KR|Horizon Review #23: Alyptro

Toy prototype details
Name: Alyptro^TM
Subtitle: flying lieutenant
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 19 in the line.

Character details
Name: Alyptro
Classification: human
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: second lieutenant (he is eventually promoted to first lieutenant for replacing Tauton).

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #2 - In the eye of the storm
Brief bio: native to a village on the slopes of southern Tahron's mountain range, Alyptro found that he had a natural affinity for birds of prey during his teenage. Although he was concerned about the possibility of reptilian heritage in his family being the reason for his limited telepathic and empathic control over birds as well as his exceptional reflexes and agility, he became a skilled aerialist, capable of performing acrobatics high above the ground by imitating raptors. Thinking that his impressive physical skills would make him a natural fit for military airborne operations, Alyptro attempted to join the Theriom Air Force, but was rejected by the army recruiters. However, Senior Minister Desion overrode their conclusion when he pursued strengthening his armed forces and saw great potential in the young aspirant soldier. Eager to prove himself worthy of Desion's decision, Alyptro underwent extensive training with Tauton, in order to improve his hand-to-hand combat skills and turn into an excellent fighter. Following his passion for raptors, he also took up training falcons under Sei-Lha's supervision and became an expert bird trainer. Influenced by his mentors' enthusiasm for science and technology, Alyptro developed an interest in inventing novel materials, and created ikobrass^TM, a composite made of a metal alloy matrix reinforced with bird's feathers; he then produced an outfit that could enhance his abilities with cybernetics, and built Beoqast^TM, a robotic falcon with which he felt a remarkably strong bond. Alyptro was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant when Tauton was believed to be permanently transformed into a monster, and he used the amazing technology he created to help the Therioms fight the evil forces of Nemhetra.

Articulation
Standard.

Description

Head: white skin, dark blond hair and facial hair (his style, with hair up on the sides, sideburns and moustache-less, slightly pointed beard, reminds me a lot of Ikima from Steel Jeeg), and dark brown eyes. He sports a large cinnabar metal crest protruding centrally from his head (which makes him kinda reminiscent of Yondu)

Body: covered with a full-body, close-fitting purple uniform that only exposes his white-skinned hands. The uniform is fictionally made of a synthetic stretch fabric reinforced with a honeycomb-like metal mesh

Wearables: a light-blue (actually light blueish-grey) armour with cinnabar details, two light-blue bracelets, two light-blue boots, a light-blue belt, and ridged cinnabar metal shorts. Every item shows lots of cyber and decorative details; in particular, the armour and the belt display circuits and wires all over, the bracers feature two bird-shaped wrist guards moulded onto them, while the boots have studded knee guards, ridged vamps and thrusters on the heels. Additionally, the armour features a brand new Theriom Air Force emblem (a modified version of the Theriom symbol, i.e., a seven-pointed blueish-grey star whose two elongated side points resemble the wings of a falcon) on a shoulder strap, and is equipped with a short purple cape made of the same material as the uniform.

Alyptro's stylised armour.

Action feature
In the comics, ikobrass is a nearly indestructible composite material with mild gravity-negating effects. The properties of objects made of or containing ikobrass can be controlled mentally by Alyptro through his crest, which is also made of ikobrass and houses the cyber-psychic technology linking him to the material. His uniform and cape are formed by combining ikobrass and a synthetic fabric together, to create a laminated material that makes him resistant to injury (even from small arms fire), augments his strength, quickness and athletic prowess, and enables him to glide silently with precise manoeuvrability on air currents. The figure comes with two interchangeable capes: one down and the other extended to form a pair of SilverHawk-ish under-arm artificial "feathered" wings.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the two interchangeable capes, Alyptro comes with a pair of shields, which he wields as his main weapons in the comics. These two large trapezoidal cinnabar ikobrass shields attach at the wrists via pivoting clips, and are incredibly detailed, each featuring grooves, ridges, two domed central bosses and what looks like a turbojet engine at the side. In the comics, since they are controlled by Alyptro's cyber-psychic link, the shields can be instantly reshaped into dozens of different configurations.

The package also includes Beoqast, Alyptro's companion - a heavily mechanised cinnabar ikobrass representation of a falcon with lots of robotic details, featuring a pair of long, slender pointed wings, a pair of sharp talons and a pair of booster rockets on its back (as well as an ear-shattering screech). Each of the two bird's talons is designed with fine embellishments, such as three large bladed, fierce looking claws in the front and a smaller claw in the back. It also features some articulation, which includes one ball joint in each leg, one on the neck/head area and one on the tail, while each wing is articulated via a peg at half of its length and can move up and down as well as rotate on a ball-hinge at the base. There's even a tech-looking blueish-grey steel perch, onto which the bird can alight by grasping it with its talons.

Beoqast has the imaginary ability to transform into a flight harness that can be worn by Alyptro, replacing his standard armour and cape. This harness allows Alyptro to fly by a combination of natural winged flight, thanks to the mechanical articulated hawk-like wings, and powered flight, thanks to the thrusters on the back, wings and boots. Alyptro can control the entire system mentally through his crest, which enables him to be linked to his cyber-bird companion. It's interesting to sum up the way the bird configuration transforms into the harness, both fictionally and in reality, to appreciate all the cool details:

	In the comics	In the toy
1	Beoqast's legs and talons fold and compress onto its belly armour	Beoqast's legs detach and are set aside
2	Beoqast's chest splits open wide and reveals the harness' waist strap	Beoqast's chest splits open wide and reveals two sockets
3	Beoqast's head detaches and becomes a half mask-helmet for Alyptro	There's an alternate masked head for Alyptro
4	Beoqast's neck splits (revealing a missile launcher) and swings forward to form the shoulder/chest armour	Beoqast's neck + head piece detaches and is replaced with a cannon piece, while the shoulder/chest armour + waist strap piece is a separate component, which is worn by Alyptro and bears two pegs on the back for connecting to Beoqast
5	Alyptro's shields attach to Beoqast's wings cybernetically, forming a pair of broader, rounded jet-powered wings	Beoqast's wings are replaced with an alternate pair, which are articulated and can clip onto Alyptro's wrists (his hands are also replaced with an alternate light-blue gloved pair)

In this enhanced form, Alyptro is equipped with a bird of prey-like protective half mask-helmet (a bit à la Hawkman), which is fictionally retractable, has an integrated wide band receiver and transmitter, and whose blue-green visor possesses various capabilities, including night-vision, magnification, and remote imaging sensing that allows for a full, 360 degree of vision. Additionally, the harness features a pair of hidden attack talons, i.e. two mentally controlled laser grappling lines built into the shoulder guards, which Alyptro uses to entangle opponents, hook objects, or for swinging and climbing when his wings are damaged. This ability can be recreated in the figure thanks to two included bright yellow pliable cables, which connect to the harness at one end and to Beoqast's repurposed talons at the other end.

Final thoughts
Character value: ♦♦♦♦ I like Alyptro. Something about the design–the latticework outfit, the reddish tech-items, the bird-flight harness, the bird-flight mask–really appeals to me
Articulation: ♥♥♥ Unfortunately, he suffers from the "blind flight syndrome", meaning that he can’t really look up straight for a good flying pose, although I find I can easily pose him looking straight down. Beoqast's wings are mounted on ball hinges and feature additional hinges at the top of each, allowing it to get some excellent mid-flight poses
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The figure features some fantastic detail - every raised line of the hexagonal cellular pattern on his uniform is visible. Also, while I appreciate the fact Alyptro is known as a physical fighter, I'm glad PoliganToys went with two open hands in this instance. The real amazing paintwork is on the ikobrass items - they’re moulded in red, but have a fantastic orange dry brushing that brings out all their detail. It’s some of the best paint job I’ve seen on this line so far
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Some KR figures only get one weapon, others get the accessory bonanza. Alyptro has two capes, two armours, two shields, an alternate head, an alternate pair of hands, a cyber-bird with stand, and additional pieces for his flight harness. The paintwork is up to the quality of the sculpt - many of them feature some nice weathering, and have clearly seen more than a few battles
Playability: ♪♪♪ As I already mentioned, perhaps the sculptors could come up with a new engineering trick for flying characters, so they look straight forward when they fly. I’d be willing to accept a slightly sculptural loss to the back of the head to allow for it
Overall: ☺☺☺☺ This is as good as it gets, folks. Alyptro is in the running for my "KR Prototype of the Year" award. In my opinion this is an excellent figure, capturing the essence of what I love about the character in the comics. He even gets an extra half point due to the shields that can swivel without having to customise the figure.

KR|Horizon Review #22: Psadimyr

Toy prototype details
Name: Psadimyr^TM
Subtitle: mind-controlling monk
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: action figure - Nº 18 in the line.

Character details
Name: Psadimyr
Classification: mutant human
Sex: male
Relationships: brother of Qermetas
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: hieromonk (formerly prior of the Drojyo'Bhakma^TM Monastery near the Ucamur^TM region).

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy
Brief bio: during the Reptonoid domination of O-Kin^TM, the kingdom's population suffered the mutating effects of the chemical weapons deployed by Bi-Harr for psychological manipulation. A small percentage of the inhabitants who emerged were born with defects, and while some were fitted with electromechanical prostheses, some others were ostracised and banished from O-Kin. Those outcasts were eventually welcomed into the shelter of the Drojyo'Bhakma Monastery near the Ucamur region. For years, the orphaned brothers Psadimyr and Qermetas were only two dejected cenobites in the monastery, where they offered their services to the mysterious chief monk Mohrdax. When Qermetas, desiring to become a menacing warrior, sided with the Dark Legion and its evil grand marshal Wordron in their conflict with the Forseha tribe, Psadimyr, wishing instead to one day be an accomplished sorcerer as strong as Mohrdax, decided to immerse himself in the study of black magic, learning the darkest secrets of his mentor. In particular, he sought the strength of mind control and the ability to bend another's will to his own, and discovered he could manipulate others' actions without being physically present when his power was channelled through wax replicas of his innocent victims. Later, Psadimyr became an adjutant of Mohrdax thanks to his extreme loyalty and shrewd acumen, and together with the dark sorcerer Muvaran, they secretly raised the daughter of Deptilion and Demo-Rha, Nemhetra, in order to make her into the unrivalled enemy of the Therioms. Known for his abilities to block telepathy and to temporarily hypnotise his foes, Psadimyr became a feared warlock in his own right. Combining science and sorcery, he created a mind-bending cybernetic weapon from the remains of an ancient relic once owned by the wizard-priest Sphenorat, which he modified specifically to enhance his string-pulling skills remotely. Yet, while his mental faculties could overwhelm most, when he crossed paths with the Therioms, Psadimyr found himself outmatched, since sufficiently strong-willed people, such as Masq-Lor, were able to partially resist his influence. His device destroyed, he sought other ways of exploiting his psychic senses and took refuge in the eastern wetlands, where his thought-transference powers enslaved the weak-minded denizens, allowing him to build a new army for himself.

Articulation
Standard.

Description
Head: blue-green skin, bald scalp, long and slightly pointed ears projecting outwards, solid orange glowing eyes with a prominent brow ridge, many exposed short sharp whitish teeth plus two long fangs protruding upwards from the lower jaw, and a fleshy chin. His right eye is marked with a black tribal tattoo, while his ears and pug-like broad flat nose are adorned with large bronze rings. Displaying his brow corrugated in a frown and his teeth clenched tightly gives his face an overall bad-tempered expression

Body: blue-green skin, spiky elbows, two black tribal armband tattoos. Curiously, his legs appear of a slightly different colour compared to the rest of his body, almost suggesting that he's wearing tights

Wearables: a thigh-length, torn brown garment with zigzagging lightning-like orange decorative patterns, two orange copper bracelets (the right one is a narrow studded band, while the left one is a large wrist guard embellished with an oval amber gemstone and zigzagging engravings) and two orange copper boots (each ornamented with a pentagonal amber gemstone near the top and zigzagging engravings on the shaft). The sleeveless garment is made of two rectangles of burlap that are stitched together with heavy whitish thread from the sides to form a cylinder, leaving two openings near the top for the arms. The cylinder is gathered around the waist with an orange rope, which carries a holder for a wooden-handled, steel-bladed non-removable chisel on the right hip. The dark-orange leather holder has a broad triangular shape with jagged edges, and is equipped with diamond-shaped bronze studs, copper rivets and a copper buckle. There's also an orange fabric sash worn over his right shoulder and reaching down to the opposite hip, where it seemingly ties to the rope belt. The hem of the tunic is trimmed with brown fur, while the shoulder sash is decorated with an oval amber gemstone that seems to have a spider web inspired design on it.

Weapons and accessories
Although Psadimyr has no action feature, he does come with a few accessories, including a very interesting, even if rather odd-looking, weapon. The sorcerer-monk carries a sort of S-shaped (something like _/¯) bronze mind-snatching device, in which there appears to be copper-looking electronics and hydraulics involved. The handle of the weapon fits around the figure's right forearm (there is an included handgrip for him to hold, so that it doesn’t slide around) and ends with a telescopic arm that can lengthen a bit. At the other end of the mechanical arm there are two jagged metal gripping jaws on both sides, and what looks like a kind of upside-down salon hair dryer on the top. These three components are hinged, so that the two "jaws" snap out from the sides, rotate horizontally and grab an opponent by the face; at the same time, the "hood" is released from the structure, turns vertically, and directly surrounds the head of the victim. The weapon itself is beautifully sculpted and is packaged in two pieces that easily snap together. It is also light, so Psadimyr can hold it without toppling over, and can be attached to a hoop on the back of his shoulder sash. I especially like the green-painted "oxidised" details in the inner parts of the head-grabbing components.

Psadimyr uses his weapon to temporarily immobilise and hypnotise a victim, extract the essence of their mind, and then force them to do what he commands from a distance after placing the device on a wax replica of his target (which he sculpted himself). To enhance the effect of his powers during these remote mind-controlling rituals, he wears a burlap sack mask with built-in mechanisms that isolate him from the surrounding environment, removing any stimuli from all of his senses and allowing him to perceive reality exclusively through his victim's senses. So, the package includes an alternate head that is completely concealed by the torn brown mask, which is poorly stitched with heavy whitish thread.
Last up is an effect part - a large translucent yellow magic beam that fits over his left spell-casting hand. It’s ok, I guess, but I doubt it will get much face time in my display case.

Comic

Together with the action figure we get the third and final comic issue The last horizon. With the help of a revived Denortos, Nemhetra plans to take control of an asteroid flying through space, whose modified orbit could potentially help the Destructomorphs defeat the Therioms once and for all. Nemhetra aims at making the asteroid crash down on the multiversal walls site, and orders her Goblins to build a gravitational collimator, which is supposed to drag the meteor into Tahron's atmosphere. Meanwhile at Theriom City, Spelekos, Denortos' renegade brother, alerts the Therioms about the approaching catastrophe, explaining that if the walls are destroyed, Nemhetra will gain access to the hidden powers. The Therioms carry out a ground military observation of the skies to locate Dekropolis and ascertain Nemhetra's strategy, hoping to find a way to divert the asteroid to a different course. During the operation, they are attacked by a large number of Goblins, which they can hardly overcome. A huge battle ensues and the heroes only prevail over the enemy thanks to the help of Mor-Rak, who solves the conflict by transforming into a tornado in the very last moment. In the aftermath of a fight with Psadimyr, something seems to drain Masq-Lor’s sanity - it turns out that the sorcerer utilised an advanced, potentially fatal device to control Masq-Lor's mind and force him to unconsciously help the Destructomorphs wreak havoc, allowing Nemhetra to damage Masq-Lor's public image and weaken the Therioms. Masq-Lor's irrational tactical decisions lead his fellows, who are unaware of the evil scheme, to mistrust him and to depower his authority. After Xonedar locates Dekropolis thanks to a tracking device that he triggered during the previous battle, Sei-Lha, angry with Masq-Lor, decides to reach and attack Nemhetra directly in her flying stronghold. In the heat of the brawl, Sei-Lha drops a bomb into the chamber where Psadimyr is using his device to control Masq-Lor’s mind. The bomb's time-detonation impulse jams the devices' mind-controlling effect and breaks the Theriom leader free. With Masq-Lor's sanity restored, the Therioms travel to Dekropolis to rescue Sei-Lha, hoping to destroy Nemhetra’s gravitational weapon at the same time. Nemhetra, Denortos and Psadimyr flee from the flying fortress, trapping the Therioms in it with the bomb set to explode minutes later, but CoBoN manages to save the heroes before the aircraft explodes. The gravitational pull is eliminated, but no alteration in the asteroid's trajectory is possible anymore and the rocky body keeps falling towards Tahron. With the intent to stop the Therioms from jeopardising her plan further, Nemhetra activates her robatar and sets to attack Theriom City, but Masq-Lor, Fai-Rha and Herrion also deploy their robatars and confront her. In the meantime, Denortos attempts to kill the siblings while they are remotely controlling their robatars, but he's in turn killed by Spelekos. The heroic siblings succeed in overpowering Nemhetra's robatar, although the Destructomorph leader survives and is apprehended. With the asteroid out of control, the siblings try shooting at it to change its course, but they only succeed in destroying it when they impact on it. The asteroid explodes near Tahron's surface, where it can't harm anyone, just in time to prevent a cataclysm. The Destructomorphs are definitively defeated and the war is over. Impressed by her determination and considering their blood relationship, Masq-Lor earns Nemhetra's trust by showing forgiveness and decides to enlist her in the Theriom army. Eventually, she is chosen as the fourth protector of the Key.

Overall, the first issue of this series had already set a high level, but this story is probably the best I've ever read about the Key Raiders. This is how I always wanted this comic book series to be - depicting a violent, dark and doomed world, close to utter destruction. The apocalyptic story is great and especially the characterisations of Denortos and Spelekos are spot-on. Lots of action-packed fights do the rest for this memorable saga finale!

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ He might not be as exciting a figure when compared to guys like Mohrdax or Muvaran, but Psadimyr is of high quality, and he is very aesthetically pleasing. I love it when a prototype makes me like a character more and that is certainly the case here
Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ All of his joints seem to be in perfect working order with a great range of motion. Once again, really good quality control, something I'm glad to see consistently in the KR|Horizon line

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The tunic pieces are sharp and the new bracers and boots get the details down just right. On top of all that rests one of the better head sculpts this year - I really like his head, although I don’t think it matches the artwork in the comics all that much; the likeness, however, has a lot in common with the one used for Qermetas last year. The paintwork is bright and vibrant, really making Psadimyr stand out
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ The mind-snatching weapon is the real gem here. Its action feature works very well, the device is neatly modelled, and the inner part of the "hood" also features the typical Destructomorph logo - a fun Easter egg from the sculptor
Playability: ♪♪♪♪♪ All of his joints are tight and while the plastic used in the body is strong, the material used for his outfit is softer, so things like his skirt don’t impede much movement. His spell-casting left hand is a nice touch and, even if I'm not planning to use it, I am pleased that we got a “magical effect” with this figure - it can look really cool when you have him fighting against his opponents

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ I am glad that the Destructomorph faction continues to grow, and that we are very close to completion. Psadimyr really is a nicely designed figure and a great addition to the line. Lots of new sculpting, a superb paint scheme, and some fantastic, well thought out accessories certainly help. Also from a construction standpoint, he has no real weaknesses at all and continues the trend of high-quality figures we have been getting all year.

KR|Horizon Review #21: Tang-Lha & Wrapthur (Horizon Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Tang-Lha^TM & Wrapthur^TM (Horizon Edition)

Subtitle: hyper-technological soldiers
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 3 in the line.

Characters details
Names: Tang-Lha and Wrapthur
Classification: partially humans
Sex: female and male
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: lieutenant colonels.

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy
Brief bio: two former Troopers who had displayed unwavering loyalty to Senior Minister Tir-Hing, Tang-Lha and Wrapthur were among the most valuable members of the Theriom Armed Forces thanks to their intelligence and incredible fighting skills. Always eager to carry out their mission without question, the two soldiers were seriously injured and almost killed during the first battle of Ra-Hal^TM. They were eventually healed by their mentor and, in a way, adoptive father Colonel Xonedar^TM, who transformed and grafted their bodies with cybernetic parts by encasing each of their cells into a microscopic robotic structure, a technology previously invented by and applied to Xonedar himself. By adjusting the properties of those techno-elements in their bodies, Tang-Lha and Wrapthur gained the ability to shape their physical forms into a plethora of highly advanced devices for use in battle. Equipped with multi-optic visors that could effortlessly see through any structures and a wealth of built-in capture weaponry that could subdue any adversaries, the two warriors were soon back in the forefront of the defences of the Republic of Tahron, now providing an outstanding service to Senior Minister Desion. When confronted by particularly tough opponents, Tang-Lha and Wrapthur could even merge with Xonedar to form a towering mecha endowed with tremendous robotic strength, which would allow the Therioms to win in any combat situations.

Articulation
Standard, except that the wrists are ball jointed and there is no abdomen crunch.

Description
Heads: each former Theriom Trooper constantly wears a cyber helmet, which only allows us to see their mouth surrounded by cream white skin, while the rest of their face is covered by a single large dark-purple (almost black) bionic eye. Wrapthur's helmet is blocky and glossy black with silver details (such as a number of wires, a knob at the top as well as two ornamental wing-shaped side plates), while his visor is rectangular with concave sides; he also sports a brown soul patch. Tang-Lha's helmet is made from overlapping metallic red segments and has a raised silver cyber crest running centrally from the middle of an ornamental silver front plate to the back of the helmet as well as two silver horns projecting outwards from the sides, while her visor is kind of V-shaped; she also has a mole near the upper lip

Bodies: arms and legs feature lots of machinery/circuitry patterns (i.e., cables, panels, springs, cogs, wires and bolts) and a striking paint job, split down the middle between metallic dark-blue and matte black; the limbs look particularly reinforced in the shoulder, elbow, thigh and knee areas. Under the armour, each figure displays a clear torso accented with steel edging, inside which a complex combination of bluish-grey gears, valves, wires and organs (e.g., heart, lungs and guts) is visible

Wearables: each character wears a silver armour (with details that are glossy black for Wrapthur and metallic red for Tang-Lha - the two colours alternate clockwise), two silver gauntlets with armoured wrist guards, two silver boots (displaying details similar to tank treads for Wrapthur and to wheels for Tang-Lha) with armoured shin guards, a silver ammunition waist-belt (holding "laser bullets" all the way around) and a cyber jockstrap-like ridged crotch piece (glossy black for Wrapthur and metallic red for Tang-Lha). Wrapthur's armour is fully removable, while in Tang-Lha's case only the chest plate can be detached (it simply sits on the large shoulder guards); however, both coverings have several tech-mech details such as wires, tubing and a central piece showing a sculpted interpretation of the fractal print seen on Foundation Xonedar's chest, therefore replacing the original lenticular sticker.

Tang-Lha's and Wrapthur's stylised armour; the circle at the centre of the chest plate represents the power reactor.

Action feature

Although neither figure has the moving gears inside the chest nor the extending neck, arms, legs and torso that we saw with Xonedar, both their heads feature some gimmicks. Wrapthur's visor can be detached (revealing a few cool cyber details underneath) and replaced with an alternate piece bearing a projecting glow-in-the-dark blast effect, for recreating his ability to shoot energy beams from his eyepiece. The whole helmet is actually removable, making it possible to rotate the head by 180°, in order to expose a new mouth with some serious teeth-grit before reattaching the headgear. There's also a surprise in Tang-Lha's head - a piece of her helmet, including parts of the back and the sides, can be removed from her noggin and with a few twists of the horns (which turn into wings) it becomes a remote spy drone that roves around on its own (there's even an included clear stand for it). Additionally, the removable drone, when detached, allows the light to pass through her cyber-eye, making it glow.

They also come with multiple silver interchangeable weapon attachments that can replace their left hands. Wrapthur includes a net thrower (something that looks like a mix of a fly swatter and a butterfly net, but holds a blue laser mesh), a pincer-shaped handcuff with green jaws, a large cylindrical drill bit, and a double laser rifle with a longitudinal drum magazine placed between the two side-by-side barrels. Tang-Lha features a bolas launcher (it resembles a crossbow a bit, but is designed to release a two-headed red laser bolas), an extended grabber with four green gripping jaws arranged in an X shape, a lance-like weapon, and a laser gun with a revolving cylinder.

Additionally, the emblems at the centre of their chest plates, which are fictionally reactors that power their vital functions, can be disconnected and attached to their exposed transparent torsos for an accurate bare look (in the comics, the reactors belong to their bodies and not to their armours).

Even if this cannot be recreated with the action figures, it's interesting to sum up the way Xonedar, Wrapthur and Tang-Lha combine and convert into an imposing armoured robot in the Horizon comics, to appreciate all the cool details. After each warrior retracts their head and arms into the chest, Xonedar forms the mecha's upper body by folding up his legs to his back; thanks to some hiding of bits, spinning of parts and folding of pieces, the legs produce a jetpack with a pair of wings, while his head is replaced with a much larger version (very similar to CoBoN robot-mode's head). Wrapthur flips upside down to become the mecha's lower torso, while his legs fold down to the sides to form the arms, and the massive feet compress to reveal a pair of hands. Tang-Lha's body splits in half, leaving two sections that flip upside down and turn 90 degrees to become the mecha's legs, while the large shoulder guards form the feet as a result.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from their set of snap-on weaponry, Tang-Lha and Wrapthur come with a few more accessories. Each has an armoured mouth guard and a weapon. The mouth shields, which are fictionally produced by their cuirasses, snap into the helmets, giving them an extra ironclad look; I like the tech details sculpted on the inner side of the guards.

Weapon-wise, since their arm attachments weren't enough, Wrapthur has a machete-like sword with a black hilt and a silver blade, and a round shield with a mostly translucent yellow disc (in the comics, the sword unfolds into the fan-like laser shield, so the two pieces represent two versions of the same weapon), while Tang-Lha has a tech laser-bow with a metallic red grip, rocket-shaped barrel and aiming aid, and silver limbs, which can be stowed onto her back or can be complemented with an included translucent purple blast effect.

In addition, Wrapthur includes a black battle-tech shoulder belt that fastens to the breastplate via a peg placed behind an alternate version of the chest emblem, which resembles the Theriom symbol, i.e., a seven-pointed golden star with the two side points elongated. The broad back of the shoulder belt carries a scabbard for his sword as well as three sheathed daggers, which look like smaller versions of his sword and are not removable. For equality, Tang-Lha also gets a similar alternative version of her chest piece, but without any belts.

Moreover, the package comes with a set of accessories that are meant to update Foundation Xonedar, for representing his older version in the Horizon series. The set includes a head, three arm attachments, and a weapon. The head is identical to the original one, except for having no action feature and sporting a black moustache with a touch of grey. This head is also compatible with some of the old accessories such as the microphone, mouth shield and listening device. The new arm attachments include a rocket-shaped cannon, and two (for both arms) conical drop-hammer mallets with some fictional light-up details, which he uses to crush opponents. Finally, his weapon is a sort of trident-halberd, which consists of a not-so-long dark-blue shaft and a double bitted silver battle-axe topped with a silver spear spike. The axe/spear head and the handle can separate and then reconnect via a wavy translucent light-blue plastic attachment, in order to create a whip-like weapon with a swinging blade on the end; alternatively, either the bladed piece or the energy whip piece can also be attached to his arm, so that they look like they have been produced by his cyber-body.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ I think in the next months I'm going to see some great prototypes that will potentially blow more than a few minds. In the meantime though, these two guys make for a wonderful addition to my KR|Horizon collection

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ I had no problem with loose joints, though some of them started out a bit tight
Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Each figure is highly elaborate in both sculpt and paint with minute tech-mech elements highlighted with shiny details. For the most part, the paint applications on my figures are clean and sharp
Accessories: ♠♠♠♠♠ They are a considerable value compared to other figures, as they not only have working action features, but also a great deal of accessories

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ The chest armours restrict the shoulders movement quite a bit, but the rest of the joints are free to move cleanly, so the figures can pose extremely well

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ PoliganToys has taken two of the least important good guys from the Foundation series and has made them very impressive. I'm still not sure when we'll get a five-star figure in this line, but Tang-Lha and Wrapthur are pretty damn close.

KR|Horizon Review #20: Eldogrum

Toy prototype details

Name: Eldogrum^TM

Subtitle: sand-blasting thug

Line: KR|Horizon

Item type: action figure - Nº 17 in the line.

Character details

Name: Eldogrum

Classification: reptile-like pinniped mammal

Sex: male

Home: Tahron

Era: 15 years after Foundation

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: auxiliary warrior.

Background

First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy

Brief bio: a member of a grouping of nomadic pinnipeds who acquired reptile-like features to adapt to the extreme desert, Eldogrum was enlisted into the Destructomorph army when Deptilion's forces invaded his home sandplain. A heavily built creature with a disproportionately small head and a huge barrel-shaped body, he was turned into a thoughtless enforcer by Demo-Rha. Although he was physically strong, his limited intelligence and his vulnerability to high pitched shrieks, which would cause him to panic, led his wicked mentor to dismiss him as a mere foot soldier. Unfit for command, Eldogrum soon came to the service of the greedy adjutant Agledas, who recognised not only his strength, but also his skills at creating violent whirlwinds using his powerful lungs. Following Deptilion's demise during his final battle with the Therioms, Agledas enhanced and exploited Eldogrum's abilities to subjugate whole villages, by terrorising the local folks with gigantic sandstorms if they did not comply with their rule of law. When years later Nemhetra learnt of the existence of the enchanted helmet that had been disassembled and hidden by her cousin Barkos, Eldogrum was ordered to retrieve one of its fragments, which was enshrined in a temple in the dry, pebble-strewn valleys of Harir^TM, and he accepted the task, hungering for more rivals to perish by his destructive exhalations.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: vaguely similar to a walrus, characterised by cinnamon-coloured (i.e., orange-tinged brown) warty skin, seemingly empty dark eye sockets, and a wide open mouth displaying many sharp ivory teeth as well as two long downward-pointing tusks. The eyes actually look to be of a bright yellow reptile type to stand out a bit, but that detail is almost impossible to see with the too dark eye sockets, which are surrounded by rough, yellowish calcified outgrowths that form a prominent brow ridge. Roofing the upper lip is a broad mat of stiff yellowish bristles, giving him a whiskered appearance. A growth of long, stiff yellowish bristles on his spike-crested head is kept off the face by a steel diadem bearing an ovoid purplish gemstone in its centre as well as two side crests (each crest is composed of a silver horn and a large pointy ear-like golden-yellow ornament)

Body: he exhibits a brand new bulky sculpt, whose exposed limbs show highly wrinkled, cinnamon-coloured skin that is sparsely covered with warts and fur, as well as claw hands and feet with long dark-brown nails. The skin appears especially thick around the neck, thanks to an extra air sac piece that fits right on top of the body and shows significant nodules. Each thigh is equipped with a pair of broad, flat radially-arranged (i.e., one directed towards the front and one towards the back) flashy flaps similar to fins, whose surfaces are patterned with veins. Finally, he wears a pair of steel armbands that extend upwards forming two shoulder guards, each equipped with a pair of flattened projecting surfaces similar to the leg-fins

Wearables: a high-tech golden-yellow armour with dark-purple details (including a number of tubes that seemingly connect a backpack to his throat sac, and a weapon holster/carrier on the back), two yellowish-brown bracelets, two yellowish-brown calf protectors with knee guards, a yellowish-brown belt (displaying a high-tech golden-yellow buckle) and a badly torn dark-purple loincloth. The bracelets, shin guards and belt are made of a light tan plastic with a pale brown dry brushing, which gives these items an interesting peach-beige sandstone look.

Eldogrum's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Eldogrum has the ability to exhale giant vortexes of violently rotating air, which can generate powerful whirlwinds and even create an entire army of evil creatures made out of sand. For achieving this destructive effect, Eldogrum's strange pan flute-shaped compressor-backpack is connected via two dark-purple pliable tubes to two vents on the abdominal area of his tech armour; the armour, in turn, is seemingly connected to the air sac under his throat with the aid of additional tubing. More details about this feature in the following section.

Weapons and accessories

Eldogrum comes with an incredible weapon, which is a combination of a crossbow, a double-bitted axe and a blowgun, and can be stored on his back thanks to an included dark-purple carrier equipped with two snaps. The weapon has a metallic dark-purple main frame (which also serves as a tech-mech blowgun for creating the above-mentioned air vortexes), two golden-yellow pivoting limbs (which also act as axe blades when they are in a "flexed" position) and a separate silver quarrel. The foregrip on the bottom of the main frame allows the figure to hold the accessory like a crossbow (it's even got an extra rotating handle sticking off one side for two-handed firing), while the blowgun's mouthpiece (which fits perfectly in the figure's mouth) functions as an additional handle, so the accessory can be displayed as a melee weapon.

Additionally, there is a yellowish-brown dust devil blast effect that plugs snugly into the blowgun's muzzle or, alternatively, into Eldogrum's mouth.

Finally, the figure includes an open reliquary, on which one of the three fragments of the lost helmet is displayed for veneration by the local community. The reliquary resembles a tree stub (with ornamented metal hoops round it) supporting the helmet piece (which comprises part of the skull and the right side). In theory, the three pieces that come with Eldogrum, Agledas and Hadjti can be fitted together to produce the complete helmet.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ The three Destructomorph auxiliary warriors are the definition of dark horse characters, in that they were only created so their eventual disappearance would be something that nobody would care about, but they have a huge potential to become fan favourites. So, here they are, getting toy prototypes. And this toy, like the previous two, is insanely good

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ Eldogrum is articulated just the same as any KR figure. Thankfully, his bulky armour doesn’t impede his articulation much (perhaps only a little around the shoulders)

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ His sculpt is awesome! Seriously, Eldogrum is one of the best looking KR|Horizon figures I've seen. The head-sculpt is incredible and really gives him a fearful, stern demeanour. The tech details on his chest and belt buckle nicely tie him in with Nemhetra's army, despite not having a typical Destructomorph look. There are also paint highlights and accents all over, which are brought out by some subtle colour differentiations - it is small, but it helps bring out a lot of detail

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ I love his weapon. It features some great sculpting and looks really, really brutal, definitely making him appear like a bloodthirsty warrior

Playability: ♪♪♪ This really is a fantastic figure – he’s big, sturdy, detailed, and certainly fun to play with

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Even in light of the really strong prototypes that have been produced recently, Eldogrum still stands out. It will be tough for the subsequent figures to live up to him, but I am positive the folks at PoliganToys are up to the challenge. After all, the whole series has been characterised by utterly exceeding expectations. If the remaining characters can be like this epic figure, then we’re in luck.

KR|Horizon Review #19: Fai-Rha (Horizon Edition)

Toy prototype details

Name: Fai-Rha^TM (Horizon Edition)

Subtitle: heroic advice-giver

Line: KR|Horizon

Item type: action figure - Nº 16 in the line.

Character details

Name: Fai-Rha

Real name: Rhadiel Amhalgaard^TM

Classification: human-primivod hybrid (but she looks completely human)

Sex: female

Relationships: younger sister of Desion (Masq-Lor) and Herrion, cousin of Nemhetra

Home: Tahron

Era: 15 years after Foundation

Affiliation: Theriom

Rank: Senior Advisor.

Background

First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy

Brief bio: during her childhood, Rhadiel was abducted together with her older brothers by her uncle Ir-Ash and offered to the Spektrosaurs in exchange for recruitment in their army. In Artelon, she was raised under the name Fai-Rha by Lor-Drek, to whom she looked up as her father until she learnt of his villainous nature and chose to defect to the Independent Warriors. While helping her leader Bellius fight the evil reptilian forces, Fai-Rha was recognised by Elykta as one of Tir-Hing's abducted children. Called to fulfil her destiny, she joined forces with her brother Masq-Lor and the Therioms, who were caught in a four-way war with the armies of Bi-Harr, Lor-Drek and Deptilion. After learning to use a prodigious helmet for channelling an ancient power and acquiring incredible abilities as well as forming new arms in the midst of battle, Fai-Rha remained in Theriom City to fight off evil until she and her family could reunite with her long-lost brother Herrion. While she was serving in the role of Senior Advisor years after the oppression of their foes had been ended, the threat of the Therioms' old enemy once more brought Rhadiel and her brothers to one final conflict with the wicked Nemhetra and her army of dreadful creatures. By wielding their halberds and recovering an ancient power hidden in their magical helmets, the three courageous siblings could at last return to their mission in a glorious new form.

Articulation

Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

In the Horizon comics, it is revealed that each prodigious helmet holds a sample of liquid alloy, which was hidden by Galamars after forging the enchanted artefacts. When the liquid metal is combined with a tiny amount of the helmet wearer's blood, a small cyan ball lightning arises and creates a statue (called totem and made of the same material as the helmets and halberds) of an animal, behind which there is a sort of chair. When the helmet wearer introduces their halberd into a slot on the side of the totem, and sits in the chair with their hands and feet positioned on apposite rests, a connector automatically inserts into the helmet's socket, i.e., the hollow left after extracting the liquid alloy vial. The wearer appears to lose consciousness, when in fact their consciousness is relayed into a robotic avatar (called robatar) that forms from the totem moments later. Fai-Rha's totem is a sitting panther and her robatar, which is the figure included in this pack, can be described as follows:

Head: similar to the White Ranger's helmet, characterised by a silver outer shell with a pair of cat ears and a sharp-toothed mouth guard, a matte black face shield, and a glossy black visor surrounded by a cyan glowing edge that is connected to two fierce feline eyes on the forehead

Body: protected by a vac-metal gold cuirass with metallic red details, vac-metal gold gauntlets, boots (with knee guards) and belt, and a metallic red crotch shell. Besides these basic components, there are various dull black pieces of armour to protect the rest of the body, such as shoulder guards, rerebraces and thigh guards. There is an impressive amount of intricate decorative features all around the numerous components of this protective covering; I especially like the small Theriom emblems engraved on the wrist and knee guards, and the little gaps here and there that reveal steel tech-mech details beneath the armour.

Both the helmet (with vac-metal gold side and top crests) and the cuirass (with added Theriom emblem, i.e., a seven-pointed star with the two side points elongated) display a few decorative details that recall Foundation Fai-Rha's outfit.

Fai-Rha's robatar's stylised cuirass; the oval on the chest plate represents the Theriom symbol.

Action feature

To simulate the retractile laser-like claws seen in the comics, a pair of long cyan glowing blades (kind of reminiscent of ULTRAMAN's specium blades) can snap into each forearm armour. Additionally, two articulated flaps at the back of the armour on the calves can reveal a pair of leg boosters with cyan glowing propulsion effects.

Weapons and accessories

Fai-Rha's robatar comes with a set of accessories that are meant to update Apprentice Advisor Fai-Rha, for representing her older version in the role of Senior Advisor. The set includes three heads, a piece of armour and two weapons. The first head is characterised by light brown skin, long black hair drawn back into a chignon and secured with elaborate gold barrettes, and green eyes. The other two portraits are identical, except that they wear the silver magic helmet, one in its inactive form and one that displays the black panther visor activated.

The additional backless armour/tunic is painted in golden-yellow with pearlised red details and is made from a flexible plastic. It can go on and off easily thanks to its wide, plunging neckline that slides over AAF figure, and has a waistband that clasps in the back - although it makes the figure look a bit bulky, it thankfully fits the original dress and works well for the most part. I really like the Romanesque quality to it, owing to those four large lappets on the front, and I am actually quite surprised how much it doesn’t inhibit the movement and articulation, even with the cape on.

The weapons include a halberd, which is one of the four components of the Key (the one with the S-shaped blade) and the same halberd that belongs to Lor-Drek in the Foundation series, except from being painted with some greenish oxidised bronze details here and there rather than plain silver. The other weapon is Fai-Rha's signature bō stick made of worn out reddish-brown wood and adorned with relatively simply designed tarnished silver ends.

Finally, the figure comes with some great additional accessories: a cyber-steed, an extra cyber-head and a massive bladed weapon that serve as the third and final instalment of the Build-a-Figure plan in the KR|Horizon series. As explained previously, some of the action figures in the line come with a number of components needed to build an even larger figure, specifically a heroic super-robatar that is shown at the end of the KR|Horizon comic book series. The included creature is a robotic version of Merados, which in the comics also forms from the totem together with the robatar. This figure features joints all over the place: ball jointed upper neck, hinged lower neck, hinged shoulders/hips, and swivel-hinged knees/hocks, fetlocks and tail. It is, of course, an all-new sculpt that resembles a mix between Fai-Rha's original steed and Jeeg's Panzeroid, and has a detailed silver&metallic-purple body marked with jagged black stripes here and there, a translucent red mane and tail, and two pivoting launchers with separate missiles (which can be replaced with two included spiked silver sword blades) on both sides of the body. The extra head (which is supposed to form from the robatar's body when Fai-Rha's black panther visor is activated, and to become the right wrist of the super-robatar) looks like a large-scale, Voltron-like robot panther head, while the weapon is a huge tech-mech version of the three siblings' halberds joined together. Now that I have completed the cyber-steeds line-up, which all feature multiple weapon attachments and include motorbike-like seats for their respective riders, we finally come to the main attraction, the fully transformed super-robatar (or SR)! I had a blast converting the three figures into this towering toy and, I must say, the transformation process is not too challenging. Morphing the mechanised version of Ki-Wun, which balls all up to form the torso, is the initial step: its tail lifts and flips against the back, its head swings down to form the beast crest on the SR's chest, the forelegs fold and compress into the shoulder armours (which become part of the SR's shoulders and rotate forward, so that the missile launchers are placed on top), while the hind legs straighten to become anchors for the SR's four-legged lower body. Cyber-Merados' back splits open wide and then shuts to accommodate its head, which bends and retracts into the body. Mecha-Zor-Kan's legs and tail collapse down to fit around its belly, while the nacelles, which form the SR's arms, slide outwards and its body swings 180 degrees to become part of the SR's winged back. The rest of the process is as simple as sliding out all the six missiles (for replacing them with other pieces) and connecting the three components: Ki-Wun docks into Merados by entering the neck hole with its legs, while Zor-Kan locks onto Ki-Wun's back and shoulders. Finally, there's the head and the wrists-plus-hands that have to be attached: Herrion's and Fai-Rha's giant cyber-heads attach to the SR's forearms (their jaws open wide in order to insert two of the four available hands into their mouths), while Masq-Lor's one connects to the SR's neck (its ears rotate outwards to become horns and its lower jaw opens wide to reveal the SR's humanoid, bright-eyed face, which strongly resembles Desion's visage). The entire process reveals remarkable craftsmanship, not only in how it all transforms, but also in the toy's solid construction - I never once feared that anything would break. The impressive combined SR form is 30 cm tall (around 12'') and features a four-winged anthropoid upper body with a horned beast's head on its chest, as well as a horsey lower body; it also has laser blasters on the shoulders, shooting fists (while new hands fictionally regenerate from the forearms), giant sword blades on the hindquarters, a triple halberd for melee combat as well as for throwing (fictionally dispensed by the unfolding "peytral"), and the ability to produce a powerful energy beam from the mouth cavity in its chest. A beautiful panel in the third and final KR|Horizon comic issue shows how the SR's silhouette recalls the Theriom symbol, with the head, upper wings, arms-plus-lower wings and forelegs representing the seven points.

Senior Advisor Fai-Rha's stylised helmet with side and top crests.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦ Although Fai-Rha is one of the main characters of the KR|Horizon comics since the beginning of the story, her robatar version only appears in the second issue of the series and, I have to say, it is captured perfectly here - she looks great!

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ The figure features the same strong durable joints as others in the KR line: stable enough to hold poses, and solid enough to stand up to play

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ Many excellent design decisions have been made here, making this robatar version of Fai-Rha different enough from the two previous figures that are linked to her brothers. The paint detail is excellent too, I spotted no overspray or mess anywhere on the figure

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Among the many add-ons, with its great articulation and pivoting rear cannons, cyber-Merados is a really fun toy on its own

Playability: ♪♪♪♪ It's tough to go wrong with this figure. She's fun to play with, has a cool design, and her mecha-steed is just aces

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ Horizon Fai-Rha is one of the best figures in the line, and an excellent complement to her brothers' variants. However, even if you didn’t want to complete the super-robatar figure, but you did want a great toy, this would be a figure worth owning.

KR|Horizon Review #18: Agledas

Toy prototype details

Name: Agledas^TM

Subtitle: glacial warrior

Line: KR|Horizon

Item type: action figure - Nº 15 in the line.

Character details

Name: Agledas

Classification: carnivoran mammal

Sex: male

Relationships: distant cousin of Uhlu

Home: Tahron

Era: 15 years after Foundation

Affiliation: Destructomorph (formerly belonging to the Theriom faction)

Rank: auxiliary warrior.

Background

First appearance: KR|Horizon #1 - The Destructomorph legacy

Brief bio: a distant relative of Private Uhlu^TM, Agledas was once the commander of the snow specialist corps of the Theriom army. After undergoing a rigorous training program in glacial areas, which included long periods of exposure to cold weather, drill operations under sub-zero conditions and the use of snow-specific battle equipment, he started feeling restless and dissatisfied with his military life. He went rogue when he formed a secret alliance with Deptilion, helping a small Destructomorph invasion force parachute onto an ice floe and then march a long distance to conquer inhabited regions. Thanks to the ease with which his assault weaponry overwhelmed the peaceful ice dwellers, Agledas and his allies Hadjti and Eldogrum^TM began to create their own organisation and to plot against Deptilion for taking leadership of his army. Their plans to rise in power and rival both the Therioms and the Destructomorphs were foiled by Agledas' former comrades-in-arms, who defeated Deptilion and sent most of his minions into exile. When years later Nemhetra learnt of the existence of the powerful helmet that had been disassembled and hidden by her cousin Barkos, Agledas was asked to retrieve one of its fragments, which was enshrined in a temple in the ice-fjord territory of Kroniv^TM, and he agreed to aid her in exchange for weapons to use against the Therioms.

Articulation

Standard.

Description

Head: predominantly ursine (even if he carries a hint of leonine presence), characterised by an off-white (i.e., with a grey tinge) coat, solid ice-blue eyes and an open mouth that exposes a number of sharp yellowish teeth. Two pairs of dark-grey horny spikes protrude from his turquoise-striped mane

Body: thick off-white fur striped with turquoise. His hands and feet sport large dark-grey claws, while his right thigh wears a dark-grey strap (with a holster) that exhibits an embroidered light-blue zigzag motif

Wearables: a metallic light-blue armour with white details (including various intricate icy highlights, tarnished silver buckles, bony darts stowed in a number of loops, and translucent gemstones, the largest and most central of which shows a snowflake-like pattern of dense cracking), two off-white (i.e., with a yellowish tinge) gloves, two off-white boots, a double light-blue belt (composed of a larger triangular studded shiny belt, and a smaller loose fitting leather belt underneath, which carries a yellowish drinking horn on the side and a bulging dark-grey purse on the back), and a crossed off-white garment wrapped round the hips that is composed of a diagonal-cut leather skirt overlapped by a fairly long furry/icy loincloth. The removable armour includes an off-white fur collar (which seemingly belongs to Agledas' body, but is actually a massive overlay that helps add a lot of bulk to the figure and can be slipped right off) as well as two spaulders showing layers, from bottom to top, of light-blue fur, shiny light-blue metal and large translucent white ice crystals (plate-like on the left and column-like on the right). Both the gloves and the boots are disproportionately massive, seem to be mainly made of fur (although the material looks more like ice towards the cuffs and tops, respectively) and have holes for allowing the large claws to protrude; while the gloves are equipped with metallic light-blue wrist guards and knuckle protectors, the boots have metallic light-blue shin, instep and (only on the left) knee guards, which are all embellished with translucent white gemstones and translucent light-blue spikes. Most of the metallic light-blue pieces, including the spaulders and the belt, show more-or-less complex snowflake-like patterns of dense cracking, while the knee guard resembles a polar bear skull. The faux leather skirt is complete with some nice details such as jagged edges, dark-grey stitching, and flaps folded over the top. Finally, he wears a slightly translucent light-blue furry cape, characterised by a jagged bottom, a hood hanging down the back, and the two sides of its upper portion seemingly fixed to the spaulders; the large cape bulges on the back, giving the figure a hunched over look, and bears several loops for storing some of his weapons.

Agledas' stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Agledas travels on his high-tech gliding snowshoes, a pair of incredibly fast and manoeuvrable rocket powered devices equipped with a wide array of offensive armaments, including heat-seeking missiles, machine guns, extending blades and flamethrowers. These machines are fictionally able to create ice slides, which form rapidly beneath and behind Agledas' feet, moving him along the slick surface at high speeds similarly to skis. They can also generate dense, obscuring flurries centred on him, reducing visibility and muffling sound, while allowing him to move freely within them. In the toy, each neatly sculpted gunmetal (i.e., a grey colour that has a blueish-purplish tinge) snowshoe attaches to the sole of a boot and has a single upward folding wing. In addition, the snowshoes are fictionally designed to shrink into a compact form that can be more easily carried into battle; the compact versions of the devices come seemingly stored in a waist-pack piece, which is worn with the belt around the figure's waist and the pouch in front.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from his high-tech snowshoes, Agledas comes with a healthy set of accessories including a rifle, a stick, a number of ice structures, an alternative head and a reliquary. The pearl-white rifle is quite a production, because it resembles a small jet engine and has a revolving wheel fitted with ornamented translucent white vanes. While I am assuming this is to blow cold air, snow or ice towards his foes, the piece has an intake pipe on the side that looks like a sort of windway, which would allow you to make the wheel spin and produce a whistling sound when you blow air through it; this design idea has been discarded, although the wheel really turns, but instead you can open the top of the pod to take a peak at some of the inner mechanics of the weapon. There's also a roundish translucent white ice plate that can attach to the wheel's pin (acting as an ice blast effect) or, alternatively, to the figure's left wrist after removing the ice gemstone (acting as a shield).

Furthermore, the set includes a high-tech gunmetal stick, which is fictionally able to quickly form a great variety of ice constructs, including blades and prongs, as well as an assortment of ice-blue attachments (i.e., two khopesh-like sword blades, a double-bitted battleaxe and a long spearhead) designed to be fitted on either end of the baton and to be stowed in a number of loops on the figure's cape... which is nice but doesn't make much sense. Both the rifle and the stick have the potential to be attached in some way to the leg holster, but the rifle is so bulky that I think I'll only use the holder for the truncheon.

Additionally, Agledas can be displayed with an alternate head characterised by a pearl-white helmet with a spiky, halo-like translucent light-blue crest/crown, a tech-looking gunmetal full mask and a shiny light-blue visor perched on the forehead.

Finally, the figure includes an open reliquary, on which one of the three fragments of the lost helmet is displayed for veneration by the local community. The reliquary resembles a large ice spike supporting the helmet piece (which comprises part of the skull and the left side).

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦ Agledas is definitely not a necessary character in the KR line-up, as he had a pretty minor role in the Horizon series and isn't probably a character I'll hear too many folks clamouring for when the line is released. Still, PoliganToys did their best work on him and in the end he's a pretty awesome figure

Articulation: ♥♥♥ While this figure has the same articulation as any other figures in the line, it should be noted that since he has bulkier limbs and a furry torso overlay, his articulation is somewhat impeded

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ I think the look of this figure is great. I love the different shades of white and blue on the fur and on the outfit. I find everything blends very well together. I also love how the cape is sculpted and how it looks slightly translucent

Accessories: ♠♠♠♠ Surely he's not light on accessories. Fortunately, the rifle isn’t very heavy, so Agledas has no problem holding it with one hand in almost any positions

Playability: ♪♪♪ Although the articulation hindrance isn't terrible, it does hamper the playability of the figure a bit. However, I find that even in casual poses the figure looks good

Overall: ☺☺☺ Overall, I am quite pleased with the final figure. Although this isn't a character you'd expect to be important enough to receive a toy, it's hard to deny that he's a new frosty presence that stands out on the shelf. I must say that he's growing on me more and more the longer he is in the display. I cannot wait to add more minor but ambitious adjutants in Nemhetra's army to my prototype collection.

KR|Horizon Review #17: Kiroah

Toy prototype details

Name: Kiroah^TM

Subtitle: ravening chimera

Line: KR|Horizon

Item type: creature - Nº 1 in the line.

Character details

Name: Kiroah

Classification: bionic insect-reptile hybrid

Sex: hermaphrodite

Home: Tahron

Era: 15 years after Foundation

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: steed.

Background

First appearance: KR|Horizon #2 - In the eye of the storm

Brief bio: while conducting her horrific bio-engineering experiments to forge the new Destructomorph army, Nemhetra accidentally created a hideous beast, which she called Kiroah. Made out of an assortment of animal body parts and machine components, Kiroah became so violently out of control, Nemhetra had to add computer-integrated brain implants to control it, until it had no will of its own except to obey its mistress. Wishing to claw and maul any enemies who stood in her way, Nemhetra unleashed and rode this fiercely loyal, ultra-evil creature into battle with Masq-Lor. Initially underestimated by the Therioms, Kiroah proved a true menace to Tahron and one of the heroes' deadlier foes.

Articulation

The figure has nearly 40 points of articulation: multiple hinged jaws, ball jointed upper necks, swivel-plus-double hinged mid necks, double-ball hinged lower necks, swivel-hinged shoulders, hips, elbows, feet and extra head, hinged knees, "hocks" and telson, ball hinged front appendages (i.e., two grasping pedipalps with hinged claws, and two wings), and ball jointed abdomen.

Description

Heads: each head of this double-headed creature is characterised by a scaly glossy black hood that surrounds and merges with a silver snout; it displays a pair of pointed dark-orange scaly ears, a pair of large shiny purple compound eyes, three smaller blue eye spots on the forehead and a complex copper-jawed grasshopper-like mouth composed of a finely serrated upper labrum, two heavily toothed mandibles, two maxillae with cutting edges and a number of small teeth (flanked by two pairs of black segmented appendages or palps), and a two-fanged lower labium (also flanked by a pair of short palps). Because each mandible-plus-maxilla mouthpart and the labium are independently hinged, the mouth opens and reveals a forked reddish tongue that can extend outwards. Additionally, each head is connected to the rest of the body by a fairly long snake-like dark-orange scaly neck with lozenge-shaped black markings; each neck features a double-ball hinged joint at its base, a swivel-plus-double hinged joint halfway down its length and a ball joint at the end, where the head attaches

Body: characterised by a slender, segmented black chitinous appearance (bearing numerous details such as cracks, bumps and dark-orange scaly stripes), except for the abdomen, which is covered with a longitudinal series of large orange scales that received a nice dark-red wash. A number of body parts, especially in the forelegs and the hind digitigrade legs, are protected by silver metallic plates, which show some spikes and machinery/circuitry patterns. Each foreleg ends in a leaf-toed dark-orange scaly foot, which shows five large toe pads equipped with curved, pointed black horny nails. Each hind leg is characterised by a robust thigh, and ends in a five-toed webbed dark-orange scaly foot with massive black claws. The body terminates in a hinged telson, which is characterised by silver metallic segments that are joined by seemingly flexible black membranes, and two long dark-orange bendable appendages, each resembling a lizard tail and ending in a silver pinching weapon for grabbing and crushing foes

Wearables: a removable battle barding characterised by an orange copper chain mail texture with silver trim, which includes a saddle (with a Destructomorph emblem-shaped copper button closure on the bottom) as well as additional multiple plates and lames riveted to it, such as two flanchards protecting the flanks (equipped with integrated stirrups) and a croupiere protecting the hind quarters. The pommel/handlebar of the saddle seemingly extends forward forming a silver structure, which resembles an Ankylosaurus' skull, and is characterised by a wide and low shape, a few mechanical and electrical components, evil-looking bulbous black eyes (each featuring a yellow/green glowing horizontal slit plus a beady-eye spot in the centre) and the front part of the jaws ending in a beak. Two silver horns project backwards and down from the back of this structure, right below an additional pair of larger horns pointing backwards and up; also, a pair of long silver robotic pedipalps featuring pincer-like grasping organs (each composed of two hinged black claws, the longest of which is spiky, while the shortest is toothed) as well as two pairs of large silver posable wings (each hind wing, which is patterned with dark-orange veins, is connected to the fore wing, which is covered in ridges where different metallic surfaces join, forming a single structure that shows several tech-mech details on the underside) emerge from its sides.

Action feature

Apart from featuring jaw-smashing and claw-ripping actions thanks to its hinged jaws and claws, and being capable of carrying a warrior into battle on its back, this beast also has the ability to stand on its hind legs, and use its forelegs, two heads and grasping appendages as multiple pairs of brawling arms. Also, in this upright configuration, the tech-skull swings forward to become the new creature's head, while the telson folds up. The nice and tight articulation allows for displaying the figure in such a pose without too many problems.

Weapons and accessories

The figure comes with an impressive set of removable weaponry, which includes:

• A long, lance-shaped silver side-mounted missile launcher that attaches to the rear-right of the saddle, can pivot up and down and is equipped with a spring loaded triggering system for a barbed copper stinger-rocket
• A rear-mounted silver gun that can pivot left and right
• A weapon storage that attaches to the rear-left of the saddle and is equipped with holsters for an included spare stinger-rocket (slightly differently shaped and more similar to a scorpion's stinger) and for Nemhetra's halberd and wand
• Two copper battle chanfrons for the two insect-reptile heads, each with four claw-like serrated steel spikes sticking out from the brow
• A gunmetal (i.e., a grey colour that has a blueish-purplish tinge) overhead cannon, which plugs onto the tech-skull (but is fictionally produced by the skull itself) and is equipped with a separate five-warhead copper missile

Additionally, the package includes two tail attachments, which are designed to replace the pinching weapons and make each tail end in a black stinger that resembles a scorpion's tailpiece.

Final thoughts

Character value: ♦♦♦♦♦ Kiroah is only seen fleetingly in the second episode of the KR|Horizon comic book series. By reworking the sculpts for previous creatures and for the Destructomorph Goblins, and adding some awesome new pieces, the greatly skilled folks at PoliganToys were able to create a brand new mount for Nemhetra, which stands out not only as a magnificent KR toy, but one that would appeal to other collectors as well, as a spectacular sci-fi/fantasy beast formed from parts of various animals and machinery, and brought to life in plastic

Articulation: ♥♥♥♥ What really sets this prototype apart from previous creatures is the articulation. This guy is articulated everywhere and most of the articulation is excellent. The two lizard necks feature double ball-jointed bases... not every figure’s sculpt can work with that kind of joints, but combined with the other points of articulation, theses necks can pose pretty much anyway you want them, which is especially great when they become arms in the upright configuration

Sculpt and paint: ♣♣♣♣ The detail is amazing throughout the figure. I love the bendy tails, they are absolutely essential to making this figure work, but I do worry about the wear and tear where they connect to the body. Oh, and there are those nasty little slide-out tongues! The dark wash on the orange parts affords the figure some slop here and there, but you just wouldn’t really notice it along with everything else

Accessories: ♠♠♠ While it is great to get all those weapons as add-on extras, I still miss a bit a pair of inactive, total-black alternative eyes for the tech-skull when the figure is in a quadrupedal mode

Playability: ♪♪♪ Yes, the articulation is fantastic, but I occasionally have a hard time keeping the figure standing upright. Perhaps I don’t know where the figure’s centre of gravity is, but it’s mostly due to the knees, I think. You’ll just have to work a little to get the poses you want out of the figure

Overall: ☺☺☺☺ I love every creature prototype produced this year, but if I had to choose one, I’m pretty sure this would be the one to have. I’d like the legs to be a little stronger, but otherwise the sculpt and articulation are superb.