KR|Origin Review #19: Chladox

I've been with PoliganToys' Key Raiders prototypes since the start, back to fall 2015, and I suspect I'll be with it till the end, whenever this comes. Some months are great, others a bit less, but the overall level of quality has been above average through these two wonderful years.

The 16^th action figure prototype of the KR|Origin series is Chladox^TM, a guy with a serious problem... he's got too many eyes! And when he gets a bit too irritated, more eyes pop out of his neck, leaving his opponents with no chance of hiding.

Details

Name: Chladox

Subtitle: all-seeing warrior

Classification: reptile of uncertain group

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Reptonoid

Rank: officer candidate.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: a monstrous mutant creature with an eerie birth defect, Chladox sought a place in the Reptonoid army soon after its establishment. The mutation that gave him dozens of extra eyes made him one of the most reactive and thus dangerous soldiers serving Bi-Harr. Often partnered with the symbiotic warrior Rabidriss, to combine their sinister abilities for combat, this evil multi-eyed reptile proved himself a lethal fighter that pities others who only have a pair of eyes to view the battlefield with, serving his vile leader well on many missions against the heroic Therioms.

Articulation

Standard, with the addition of an extra neck piece and a tail, both ball jointed.

Description

Head: similar to a Dimetrodon, characterised by a tall, curved shape, blueish skin, yellow eyes with vertical slit-shaped dark pupils and large teeth of different sizes set along the partially open jaws. Additionally, an extension piece, which represents his forward-bent neck against which a thin scaly frill is folded down, connects the head to the body

Body: blueish scaly skin, claw hands. Besides a large sail formed by a row of elongated orange-yellow spines joined by blueish skin along his back, his main feature is the presence of a number of extra eyes on his limbs: two on the shoulders, two on the forearms near the elbows, two at the sides of the thighs and two on the shins near the knees. All these eyes are similar to the main ones and fictionally allow Chladox to see in any direction. Finally, he has a long, thin blueish bandy tail emerging from under the loincloth, which is painted in orange-yellow on the underside. Both the sail and the tail are reused from the male Reptonoid Trooper (though the tail is slightly retooled to bear a small comb of skin towards the end) and are separate pieces that snap into sockets on the back

Wearables: a silver armour with light-green details, two silver gauntlets, two silver boots, a silver belt (whose buckle is shaped like the Reptonoid symbol, i.e., a reptile eye) and a light-green fabric loincloth. Both the gauntlets and the boots display small flattened fins projecting from the sides, while the loincloth is another reused piece from the male Reptonoid Trooper.

Chladox's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Chladox's most distinct feature is the large ruff of skin that normally lies folded down against his neck; when in danger, he spreads out this frill similarly to a Chlamydosaurus, to frighten his enemies. Also, due to the inclusion of supplementary eyes, the frill further enhances his panoramic vision, allowing him to battle multiple opponents, simultaneously defending attacks from in front and behind. So, the figure comes with an alternative neck extension that displays the expanded frill, characterised by orange-yellow scales and additional blue-purple eyes (two pairs on the lower half of the front side and four pairs on the back) on the parts that are usually hidden in the folds.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative neck piece, the figure comes with a light-green bronze chakram-shield, which in the comics Chladox hurls, spinning through the air, to his foes. The appearance of this throwing weapon somehow reminds me of the London Underground's roundel, with the ring part shaped like a large shuriken and the central bar resembling an evil S-styled reptile eye. The theme of this item is obviously a reference to both Chladox's all-seeing ability and the Reptonoid symbol.

Overall, this dude is one more winner in the Origin series and another of my favourites. I'm not sure why, but the Reptonoids in general appeal to me and I'll be displaying this one with the neck frill spread out. I'm just slightly disappointed about the extensive Reptonoid Trooper reuse, which could possibly cost this figure a couple of points. But even with those reused parts he's so damn cool looking that I can't resist going the full 100% satisfaction level.

KR|Origin Review #18: Sembryon

We have a robust KR lineup for this year and the latest entrant is Sembryon^TM, the legislator of the Theriom’s Royal Council of Thinkers.

This 15^th action figure prototype of the Origin series is the first to be reviewed for September... Rabidriss was supposed to be reviewed in August, but I was late. The figure comes with an awesome bio, which really helps in this case – it’s not like you can really learn much about this character from the comics.

Originally, Sembryon was meant to be the commander-in-chief of the Theriom Knights, sort of like the Tir-Hing of the Origin series. However, this didn’t pan out and Zhongat kinda took his place.

Details

Name: Sembryon

Subtitle: former ruler

Classification: human

Sex: male

Relationships: in the KR comic issue Hunt for the energy stone, it is mentioned that Sih-Len^TM, Mor-Rak's mother, is (or at least used to be) the princess of the feudal territory of O-Kin; since Sembryon is the former monarch of the same territory, it is likely that he's an ancestor of Mor-Rak's

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: legislator (formerly Lord Sembryon, ruler of the small Kingdom of O-Kin).

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: among the many small realms that in the long run joined up with the Therioms and formed the Kingdom of Tahron, none was as honoured as O-Kin, a sovereign territory in a mountainous region of strategic importance dominated by golden eagles. As the ruler of this territory, Lord Sembryon took particular interest in the conflict between Therioms and Reptonoids, and supported the cause of King Khon-Uhr to stop the spreading influence of Bi-Harr and his army. Driven by diplomacy rather than combativeness, he struck a peace deal with Bi-Harr in which the Reptonoids would be provided with food and services when demanded, an act that later condemned his domain. The reptilian leader, warned by his counsellors Loghar and Sphenorat that Sembryon would likely betray him, threatened the people of O-Kin and demanded the ruler's abdication. Although Sembryon courageously guarded the realm's walls and defended his subjects, Bi-Harr succeeded in taking control of the territory. In the aftermath of the fall of O-Kin, Sembryon was stripped of his authority and was forced to leave the ruins of the land he had failed to protect, eventually becoming an important member of the Theriom’s Royal Council of Thinkers.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: Scandinavian features, white skin, ruffled blond hair and beard, green eyes and daring expression. He wears a metallic dark-blue removable helmet characterised by a studded crest running from front to rear, a frontal golden decoration resembling a stylised pair of wings, a projecting bar covering the nose, two substantial cheek-pieces and a flange projecting from the lower parts of the skull and cheek-pieces to protect the back and sides of the neck; it also bears a pair of bison horns sticking out the sides, projecting forwards and pointing down. The folks at PoliganToys brought more detail to this helmet than I expected - there are little dents and scratches around the edges, while the horns, whose colour fades from black to white to light-brown, have a cracked and timeworn appearance

Body: entirely covered with a suit of silver chain mail, except for the hands which show white skin

Wearables: a black armour with dark-blue details (including a stylised bison skull towards the bottom), two metallic black bracelets with knuckle protectors, black&dark-blue spaulders, rerebraces and thigh guards, two segmented (i.e., made of overlapping metal plates) black boots (the right one displays a sheath with a small silver dagger, which is not removable), a black belt (whose elongated buckle stretches downwards) and dark-blue trunks. The bracelets, boot tops, belt buckle and the left part of the breast plate display variously sized golden emblems identical to the one on the helmet. Interestingly, the belt, trunks, thigh guards and an additional chest plate on the right part of the armour show some sculpted cyber details. This design, combining medieval and techno features, is very nice looking to me.

Sembryon's stylised armour; the triangle at the side of the chest piece represents the golden-wings symbol.

Action feature

In the comics, Sembryon is portrayed as both a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and a wise lawmaker. So, PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display the figure in two different configurations: a combat look and an institutional look. The former has been described above, while the latter is simply obtained by removing the helmet and adding a shoulder guard that has an attached cape. The shoulder guard is dark-blue with black details and attaches to the armour via two pegs; it is composed of two pauldrons joined to a high standing fabric collar (stabilised by two bison horns) on the back and to two golden clasps (connected with a black string) on the front. The orange cape has a dropped look in the back, and is bordered with dark-orange fur and edged with a zigzag line at the bottom.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the helmet and the shoulder guard plus cape, the figure comes with a very exciting accessory, which is a sceptre that can double as a ball-and-chain flail. The dark-blue sceptre, which obviously matches the institutional look better, fictionally transforms into a vicious morning star when the ball at the top detaches from the haft, revealing a chain and producing a number of spikes. In the toy, it is possible to disconnect the smooth metallic dark-blue sphere from the top of the staff and replace it with an alternative chained ball covered in steel spikes.

Overall, Sembryon is a strong addition to the Origin sect and to the KR universe as a whole. What I especially like of the figure are those armour pieces where meticulous sculpting has been given to even the most minute technical detail. That helps break the medieval overtones that characterise this series, which continues to offer important and interesting characters to the KR mythos. There is still a lot left in KR|Origin, as Sembryon clearly shows, so I want to see the line continue and move forward under the skilled hands of PoliganToys. Key Raiders has been present in my life long enough now that, I'm not ashamed to say it, reviewing these prototypes is a happy part of my lifestyle.

KR|Origin Review #17: Rabidriss

Wow. It’s been a month since I reviewed any KR|Origin prototypes! Thanks to a few work trips, this review is late... my job occasionally requires me to head to some fantastic places around the world, which I consider a huge piece of luck; but at the end of the day, travelling is time-consuming and tiring, which makes it a challenge to stay focused on my blog.

Rabidriss^TM occupies the hallowed spot of the 14^th action figure prototype to be reviewed in the Origin series. So, here he is, as part of August’s lineup (like I said, late). And just... who is he?

Details

Name: Rabidriss

Subtitle: symbiotic warrior

Classification: therapsid reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Reptonoid

Rank: major.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins
Brief bio: a semi-aquatic reptilian creature from the eastern wetlands region, Rabidriss was cursed to live in symbiosis with a toxic plant, which was grown from a seed planted on his back at birth. Spending much of his time meandering in the swamps, he provided the plant with light, water and nutriment, and in return received protection and energy. Eventually, Rabidriss used his vegetal companion to serve Bi-Harr on his quest to vanquish the mammalian enemies. Whenever the Therioms tried to counterattack the Reptonoid's menace, he fought viciously by unfolding the bud on his back into a malodorous blossom, which, according to a legend, also had the power to subtract the colours from the surrounding vegetation. He then used his threatening cannon to shoot the deadly seeds produced by the plant, which could instantly transform into voracious crawling critters.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: similar to a dicynodont (e.g., Placerias), characterised by a short U-shaped snout ending in a turtle-like dark horny beak, dark-grey fur with few orange blotches, evil light-blue eyes with beady red pupils and a pair of short, pointed ivory-coloured tusks sticking out from the upper jaw. Additionally, he wears a metallic dark-green removable helmet, which bears three purple keel-like crests and whose appearance recalls a Protoceratops neck frill

Body: thick dark-grey fur with orange blotches, claw hands and feet. I think this is the first case of a KR reptilian character whose skin is not protected by scales or osteoderms, but by a covering of fur, which gives him an interesting mammal-like reptile nature. He also has a short, thick tail emerging from under the loincloth

Wearables: a purple harness with dark-green details and lime vines coiled around its straps, two metallic purple bracelets with serrated leaf patterns, two lime scaly thigh pads, two purple leather boots with double-fringe tops (on the front, the shaft of each boot seems to be separate from the vamp, leaving the shin exposed partially), a purple leather belt with a three-bladed golden shuriken as a buckle and three dark-green leather tassets (the central one of which is shaped like a large leaf) with serrated leaf embossed patterns.

Rabidriss' stylised harness.

Action feature

In the comics, Rabidriss carries a tubular metallic dark-green backpack similar to a vase, which is actually a protection for a large plant that provides him with energy through photosynthesis, allowing him to survive for days without eating. This plant normally appears as a cabbage-like magenta bud, from which a massive flower pops out during combat. So, the figure comes with two interchangeable plug-in pieces that represent the two alternative forms of the plant: the closed bud and the open flower. The flower resembles that of Rafflesia arnoldii and has a few leafy green fronds surrounding its base, five fleshy maroon petals covered with whitish warts and poisonous spines, as well as a bowl-like central structure from which a number of short lime filaments emerge. Since the flower fictionally has a stink of rotting flesh that attracts nutrient-rich insects, the guys at PoliganToys added a scent to the plastic in order to make it smell unpleasantly.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the plant attachments, Rabidriss comes with a massive metallic dark-green revolver cannon, whose bell-shaped muzzle slightly recalls the five-petalled design of his toxic flower.

The lower end of Rabidriss' backpack is connected to the butt of the revolving cylinder (containing five chambers) of the cannon via a lime tube that looks like an ivy-leaved vine. Thanks to this arrangement, the cannon can fictionally shoot the lethal seeds contained within the flower towards the enemies. The figure includes three roughened dark-brown seeds in three different forms: dormant, partially sprouted and completely sprouted. The dormant form is the completely closed, egg-shaped seed that plugs into the muzzle of the cannon. The sprouted form is the horrifying dog-sized, crab-like parasite that attacks the enemies; the top and lower jaws (between which a dark-green, seemingly muscular membrane stretches) of the creature's head end in serrated edges with trickles of resin-like drool and have two pairs of devilish red eyes each, while the rest of its body consists of a wooden crustacean-like carapace, five root-like legs and two pairs of branch-like spiny, clawed arms. The semi-sprouted form is a mid-transformation version of the previous two and resembles a wooden saw-blade with two of the creature's four arms emerging from the sides.

Overall, I really dig Rabidriss, he looks great with the Reptonoids despite a couple of non-traditional features, such as the hairy appearance and the botanical theme. Everything, from sculpt to paint, is pretty top notch, except for the flower piece being too dense and heavy for the figure to stand easily. I could nitpick a few other details like the inarticulate tail and the loincloth being a little too long, but the truth is that this is a pretty good figure and a nice addition to the line.

KR|Origin Review #16: Zhongat & Kilorapt

SDCC 2017 wrapped last week and was a blast. A part of the fun at the con was seeing the impressive lineup of Key Raiders figures that PoliganToys displayed in their booth. What a view!

Today I'm looking at one of the most interesting 2-packs in the KR|Origin line - Zhongat^TM + Kilorapt^TM. Interesting because this third multi-pack prototype of the series is the first that includes two figures belonging to two different factions... sort of.

Considering that Zhongat is a kind of dwarf action figure due to his small stature, the folks at PoliganToys decided to give him a package upgrade and, I have to say, having it packed with another character was a pretty good idea. Especially because the second item is a creature and a quite imposing addition to the collection.

Ready for a closer look at this 2-pack? Then let's go.

Zhongat

Details

Name: Zhongat

Subtitle: former mentor

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Theriom (formerly belonging to the Reptonoid faction)

Rank: commandant of the Theriom Knights.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: the shrewdest and most venerable of the reptilian trainers, Zhongat mentored Bi-Harr in potentiating both his body and his intellect, to help overcome the difficulties due to his dual nature and to prepare him for a military career. When the self-appointed Reptonoid leader decided to undertake an uprising against the increasing mammalian predominance, he felt frightened by and partially responsible for the growing insanity of his pupil, and decided to put his experience at the service of the Therioms. Zhongat provided King Tah-Ron's forces with valuable training alongside Ki-Shudan, but only after proving he had not only great strength, but sharp powers of judgement as well. As one of the brawniest fighters on Tahron, he possessed such an extraordinary might that even his former disciple dared not challenge him.

Articulation

Zhongat's articulation scheme differs from the standard one significantly and is the following:

- neck (ball jointed)

- shoulder (ball hinged, x2)

- elbow (ball hinged, x2)

- wrist (swivel + hinged -for left wrist front-to-back movement and right wrist side-to-side movement-, x2)

- mid-torso (ball jointed)

- hip (hinged, x2)

- knee (swivel, x2)

- ankle (double hinged -for both front-to-back and rocking movements-, x2)

- tail (swivel)

Description

Head: similar to a Komodo dragon, characterised by ochre skin, a long scaly snout, light-blue eyes (the right one is pupil-less), closely spaced serrated teeth along the edges of the jaws, a long, deeply forked yellow tongue and a gular fold

Body: shorter than most characters (only 12 cm, almost 5"), bulky. His rugged hide is reinforced with bony armoured scales, which function as a sort of natural chain-mail, and shows crazes, warts and an ochre drybrush that brings out all the amazing detail in the sculpt. His hands and feet display long black claws, while a thick pointy tail as long as the rest of his body emerges from under his skirt

Wearables: a light-green crocodile leather robe (with orange collar, lapels, cuffs and hem, all decorated with copper studs), an orange hakama (with a middle slit to allow for leg movement) and a pair of thonged light-green sandals. The robe, whose hem falls to the hip, is completely open and has a loose closure (which is formed of two copper clasps connected with an orange string) near the neck, while the skirt is secured by a metallic light-green belt. The detail of the patterning in the hakama is pretty stunning and Zhongat has a lot of little silver work (e.g., chains and awls) stored in its pockets. The belt displays a crocodile leather sheath, which is used to store the blade of his dagger (more on this later), and a copper purse respectively near the left and the right side of the buckle. The sleeves are short enough to expose two metallic light-green wrist guards decorated with spines; similar metallic spines, a couple of which have even been broken off, are also attached to the robe, running all down the back.

Action feature

Although the comics portray Zhongat as a skilled hand-to-hand fighter and mention that he has a venomous bite, his figure has no action feature.

Weapons and accessories

Zhongat comes with two nice accessories: a janbiya and a shield. The janbiya is a dagger with a copper hilt and a short curved steel blade that has a medial ridge, while the shield is made of a wooden oval to which two intertwined copper dragons (one looking European, the other Chinese), symmetrically biting one another's tail, are fixed. The design of the shield reminds me a bit of the Auryn, the talisman seen in The Neverending Story.

Kilorapt

Details

Name: Kilorapt

Subtitle: ghoulish dinosaur

Classification: archosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)/Foundation

Affiliation: Reptonoid/Rexodon

Rank: steed.

Articulation

Kilorapt’s articulation isn’t fantastic, but it’s decent enough to accomplish a few nice poses. His ball jointed head has a really wide range of movement, while the tail is only on a swivel. Each limb features three points of articulation: swivel shoulder/hip, ball hinged elbow/knee and ball hinged wrist/ankle. Fortunately, the legs are strong enough to support his body weight for long periods.

Description

Kilorapt resembles a bipedal maniraptor with a long tail. Like other KR creatures, he's pretty big, but even with his large size the folks at PoliganToys didn’t skimp at all on the detail work. Kilorapt is covered head to tail in craggy looking mauvish scales and wrinkles. His abdomen is covered with a longitudinal series of larger orange scales, which also run all along the underside of the tail (giving him a segmented appearance) and received a nice dark-red wash. His head is characterised by large, slightly forward facing amber eyes and partially open jaws that are lined with widely spaced blade-like white teeth, while his limbs are long and slender, and terminate in three-fingered/toed hands and feet that display large curved pearlescent claws.

The patterns on his skin are broken up even more with scars and cracks due to the incorporation of cybernetic enhancements, such as a sighting device on his left eye (for looking in on targets) and a pair of robotic mechanisms with circuits, pistons and cogs mounted to the legs (for movement with increased strength and endurance).

Kilorapt carries a removable armoured saddle, which has a button closure on the bottom and whose front and rear extend into a neck guard and a tail guard respectively. The seat is characterised by a brown leather scale armour texture, and is equipped with a pair of horn-like black appendages attached to the pommel and two gold&red escutcheons (one with the Reptonoid eye symbol and the other with the Rexodon skull emblem) at the sides of the cantle. The steel neck and tail guards show lots of cyber details, as well as various golden ornaments, such as studs, crests and claw-shaped decorations. The underside of the saddle is cushioned by some dark-brown lining, which bears few orange strings with tassels at their ends and covers the shoulders and the hips partially. The rider is secured by a 2-point safety belt that goes over the waist, but, curiously, there are no stirrups.

Action feature

Kilorapt includes a set of accessories that are used to display him in the way he appears briefly in the comics of the Origin series. First up is a steel head armour with gold details (i.e., eyes and upper and lower crests) that resembles the head of a Tyrannosaurus. The armour is made of a collar and two hinged jaws, and can be worn by temporarily disconnecting Kilorapt's head. It simulates a techno-bite action and, when it's closed, conceals the steed's real head completely.

Additionally, there are two pairs of raptor hands and feet attachments, both made of steel with long curved, sickle-shaped golden claws (two for each hand and three for each foot). The slashing front claws clip on the wrists and carry posable wing-shaped blades that are attached to the bracers via ball-hinged joints, while the hind claws connect to the feet in a shoe fashion.

Weapons and accessories

Kilorapt comes with a large pivoting cannon that is mounted to the armoured saddle and rests over his right shoulder. The gold&silver cannon is shaped like a dinosaur head and can fire a flame-ball projectile thanks to a spring-loaded mechanism.

Overall, while there is a problem with the limited articulation here and there, these two figures still turned out to be incredible thanks to their flawless sculpting and paintwork. These are truly the kind of figures that deliver a visual punch to anyone who sees them. I like Zhongat's character a lot (rogue reptilians, oh yeah!), so it’s great to get a figure of him, especially considering his unusual shape and size. Kilorapt is another creature in the KR mythology that I really wanted, so it’s nice to see him finally get a figure that can easily fit into both the regular and the Origin lines; he's just an impressive and dominating presence, and really gives me something to build a display with my collection of prototypes around.

KR SDCC 2017 Exclusive: Ultimate Curse set (LoGoN vehicle form & driver)

PoliganToys will be in attendance at this year's San Diego Comic-Con!

Their SDCC exclusive release is the Key Raiders Ultimate Curse 2-pack, which contains the vehicle form of LoGoN and its "mysterious" white-suited driver.

CoBoN's evil counterpart is one of the more interesting machines shown during the several episodes of the KR saga. We already got LoGoN's robot configuration last year, but if its vehicle form hadn't been produced, there would have been an empty space on the shelf.

This very first release (not a prototype!) from PoliganToys is mostly a reuse of CoBoN's vehicle mode with a few differences:

- The bodywork is painted in a glossy black colour

- The front mounted scanner bar is recreated with a black lenticular sticker displaying green and purple patterns

- The voice display on the dashboard is painted in colours closer to the blue part of the spectrum, rather than to the red one

- Neither the central multi-spectral detector/holographic projector nor the clawed continuous tracks pieces are included

- The two Gatling guns are replaced by a spring-loaded rocket launcher and a plasma cannon (in black&silver).

The package includes a full-body version of LoGoN's white-suited driver, which is my personal favourite Demo-Rha's variant. The head and the torso are reused from the static bust that came with the original LoGoN, while the rest of the body is made of white&ochre repainted pieces from Combat Sei-Lha, specifically:

- The arms (with gloved gripping, non-removable hands)

- The legs (with glued leg guards)

- The belt and the crotch piece.

The articulation is the female standard and no weapon is included.

This KR exclusive will be available for $100 at the convention.

They will also have plenty of prototypes on display at their booth all weekend long! I wish I could be there...

KR|Origin Review #15: Loghar (Origin Edition)

The wait for Loghar^TM is over! Despite this version of the reptilian sorcerer and engineer is completely "organic" (i.e., without robotic parts), I can confirm he is still as awesome as he was in the regular series.

This 13^th action figure prototype in the KR|Origin series has a few parts that have never been seen before for this character, such as a new head, left arm and right leg. He also comes with two extra heads, including the coveted unmasked standard head. So, ultimately when you have this figure, you will end up converting regular Loghar (or his possessed Herrion variant) into an unmasked version, because the head is an amazing piece.

Details

Name: Loghar (Origin Edition)

Subtitle: ruthless sorcerer and engineer

Classification: archosauromorph reptile

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Reptonoid

Rank: brigade general.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: an evil Reptonoid member with skills in both sorcery and engineering, Loghar was one of the first acolytes of Bi-Harr. He assisted the reptilian leader in his ambition to rule Tahron for many years, frequently overpowering numerous mammalian enemies. As good with his magic hallucinatory powers as he was technically competent, Loghar helped design various devices to assist the reptilian forces, including enhancements to his master and an army of robot enforcers that wouldn't be developed for several centuries. Loghar was eventually forced to enhance his own body by the aid of bionic apparatuses of his own devising, after a fight with his fellow sorcerer and rival Sphenorat had left him severely injured.

Articulation

Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed.

Description

Head: his face is supposed to resemble an Iguanodon, but it is flattened in order to acquire a more humanoid look. It has grey skin, a dark-grey cranial crest (composed of a row of three bony bulges supporting a kind of skin sail), pointy ray fin-shaped ears, amber eyes with vertical slit-shaped red pupils, and a closed beak-like dark-grey mouth encircled by long tendril-like whitish moustache and beard (the end of the latter is tied around what I assume is a dinosaur's thumb spike). He wears a metallic black crown decorated with silver studs, on the back of which a shock of long whitish "real" hair is rooted by way of the separate scalp piece

Body: grey scaly skin, claw hands and three-toed feet (both equipped with large conical dark nails)

Wearables: a tattered, loose sleeveless black furry garment (reaching to the thighs), two spiked silver bracelets, two silver calf protectors (each with a spike sticking out of the side) and a black sash decorated with silver studs. The right arm and the left leg display a silver armband and a sort of silver garter (each bearing a spike and not removable) around the biceps and thigh respectively. He also wears a gladiator-like silver harness with some black details here and there, which has an attached cape. The cape is bicolour, black at the top and red at the bottom, with the two colours separated by a jagged motif. Personally, I find the tunic+harness too bulky. I'd rather remove the garment but leave the armour, as they are two separate pieces. I think I prefer this look over the fully covered torso.

Loghar's stylised harness.

Action feature

Loghar's abilities in the comics include casting spells to create rune shields of light, which he then throws to his enemies to cause hallucinations. So, the figure comes with a pair of attachable effects to help create his magic powers. These “blasts” in the comics do look somewhat like Dr. Strange's magical mandalas, so I see that is what they went for here and I'm actually a big fan of them. They fit fine (each is held by a handle on the back side) and look great in translucent yellow-orange and blue-purple plastic. In addition to these, PoliganToys has tossed in a cool extra left hand with a clear red “throwing” effect that can be attached to either light disc for some really dynamic posing.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the two magic effects, Loghar comes with one weapon and two extra heads. The weapon is a devastating four-bladed axe, which is composed of a long black haft and two double-bitted axe heads intersecting each other (such that the four broad silver blades, whose cutting edges are parallel to the handle, appear as a cross in top view and as a flame in front view).

The first extra head depicts Loghar in a battle-ready setup and displays grey skin, solid red eyes (why a different colour? I like to think that he has his third eyelids completely closed) and a beak-like dark-grey mouth encircled by tendril-like whitish moustache and beard (the latter is shorter than in the regular head and has no decoration). The mouth is slightly open, to show a number of sharp white crooked teeth as a sign of aggressiveness, and the nostrils look smaller than in the standard head. Additionally, this head wears a metallic black non-removable helmet, which carries a silver blade crest on the top and two long curved silver horns projecting forwards and pointing down. On the back, we can see the whitish hair (in this version shorter and sculpted) coming out from the base of the helmet.

The second extra head shows how Loghar looks under his demonic golden mask in the regular series, and is characterised by a skeletal, charred appearance, a row of three bony bulges on the top of the skull, deep sunken eye sockets (which emit a red glow), tendril-like whitish moustache and beard (same style as the previous head) and a subtle remainder of sculpted hair on the back. This head includes a black removable hood, which has a V-shaped point in the centre of the edge over the forehead, and works best on Loghar-possessed Herrion, making it become a true unmasked Loghar figure (that action figure came with a loose mask that helps complete the picture).

Overall, this is a cool figure with probably the best bonus accessory yet in that new unmasked-Loghar head sculpt. Unlike other Origin Edition figures in the series, this version of Loghar is free of regular-resemblance limitations and the detailed sculpt, the colours, the rooted hair (a rarity for the KR toyline) and the accessories make it one of my favourites for 2017 by a large margin.

KR|Origin Review #14: Khon-Uhr

The first monthly KR|Origin item slot for July is used very wisely by PoliganToys with Khon-Uhr^TM!

This 12^th dual-action figure prototype of the Origin lineup comes into my hands half way through the year, to satisfy my demand for a strongly wanted and necessary character without having used up all the fun at the initial phase of this line that started in January.

Details

Name: Khon-Uhr

Subtitle: savage king

Classification: primivod mammal

Sex: male

Relationships: son of Tah-Ron, partner of Kai-Xi, ancestor of the Amhalgaard family

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Masq-Lor's time (now renamed Foundation)

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: king of Tahron.

Background

First appearance: KR|Origin #2 - Battle for Tahron: Part I – The journey begins

Brief bio: the son of the first Theriom king Tah-Ron, Khon-Uhr served as his father's young assistant during the mammalian stand against the rising Reptonoid dominance. Despite Tah-Ron's relative broad-mindedness towards the reptilian people, his son grew rancorous and cursed Bi-Harr after he had killed the monarch in battle. Nicknamed "savage king" for his boldness, Khon-Uhr succeeded his father as a great leader, ruling along his army of valiant warriors, but repudiated any intents of reaching an armistice or showing mercy in case the Therioms would win the war. Chosen to hold the artefacts forged by Galamars alongside other brave combatants, Khon-Uhr called upon all their prodigiousness to thwart the cruel reptilian chief, but was ultimately defeated. He passed his mission to Kai-Xi with his last breath, ensuring that only his heirs could guard the dangerous powers hidden behind the multiversal walls.

Articulation

Both figures have the standard articulation.

Description

In the comics, Khon-Uhr wears a magic helmet that in certain situations gives him incredible abilities and changes his look. Despite the two figures represent the same character, they render the two alternative forms and appear very different. Although it's not clear whether these figures will be released individually or in a 2-pack, I'm going to describe them separately.

Normal form

Head: predominantly leonine (even if he's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial), characterised by a buff face with a thick reddish mane, green eyes and a bold expression. His mane has a pair of gathered hanks of hair hanging down at the sides and is topped with a golden diadem bearing the Theriom emblem (i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated)

Body: thick buff fur, claw hands

Wearables: a Y-shaped chest harness with leather&copper straps, two brown leather gloves (each with a large studded copper wrist guard that has four small claws projecting forward), two brown leather boots, a brown leather belt and a scale armour loincloth consisting of several overlapping copper plates laced together. Additionally, he wears a greenish furry cape, characterised by a substantial collar that is permanently attached to the breast plate. The large collar is, like the cape, covered in greenish fur and bulges on the back similarly to an additional mane, giving the figure a hunched over look; it also has two curved copper spikes that project forward from near the shoulders and are pierced in order to hold two brown ropes, from which a skull hangs at the centre. There's quite a lot of reuse in this figure: the loincloth is reused from Bi-Harr, while the left wrist and the collar are from Tah-Ron (the latter is retooled in order to hold an undefined reptile head's skeleton, perhaps from a victim of Khon-Uhr's revenge for losing his father).

Khon-Uhr's stylised harness; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents a socket, to which the furry collar connects.

Enhanced form

Head: similarly to the other protectors of the Key (i.e., Kai-Xi, Myneran and Elkymor), Khon-Uhr wears one of the silver magic helmets, which in certain circumstances produces an ebony half mask (or visor) and gives him incredible physical and mental powers, changing his appearance significantly. The figure comes with an helmeted head, characterised by the ebony visor activated, fierce eyes and a covering of greenish hair around the open mouth (which exposes a number of large, sharp whitish teeth). In addition to the standard side crests, the helmet is also adorned with two long, flat frontal ebony decorations resembling stylised horns. In my opinion, the most exciting aspect of his head is that, unlike the other three helmets which had already appeared in the regular series, it features a completely new helmet, never seen before

Body: he exhibits the bulkier sculpt that has previously been used for Grabtrak, which displays a greenish fur and claw hands and feet (unlike the normal form, this version of Khon-Uhr has ungloved hands and is barefoot)

Wearables: two pairs of brown leather wrist and shin guards with prominent copper spikes, an elaborate leather&copper jockstrap with a buckle that recalls the Theriom emblem and a brown furry loincloth.

Khon-Uhr's stylised helmet with side crests.

Action feature

To simulate the retractile claws seen in the comics, a pair of large brownish claws can snap into each bracelet of Khon-Uhr's enhanced form.

Weapons and accessories

Khon-Uhr's normal form comes with a copper double-purpose staff that is a repaint of his father's weapon. One end of the pole is four-pronged and holds a translucent blue-green hemisphere, while the other end bears a pointed tip. So, depending on its orientation, the staff works either as a royal sceptre or a spear.

The enhanced form is equipped with a silver halberd, which is one of the four components of the Key (the one whose blade is curved outward) and a shinier version of the halberd that belongs to Bi-Harr in the regular series.

Finally, there is an alternative head for the figure's normal form, which wears the inactive helmet, i.e., with neither the ebony visor activated nor the frontal decorations. This head works as the necessary bridge between the unhelmeted and the helmeted-with-visor heads.

Overall, Khon-Uhr is another dual-figure in the Origin series that I really feel a strong connection with. Being such an important staple in the KR cannon, I am excited to see him be finally added to the line. However, probably due to the many similarities between his normal form and other primivods (e.g., Tir-Hing and Tah-Ron), as well as between his enhanced form and... hmmm... a furry version of the Hulk, I just didn’t go bonkers for the figure(s) like I did with others, for example Kai-Xi and Elkymor. Too bad, after such a long wait.