KR Review #95: K'Ran

Toy prototype details
Name: K'Ran^TM
Subtitle: shielding mayor
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: action figure - Nº 60 in the line.

Character details
Name: K'Ran (pronounced Karan)
Classification: human
Sex: male

Relationships: descendant of Al-Mih-Tek
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: mayor of the city of Ra-Hal^TM.

Background

First appearance: KR|Foundation #13 - The ultimate curse

Related character(s): Al-Mih-Tek.

Articulation
Standard.

Description

Head: Middle Eastern features, brown skin with a pale blue tinge, thick dark-brown/grey hair and beard, blue eyes, and a tattooed headband with a sun-shaped central design on his forehead. He wears a flat-topped conical light-green hat similar to a mix of a fez and a taqiyah, which has a red tassel on top as well as a red band embroidered with gold-and-silver triangular motifs

Body: covered by a whole-body protective clothing of brown leather, which is also visible in the form of gloves and shoes on the hands and feet (although their colour is darker and each shoe has the ankle collar trimmed with off-white fur)

Wearables: a complex garment formed of a set of coloured items, which create a layered effect. The items include: a thigh-length, short-sleeved light-green wrap vest, a Y-shaped lamellar chest plate, and an ankle-length, sleeveless open red robe (with green bands embroidered with gold-and-silver triangular motifs on the front and hem, and arm holes trimmed with off-white fur). The wrap vest is secured by a red sash wrapped around the waist and accompanied by two loose criss-crossed studded red leather belts (one of which is equipped with a scabbard on the left side) that are joined by a large, elaborate disc-shaped silver buckle. The chest plate is made from small rectangular red leather scales laced into horizontal rows, and is edged with metallic light-green plates, while its vertical central strip extends and falls down tucked between the vest and the belts buckle. Additionally, he wears two square metallic red wrist guards with knuckle protectors, and two metallic red shin/knee guards, each embellished with a silver disc on the knee area; each wrist/shin guard is ornamented with studs and spikes.

K'Ran's stylised chest plate.

Action feature

PoliganToys gives us the possibility to display K'Ran's figure in two different ways: a KR|Foundation younger look and a KR|Horizon older look. The former has been described above and can be completed with an included asymmetric brown&purple cape, whose "closed" right side conceals the right upper arm almost completely, while the flowing left side looks windswept. The cape also features a high standing collar and a sun-shaped silver brooch on the left side of the chest, while an intricate ornament consisting of braided silver-wire cords hangs from the brooch and on the mantle.

The Horizon look is simply obtained by replacing his head with an older version of it (sporting longer grey/white hair and beard, and wearing a pair of bottom half-frame glasses) and by adding a different symmetric brown&light-blue cape with a "down" hood, a loose closure formed of two silver clasps connected with an elaborate sun-shaped silver brooch (this time, the sun looks split in the middle and is accompanied by a golden beam of light projecting downwards), and bunches of off-white ribbons hanging from the shoulders.

Finally, a third head+cape set allows us to transform the figure into a completely different character from a completely different series - Lord Tafmohr^TM, O-Kin's legitimate ruler, from the KR|Enmity line! The head, which looks predominantly feline (even if he's a primivod, a fictional anthropomorphic marsupial) and wears a relatively simple gold crown on a purple field (i.e., a cap), is characterised by thick brown fur striped with magenta, green eyes, the mouth wide open (which exposes a number of sharp whitish teeth and fangs), and a very long beard ornamented with a Golden Eagle army emblem (i.e., an eagle with two crossed axes). The heavy layered cape is composed, from bottom to top, of a dark-yellow mantle, an off-white fur collar that forms a half-length coating on the back portion, and two large spiked silver spaulders connected by chains on the front and back. The outfit is mostly comic book-inaccurate, but I don't mind and I'm glad we got this additional display option.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from the alternative heads and capes, the figure comes with three weapons: a shield and two swords. In the comics, every time K'Ran refers an important political question to his citizens for a direct decision, he senses the voters' choices across the proposed courses of action via his forehead tattoo (which glows) and the result of the vote appears in the form of a pie chart on the bulletproof glass disc of his shield. I really love the lenticular sticker on the shield, and PoliganToys has recreated the comic book modelling perfectly for this. It works in four parts and if I were allowed (unfortunately, I'm not), I'd try to capture them individually in pictures, to show you the difference in each stage. The decagonal metallic light-green rim of the shield is actually a rotating ring with a silver marking that allows the reading of the winning option.

About the two swords, one is meant to be for K'Ran, which has a metallic light-green blade, a sun-shaped silver hand guard and a handle wrapped in red leather, while the other is for Lord Tafmohr, and has a silver blade, an eagle-shaped golden hand guard and a handle wrapped in purple leather. Either sword can be stowed in the belt scabbard.
Last but not least, the package includes a communicator-projector (or comjector), a type of communication device employed by the various factions throughout the Key Raiders saga. In the comics, the comjector allows two parties to converse as if in the same room by projecting moving visual images of each other courtesy of a "light well"; each user stands in the middle of a disc-like platform in front of a semi-circular slit (the so-called light well) near the edge of the disc, and the light coming out of the slit shows the user on the other end (with the intensity of the light varying while they speak). What we actually receive in toy form is just the high-tech looking gunmetal platform, which kind of disappoints me, because I would have liked to get some sort of vertical light effect that could be attached to the base as well. Still, the piece looks nice and it's better than nothing.

Final thoughts

Overall: I’m glad we finally got K'Ran (and in some way Lord Tafmohr) in the KR line. This proves that a supporting character like this can go years without receiving a figure (if they ever get one at all), especially if we consider that in the Foundation comics he was one of the last characters to be introduced before the curtain fell. Despite some hindered articulation issues and a few paint inaccuracies (in the Horizon comics, K'Ran's robe's arm holes are trimmed with dark fur), the mayor of Ra-Hal deserves a front spot on my shelf and PoliganToys ensured the figure wouldn't disappoint

Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #94: Belemnian Warriors

Toy prototype details
Name: Belemnian^TM Warriors
Subtitle: tentacular thugs
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: multi-pack (army builder 2-pack) - Nº 20 in the line.

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: mollusc
Sex: male or female
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: berserker.

Background
First appearance: KR|Foundation #12 - Dawn of a new past
Related character(s): Todahr.

Articulation
Standard, with six additional tentacles, which are ball hinged separate pieces. Each tentacle features an additional swivel at about one-third of its length.

Description

Heads: each figure's head is composed of a slender tusk-shaped pearlescent off-white shell, from which the snout protrudes. While the upper side of the shell is marked with red spots, the snout is topped with a bumpy orange leathery hood and is characterised by two evil solid yellow glowing eyes as well as eight short greenish-grey arms arranged around a small syphon-like mouth
Bodies: each figure's anthropoid limbs (two arms and two legs) have a wrinkled greenish-grey skin, bear numerous suckers along their length, and carry webbed clawed hands and feet as well as fin-shaped gill-like extensions that project from the forearms and the calves through openings in the worn items. Additionally, six slim tentacle-like greenish-grey arms (each decorated with a plain golden-yellow armband) are attached to the underside of a limpet-like shell that plugs into a socket in the back armour. The shallow, conical shell is smooth and painted in pearlescent off-white on the underside, and cracked and of a darker colour on the upper side, while the tentacles have skin-rings running all the way down and suckers near their club-shaped ends

Wearables: each figure wears a golden-yellow armour with metallic light-blue details, two golden-yellow wrist guards, two golden-yellow shin guards, a triangular studded golden-yellow belt and a scale armour (i.e., consisting of several overlapping metallic light-blue plates laced together) loincloth.

Belemnian Warrior's stylised armour.

Action feature
The Belemnian Warriors' fictional ability to seize their enemies with a powerful grip has been recreated by providing each figure with six cool extra arms. Each arm is unique and numbered, has a pin/disc joint (with a ball-shaped peg that pops into a slot in the underside of the shell) at one end, so it can turn and tilt, and is bendable towards the other end. These arms can turn up and down, and hinge forward and backward, but the forward range of motion is blocked by the body and the backward range is mostly blocked by the shell. I was afraid that they couldn’t really be posed in a forward attack motion, but fortunately the folks at PoliganToys made them a bit more fun to pose by including a swivel at the armbands and by making them from a bendy material. Also, you can get a variety of tentacle poses by swapping around the order they are inserted in the shell. As an additional display option, the six tentacles can also be removed from the shell piece, to transform each figure into a simple two-armed warrior.

Weapons and accessories

The Belemnian Warriors come with two weapons, one for each figure: a "pearl-shooting" gun and a crystal lance/spear. The metallic light-blue gun (with some golden-yellow details) has a fairly long barrel which is seemingly enclosed within a hinged double shell (which looks like an open clamshell) and consists of concentric tubular sections supposedly designed to slide into one another. The barrel ends in a bell-shaped muzzle that holds a hemispherical, pearl-like off-white emitter, which in the comics has the ability to shoot deadly globular blasts of plasma. The bulky, hi-tech main body of the weapon is equipped with a rear grip, an L-shaped fore grip (i.e., with a handle sticking off the side for two-handed firing), a stock, and a laser sight (conveniently, the upper shell has a hole). The rear grip and the vertical part of the fore grip are joined by what looks like a chipped axe blade. Two fin-shaped ornaments projecting from above the sight and the butt of the weapon have loops for fitting a faux leather baldric.

The other weapon is a dangerous looking, long shard of crystal, which either figure can wield nicely in either hand. This tapering lance-like accessory is moulded in translucent light-blue plastic and is the same weapon that came with Helimex (minus the white frosting).

Final thoughts
Overall: the Belemnian Warriors are among those one-issue only characters that I have been looking forward to getting and, a few articulation quibbles aside (namely the uselessness of the hinge joint at the base of each extra arm), they don't disappoint. The tentacles, although a bit limited, still make for a striking look posed on the shelf. This is a pretty great 2-pack and one of the more interesting prototypes this year
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #93: Combat Sei-Lha (Black Repaint)

Toy prototype details
Name: Combat Sei-Lha^TM (Black Repaint)
Subtitle: brave armoured soldier
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: action figure - Nº 59 in the line.

Character details
Name: Sei-Lha
Classification: human

Sex: female

Relationships: daughter of Xonedar, Masq-Lor's love interest
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: second lieutenant; expert in electronic & computer engineering and veterinary medicine.

Background
First appearance: KR|Foundation #13 - The ultimate curse
Related character(s): Sei-Lha, Combat Sei-Lha.

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

Description
Head: protected by a full-face black helmet with a couple of coral red details and a black glass visor. This helmet is a little Boba Fett, a little Iron Man and a little G.I. Joe Cobra Commander, but it works overall. It includes a removable face plate, which can be magnetically attached to the front (i.e., covering the face) or to the top (i.e., flipped up) of the helmet. The inside of the face plate displays a surprising amount of sculpted features, which make the piece look very high-tech. Sei-Lha's face underneath bears a striking resemblance to the regular figure's face, but has some additional details, such as a silver cyber eye mask (with an eye hole on the right and a translucent light-blue scope, for looking in on targets, on the left) and a silver headset microphone that runs down the right cheek
Body: covered from neck to toe with a black armoured suit with a few coral red details. There is an impressive amount of intricate decorative features all around the various components of this suit and, in fact, there are very few spots on the figure that do not have some kind of sculpted tech-mech embellishments, such as cables and tubes, bolts and pistons, gauges and switches. But it all works together and does not get too busy
Wearables: the chest armour recalls the harness seen with regular Sei-Lha and carries a beautifully sculpted gunmetal Theriom symbol that juts out from the black background of the chest plate, while the armholes look like ammo belts. She also has black gauntlets, black thigh protectors, black boots (with fin-shaped flight control surfaces and jet engines), a black belt (which also looks a bit like an ammo belt) and a black crotch piece with some coral red details, everything with a lot of great cyber decorative patterns.

Combat Sei-Lha's stylised chest armour; the oval at the centre of the chest plate represents a gunmetal version of the Theriom symbol.

Action feature
Like with Combat Sei-Lha's standard version, in the comics the black armour is shown to be equipped with multiple guns that flip out from the wrists, thighs and chest. In the figure, all the gunmetal blasters are separate pieces that can be added during Sei-Lha's combat mode. We get two pivoting arm guns (which plug into the inner sides of the gauntlets), two knee guns (which connect to the flip-down leg guards) and a double-barrelled laser cannon mounted to an alternative open chest plate (which is designed to replace the detached regular chest plate, revealing some nice circuitry patterns underneath).

Furthermore, two interchangeable back plates+shoulder amour pieces are included as accessories and can be placed (one at a time) on the figure's back after removing the head. The default piece is a shoulder/back armour equipped with two weapons (a grenade launcher and a flamethrower, with a separate large-calibre projectile and a blast effect respectively) mounted on two adjustable armatures, so that they can either be set in a vertical rest position or flipped over Sei-Lha's shoulders for attack. The second piece is another shoulder/back armour equipped with swivelling wings. The wings are incredibly detailed, with hinged air-flaps and sculpted rocket launchers and turbojet engines. The outboard parts of the wings can be disconnected from the central structure and grabbed by Sei-Lha's hands (holding the plugs that normally fit tightly into the inboard parts), to be used as shields or blades or handheld missile launchers.
Lastly, in the comics the armour is shown to activate a self-operating mode, eject Sei-Lha and then surprise the opponents by suddenly bursting apart. To mimic this auto-destruction feature (or rather the moment immediately before the blast), there is a thin glow-in-the-dark line that splits the front armour in two down the middle. The figure also comes with two alternative elements, i.e., a full-face helmet and a chest piece, which are amazingly sculpted in such a way that they look like exploding, with shooting parts (especially the face and breast plates) and flames.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the five plug-in guns, the additional shoulder/back armour and the exploding helmet and chest plate, Combat Sei-Lha comes with a few more accessories. Firstly, the figure includes a total of five swappable hands, which add a nice variety for posing. There is one pair of gloved open-palm hands to be used with the pivoting wrist guns, one pair of gloved gripping hands for clutching the wing-weapons and, just for fun, one ungloved relaxed left hand.
Moreover, the figure includes a fantastic accessory - a halberd (the one with the sawtooth blade curved inward) lodged within an opal stone. The challenge for Masq-Lor and Deptilion of drawing the halberd from the milky, semi-transparent stone placed in the Quartz Tower is depicted in the very first KR comic book issue The hidden halberd. Eventually, the two opponents realise that the halberd is actually a lever, which, instead of being designed to be pulled out from the stone, operates a mechanism allowing a secret compartment to slide horizontally in and out of the base (made of metal and wood with amber inlays), and making it possible to acquire the real halberd hidden in it (this weapon is not included in the set).

Final thoughts
Overall: some may like Combat Sei-Lha as she appeared in the "Herrion's ordeal" and "Dawn of a new past" episodes. Some have wanted to see her as she's shown in the last KR|Foundation comic issue for long, sporting the total black armoured suit that she dons in the Gyrocarrier. I prefer this look, because it is so much cooler in my opinion. If you don't like the new colour scheme, that's fine, but as a figure there's not too much to complain about here
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #92: Ramalik

Toy prototype details
Name: Ramalik^TM
Subtitle: bomb-hurling warrior
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: action figure - Nº 58 in the line.

Character details
Name: Ramalik
Classification: ape-primivod* hybrid
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Independent Warriors (eventually becoming a member of the Theriom faction)
Rank: assistant leader of the Independent Warriors.
*Primivods^TM are fictional anthropomorphic marsupials that can interbreed with some other species of mammals and produce fertile offspring.

Background

First appearance: KR|Foundation #7 - The siege of Erlokat
Related character(s): none.

Articulation
Standard, plus long hinged fingers and toes for hooked hands and feet poses.

Description
Head: predominantly ape-like (looking like a combination of an orangutan and a gibbon, even if he's partially a primivod), characterised by a thick sandy-brown fur that surrounds a grey/black-skinned face. The largely hairless (except for a beard) face includes the small ears, a pair of amber eyes with white war paint, a small nose and two fairly large cheek pads (or flanges). Displaying his brow corrugated in a frown and his mouth tight-lipped gives his face an overall bold expression
Body: he exhibits a partly new bulky sculpt characterised by long powerful arms and covered in coarse, long sandy-brown hair (but, like the face, most parts of his long hands and feet are bald and grey/black-skinned with white markings). His shoulders and thighs are equipped with pairs of russet bony spikes, while the hair on his forearms and lower legs is maroon
Wearables: a light-green armour with purple details, two laminar light-green bracelets, two laminar light-green shin guards, a light-green belt and a tattered purple leather skirt. The armour displays a large light-green metal disc in the front, which, together with the rest of the T-shaped shoulder guard/chest plate, is sewn on a lamellar purple leather vest. Each stirrup-style shin guard lacks a calf-protecting section and instead has a loop that fits under the heel of the foot. The belt has a large round buckle that holds a laminar light-green flap for protecting the groin (this flap looks like an extension of the armour's central strip).

Ramalik's stylised armour.

Action feature

In the comics, Ramalik is shown to have an enlarged throat sac, which inflates and serves as a resonating chamber when he produces loud hoots that can knock his enemies unconscious or shake and destroy targets. This structure can become quite large, sometimes equalling the size of his head. So, the figure comes with an alternative head that includes the greyish throat pouch inflated and displays his mouth wide open, exposing the long, sharp whitish canines. Obviously, the presence of the gular sac hinders the neck articulation.

Additionally, Ramalik's armour can be equipped with an included back-mounted trebuchet and an explosive projectile. This wooden machine (which fictionally works by a lever and ropes, and is intended to set targets on fire) has a sling made of intersecting leather strips for holding the projectile, as well as a pull-and-release spring action triggering a mechanism that catapults the incendiary bomb. The fire pot seemingly comprises a brownish-orange external earthen casing filled with a highly flammable mixture; on impact, the shell is designed to shatter, spreading its incendiary filling around the target.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the alternate head and back-mounted catapult, Ramalik comes with a chained multi-blade throwing axe. This weapon consists of an X-shaped four-bladed axe (i.e., with two stone blades placed at the ends of each of two imaginary intersecting lines) on a length of chain with a grip (which doubles as a weight for flailing and striking) at the end, and is painted in purple (on the leather strips that are wrapped around the short wooden handle and grip for a more comfortable grasp), grey (on the blades and rigid faux chain) and light-green colour (on the metal wedges that secure the blades to the wooden haft). Since Ramalik has no grasping hands, both the handle and the grip have leather loops that allow the figure to hold the weapon with his hooked hands.

Additionally, the package includes a separate spiked steel helmet for the regular head. This helmet is characterised by a skull with a rounded shape and a keel-like crest running from front to rear. A distinctive feature of the helmet is the presence of two door-like, side moving parts attached to the skull; when closed, these two hinged cheek-pieces meet and connect at the chin, forming a rigid structure protecting the lateral parts of the head, cheeks, chin and throat. A movable top shield (in the form of a visor with two pairs of horizontal slits for the eyes) is closed by being drawn down, locking the two side pieces. All the parts (skull, cheek-pieces and visor) are equipped with various pointed pieces of metal.

Final thoughts
Overall: this chap has been on my most wanted characters list for a long time. How couldn't we love him? He has an orangutan look, his colour scheme is vibrant, and he can take down an enemy in hand-to-hand combat almost as rapidly as Masq-Lor. This figure turned out wonderful, has a great sculpt and excellent articulation, and is just lots of fun to play with
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Horizon Review #28: Nemhetra (Robotic Avatar Forms)

Toy prototype details
Name: Nemhetra^TM (Robotic Avatar Forms)
Subtitle: battling leader
Line: KR|Horizon
Item type: large scale figure (dual figure) - Nº 1 in the line.

Character details
Name: Nemhetra, aka Iron-Face
Family name: Amhalgaard^TM
Classification: uncertain, seemingly human
Sex: female
Relationships: daughter of Demo-Rha and Ir-Ash, cousin of Desion (Masq-Lor), Herrion, Rhadiel (Fai-Rha) and Mor-Rak, half-sister of Sei-Lha
Home: Tahron
Era: 15 years after Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: chief marshal.

Background
First appearance: KR|Horizon #3 - The last horizon
Related character(s): Nemhetra, Destructomorph Goblins.

Robatar mode
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 ball lightning (which in Nemhetra's case is magenta and not cyan, probably due to her blood being purple) arises and creates a statue (called totem and made of the same material as the helmets and halberds) of a creature, 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.

Nemhetra's totem is a monstrous spider-reptilian demon hybrid (it reminds me a bit of Spider-Mohawk in Gremlins 2) and her robatar, which is the first figure included in this pack, can be described as a giant mechanical spider, whose abdomen carries a large machine-like, demonic skull on top; two mechanical arms are attached to the sides of the skull and each arm ends with a large chela-like pincer that can open and close for capturing enemies. The silver-coloured (with a dark sheen) robatar has plenty of tech-mech details (including several boosters with magenta glowing propulsion effects on the underside) and all the limbs (the eight legs plus the two arms) are swivel-hinged at various points, so the range of motion for each limb is pretty good. The spider head bears a black visor with eight magenta glowing eyes, two steel chelicerae and two large mechanical pedipalps, which have pear-shaped ends.

Action feature, weapons and accessories

In the comics, this fearsome robotic creature can both knock down opponents by stomping its legs and ensnare prisoners with its powerful pincers, to whip them around and around with a wild, whirling action. The toy is able to grab and hold effectively on to two figures at a time thanks to the claws being articulated with spring hinges that snap closed, while the skull section can rotate 360 degrees.

Additionally, to simulate the retractile laser-like fangs seen in the comics, a long magenta glowing blade can snap into each chelicera. Finally, the pedipalps can transform into a pair of vicious ball-and-chain flails by disconnecting the bulbous pieces from the ends of the appendages and replacing them with an alternative pair of chained striking spheroids covered in spikes.

Super-Robatar mode

Description
When Nemhetra's silver mask is activated, the evil robatar metamorphoses into the torso of an even larger super-robatar, whose body is completed by the addition of several Destructomorph Goblins. This figure is 30 cm tall (around 12'') and has as much articulation as the standard KR figure. The different body parts have some moving details (such as small wings) and can even detach to mimic the assembling process seen in the comics. Actually, the best way to describe this figure is to sum up the way the robatar mode fictionally transforms into the super-robatar, and to appreciate all the cool details:

1. The skull-abdomen slides forward revealing a robotic, skeletal bust lying face upwards (with the head being the "tail" of the spider)
2. The spider's eight coxae pivot up and back and connect to the robot's back
3. The robot's bust rotates face down, while the skull's mechanical arms fold and compress
4. With the robot's bust in upright position and facing forward, and the skull-abdomen positioned on the robot's lower back and facing upward, the spider's legs swivel and combine together two by two, forming four larger arthropod-like arms that project from the back
5. The skull-abdomen opens and spreads out, and swings upward and forward to envelop the robot's bust: the back of the skull covers the back of the robot, the front of the skull covers the chest of the robot, and the sides (with the collapsed arms) of the skull connect to the sides of the robot, to become its shoulders
6. Ten transformed Destructomorph Goblins merge with the robot, to produce its limbs: two pairs form the upper and lower arms, while two triplets form the upper and lower legs, and the feet
7. The monstrous visor on the robot's head moves up to reveal the super-robatar's humanoid, bright-eyed face, which strongly resembles Nemhetra's visage.

Action feature, weapons and accessories

In addition to two pairs of interchangeable hands (two fisted, one weapon gripping and one splayed open), there are two sets of not-spiked and spiked arm bracers for the four articulated arthropod limbs (the latter type can fictionally spin). Then there's her arms - each one of the eight silver nubs on her gauntleted forearms pops off and can be replaced with a long, forward-protruding magenta glowing blade called "hand-slicer".

Furthermore, to mimic her ability to fire energy tentacles from her chest and energy orbs from her additional arms, the figure comes with two bundles of threadlike magenta glowing flexible appendages, which plug into the skull's eye sockets and fictionally stretch out, twine round and grasp her opponents, as well as two magenta glowing spheres, which can be placed between the tarsi of each pair of arthropod arms (these fictionally generate charges of extremely high voltage that are discharged and shot as spherical bolts of lightning).
Finally, the package includes a huge tech-mech version of Nemhetra's halberd (fictionally dispensed by the unfolding back armour) as well as an equally large weapon composed of the four halberds joined together, which is meant for the three heroic siblings' super-robatar.

Final thoughts

Overall: this set is, in a word, insane! My review only began to scratch the surface of this amazing toy, because the playability aspect of it is pretty high. The two large scale figures were created for the passionate KR fan, one who wants to recreate - in precise detail - every possible mode, pose and action of the last Destructomorph chief marshal in her robotic avatar forms. This set delivers on all accounts with two toys worthy of a legend

Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Dimness Review #26: Ycabie & Lava Sentinels

Toy prototype details
Name: Ycabie^TM & Lava Sentinels
Subtitle: gliding warrioress versus deadly volcanic monsters
Line: KR|Dimness
Item type: multi-pack (3-pack) - Nº 5 in the line.

Ycabie
Character details
Name: Ycabie
Classification: dermopteran mammal (but she looks mostly human)
Sex: female
Relationships: older sister of Dhermot
Home: Tahron

Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Forseha
Rank: flying tribeswoman.

Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #3 - Into dimness: Part II – Escape
Related character(s): Dhermot.

Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: Afro-American features, black skin, blue eyes. She seems to wear a close-fitting dark-brown furry garment (but it is probably her natural growth of hair, which looks cut straight around the head at approximately shoulder level with very short, blunt bangs at the front) covering the whole head and neck except for the face and the ears (which are rounder and slightly larger than normal)
Body: almost entirely covered with a growth of short, fine dark-brown hair. Her hands and feet show black skin, webbed spaces between the fingers and toes, and small sharp claws
Wearables: an extreme crop top made of off-white buckskin (this garment is long sleeved on the right and sleeveless on the left, and has a standing collar as well as a greenish decorative button on the right shoulder), a bandage bustier (which has a pointed hem and appears to be made from multiple strips of off-white leather sewn together, with the individual strips shaped like bandages), a long-cuff off-white leather bracelet on the left forearm, two knee-high off-white leather stirrup socks (each lacking toe and heel sections -instead having a loop that fits within the arch of the foot- and bearing a triplet of greenish decorative buttons on the front), an off-white leather belt with a greenish tortoise-shell buckle, and light-green tights of woven grass (with some gaps here and there exposing her covering of hair) that join the socks' cuffs (forming cut-outs that expose her knees) and incorporate a small brown leather purse attached to a loose fitting belt. Her bustier (which together with the extreme crop top forms a cut-out exposing her cleavage) is ornamented with light-green patterns (seemingly made of applied stone chips) that are reminiscent of "greek-key" meanders, while its pointed hem is fringed with a light-green featherwork.

Action feature
Similarly to her brother Dhermot, Ycabie has the ability to glide through the air from one tree to another or from higher to lower locations with the aid of a patagium, a wingsuit-like dark-brown furry membrane of extra skin that stretches from her shoulders to her wrists, from her wrists to her ankles, and between her legs. Like with Dhermot, PoliganToys included two plastic pieces that plug into the back of the figure and into the limbs. The plastic used for these pieces has some pliability, so they’re not rock solid. The first alternative allows for having the skin flaps in a folded position, with the option of having the arms and legs plugged into them, to give the figure a standing-at-ease look. However, even when the limbs aren’t plugged in, the figure still looks natural and the membrane works more like a cape attached to the back (although the pegs are visible). The second option is the extended look, where the limbs have to be plugged into the patagium, because it would just seem too odd to have the skin flaps open and not have the arms and legs matching. This solution looked pretty sharp on Dhermot's figure, but not so much on Ycabie, mostly due to the items of clothing that couldn't possibly be worn the way they appear.

Weapons and accessories
Aside from the two interchangeable patagia, Ycabie comes with two kunai-like, greenish oxidised bronze throwing knives (which we have also seen in the Enmity Expansion Kit for Tahron) and a pair of alternative grasping hands.

Lava Sentinels

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: lavatic creature
Sex: uncertain
Home: Tahron
Era: 5 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Dark Legion (indirectly)
Rank: guardian of Mount Atubion.

Background
First appearance: KR|Dimness #1 - Into dimness: Part I – Awakening
Related character(s): Tolaaf.

Articulation
Standard, except that each left wrist is ball jointed.

Description
Head: each figure's head looks like made of a wrinkled dark-grey rocky material carved with empty eye sockets that emit a faint orange glow, and a gaping mouth that exposes a number of sharp light-greyish teeth. It also sports a mane of long golden Pele's hair emerging from the seemingly empty, crater-like cranium
Body: each figure's body is made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour (as a result of the lava that moves beneath the hardened surface of the body). The torso shows a small triangular bright orange gemstone embedded in the centre of the chest, while the hands and feet display sharp claws

Wearables: each figure wears a spiked collar, two gauntlets with spiked cuffs, and two boots with spiked tops, which are all made of a ropey golden-yellow material. The rocky waist/hips area is studded with golden-yellow nuggets, the central one of which is much larger and chiselled with some kind of demonic face design, while the "clothing" on the crotch piece has a sky-blueish, larimar colour.

Action feature
In the comics, the Lava Sentinels have the ability to generate powerful volcanic eruptions from the inside of their bodies, exhaling a blast of toxic gasses and lethal burning material. So, the package includes two eruption effects, seemingly made of smoke, ash and lapilli, that can be attached to the figure's mouths.

Weapons and accessories
Apart from the fire-breathing effects, the Lava Sentinels come with two sets of weapons, one for each figure. The first set includes a double-tang (i.e., with each blade held in the handle by two projections, leaving a cutout at the base of the blade) axe and a shield. The other set comprises a sword and a boulderstone covered in spiky rock fragments, which can be connected by an included swinging-looking, stiff red-hot faux chain to the left arm after removing the hand. All the above-mentioned weapons are made of a dark-grey rocky material criss-crossed by cracks that glow a bright orange colour, and show some sky-blueish details, i.e., the handle of the axe, a ring design on the shield, the hilt of the sword and the spikes on the striking boulder.

Final thoughts

Overall: what a fun set! This is what I am all about in terms of KR toys. The Lava Sentinels are absolutely crazy concepts made real as army builders for the first time, and Ycabie is literally the character we didn't know we wanted in (almost) perfect action figure form. I really hope we continue to get KR|Dimness prototypes somehow, some way. Update: PoliganToys' SDCC 2022 exclusive release will be Ycabie & Plant Creatures, basically this same 3-pack but with two Dark Legion Plant-Men instead of the Lava Sentinels!

Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #91: Holopodian Mutants

Toy prototype details
Name: Holopodian^TM Mutants
Subtitle: thorny minions
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: multi-pack (army builder 2-pack) - Nº 19 in the line.

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: mutant holopodian*
Sex: male or female
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: officer.
*Holopodians are fictional large-sized echinoderms with some characteristics that are shared with crustaceans.

Background
First appearance: KR|Foundation #11 - Herrion's ordeal
Related character(s): Kinod, Queen Holopodian.

Articulation
Standard, except that the left wrists are ball jointed.

Description
Heads: each figure's head consists of a spherical bivalve black shell covered with spines and partially open, whose serrated opening allows a pair of evil green glowing eyes to peek through
Bodies: each figure's body has pinkish skin (which bears a number of projections in the form of porous warts), clawed hands and star-shaped clawed feet. The back is equipped with a separate black shell clip-on piece; this bony shell displays four strips that run down its length and bear comb-like bands of seemingly vibrating translucent light-blue hairs. The comb rows originate from an eye-shaped dark-blue ornament situated at the top part of the shell, while a pair of long pliable pinkish tentacles (each fringed with little filaments and ending in a bony tooth-like structure) emerges from the sides of the shell and projects forwards over the shoulders
Wearables: each figure wears a light-blue armour with dark-blue details (including studs, spikes and rivets), two light-blue bracelets with star-shaped studs, two light-blue boots (each with a spiky top), a spiky light-blue belt and a dark-blue gorgonian-like loincloth (reused from Colotros).

Holopodian Mutant's stylised armour.

Weapons and accessories
The Holopodian Mutants have no action feature, but they come with a cool assortment of accessories. First of all, two weapons, one for each figure: a flail and a staff. The flail, which is a replica of Kinod's signature weapon, comprises a metallic dark-blue haft connected by a long real metal chain to a spherical silver-spiked dark-blue striking end. The staff, which is a repaint of Xehrea's weapon (retooled slightly in order to be grasped by these figures) consists of a metallic dark-blue pole that has a trishula-like trident at one end and a swordbreaker blade at the other end, and features a translucent light-blue gem at the base of the central prong.

Furthermore, there is a selection of dark-blue&silver plug-in attachments for the figures' left arms, which includes a rigid whip, an elaborate bow-shaped sword blade, a shield (which looks a little like the rotating arrangement of blades of a fan to me) and a spiked striking ball. The last accessory is interesting, because it may be replaced by the flail (whose haft can also plug into the arm) in order to simulate an extending/retracting feature of the same weapon.
Last but not least, the package includes two pairs of alternative heads, one pair for each figure. The first type is the unfurled head that also came with the Queen Holopodian. The spread-out head-shell reveals a star-shaped, bumpy face, while its back is still protected by a spiny black carapace. The five "arms" are connected by a pinkish, seemingly muscular membrane and radiate from a central disc that has an anthropoid brownish calcified nose. The two blueish top arms exhibit a pair of evil pinkish eyes, which are topped by rough, brownish brow ridges and bear two elongated lobes resembling sensory appendages. Below the eyes on either side of the head are bunches of tendril-like pinkish filaments, which look like the stinging tentacles of a jellyfish. The blueish bottom arm is similar to a protruding chin and carries a humanoid mouth, which is slightly open and reveals several sharp whitish teeth. The second type is the "concept art" head. This is similar to the entirety of a shell-less, green-eyed pink jellyfish, with a number of tentacles surrounding its supposed mouth; this concept design was finally discarded because considered too similar to Cthulhu, but I'm happy that we are finally getting it in toy form.

Final thoughts

Overall: thanks to a few additional pieces, Kinod could also be displayed as one of his soldiers, but a pair of Holopodian Mutants as separate figures is a great choice for an army builder multi-pack. They are really solid figures and I like them quite a bit. Honestly, I kind of like them better than the Kinod-based version, which isn't as comic book-accurate as these ones
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5