and two dark grey boulders.

This KR exclusive will be available for $50 on PoliganToys' direct-to-consumer platform, on Thursday, July 22. Will you make the attempt to grab it? Let me know in the comments section!

KR Review #80: Pyrosaur

The Pyrosaur^TM (sorry Screechers Wild, but I think we got it earlier) is the first Spektrosaur land vehicle to come into the KR line... I know, there's also the Baryanoid-Cart, but I tend to consider that a creature item rather than a vehicle.

Really, this panzer is the one that makes the most sense as a land unit: it's specifically designed to carry Lor-Drek's evil goons into battle against their rivals as well as wreak havoc and destruction in peaceful places, and take on enemy armoured fighting vehicles. The Cart, on the other hand, can't be used for much more than travelling around a golf course.

Okay, petty details and jokes apart, let's look at what probably is gonna be the last vehicle under the Foundation banner of the KR universe.

Details

Name: Pyrosaur

Subtitle: battle tank destroyer

Classification: land vehicle

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: transport.

Description

The Pyrosaur is a tank-like, wheeled combat vehicle used by Lor-Drek's forces for ground assault, reconnaissance and transport of soldiers across the battlefield; when necessary, it can rise to turn into a bipedal machine that traverse the landscape on large mechanical legs. Sporting blast-impervious armour plating, this massive construct is used by the Spektrosaurs as much for psychological warfare as it is for tactical advantage. The toy version is painted in metallic light-blue with silver-gray details, exhibits tons of tech-mech details (e.g., panels, tubes, wires and pistons) and can be operated in several positions; when upright, it stands about 46 cm (around 18'') tall and is reminiscent of a mechanical tyrannosaurus.

The robotic legs display tracked clawed feet (each with an additional wide treaded wheel on the front, which is the only truly rotating part) and a pair of large ratcheted wheels at the knees, which allow the tank to roll forward or backward when in crawler mode.

The cockpit (which only accommodates one figure, unlike the comic book version that seats two combat drivers overseen by a commander sitting behind them) and the attached canopy (which can be open, closed and removed) resemble the toothed jaws of a dinosaur's head, whose neck can turn slightly left, right, up and down. Additionally, a rotating turret (which also carries one figure, and features an opening canopy and a cockpit with hand-grips) is mounted on top of the vehicle's dome-like body.

Action feature

Thanks to its rotating hip, knee and ankle joints, the Pyrosaur can easily switch positions, allowing for extreme posability with three assault modes: low-riding (i.e., kneeling) roller tank for sneak attacks, standing (i.e., two-legged) mech walker for strikes over rough terrain, and upright robotic siege engine for assailing enemy walls. Moreover, two mechanical arms are attached to the sides of the hull and feature two points of articulation each, which allow them to bend and retract. Each arm bears a menacing crusher claw that can open and close to capture enemies.

On the tank's underside (on the front when the vehicle is upright), there is an entry/escape hatch with a hinged opening ramp, which reveals a hollowed-out centre section that can fictionally hold a number of troopers and a cargo container.

The rotating turret is detachable and has the ability to act as a flying pod equipped with bat-like folding wings and a rear hatch that gives access to a weapons storage compartment. Aside from perching atop the transport's main body, the flying pod/turret can also dock at a port on the front of the head/cockpit when the war machine is set in a vertical position.

Last but not least, the Pyrosaur has an additional mechanical arm ending with a powerful flamethrower, which can be manoeuvred via a handlebar-like joystick inside the head/cockpit and can also function as a a third leg for stability. While in the comics this snake-like arm is retractable, in the toy it is a separate piece that plugs into a socket exposed by removing a metal panel on the vehicle's belly and only features a hinge at its halfway point.

Weapons and accessories

The head/cockpit armament consists of two horn-shaped temple-mounted pivoting grenade launchers and two chin-mounted heavy laser cannons; the latter are removable, in order to reveal a docking port and, as mentioned above, allow the flying pod/turret to perch and rotate. The turret itself is equipped with wing-mounted cannons and a front spring-loaded twin-missile launcher.

Finally, the vehicle comes with two attachments that plug into the flamethrower nozzle: a large translucent red blast effect and a mechanical foot-like ball jointed accessory.

Overall, the Pyrosaur is an excellent prototype and a great way to wrap up the Foundation segment of the KR line. It is a wonderful vehicle and likely to be a fan favourite. With this, we are now finished with the vehicles of the regular series (I don't believe that CoBoN 2.0 and the Gyrocarrier will ever be produced due to their enormous sizes) and while I'm looking forward to reviewing large scale items from the other chapters of the KR mythos, I still hope that new KR|Foundation figures, creatures and perhaps playsets will be created in the future. In any case, this piece makes me remember all the joy and enthusiasm with the line over the last 4 years and what was accomplished with this blog. That made it worth it.

KR Review #76: Spectral Sphenorat & Serporcraft

For better or for worse, PoliganToys has accomplished something that I couldn't have imagined possible when this blog started all the way back in August 2015 - the KR prototype lineup is now complete.

Yes, lurking out of the darkness from the Downfall episode, the Spectral variant of Sphenorat^TM joins the ranks of KR large scale figures as the last item of this amazing line. What is the future of Key Raiders, though, will be explained (or, rather, speculated) in an upcoming post.

As an added bonus, the Spektrosaur sorcerer comes in a multi-pack (the 14^th I have received) that includes an incredible, evil flying machine - the Serporcraft^TM. Wow!

Spectral Sphenorat

Details

Name: Spectral Sphenorat

Subtitle: dark-magical spectre

Classification: spirit of a lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: sorcerer.

Since the background story of the character has been covered before, this review is mainly focused on the appearance of the figure and the accessories that come with it.

Articulation

Standard for the neck and the arms; the rest of the body only features a ball joint at about half of its height.

Description

Head: similar to the regular Sphenorat's head with the completely exposed face, although bigger and with a much more detailed skeletal appearance. The face is supposed to resemble a tuatara, but it is flattened in order to acquire a more humanoid look. It has a blue-green skin, three yellow eyes with vertical slit-shaped red pupils (the third eye is on the forehead) and a wide open mouth that displays a number of sharp white teeth. He wears a large loose ragged cowl seemingly made of a coarse, rough dark-brown fabric. On the top, this hood bears three red lines forming an array of crescent-shaped markings, while on the back it tapers to a comb of tips that slightly resembles a spiny crest

Body: the figure is 23 cm tall (around 9'') and is cloaked from neck to toe. His arms are covered by long, wide torn dark-brown sleeves, while his hands, which are posed to cast spells, show a sickly clawed, skeletal appearance, blue-green skin and long black nails

Wearables: a long, loose torn dark-brown robe, a large red pendant (resembling the triple-crescent symbol on the hood) on a chain around the neck and a long, thick light-brown cord with a red tassel at either end (which in the regular figure is used to fit the garment around the waist, but here is untied and held by two loops on the back). The robe does a great job of blending in with the cowl and especially the hanging sleeves, under which we can clearly see two red bracelets. He also wears a tattered burgundy cape, which has a high standing collar, is fixed to the front by a light-brown string and is attached to the arms above the elbows via two pegs (it is soft enough not to hamper the arms movement too much). Unlike with the regular figure, this mantle is pretty short, doesn't fade to translucent towards the jagged bottom and is not removable.

Action feature

In this figure, Sphenorat's ghostly appearance has been significantly enhanced thanks to the bigger size and to the highly detailed cadaverous head, raw-boned hands and tattered robes. Furthermore, the cloak is open and pulled back, to reveal what lays beneath - an intricately sculpted nightmarish scene of ghost-snakes swirling as if in a vortex. All his exposed body parts, i.e., the face, hands and swirl of snakes, are cast in a translucent blue-green plastic that can glow in the dark (of course there are a few painted bits, such as the eyes, teeth, nails and some of the snakes' features), giving him an even eerier spectral feel.

Weapons and accessories

Spectral Sphenorat comes with a few accessories: two ghost-snake attachments and a clear stand. The snakes are cast in the same translucent blue-green GITD plastic used for his body and can be plugged into two sockets hidden inside the hanging sleeves, to look as though he is casting these creepy snaky weapons towards the enemies.

The stand, which has a ball joint on the end, helps render Sphenorat's ghost-like nature farther, so he can be displayed in a floating pose.

Serporcraft

Details

Name: Serporcraft

Subtitle: serpentine helicopter

Classification: aircraft

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: transport.

Description

The Serporcraft is a super-fast, armoured (and armed) snake-faced helicopter. This stealthy chopper is painted dark-green on top and pearl-grey on the bottom in a countershaded pattern, and has lots of tech-mech details all over the main body. Thanks to such features as twin auxiliary jet engines (visible at the roots of the landing gear sponsons and fitted with large air intakes), rotor blades that can be disengaged and a lifting body fuselage, it can fictionally perform incredible manoeuvres, including travelling at supersonic speeds and flying upside down or at very high altitudes. The cockpit resembles the head of a cobra, with a clear windscreen in place of the eyes. The canopy is hinged at the back, so it can open by folding up and backward. The interior is of a high-tech nature and shows tons of sculpted controls, including a joystick on each side of the single seat (in the comics the aircraft is proportionally bigger and can carry up to ten characters, while this toy version only fits one figure). The three rotor blades are slightly curved, have serrated edges and are topped with what looks like a radar dome. The tail boom is shaped like a ridged spine and includes horizontal and vertical stabilisers, but no tail rotor. The sponsons have seemingly retractable landing skids that are similar to monstrous feet.

Action feature

In the comics, the Serporcraft's giant propeller can be launched at the touch of a trigger by its pilot, spinning horribly in the face of the enemy. Thanks to the powerful jet engines, shooting the rip-rotor projectile doesn't affect the helicopter's flying ability at all. In the toy, the rotor can simply spin and detach, but not shoot, which is quite enough in my opinion. Furthermore, the craft is fitted with two spring-loaded missile launchers carried by pylons at the wingtips, which are mounted on the side of the landing skid sponsons. I really like the missiles, which are shaped like bundles of serpents. Plus, the snake's lower jaw (which is the underside of the cockpit) can open menacingly, revealing a retractable pilot's night vision device (which actually looks like a headlight and glows in the dark) coupled with a quick-firing, single-tube cannon.

Weapons and accessories

The Serporcraft comes with a small set of plug-in accessories, which unfortunately doesn't include a flight stand. First, we get three nicely sculpted blasting effects, which can be used for the nose cannon and the jet engines.

Additionally, there is a flexible hose with a nozzle at one end that is fictionally used for in-air refuel of other similar rotorcrafts. This is a reference to a comic strip in which Masq-Lor is shown to climb into a flying Serporcraft using the exact same hose. Nice touch.

Overall, I can only be happy with this 2-pack. Spectral Sphenorat is a cool reinterpretation of the regular figure, infused with a look that perfectly recreates the creepiest nature of the character. The end result is a figure which I believe would surely join the shelves of many collectors. I'm definitely impressed by the incredible level of detail on all sides of his ghostly "body", but I'm also a bit disappointed that an updated version of his sceptre hasn't been included.

About the Serporcraft, this ship's got it all... except for a flight stand! Thing is that the Aviotak's stand just made itself requisite and one would expect all the following flying machines to come with a flight stand. However, this vehicle left a mark on me when I placed Noctylius in the pilot seat and had the chopper "stare" at me. Really, it crept me out after a while.

KR Review #64: Cah-Mal

Here is the thing, as much as I have been looking forward to complete another KR faction after the Rexodon, Cah-Mal^TM wasn't even in my priority list.

Don't get me wrong, this 49^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys is cool and has been executed rather flawlessly in terms of concept. But there are some other prototypes (*cough* Herrion *cough*) that I would have liked to receive by now.

However, Cah-Mal has allowed the Spektrosaurs to cross the finish line and this is enough to consider him a success. So cheers to him!

Details

Name: Cah-Mal

Subtitle: camouflage-expert warrior

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: petty officer.

Background

Cah-Mal's only appearance is in the ninth KR comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part II – Salvation. Evolved from an ancient species of lizard-like warriors, Cah-Mal was recruited by Bi-Harr after displaying his extraordinary camouflage ability. Like many other reptilian soldiers, he eventually became a member of the Spektrosaur army after Lor-Drek's defection. Armed with exceptional acrobatic skills, Cah-Mal often distinguished himself in battle by stunning his foes with his quick lashing tongue and tail. Despite his loyalty to Lor-Drek, during the Cereutian invasion he was brainwashed by Noctylius into allying with Denortos. Defeated by the Therioms, Cah-Mal was then abandoned in the former Spektrosaur stronghold, where he now waits for the next master to serve.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed extra neck piece, hinged fingers and toes, and a tail, which is composed of 12 ball jointed pieces and can work as an auxiliary limb.

Description

Head: similar to a chameleon, characterised by bumpy, wrinkled purple skin with few black stripes, a prominent maroon cranial crest and large green eyes with beady black pupils. For the first time in this line, the eyes are articulated and can move separately from each other, fictionally to achieve an extremely wide visual field and detect enemies on the opposite sides. He bears three large ringed bony horns (one protruding from his snout and two from his brow) that have an aged (i.e., with a very slight tint of yellow) ivory colour. The underside of his throat displays a small saw-tooth shaped maroon crest

Body: purple scaly skin with a bumpy texture and black dotted stripes. On each hand and foot, his five digits are divided in two flattened groups of two and three long sharp claws respectively, giving each extremity a tongs-like appearance. Both his head and wrinkled neck extension are on ball joints, which definitively gives him a hunched over look and an extended range without hindering the movements at all. He also displays an amazing curled prehensile tail emerging from under the loincloth

Wearables: a short-sleeved leather garment (orange at the top and black at the bottom) with a large Spektrosaur symbol (i.e., a greenish flame) stitched onto the front, double wrist and shin guards (each composed of an orange leather band and a copper cuff overlapped), an elaborate copper jockstrap with a buckle that resembles a reptile skull and a black furry loincloth. The shirt-like garment blends in with an elaborate copper collar, which is actually part of the neck extension, and shows ripped sleeves as well as a crest of spikes that are attempting to push through the cloth along the spine.

Action feature

In the comics, Cah-Mal is distinguished by several characteristics, including spectacular acrobatic skills, a very long and rapidly extrudable tongue, and the ability to become invisible by changing his overall colouration and blending into the surrounding environment. In the figure, the only elements related to his gymnastic mastery are his articulated pincers-like hands and feet, and prehensile tail.

Cah-Mal can project his long sticky tongue from his mouth in order to, for example, steal weapons from his foes located some distance away. So, the figure comes with an alternative head, which displays sculpted (i.e., not articulated) eyes, the open mouth armed with two rows of small sharp teeth and the club-tipped tongue out. The tongue, whose colour fades from green to orange-pink, is also articulated and can move left and right on a little disk set at the back of the mouth.

Finally, the colour change feature can be achieved using something warm. Simply by rubbing Cah-Mal with a cloth that has been wet with tepid water, his skin will become mustard with rust dotted stripes, while the flame on his tunic will turn red. Due to the resulting bright colouration, I believe that this colour change functions more as an aid for displaying aggressively to the enemies, rather than becoming invisible. I honestly think it's a nice touch, but, like with regular Masq-Lor, I'm not a big fan of it.

Weapons and accessories

Cah-Mal comes with just one accessory, but it’s such a cool and fun piece. It’s his really unique and creepy skeletal crossbow. It looks like it has been engineered using a number of long bones and utilises an undefined fanged reptile's skull as a bolt (which is a separate piece, not shooting though). The real neat thing is the paint job: the weapon seems made of black charred bones, while the bolt has the same aged ivory colour of Cah-Mal's horns. It is nicely detailed with cracks and pits, and includes a clip for Cah-Mal's arm.

Overall, Cah-Mal turned out to be a pretty great figure. He’s a solid addition to complete what I consider to be the funnest among the four factions. His "chameleonic" colour scheme gives him a unique touch that is only matched by the newly sculpted parts. Both his body and his accessory received a nice amount of detail and much more engineering than I expected. To be honest, I’m happier to add him to my shelf than I thought I’d be.

KR Review #62: Noctylius

The character I'm going to review today is a mammalian creature that is prone to treachery and works for the reptilian enemies. That makes Noctylius^TM extremely interesting to me!

This villainous bat warrior is the 48^th action figure prototype I received from PoliganToys. Let’s take a closer look at him.

Details

Name: Noctylius

Subtitle: bat warrior

Classification: chiropteran mammal

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)

Rank: officer candidate.

Background

Noctylius is a one-episode wonder that appears in the ninth KR comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part II – Salvation. The descendant of a line of mammals that are capable of flight, Noctylius has not always been an infamous accomplice of the reptilian forces. In the past, he loyally served the Theriom air force as a stealthy pilot officer, until he was expelled for causing an accident due to an irresponsible action. Having developed a deep resentment at being discharged, Noctylius joined Lor-Drek's faction for many years. Eventually, he allied with Denortos in an attempt to overpower both the Therioms and the Spektrosaurs. This treacherous plan ultimately met with failure and now this winged revengeful warrior is forced to scheme by himself against all who fight for freedom on Tahron.

Articulation

Standard, plus hinged toes.

Description

Head: similar to a bat, specifically a Carollia perspicillata, characterised by a grey-brown fur, a fairly long snout, large ears, black eyes and a lance-shaped noseleaf. The top of the head has a more evident strip of hair running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the neck, while the mouth is open and shows a number of sharp white teeth

Body: dense grey-brown fur. Each hand includes two fingers of a normal size and three much longer ones connected by a veined translucent brown membrane. Each forearm (longer than the average length), triceps and thigh is equipped with a number (four, two and two respectively) of bony extra digits, also connected by a translucent brown membrane. Each foot bears two small outer toes and two large inner hinged toes, while a fifth toe protrudes backward and up from each calf. Each digit, either regular (on hands and feet) or additional (on arms and legs), displays an orange-ish skin and ends in a black claw. He also carries a rubbery removable neck piece that fits right on top of the body and mimics a woolly collar with a strip of fur that runs down the middle of the upper back, like an extension of his mohawk

Wearables: a dark-blue armour with silver details, two metallic dark-blue wristbands, two dark-blue furry calf protectors (each tied to the leg by means of two silver studded bands), a metallic dark-blue belt and a medieval-style silver armoured loincloth. The armour possesses highly technological components, which I imagine help Noctylius cope with such an energetically demanding activity like sustained flight. However, the back of the armour looks more like a harness and leaves the furry mane piece exposed. A bulging detail on the back of the loincloth suggests the presence of a short tail, although there is no evidence of that.

Noctylius's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, thanks to the extra set of digits that form broad leathery bat wings along his arms, Noctylius is able to perform spectacular flying manoeuvres. Due to an injury caused by his past accident, he is blind, but possesses a super-sensitive hearing and can employ echolocation as a method of navigation during flight and orientation in combat. He emits intense, high-pitched sound waves that originate in his mouth, and can hear the echoes of those waves when they bounce off nearby objects. He can also use those ear-shattering screeches to overwhelm his enemies or to shake and disintegrate targets. So, the figure comes with a conical clear sonic blast effect that plugs into his open mouth tightly. It's not a lot, I know, but I'm very pleased to finally see a new mouth effect in addition to the "splashing" one that was originally made for Nibeon and has been used so many times.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the above-mentioned sonic-scream effect, Noctylius comes with a shield in the shape of a massive bat surrounded by flames. Besides being completely vac-metallised silver, this shield has a neat design that greatly combines the bat nature of the character with the flame motif of the Spektrosaur symbol, and is conceived to fit over Noctylius's either bracer. However, it looks purely ceremonial to me, since it has a massive gap between the wings - a design that doesn’t look like it would lend itself to much protection.

Additionally, we get a translucent stand, which is very similar to the one included with Zor-Kan. It has a clip that allows it to be used as a flight stand, but can turn into a kind of perch by replacing the clip with a T-shaped horizontal piece. The latter structure is designed to let Noctylius rest upside down, by making him clasp the bar with the toes sticking out of his calves.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the ninth comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part II – Salvation. After succeeding in finding and activating an ancient machine buried deep beneath Theriom City, Denortos creates an inter-dimensional bridge between Tahron and Cereutis. Masq-Lor, Fai-Rha and Lor-Drek realise that Denortos' actual plan was to open a portal that would lead him beyond the multiversal walls. Instead, due to a malfunction of the machine, he opened a portal to his own dimension, from which more creatures similar to him were knocked over Tahron. The Therioms and the Spektrosaurs see only one way to overcome this new threat - to form a coalition and fight together. Empowered by the presence of his sidekicks, Denortos begins hunting for the halberds that compose the Key, starting from the ones in Lor-Drek's possession. The Cereutian creatures aim at imprisoning the Spektrosaur leader within his own dominion in Artelon, but the Therioms are also there. During a spectacular fight, Denortos offers Lor-Drek to rule Tahron together, but the reptilian marshal declines and gets severely injured. The Therioms can't save him, but just before drawing his last breath, he gives his halberds (together with a mysterious amulet) to Masq-Lor and commands his army to keep on fighting alongside their allies against the evil invaders. With the help of the Spektrosaurs (except for a few renegades), the heroes are even able to lead the fight for a while, but eventually the Cereutians unite to form a huge monster that neither Masq-Lor nor Fai-Rha can beat. Xonedar decides to use a prototype feature of CoBoN's to create an equally large robot, which proves a match for the creature's strength. Meanwhile, Masq-Lor rides back to Theriom City and reactivates the machine to reopen a portal to Cereutis. The robot formed by CoBoN and Xonedar forces the monster to be swallowed by the portal just seconds before the machine is destroyed and the inter-dimensional bridge disappears.

Overall, Noctylius was not a character particularly high on my wish list, but the final figure turned out really cool. His wings are attached to the arms and, despite their complete anatomical inaccuracy, they are smartly designed not to hinder the figure's movement. Paint is also great, the fur sculpt has a light highlight to it, and the belt and wristbands have a gloss blue finishing that adds a nice touch to the figure.

About the comic, on the whole this is possibly one of the weakest issues in terms of plot. But the artwork is great... the monster shown towards the end looks amazing and I seriously hope it will come in the form of an action figure at some point! The only very interesting thing about the story is the good and the bad guys being forced to work together against a new and stronger threaten than anything seen before. That is enough to make this comic a very good one.

KR Review #60: Kelotur

2016 is giving us one exciting addition after another, and this is no exception. Kelotur^TM finally comes spinning into battle!

The Spektrosaur line-up keeps trucking along and this 46^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys is a nice addition.

Details

Name: Kelotur

Subtitle: spinning-blade warrior

Classification: chelonian reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: ensign.

Background

Kelotur's only brief appearance is in the eighth KR comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part I – Downfall. A feared former vandal from the Tahlapos^TM estuary region, Kelotur was a pure fury, who enjoyed nothing more than whirling flails and blades to deliberately destroy villages and terrorise their inhabitants. He eventually developed the ability to enhance his fighting skills by protruding a jagged sawtooth edge from his carapace and bursting out in a spinning action into battle. Thanks to his threatening claws, violent spin powers and fearsome chain-weapons, which he now uses in service to Lor-Drek, Kelotur swings into the battlefield and ploughs over his foes.

Articulation

Standard, except that the waist is ball jointed.

Description

Head: similar to a turtle, characterised by a short snout, olive-green skin, purple eyes, a pair of nostrils and a partly closed beak-like mouth

Body: olive-green scaly skin, webbed hands and feet with long claws. His torso is encased in a shell that is composed of a plastron on the front and a carapace on the back, each made up of a number of imbricate scutes. The dark-yellow plastron has nine scutes, while the large dome-shaped dark-brown carapace has five central scutes and four pairs of lateral scutes, each armoured with a dark-orange spike to form three dorsal ridges. The carapace and plastron are joined together on Kelotur's shoulders and flanks by bony-like tabs. He also has a short sturdy tail emerging from the bottom edge of the carapace

Wearables: an orange copper chest plate with light-blue details, two orange leather fingerless gloves and two orange leather toeless boots. The chest plate is permanently attached to the plastron, while both the gloves and boots have a palmate structure, to match the webbed hands and feet, and have turndown lapels.

Kelotur's stylised chest plate.

Action feature

In the comics, Kelotur has the ability to withdraw his head, limbs and tail into his shell, which acts as a shield against his enemies. So, the figure comes with an alternative retracted body that can be enclosed inside the shell, after this has been removed from the regular body. At first, I was worried about switching the bodies, because the tabs that hold the shell together seemed a bit brittle to me. However, once I tried, I've realised that there shouldn't be any problem, the plastic is strong enough. While the shell-less extended body has all it needs to stand on its own, including a regular olive-green scaly torso, a mottled orange&brown tortoiseshell belt and light-blue trunks, the retracted form, although being very detailed, looks kind of funny, but I guess it is not supposed to be used without the shell.

Additionally, when retracted, Kelotur can project several sharp dark-yellow teeth from all around his carapace, as well as from the keel down its centre. This ability has been brought to reality by providing the figure with an alternative serrated, spiky-edged carapace, which makes it possible to transform this evil turtle-man into a sort of whirling saw blade. Also, this additional carapace has a spiny keel, a part of which can be detached from the inside of the shell, allowing Kelotur's shell-less extended upper body to plug into a socket in the retracted body's back and form the weirdest monster you can imagine - a double cog-wheel turtle, with one body withdrawn inside the shell and another one emerging from the top of the carapace. Even though it is never shown in the comics, this feature gives us a fun bonus display option, which is always nice. The sawtooth carapace could also be used on the extended body, if one had will to display the figure in such a way, but it's worth noting that the spiky edge hampers the head and limbs movements considerably.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the retracted body and spiny carapace, Kelotur comes with his trademark chigiriki. This menacing flail weapon consists of a long light-blue metal staff, an equally long silver chain and a cylindrical wooden weight covered with copper spikes.

In addition, the figure includes a clear plastic stand to hold the fictionally flying/spinning retracted form above the ground.

Overall, Kelotur turned out far better than I ever hoped he could be. He's not only an excellent figure, but also a really funky character... and I love funky characters! I was really excited to see his prototype in the KR line and, since we are going to finish up the Spektrosaur squad soon, this guy was a must have. Sure, it is not recommended to make him fly and spin like in the comics, but the added flight stand is kind of cool. And even though the opening carapace for the torso plug-in feature is just not for me personally, I still think it's a nice touch.

KR Review #58: Sphenorat

Time to get the weekend started off right. This time I'm reviewing the figure of a character that I feel is one of the more menacing Spektrosaur members - Sphenorat^TM!

With his face hidden by shadows, aside from three freaky glowing eyes, this 45^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys really looks surrounded by a halo of mystery.

Details

Name: Sphenorat

Subtitle: dark-magical ghost

Classification: spirit of a lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: sorcerer.

Background

Sphenorat's first appearance is in the sixth KR comic issue Reptiles reunited. In life, Sphenorat served as a wizard-priest to Bi-Harr alongside his fellow sorcerer Loghar. The fierce competition between the two warlocks led to Sphenorat's death, after which he raised to a bursting spectral form through a black magic spell. When Lor-Drek left the reptilian army to form his own faction, he promised Sphenorat great power in return for mystic secrets and help in overthrowing both Bi-Harr and the Therioms. The wraith-like wizard agreed to betray the reptilian general and joined forces with Lor-Drek. Using his mastery of witchcraft and his ghostly enhanced abilities, Sphenorat strikes terror into his enemies.

Articulation

Standard down to the waist; due to his robe piece, there is no leg articulation.

Description

Head: covered with a large loose ragged headdress seemingly made of a coarse, rough dark-brown fabric. This cowl also covers the neck and face, only allowing three yellow eyes (the third eye is on the forehead) to be seen on a dark background. On the top, the hood bears three red lines forming an array of crescent-shaped markings, while on the back it tapers to a comb of tips that slightly resembles a spiny crest

Body: cloaked from neck to toe. His arms are covered by long, wide torn dark-brown sleeves, while his hands show a sickly clawed, skeletal appearance, blue-green skin and black nails

Wearables: a long, loose torn dark-brown sackcloth, a large red pendant (resembling the triple-crescent symbol on the hood) on a chain around the neck and a long, thick light-brown cord (with a red tassel at either end) used to fit the garment around the waist. The robe does a great job of blending in with the cowl and especially the sleeves, under which we can glimpse two red bracelets. He also wears a tattered dark-red (I would call this colour "burgundy") cape, which has a high standing collar and is fixed to the front by a light-brown string. This mantle fades to translucent towards the jagged bottom and is removable.

Action feature

In the comics, Sphenorat, being a spectre, has several ghostly powers, such as appearing and disappearing at will and passing through solid obstacles thanks to his impalpable consistence. Of course those abilities couldn't be recreated in the figure, but at least his hands can glow in the dark, giving him a bit of a spectral feel. Additionally, there is an alternative head that is also GITD. This head is similar to the regular one, except that the face is completely exposed and the cowl is removable. The face looks amazing - I think it is supposed to resemble a tuatara, but it's flattened in order to acquire a more humanoid appearance. It has a blue-green GITD skin, three yellow eyes with vertical slit-shaped red pupils and a slightly open mouth that displays a number of sharp white teeth. By removing the hood, two small pointy ears and a large wound (perhaps the cause of his death?) in his wrinkled, bumpy scalp are revealed.

To render his ghost-like nature farther, Sphenorat also comes with a clear stand, so he can be displayed in a floating pose. The stand works great and, similarly to The Deity, has a ball joint on the end.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative head and the stand, Sphenorat comes with two accessories. First is his mystical sceptre, which has an impressive design. It is a wooden staff topped with a horned reptile eye. The eyeball has a similar appearance to Sphenorat's eyes and is made of a translucent amber plastic with a tinge of red here and there. The whitish horns feature some great detail work and glow in the dark.

The second accessory is a spell book. I’m not sure whether this book actually shows up anywhere in the comics, but I love its design. It's pretty detailed with a small metal plate on the front cover and some neat sculpted symbols (including the triple crescent seen on the hood and pendant) running along the front and back.

Overall, Sphenorat is surely a pretty good figure. I had some reservations before I received it, but they melted when I saw him in person. I can see that the guys at PoliganToys gave him a lot of love and attention. The two heads and the accessories are beautiful, and everything, from sculpt to paintwork, almost perfectly duplicates the add-ons that came with Koptros. In short, I couldn't have a better opinion about this figure.

KR Review #54: Strictriss

If you think that Bi-Harr is weird, well, what to say about this guy? In a line already filled with a great deal of uncanny monsters, Strictriss^TM still manages to be a standout for a very simple reason - he's got three heads!

After Nar-Aja and Volcrotran, this 41^st action figure prototype from PoliganToys is the final addition to the small snake group in the Spektrosaur army and gets us one step closer to completing that faction.

Details

Name: Strictriss

Subtitle: constrictor warrior

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: officer.

Background

Strictriss is shown fleetingly in the eighth KR comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part I – Downfall, where he seems to be better known to his enemies as "triple trouble", due to his distinctive three-headed appearance. The son of a snake chief officer who served Lor-Drek during the rise of the Spektrosaurs, Strictriss soon took the same position in the faction's army thanks to his ferocity in battle. Strictriss continues to serve his master in the quest for dominating Tahron, making it impossible for his foes to escape his powerful long constrictor snake-necks.

Articulation

Standard, plus two additional necks.

Description

Heads: each one is similar to a Boa constrictor's head, characterised by an arrow shape, bluish scaly skin with a cross-shaped dark mark on the back and yellow eyes. The central head has a partially open mouth, showing two rows of sharp, curved teeth of about the same size (no fangs) and a long forked tongue. The two side heads seem to project from the back of the shoulders and each displays a more open mouth with the tongue sculpted on the inside

Body: bluish skin, claw hands; the torso and the outer sides of his limbs look scaly, while the inner sides have a segmented appearance. He sports three short, thin tails emerging from under his loincloth

Wearables: a harness (whose upper straps are two steel chains, while the single lower strap is made of the sloughed dark-blotched, light-green skin of a python or an anaconda), two light-green bracelets, two light-green boots, a light-green belt and a segmented loincloth made of overlapping steel plates. Each leather boot is fastened with criss-crossed laces that partially expose a segmented steel shin guard. Similar overlapping-plate protections (even equipped with sharp, curved spikes that resemble Strictriss' teeth) are also present on the biceps and on the thighs.

Strictriss' stylised harness; the oval at the centre represents the upper side of a snake head.

Action feature

In the comics, Strictriss has the ability to extend his three necks many times their original length, in order to tie up his foes and asphyxiate them. So, the figure comes with three neck extensions: one quite short and rigid, and two very long and bendy. Although the rigid extension is meant to go with the middle head and the flexible ones with the side heads, their positions are totally interchangeable. All of the pieces are sculpted nicely and reflect the scaly/segmented texture of the limbs. The bendy necks are great and long enough (25 cm -around 10”- each!) to coil round three standard figures at once or to wrap Strictriss' own body for giving him a more intimidating look. The only downside is that the figure will fall over if the heads protrude forwards (or backwards) too much.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the three neck extensions, Strictriss includes two accessories, which are two badass weapons. The first is a triple ball-and-chain flail, which is composed of a greenish snake-shaft partially wrapping around Strictriss' forearm and a spinning triplet of silver chain maces held in the snake's mouth. The chains are not real, but each one is cast in a nice wave-like shape, while it's difficult to judge whether the snake is supposed to be alive or artificial.

The second weapon is a manriki, which consists of a long chain (this time real) with a greenish snake-shaped, studded weight attached to each end of the chain. The two weights can be clasped by the mouths of Strictriss' side heads (which are slightly more pliable than the central head), so that the weapon can be fictionally used like a freaky mouth-held nunchaku.

Overall, Strictriss has turned out to be a really great figure. I’m glad that we did get the option to display him with regular necks, just because my shelves are a bit tight at this point and I need to use less bulky figures. The bendy necks are fantastic and a lot of fun. For a non-venomous snake warrior, his three heads couldn't be more menacing and definitely make him stand out among the Spektrosaurs.

KR Review #52: Denortos

The Key Raiders line is marking the beginning of summer (or winter, depending on your location) with the figure representing one of the most interesting characters in the whole saga - Denortos^TM!

The ranks of the Spektrosaurs are slowly growing and, while not exactly a member of this faction, I think Denortos is my new favourite. This 40^th action figure prototype from PoliganToys bats a thousand in terms of impressive look.

Details

Name: Denortos

Subtitle: alien menace

Classification: uncertain

Sex: male

Home: Cereutis

Affiliation: Spektrosaur (temporarily)

Rank: mercenary.

Background (with spoilers)

Denortos appears in the thrilling KR comic double-issue The Cereutian menace. A dangerous criminal from the extra dimension of Cereutis, Denortos lost his left arm and parts of his face during an ancient battle on Tahron, before being deported back to his dimension and imprisoned. He was then freed and armed with new face components and a powerful shooting arm by Deptilion, who offered promises of power and wealth in exchange for aid to take his revenge on the Therioms. Denortos returned to Tahron and, while secretly serving Deptilion, allied himself with Lor-Drek. Eventually, he grew ambitious and, reneging on his deal, raised an army of his own to fight both the Therioms and the Spektrosaurs. But a surprising alliance between the two factions proved to be too challenging for Denortos and, at last, he was forced out of Tahron once again.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a hinged lower jaw, a diagonal swivel across the chest and a ball joint at the left elbow.

Description

Head: elongated shape, dark-blue (almost black) skin, a strip of spade-shaped imbricate shiny silver scales (similarly to Merados' stripes) running centrally from the middle of the forehead to the back of the head (developing into a spiny cranial crest), two short tentacle-like dark-blue antennas, two pairs of curved dark-blue spines pointing backwards where one would expect to find the ears, yellow right eye (with a horizontal slit-shaped dark pupil resembling a series of four small holes, similarly to a Tokay gecko eye) topped with a jagged brow ridge, electronic left eye (this reminds me of HAL 9000's camera eye) mounted on a steel plate that covers part of the face, two large nostrils and chunky steel electromechanical jaws with sharp teeth. The lower jaw is movable and allows us to see very cool details sculpted on the inside of the mouth, such as two half-rows of sharp whitish teeth and some exposed flesh. It really looks like his face suffered a serious battle injury and some parts had to be replaced with bionic components

Body: his dark-blue (almost black) skin is stretched over a series of bony plates with spine-like tubercles, which are arranged in rings throughout his body, giving a general segmented, armoured appearance. His legs and right arm sport claw extremities and large strips of spade-shaped imbricate shiny silver scales running down the sides. The left arm has a great steel robotic look, showing some little details, such as rivets and cables, but not as many as, for example, Loghar's or Xonedar's cybernetic limbs. Finally, he has a short pointy tail emerging from his trunks and protected by a leaf-shaped, spiny-edged dark-blue tail shield

Wearables: a black armour with light-green details (the two colours alternate clockwise), one black gauntlet, two black boots, a black belt (displaying a small horizontal pocket on the back) and a ridged light-green crotch piece. The armour is not removable and shows some tech details, tubes, battle marks and a mysterious silver symbol (resembling a four-pointed throwing star with what looks like a trilobite embossed in the middle) on the front. Its two furthest-apart components are connected diagonally via a strap that also holds a pouch on the back. The exposed part of the abdomen displays a surgical suture closed with stitches by means of a metal wire.

Denortos' stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a Cereutian symbol.

Action feature

In the comics Denortos is shown to possess extremely accurate senses thanks to his antennas. Well, this is probably the only faculty that couldn't be recreated in the figure, because regarding all his other abilities, there's so much going on here.

Let's start with his powerful mechanical mouth that can inflict ferocious bites through nearly anything; this feature is wonderfully rendered thanks to the spring-loaded lower jaw, which can swing open and then suddenly snap shut like a bear trap.

Denortos also has a long-range punching feature that is reproduced in two ways. First, by posing his torso, thanks to the unique diagonal swivel articulation, either to wind up or to follow through before and after the punch respectively. Second, by popping the cybernetic arm off at the elbow and attaching an alternative split arm. That’s wonderful too, it really looks like the fist has been propelled with force through the air by his strong swinging movement and, owing to an extensible cable (a simple string in reality) attached to the forearm, can eventually been drawn back.

Finally, this evil guy has the ability to exhale a gas that knocks his enemies unconscious. Since his appearance changes slightly when doing that, the figure comes with an alternative head. In this head the four spines of the cranial crest are set upright, forming a sort of spiky mohawk, while each pair of side spines is swung forward and spread out, forming a "bat wing"-shaped ear with a number of fissures, through which the gas is sprayed. His bionic components look different too: the eye is green rather than red, in order to see through the mist, while the jaws are converted into a breathing mask that also covers the nose. This mask is permanently connected via two pliable corrugated hoses to a twin-cylinders set (equipped with a pivoting control lever and a pressure gauge) that snaps into a socket on the back. Apparently, after his injury he lost the capacity to withstand his own toxic fumes. Oh, this head stinks... I mean, literally! I don't know what the guys at PoliganToys added to the plastic to make it smell like wet soil, but if the intention was to replicate the knockout gas, well, they perfectly succeeded.

Weapons and accessories

Denortos comes with a great deal of accessories. Apart from the already mentioned alternative arm and head-plus-cylinders, we also get two weapons and a blasting effect for the bionic eye. The first weapon is his light-green petrifaction-beam gun. This is beautifully sculpted and has a barrel equipped with two "stag beetle mandible"-shaped silver blades at the sides. The raygun has an additional handle, so it can also be displayed as a melee weapon. In addition, it has a small hook on its top, which allows it to be hung from a loop on the side of a supplementary large glossy black removable belt adorned with silver rivets and spikes.

The second weapon (sort of) is a silver shield. This is quite bulky and has a strange trapezoidal shape with intricate tech patterns. But here's the thing - both surfaces are made of hinged fold-out pieces (one on the back and three on the front) that allow us to convert the shield into a hovering jet-board. The feature really works great: when shrunk, the shield attaches securely either at the figure's robotic wrist or at the back armour (plugging into the same socket that can be used to stow the air tanks, which are also fictionally produced by the shield itself) via one peg; when spread out, the jet-board fastens snugly under his feet (with the figure standing on it). Additionally, Denortos' standard head bears a small hole in the cranial crest that can be used to make him glide on his jet-board by means of a string from one point to another (similarly to a zip line).

Finally, the translucent red blasting effect can replace the red bionic eye, to simulate the emission of a lethal laser beam.

There's more! In the comics, when travelling from Cereutis to Tahron, Denortos possesses the ability to transform into a falling body of matter, like a meteor. So, the figure also comes with his meteoric form, which looks like a coarse-grained, banded, porous dark-blue stone with hints of a red glow coming from its inside.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the eighth comic issue The Cereutian menace: Part I – Downfall. On Tahron, a monstrous warrior named Denortos is sent from the extra dimension of Cereutis to pursue an alliance with Lor-Drek. Denortos explains that he can bring him Deptilion's halberd in exchange for help to retrieve an ancient machine that can save Cereutis from destruction. Lor-Drek agrees and sends his soldiers to break into Theriom City's understructure, where the machine is supposedly hidden. Once the incursion is discovered, the Therioms try to fend the attackers off, but Denortos, before fleeing, turns Sei-Lha and Elykta into stone with his petrifaction weapon. At Koptros' suggestion, Masq-Lor and Fai-Rha travel to Artelon, to reach a compromise with Lor-Drek, who may have a remedy. After some struggle with a few Spektrosaur soldiers, the two siblings make it to the leader's command post. Lor-Drek agrees to provide them with an antidote to free their fellows from the curse, only if in return Fai-Rha reunites with his army. Fai-Rha accepts generously, but Masq-Lor eventually regrets and, while keeping the cure to save Sei-Lha's and Elykta's lives, goes back to rescue his sister. Using the element of surprise, the hero confronts the Spektrosaurs, but Lor-Drek stops the fight and proclaims that it was all just a test of Masq-Lor's love for his sister, in which he succeeded. In the meantime, Denortos attempts a new attack on Theriom City and manages to find and activate the machine. This creates an inter-dimensional bridge that brings Denortos' sidekicks on Tahron. Masq-Lor, Fai-Rha and Lor-Drek realise that the only way to overcome this new threat is to form a coalition.

Overall, Denortos is such a fun figure and, in my opinion, the most detailed in the entire KR line yet. The bionic parts are fantastic, they really look sharp. The torso even gets him an extra articulation point, which helps open up the poses for his body greatly. He is solid from top to bottom and has a very unique look to help set him apart from the reptilian guys he will be standing with. Yes, I am thrilled to add him to my Spektrosaur display, even if he has to stand off to the side due to his ambiguous background. And I should have no problem to find a configuration that fits my needs with all of the accessories included. Let’s hope that his critter form (right, he can also transform into a beast) shows up sooner rather than later, to make him even more complete.

The comic is very nice too, despite having one of those silly morals. One may object that the story doesn't make much sense - why would Masq-Lor first agree to 'abandon' his sister, but then go back on his word? Well, as Koptros (a new interesting character, by the way) explains, all the trouble was due to evil and selfish moves from others, which makes it legitimate to break a promise, if this can counteract those actions. Good point!

KR Review #51: Volcrotran

What good is an army without their commanding leader? In the interest of keeping things well ordered, Lor-Drek delegates his vice-marshal to lead the charge in his absence. Yes, Volcrotran^TM has come and just about two weeks after Nar-Aja's arrival I have another evil snake fighter to add to my shelf.

We are finally starting to fill out the ranks of the Spektrosaur army and this 39^th action figure prototype form PoliganToys will make this faction a force to take into serious consideration.

Details

Name: Volcrotran

Subtitle: snake warrior

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Relationships: husband of Nar-Aja

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Spektrosaur

Rank: vice-marshal.

Background

Volcrotran makes his only appearance in the seventh KR comic issue The siege of Erlokat, where he is presented as Lor-Drek’s loyal right-hand man. He was the first of Bi-Harr's soldiers to defect to the newly born Spektrosaur faction and worked with Lor-Drek to enlist as many warriors as possible. Once strong enough, the Spektrosaur army began a three-way war against the Therioms and the Rexodons, with Volcrotran leading many battles. Eventually, he was nominated second in command for his cunning military skills and married his fellow soldier Nar-Aja. After sounding his threatening rattle, Volcrotran wickedly poisons his enemies with dreadful snake bites.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of a neck extension and a tail, both of which are ball jointed separate pieces. The tail features two articulation points, two swivels at about one-third and two-thirds of its length.

Description

Head: similar to a viper, characterised by a triangular shape, dark-orange scaly skin, blue-green eyes with slit-shaped pupils and a closed mouth. He has a horned silver diadem adorned with a snake skull on the top of his head, and a snake-shaped silver ornament coiled around his neck, appearing to lengthen it. This neck ring is actually an extension piece that can be removed if one has will to display the figure without. Originally, Volcrotran was intended to have a scaly neck extension, but later he was equipped with the neck-ring instead, simply because it looked a more innovative element

Body: multicoloured scaly skin, claw hands and feet. His limbs are covered with keeled, imbricate dark-orange, dark-green and blueish scales arranged in a complex geometric pattern, similarly to an Atheris squamigera. Also, he has a long, slim dark-green (except for the underside that is blueish) tail, which is a separate piece emerging from the bottom edge of the armour and ends in a glossy turquoise rattle

Wearables: a golden armour with dark-blue details (the chest piece displays the Spektrosaur symbol, i.e., a greenish flame, at its centre), two golden bracelets, two golden calf protectors, a golden belt (whose large buckle resembles a viper head) and a dark-blue loincloth. The wrist guards are reused from Lor-Drek and are shaped to resemble a reptile head, while the shin guards and the loincloth look like made of large overlapping scales.

Volcrotran's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents the Spektrosaur symbol.

Action feature

In the comics, Volcrotran is equipped with two enormous retractable fangs, which are almost as long as half the length of his body. These are normally concealed in his mouth and swing into biting position when his jaws open, to allow them to penetrate deep into an unfortunate enemy's body and inject large quantities of venom. So, the figure comes with an alternative head, whose jaws are wide open and bear few small sharp white teeth, except for a pair of substantially enlarged fangs pointing downwards. Interestingly, each fang shows a small forward-facing orifice near the tip, suggesting that the tooth is actually a hollow venom channel. Of course, there is also a forked tongue sculpted on the inside of the mouth.

Additionally, the figure makes a rapid succession of short, sharp knocking sounds when shaken, similarly to a rattlesnake.

Weapon and accessories

Aside from the alternative head, Volcrotran comes with a sword. This is going to be my favourite sword in the entire line, the guys at PoliganToys did a great job designing it. I love the dark-blue viper-head hilt and the long curvy, jagged silver blade. I don't know whether the shape of the blade (a combination of a falcata, a zulfiqar, and a harpe) is supposed to be reminiscent of a snake body or a reptile tongue; however, for me, it evokes a flash of lightning.

Overall, among all of the new prototypes that arrived this months, I think Volcrotran has been executed in the most spectacular fashion. Yes, he does have an unpronounceable name, but he is certainly one of those rare figures that hits on every level. The body sculpt is impressive and the paint deco absolutely stunning. He's just standout and pops on the shelf.