KR|Dimness Review #8: Modi-Rha (Dimness Edition)

Toy prototype details

Name: Modi-Rha^TM (Dimness Edition)

Subtitle: athletic sidekick

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 6 in the line.

Character details

Name: Modi-Rha

Married name: Cleorsu^TM

Classification: human

Sex: female

Relationships: wife of Wordron, mother of Barkos

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: counsellor.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: the orphan of Nemhisto^TM and estranged sister of Demo-Rha^TM, Modi-Rha was brainwashed by Duke Wordron when he became convinced that his native realm, O-Kin, would be better off with him as its ruler. Initially unaware of their blood relationship, she married Wordron and joined her husband's plan to challenge King Li-Khon^TM for the throne of Tahron. Armed with a variety of weapons and superhuman abilities, Modi-Rha proved a merciless warrior, but was eventually defeated and exiled with her family at Ucamur. There, she was persuaded to leap into battle once again, this time against the Forseha people in order to exploit their link to the powers of the ancient champion Myneran^TM. When Wordron revealed his demonic nature, rather than subjugate the Forseha tribe members, Modi-Rha instead freed them from the Dark Legion's clutches and helped them prevail over its despotic leader.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: half-Asian features, her skin, hair and eyes have an albino character, but their colour, instead of being completely white, tends to a very light-toned violet. Her haircut is an asymmetrical shave on one side of the head that leaves the rest of the hair long and arranged into a twisted side-ponytail (however, the trimmed side is not completely shaved, but buzzed very short with a tribal design). Apart from the addition of the ponytail and a different tribal design, her slightly aged look makes it possible to distinguish this head from her Enmity version's one

Body: the exposed parts of her body, i.e., neck, stomach, arms and legs, show a very pale, light-toned violet skin

Wearables: a gold armour with purple details, a gold choker, two gold armbands, two gold bracelets, two gold sandal-boots with knee guards, a gold belt (with a square blue buckle that holds a short strip of sheer violet fabric) and a short purple leather tasset skirt. Besides the Dark Legion symbol (i.e., a diamond-shaped black gemstone, which, when looking deeply into it, shows a subtle discolouration resembling a demonic face), her armour is equipped with two laminar, studded purple shoulder pads and two loops for storing her daggers. The knee guards are ornamented with purple gemstones, while the openwork of her boots allows her ankles and part of the top of each foot to show through.

Modi-Rha's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest piece represents the Dark Legion symbol.

Action feature

In the comics of the KR|Dimness series, at some point Modi-Rha is shown to possess the paranormal ability to store energy (specifically derived from sound and light waves), convert it into a destructive force and release it either gradually (by disintegrating anything that she touches with her right hand and by creating a barrage of knives of light to be thrown at her opponents) or all at once in the form of a separate spirit that is capable of flight/teleportation and can generate "darkness explosions" upon contact with solid objects (this sort of astral projection can only last for a very limited period of time). In the toy, the dark form of energy that she can project from her body takes the shape of an energy blast effect, which is cast in a black plastic and fits onto her right hand fairly snugly. This piece also shows bright violet lines on its surface, like if it had fractured without coming apart, and has a really great swirly pattern to it that looks appropriately supernatural.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the energy blast effect add-on, Modi-Rha comes with a cool set of accessories. A number of these accessories, her requisite quarterstaves and sickle-daggers, are related to her stick fighting and knife throwing skills. The two quarterstaves are long, stout rods of wood tipped with spiked golden caps at both ends and equipped with purple leather strips wrapped around the shafts for a more comfortable grip. These staffs can clip onto the back of Modi-Rha's armour in a criss-cross pattern.

The sickle-daggers come in two forms: as three separate pieces and combined into a triskelion-shaped throwing star. Each knife has a purple hilt, as well as an angled blade that can be sheathed in one of the two loops on the front of the armour. The third knife may be stored in an additional black leather sheath that can be tied around either thigh. The combined spinning star version is never shown in the comics, but is a very nicely sculpted piece. All the angled blades have a golden face and a glow-in-the-dark one, to mimic Modi-Rha's ability to concentrate the bright form of her superhuman energy into her hand, with it manifesting as a supernatural glow of the knife she holds.
Additionally, the figure includes an alternative masked head that wears a purple cloth covering. The best way to describe this headgear is saying that it resembles a mix of a hijab and a ninja mask. For a piece that is mostly just a purple hood, there is absolutely no lack in details thanks to lines and folds around the opening for the eyes. While not much of her face is exposed here, her furrowed brow, coupled with her bright eyes, suggests a fierce expression.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ Modi-Rha is a pretty cool and important character in the KR mythos, so it makes sense that she has a new figure in this series, even if she's not very different from her KR|Enmity counterpart

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ Her articulation is pretty standard for a KR female figure, but her skirt is short enough to allow for some combat poses that many of the other ladies cannot manage

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Like with her previous version, she has an extremely well sculpted facial expression, matching the intensity of her character. The paint seems fine, although it doesn't mimic the comic book colour scheme faithfully

Accessories: ♠♠♠ Her weapons are really cool, and she looks good wielding them. If she’s missing anything, it’s a repaint of herself that resembles the shadowy black silhouette projected from her body. I'll be waiting for a variant

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ How could I not enjoy a ninja-masked chick that is a master knife thrower and can produce a dark force of total destruction?

Overall: ☺☺☺ This figure isn’t perfect, her skin tone is a bit too light and her accessories are kinda limited, but in every other respect, she is definitely great.

KR|Dimness Review #7: Pike

Toy prototype details

Name: Pike

Subtitle: young furry apprentice

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure (small figure) - Nº 5 in the line.

Character details

Name: Pike

Classification: lagomorph mammal

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha

Rank: tyro.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #2 - Masq-Lor's quest

Brief bio: as the youngest son of the Forseha tribe's master artisan, Pike learnt the value of work and responsibility since his childhood. He grew up loved by his parents and cherished by his many siblings, but while his father taught him the ways of craft, he soon found fondness for the art of fighting, feeling the need to protect the people around him. Although Solamya believed Pike wasn't ready for combat, few realised how far he had climbed to worthiness. Above all, Dakun, observing Pike's flourishing virtue, recognised the striking similarities between him and Masq-Lor, and hoped that one day they would both use their noble nature to defend their tribe together.

Articulation

Standard, except that elbows and knees are swivel/hinged, wrists are ball jointed, and there are no bicep, abdomen and thigh joints.

Description

Head: similar to a hare, characterised by a short reddish-brown fur, a slightly prominent face (I guess it's been flattened to give it a more humanoid appearance), long elliptical ears (the right one is almost straight up, while the left one is bent forward), big green eyes and large protruding incisor teeth in the upper jaw. The face is very well sculpted and displays a subtle smile that definitely fits the young age and the cuteness of the character, although the overall expression shows some boldness

Body: smaller than the adult characters (only 13 cm, a bit more than 5"), slim, thick reddish-brown fur (with a few nicely shaped black markings), long four-toed feet with strong dark claws and a short, rounded bushy tail sculpted over the back of his shorts. The fur on the front of the torso and on the centre of the tail has an off-white wash

Wearables: a metallic light-blue collar, two metallic light-blue bracelets, two metallic light-blue calf protectors with knee guards, a studded metallic light-blue belt and dark-green shorts. The collar bears two golden rings (one on the front and one on the back) to which a dark-green cloth that seemingly straps across his crotch is tied; the lower-front part of the cloth carries a metallic light-blue ornament (which is shaped like two stylised rabbit ears pointing downward) supposedly representing the belt buckle and hiding the gap between this part and the shorts (which are fictionally one piece)... too bad that the "buckle" turns together with the torso when it's swivelled at the waist cut and nothing similar has been added to the back. However, the collar, bracelets, knee guards, belt buckle and cloth are all engraved/embroidered with very nice decorative patterns.

Action feature

In the comics, Pike shows several abilities. First and foremost, thanks to his remarkably long and strong legs, he's a fast runner and an exceptional jumper. In fact, Pike has new legs, which are, from hips to ankles, 1 cm (almost ½'') longer than the standard small figure's legs. This means that at full height (for example when posing in a jump action scene) the figure is taller than other equally-sized characters such as Mor-Rak, Zhongat or little Barkos. However, he can be displayed in a slightly crouching position, both to bring him to a more standard height and to give him a characteristic "rabbit" posture.

Additionally, Pike is shown to be very skillful in boxing and in quickly digging burrows (or even warrens of interconnecting burrows) for shelter whenever he's in danger. So, the figure's bare hands can be replaced with two alternative pairs of brown leather-gloved hands, which have, besides attached shield-shaped metallic light-blue wrist guards, either a clenched pose or an open pose with a golden claw extending from the tip of each finger.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the pairs of alternate hands, Pike comes with a greenish extra belt derived from the long woody stem of a liana, and two versions of it in action. The loose fitting belt is removable and it took me a bit to figure out how it should sit on the waist. By moving the knot slightly behind his left hip and above the waist cut, the straps on the front side will hang down in front of the buckle sculpted on the garment piece.

The other two separate pieces (i.e., a whip and a sling used to hurl a couple of sculpted stones) work pretty well for some cool in-action poses and are made to look like the belt has been removed and is used as a weapon.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ Pike is yet another KR figure to divide a potential fan base. I personally love the comic Masq-Lor's quest (which I'll review at some point), and this character’s design and role are really appealing in my opinion. He’s definitely the most benign-looking creature of the series

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ The standard articulation is not hindered by his outfit at all

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Pike reuses Mor-Rak's body with some new parts, including a brilliant head sculpt that has a bit of a dry-brush to bring out the fur texture. The torso armour is really more like a costume, but has some nice details such as rivets, indented seam lines and raised designs

Accessories: ♠♠ While I like all the accessories, I do wish they were a bit more exciting. With such a small figure, I would have appreciated some larger pack-in item

Playability: ♪♪♪ I imagine I enjoy this figure far more than many other fans would do. I actually like him far more than I anticipated I would

Overall: ☺☺☺ I dig Pike. He’s simple, small and a perfect April Fool's Day joke, but he's also a fun addition to the KR|Dimness family.

KR|Dimness Review #6: Barkos

Toy prototype details

Name: Barkos^TM

Subtitle: defiant heir

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure (dual figure) - Nº 4 in the line.

Character details

Name: Barkos

Classification: human

Sex: male

Relationships: stepson of Wordron

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: rear marshal.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: raised as a hereditary duke, Barkos was in fact born to Modi-Rha^TM and a fellow soldier in O-Kin's Golden Eagle armed force. When his biological father was mysteriously found dead, Duke Wordron, secretly his mother's half-brother, acknowledged his paternity of the newborn child. Marrying Modi-Rha and having a son, in turn, allowed Wordron to maintain his noble status in O-Kin's high society. After briefly encountering the Therioms during his childhood, Barkos was exiled with his family at Ucamur. In spite of his little talent for the supernatural, he inherited enhanced psychic abilities from his mother, which made him an excellent channel for the great powers of the prodigious helmet that was once more retrieved by his stepfather. Upon wearing the helmet, Barkos was transformed into a ferocious werewolf with incredible strength and the power to leap great distances, but when Wordron sent him to the Forseha settlement to subjugate the rebellious tribe, he faced Yla-Nha and was instantly defeated. When Modi-Rha, in an attempt to free her son's mind from Wordron's thrall, revealed the truth about his parentage, Barkos felt unable to oppress the Forseha clan further and, as a result, defected and helped the tribe members escape the Dark Legion's wicked plot. Following his adoptive father's death, he found it difficult to be recognised as a hero by his enemies despite his brave act. However, having discovered the gleam of hope within himself, he decided to hide the powerful helmet in a secret location, to prevent anybody with evil intentions from gaining possession of it.

Articulation

Both figures have the standard articulation; the enhanced form also features a tail, which is a ball jointed separate piece.

Description

In the comics, Barkos 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: pale white skin, a wide, long stringy black mohawk and blue eyes. To add further boldness to the look, his hairstyle is combined with shaved sides that include some wicked tattoos, which kind of recall claw scratches. He also has a pair of devilish pointy ears, while his eyebrows seem to be missing

Body: the exposed parts of his body (i.e., arms and chest) show pale white skin

Wearables: a short-sleeved dark-green vest with silver edges and armholes (which expand into riveted shoulder pads), a pair of dark-green trousers, two silver bracelets (each with a knuckle protector and a pair of spikes sticking out of the side), two silver boots (each with an ornamented knee guard that resembles a wolf face) and a silver belt (equipped with a buckle bearing the Dark Legion emblem, i.e., a diamond-shaped black gemstone, which, when looking deeply into it, shows a subtle discolouration resembling a demonic face). The vest falls just below the hips, features a stand-up mandarin collar and is open on the chest (although the two sides of the vertical opening on the front are loosely joined with two light-brown leather strings and secured by the belt at the waist), exposing two criss-crossed gold and silver necklaces.

Enhanced form

Head: similarly to other characters in the KR universe, Barkos wears one of the silver magic helmets, which in certain circumstances produces a wolf-like 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 grey-wolf visor activated, fierce bright yellow, glowing eyes and a covering of dark hair around the open mouth (which exposes large sharp whitish fangs). In addition to the standard side crests, the helmet is also adorned with two triangular metal decorations resembling canine ears

Body: he exhibits the bulkier sculpt that has previously been used for Grabtrak and Khon-Uhr, which displays a thick mottled grey to brown fur on the limbs, as well as claw hands and feet (unlike the normal form, this version of Barkos is barefoot). During his transformation, Barkos also grows a long bushy grey to brown tail, which in the figure is connected to the back of the loincloth via a ball joint

Wearables: a silver armour with dark-green details (which features a number of claw scratches on the chest plate), two laminar silver bracelets, two studded silver ankle bracelets, a studded silver belt (with a wolf face-shaped buckle) and a fairly long dark-green furry loincloth.

Barkos' stylised helmet with side crests.

Barkos' stylised armour.

Action feature

To simulate the retractile claws seen in the comics, a pair of large ivory claws can snap into each bracelet of Barkos' enhanced form.

Weapons and accessories

Barkos' normal form includes a dagger with a greenish wooden hilt (whose shape is made to resemble the end part of a long bone) and an S-shaped silver crossguard that develops into two intertwining blades; each silver blade ends with a sharp point, making the weapon recall Thulsa Doom's dagger from the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian. The dagger can have its blade inserted in a light-brown leather sheath attached to a loose fitting belt, which is a separate piece that can be repositioned to one's liking.

The enhanced form comes with a sword that is an augmented version of the above-mentioned dagger. This weapon has a greenish oxidised bronze hilt (whose pommel resembles a wolf skull) and two S-shaped silver crossguards set side by side, which develop into two long parallel blades; each blade, in turn, is composed of four smaller intertwining blades (two made of silver and two made of gold) and ends with an arrangement of four prongs that recall the claws of a wolf paw. The sword can have one of its two blades inserted in a dark-brown leather scabbard attached to the back of a removable harness, whose shoulder straps are ornamented with silver spikes and massive shoulder pads (each equipped with four large bony claws projecting sideways).

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

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ Yes, Barkos lacks that natural evil of his stepfather, but his defiant nature makes him definitely boss

Articulation: ♥♥♥ The long hair of the normal form restricts the neck articulation somewhat. Otherwise, both figures can take very natural poses, allowing for some great display potential

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ This adult version of a character that we had already seen as a kid in the KR|Enmity series turned out really nice - he's one bad ass looking dude! Most of the paint work is quite good, especially on the fur of the enhanced form, which looks terrific

Accessories: ♠♠♠ I really love his augmented sword, with its double blade and ornate hilt. Unlike the smaller dagger, the sword is also a very sturdy piece

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ The KR|Dimness series is more and more proving great fun, and Barkos is just another example of how good PoliganToys can be when they want to... fortunately, they often do!

Overall: ☺☺☺ I wasn't expecting a whole lot out of Barkos, since he doesn't have the cool dragon/skeleton theme of Wordron. But once he was out of the package, I began to appreciate his overall look and design, and it's actually nice to have another animal-looking enhanced warrior in the series.

KR|Dimness Review #5: Yla-Nha

Toy prototype details

Name: Yla-Nha^TM

Subtitle: charming shieldmaiden

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 3 in the line.

Character details

Name: Yla-Nha

Classification: human

Sex: female

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha (indirectly)

Rank: leading amazon.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: daughter of the Kmutuk^TM tribe’s chieftain, Yla-Nha was a sharp-witted fighter and champion athlete who rose quickly in the strata of her clan. She trained in the art of war under several masters, learning vital close combat techniques, especially with the aid of edged weapons. When young, she was very impulsive, sometimes putting herself in serious danger, but fortunately her excellent skills always saved her. Yla-Nha became a celebrated figure in her tribe, until she was deceived by the treacherous clan's spiritual leader, who, in order to become chief, secretly tricked and manipulated her into murdering her parents. During the territorial disputes in the area near the Ucamur region, the Kmutuk clan fought against the Forseha tribe and Yla-Nha, rejected by her people, asked the rivals for succour. Once she discovered the truth, she sought revenge and assisted the Forseha people in defeating the evil Kmutuk chief, freeing her tribe from his despotism. Yla-Nha’s resourcefulness impressed Dakun, who enlisted her help whenever the Forseha tribe found itself in the middle of turmoil.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: Nordic features, white skin, long blond dreadlocks decorated with copper beads, and purple eyes

Body: the exposed parts of her body (i.e., left upper arm, right forearm, right leg and stomach) show white skin. The right arm and the left leg are protected by a pauldron (equipped with an ornamented besagew) and a thigh armour respectively, both metallic purple with copper details

Wearables: a basque-like metallic purple armour with copper details (including a pair of ornamented bra cups and a spaulder curved upward on the left shoulder), a large metallic purple wrist/elbow guard and a copper armband on the left arm, a narrow metallic purple bracelet on the right arm, two brown leather boots (each with metallic purple toecap and chain mail sides, and the top widening sideways), a metallic purple tasset belt (with two horn-shaped copper ornaments hanging down in front) and a short orange skirt. A metallic purple choker fits closely round her neck, while the armour seemingly has a vertical opening on the front side, all the way down, which is fastened with two buckled brown leather straps and a copper button.

Yla-Nha's stylised armour.

Action feature / Weapons and accessories

In the comics, Yla-Nha wields a six-piece set of blades (she is shown to skilfully handle up to four of them at the same time), which come in a variety of shapes (mostly machete-like, with copper blades and the hilts wrapped in brown leather) and sizes, and are thus suited to a wide array of combat situations.

Furthermore, the blades can be assembled to form a single large sword, which in its various states of combination serves as her primary weapon. The concept is very similar to Final Fantasy's Fusion Sword. As detailed in the diagram below, the six-blade assembly consists of:

- One fascine knife (1) with a distinctively large handguard (which the other swords lock onto) and a wide, straight length of blade that tapers to an equally long but thinner length ending in a point. This is the main blade that forms the base of the six-piece sword and is the only one among the six that is double-edged

- One panga machete (2) with a grooved blade that broadens on the backside and has a sharpened upper inclined portion. This weapon is actually hollow, meaning that it's essentially a thick sheet of metal folded in a V-shape when looked from above (the edge of the blade being the bottom point of the "V"), with the lower third of its length wrapping around a double-hilt. This blade locks onto either edge of the main blade, snugly covering most of its length and serving as the front edge of the assembled sword

- Two identical tsakat/saw combos (3 and 4), each with a long saw-toothed, billhook-like blade. These two weapons attach to both sides of the main blade's free edge, with the two pointed curves projecting towards opposite directions, and form the back of the assembled sword

- Two identical double-daggers (5 and 6), each with a cane knife blade accompanied by another short, highly curved blade (like that of a kukri or a kopis) attached near the hilt at an angle. These weapons have a mechanism between the hilts and the blades that allows them to partially fold up like a switchblade. It is in this folded form that the two daggers lock onto the two sides of the assembled sword, with their most angled blades projecting towards opposite directions. These knives fictionally possess some sort of locking mechanism designed to hold the other blades in place and to cover their hilts, and their addition completes the assembled sword's asymmetrical, spiky silhouette.

Yla-Nha's stylised assembled sword; the left half represents the front edge, while the right half represents the back.

The figure comes with all these weapons in both their separate and assembled configurations (seven pieces in total). The blades in their disassembled state can be stored in a number of loops that Yla-Nha carries on her armour: two in a criss-cross pattern on the back (for the fascine knife and the panga machete) and two on the sides of the tasset belt (for the two tsakat/saw combos). Although the fact that there are only four loops seems strange, considering that there are six weapons, it could imply that Yla-Nha would never be in a situation where all six blades need separate carrying. So, it is possible that each tsakat/saw combo and each double-dagger might be fictionally combined in one piece in order to fit into the same slot.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦♦ Yla-Nha looks a lot like a female version of Foundation Masq-Lor, much more barbaric and bad-ass than other formidable amazons we have seen in other series of the KR universe

Articulation: ♥♥ The hair and the skirt are cast in a stiffer plastic than it would be ideal and, as a result, they hinder movement a bit. It’s not the worst I've seen, but it could have been better

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Everything about the looks of Yla-Nha is top notch, from the top of her head all the way to the soles of her boots. I really like the metallic purple and copper-orange details of her outfit. Her skin is a little bit glossy, though in normal light I don’t find it too unacceptable

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The figure comes with a set of really nice weapons. The assembled sword is a beautifully detailed piece of work with a great design, I love it! Too bad, however, they replaced the leather scabbards seen in the comics with simple loops

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ I was hotly anticipating this prototype when PoliganToys announced it, but my excitement was reduced a bit by the news of the scabbards removal. I’m glad to say that such a change is not as ruinous to my enjoyment of this figure as I thought it would be

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Yla-Nha looks great alongside the more barbaric characters like Solamya and Dakun, while still fitting in with the rest of the KR line. I’m more than happy to add her to the shelf!

KR|Dimness Review #4: Clavisaur

Toy prototype details

Name: Clavisaur^TM

Subtitle: magical treasurer

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 2 in the line.

Character details

Name: Clavisaur

Classification: golem

Sex: seemingly male

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Dark Legion

Rank: spellcaster.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: during the war between the mammalian defensive alliance led by King Tah-Ron^TM and the reptilian grand army commanded by Bi-Harr^TM, the heroic Therioms^TM pressed in against the fiendish Reptonoids^TM, overwhelming the opposing forces. In the darkest moments of the conflict, when all hope seemed lost as many Reptonoids fell, the sorcerer Sphenorat^TM used an unrepeatable rune to protect their ancient mystical tradition, conjuring up the most powerful spirits through the orb of omens hidden deep inside Rokang Tar^TM. The spirits collected the wickedest magical spells, store them in an enchanted coffer and infused life into an evil golem named Clavisaur, who was tasked with guarding the treasure. Although he also acted as a warrior and helped turn the tide of the war driving back many Therioms, Clavisaur was never rewarded by his creator, but was continuously forced to prove his worth. When he was assigned to the mission of recapturing King Khon-Uhr^TM after his escape, Clavisaur was defeated by the brave king in the swamps of Ucamur and, at the last breath of his life, he sent a spirit to warn Sphenorat of the upcoming Theriom's retaliation. The Reptonoids abandoned the magical treasurer in the bog, planning to exhume him when they acquired sufficient knowledge to dominate the powers he held. Centuries later, Clavisaur was unburied by Wordron, who made him rise from the marsh and storm into battle again.

Articulation

Standard, plus a hinged lid and a swivel lock on the head.

Description

Head: the entirety of his head consists of a black-tarnished metal coffer (similar to a treasure chest) with a domed lid and three rust bands of metal over the lid and the body of the chest (the central metal band is topped by a tapering ornament and has a lock secured on at the front). The front of the chest is carved with two devilish sunken eyes that emit a reddish glow, while the sides have two attached hanging (real) chains that are connected to the back of the shoulder guard

Body: mossy dark-grey brick-like limbs with light-grey mortar joints and black-tarnished metal protectors for the elbows and knees

Wearables: a protective covering composed of a red-brownish brick-like cuirass with black mortar joints and a black-tarnished metal shoulder guard, two black-tarnished metal gauntlets, two black-tarnished metal boots, a black-tarnished metal belt and a red-brownish brick-like crotch piece with tassets. Each brick on the armour shows an inscribed symbol, while the cuffs of the gauntlets, the tops of the boots and the belt look like pairs of seemingly rotating discs, also with inscribed symbols. Additionally, there are triangular rust designs below the neck, on the forearms, on the shins and on the crotch. Finally, the front of the armour carries a black-tarnished metal talisman engraved with a complex emblem, i.e., a reptile skull bearing five pointed horns (which kinda look like feathers and of which the four at the sides are curved upward, suggesting that a hand should be placed on the symbol) and an eye-shaped gemstone mounted on the centre of the forehead. I like that the eye stone, the reptile skull and the flame-shaped arrangement of horns/feathers are references to the emblems of the Reptonoid, Rexodon and Spektrosaur faction respectively. This amulet can be removed easily and can be held by Wordron-human form's new hand, snapped into the clip on the back of his belt for storage, or plugged into his skeletal form's chest.

Action feature

In the comics, once the talisman attached to Clavisaur's armour is activated by Wordron's touch, the bricks that compose the covering slide along certain routes to achieve a particular combination, which revives the creature and, at some point, opens the lock of his coffer-head. Except for the possibility to fit Wordron's new hand onto the talisman, as well as to unlock and open the coffer, of course the figure doesn't offer any of those features. However, I do like the fact that when the coffer is open, it kind of resembles a gaping mouth with four large fangs derived from the two outer metal bands. There are also very cool details sculpted and painted on the inside of the chest, which look like mysterious ancient magical tools to me.

Additionally, to mimic the evil supernatural beings that materialise when the coffer is open, the figure comes with three of such spirits (one amber, one blue-green and one purple, all translucent) that plug into three sockets inside the chest.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the plug-in talisman and spirits, Clavisaur comes with a little collection of fantastic accessories. First up is a key-shaped sceptre. And when I say "key", I don't mean the Key that is central to the Key Raiders mythos, it's just a staff-sized conventional ancient key that has a great rust paint work with a metallic sheen.

Furthermore, the two chains can disconnect from Clavisaur's coffer-head, allowing it to be detached, and their ends can be equipped with some additional pieces: either a pair of dart-shaped silver blades, each with another curved, sickle-like blade attached at an angle near the base, or a pair of silver handcuffs. This way, he can use the chains as weapons (similar to the shoge and the rope dart) to pierce armour, grapple and entangle the legs of his opponents, or as shackles to restrain his enemies. This feature is never shown in the comics, but it's a very welcome addition to the figure.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I don’t have much to say about Clavisaur, except that he breaths some new life into the property, and I love when new characters are added to the KR universe

Articulation: ♥♥♥ All of the plastic is solid and, as a result, the brick skirt cuts out the usefulness of the hip joints and the ankles are a bit tight, making it a little tough to get some stances. But most of the articulation works extremely well, especially the neck

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ He is a very well constructed figure, PoliganToys did a nice job with properly sculpting and painting the edges and lines of the brickwork, making it very realistic. The detail work on the coffer-head is very impressive and downright creepy, yet it makes perfect sense in this series

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The add-ons are a strong suit for this figure and, while I would have liked an extra stony head, he does have very nice weapons and terrific attachments

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ This character speaks to everything that makes the entire line awesome. I love the way he can interact with other figures, and any potential fan of this series would truly enjoy this guy

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Despite the somewhat limited articulation, Clavisaur is still a fantastic KR figure. He embodies everything cool about the series - he’s very well designed, excellently executed, and comes with a set of great accessories.

KR Review #78: Rotakord

After almost two long years (if you don't count the Build-a-Figure plan that gave us a complete Baryanoid-Cart), the regular Key Raiders line (now renamed KR|Foundation) finally has a new vehicle!

This is the first review of a series that will be featured once every quarter of 2019. Since I primarily review action figures, I don’t end up reviewing too many vehicles. But I love vehicles (and playsets!) in toy lines, so I don’t really mind to make more of such write-ups. The only downside is that these items tend to take up a lot of space on my shelves.

When it was announced that the Rotakord^TM was going to be the first vehicle prototype presented in this quarterly sub-series, I was really excited! This machine has always held a fascination for me and I've always wanted it before any other KR transports. Don’t get me wrong, I was stoked when I got all the other vehicle prototypes, also because I knew that they would open the door to more, including this one!

Details

Name: Rotakord

Subtitle: subaerial and subterranean strike vehicle

Classification: aircraft and tunnelling machine

Home: Tahron

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: transport.

Description

The Rotakord is a transport that is typically used as an air vehicle by Deptilion, but can also function as a tunnel boring machine (as seen in The Cereutian menace) and is equipped with a variety of deadly weapons. It has a mostly metallic purple paint and a somewhat fish-like, elongated shape, slightly flattened laterally and pointed at both ends, with the addition of a pair of nacelles on the sides and a double in-line tailfin on the aft end of the fuselage (the rearmost fin surrounds the pointed tail and can pivot a bit to work as rudder).

Two pairs of wings and one pair of mechanical arms are attached to the nacelles (on the sides and on the foremost parts, respectively); the wings (two main lifting surfaces and two slightly smaller tailplanes) and the arms show an interesting mix of organic and tech-mech embellishments, while the nacelles have metal panels that can be open for "maintenance", revealing nice details of the turbojet engines housed inside. Four nozzles are visible at the ends of the fuselage and of the nacelles, indicating the presence of two additional jet engines buried within the main body.

The fuselage features a mostly non-transparent canopy (with the exception of a translucent yellow windscreen that is shaped like two connected devilish eyes), which is hinged at the back, so it can open by folding up and backward to reveal a cockpit equipped with a 2-point seat belt, a sculpted dash board, four foot-operated levers and two movable handles at the sides; the canopy can also be fully removed if one likes to do so.

Like with other vehicles of this line, in the comics the Rotakord is proportionally bigger and can carry a large number of characters, while this toy version barely fits one figure.

Action feature

Rotakord's four wings and two mechanical arms are swivel-hinged, so they can fold and rotate in a convenient way. Each arm is also hinged at its midpoint and ends with a large chela-like pincer capable of both opening and closing, as well as extending forwards, to seize enemies and take them captive.

Obviously, the main feature of this vehicle is the large maw-like boring/suction mechanism that is located on the front-underside of the main body and is tilted at 45 degrees. A number of steel saw blades are fitted all around the inner circumference of this opening and spin when the vehicle is rolled forward or backward (it does have four wheels under the fuselage and nacelles), producing a threatening clicking and rattling sound. In the comics, using an artificial gravitational field source embedded in the main body, the Rotakord can suck in nearby objects, including excavated rock; once these materials reach its inner plasma core (which in the toy is recreated with a light-pipe feature on the top of the fuselage, making the suction cavity glow), they are disintegrated by the extreme temperatures.

Weapons and accessories

The Rotakord comes with two rotating laser cannons that, by default, are mounted to the sides of the "grinder" opening, but can also be re-positioned in other holes placed here and there along the nacelles. There is also a large gun that is combined with a sort of radar dish into a high-tech apparatus. This weapon can either be connected to a socket placed between the canopy and the front tailfin, working as a revolving armoured turret, or detach to act as a launchable unmanned flight drone. All of these firearms, along with the mechanical pincers, can be outfitted with two included supplementary blast effects.

Additionally, the foremost part of the vehicle's nose can be removed, revealing a hollow into which a kind of chainsaw/jackhammer-like silver projection can be plugged. I suppose this device is meant to cast a hole in the rock before enlarging it with the cutter head.

Finally, we get a clear flight stand that is similar to the one that came with the Aviotak, but is large enough to be a very sturdy base for the heavier Rotakord (and I just discovered that it can also be used with the Serporcraft, which didn't have a stand). It attaches to a hole in the bottom of the vehicle and can be rotated forward and backward with a ratchet feature, allowing for some nice dynamic aerial posing.

Overall, the latest KR vehicle is a smashing success in my opinion. At least from a design standpoint, the Rotakord is a slick toy and looks fantastic on the shelf (if you can fit it in there). I only wish they had added the option of making the blade spin when a trigger was pulled, so it could also have worked when the vehicle was airborne. The good news is that the Rotakord won't end up being the line’s last vehicle. The future of vehicles in this series is bright and you'll see more reviews like this during the next months.

KR|Dimness Review #3: Dakun

Toy prototype details

Name: Dakun^TM

Subtitle: sagacious shaman

Line: KR|Dimness

Item type: action figure - Nº 1 in the line.

Character details

Name: Dakun

Classification: human

Sex: male

Relationships: father of Solamya; descendant of Myneran

Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Forseha

Rank: tribal chief; shaman.

Background

First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening

Brief bio: born in the reclusive jungle tribe of the Forseha terramare settlement, in his youth Dakun was the strongest hunter in his village. Though not gifted as a shaman naturally despite his mystical ancestry, he was fascinated by the supernatural, and committed himself to the practice of the shamanic arts and their effects upon his people, quickly learning to distinguish the good from the evil spirits. To quench a long running epidemic, Dakun quested to the furthest slopes of Mount Atubion, to find an enchanted fungus that could produce a powerful remedy. To succeed in his quest, he fought and defeated several of the Lava Sentinels that guarded the volcano; to honour his great deed, the village made him their leader and soon he proved a fair and honest chieftain, whose devotion knew no equal. During a time of turmoil due to territorial disputes in the area, Dakun rose to prominence among the various tribal chiefs, preaching peaceful respect and cooperation, an ideology in conflict with the then-hostile jungle clans. Eventually, he rescued a child who he recognised as Masq-Lor, the hero prophesied to end the war between the mammalian and reptilian peoples of Tahron, and taught him how to survive in the harsh jungle environment and to protect himself from the wrath of potential enemies. These skills soon turned out to be crucial when the peace of the Forseha tribe was plagued by the vengeful Wordron and his army of Plant Creatures.

Articulation

Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed.

Description

Head: Indigenous Brazilian features, olive brown skin, long grey hair (which is combed back from a strongly receding hairline with a widow's peak), a bushy grey unibrow (which extends much beyond the eyes and splits at either end), hazel eyes, long, thin grey moustache (ornamented with beads) and a longish, thick grey beard. He sports a band of light-brown raffia fibre tied around the head with three light-blue feathers tucked through the back

Body: the exposed parts of his body show olive brown skin

Wearables: a thigh-length dark-brown tunic with V-shaped light-blue decorative patterns, a dark-brown leather wrist guard fastened around the left forearm using two black leather straps, a dark-brown leather strap wrapped around the wrist and part of the forearm plus a light-brown bark armband on the right arm, and two dark-brown leather boots with wide flat light-brown laces and furry turndown lapels. The sleeveless garment is made of two rectangles of linen that are stitched together from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving two openings near the top for the arms; the cylinder is gathered around the waist with a light-brown raffia fibre belt (equipped with a large bronze buckle bearing the Forseha emblem, i.e., a seven-petalled flower that vaguely recalls a Plumeria, and with a silver-studded dark-brown leather piping to which four light-blue feathers -two at each side of the buckle- are attached by means of bronze rings and hang down in front). The buckle holds a fairly long strip of light-blue fabric that is partially sewn to the lower part of the tunic along its sides. Additionally, he wears a removable cape made from cream-coloured fur that is darkly marked with both large blotchy spots and wide stripes. This coat probably used to belong to an animal similar to Dhar-Wun, although the piece is not flocked; the two sides of its upper portion are joined with a string that is chocked full of all sorts of little pendants, such as spiky bones (or perhaps pointed teeth...), beads, shells and even a small skull.

Action feature

In the comics, Dakun is portrayed as both the wise leader of the Forseha people and, despite his old age, a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. So, PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display the figure in two different configurations: a chief look and a combat look. The former has been described above, while the latter is easily obtained by removing the cape and adding a wooden pauldron that has an attached shoulder belt. The pauldron is beautifully carved with tribal designs, while the shoulder belt is made of various tangled vines, and includes a sheath and a sculpted pouch. I have no idea what would be in the small bag, but the knife is removable and looks like it’s made of stone.

Additionally, Dakun is regarded as having access to the supernatural world in order to practise divination and healing. To mimic his ability to heal small wounds and injuries with his hands, there is a pair of translucent swappable hands, which are in a kind of spell-casting pose and glow in the dark.

Weapons and accessories

Other than his removable cape and pauldron and his healing hands, Dakun includes a double-bitted axe, which is composed of two deer antlers tied with a length of brown rope to the top of a long wooden haft. A metallic light-blue blade is mounted onto each antler and I like that the two blades have similar shapes but slightly different sizes. With this weapon, Dakun definitely looks like he could do some serious damage to his opponents.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ Dakun is one of the more interesting characters created for the Dimness series; he’s also a leader and mentor for Masq-Lor, and if he hadn’t been produced, there would have been a glaring empty space on my shelf

Articulation: ♥♥♥ He is a little hampered by his outfit, but otherwise movement is quite sufficient. After all, we can't expect too much from an elderly guy...

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣ Well, like his daughter, he wears a little bit too much brown. On the other hand, he's got a lot more facial detail than most KR figures, mainly because of his wrinkles and beard

Accessories: ♠♠♠ The guys at PoliganToys could have made use of a flocked ormurid robe, since that exists as of this line. Also, since his staff is rather stiff, he has difficulty holding it well and care needs to be taken not to bend or break it while forcing it into his hands

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ After a year of military/tech-themed figures, we finally have characters who return to KR’s fantasy roots! Dakun is one of them and, in fact, he could work as a generic barbarian/sword-and-sorcery figure in any toy lines

Overall: ☺☺☺ This figure might seem to be a poor offering compared to last month's multi-pack feast, but I had high hopes for Dakun and he even turned out better than I had expected. Which is a really good thing.