KR Review #99: Leutra

Toy prototype details

Name: Leutra^TM

Subtitle: tricky rebel

Line: KR|Foundation

Item type: action figure - Nº 62 in the line.

Character details

Name: Leutra

Classification: human

Sex: female

Home: Tahron

Era: 521 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Kimarhan^TM (a tribe of forest warriors who resist, among others, the rising reptilian authority); possibly becoming a member of the Theriom faction at a later time

Rank: apprentice tracker and scout.

Background

First appearance: KR|Foundation #12 - Dawn of a new past

Related character(s): none.

Articulation
Standard, excluding hinged abdomen.

Description

Head: Hispanic features, cream white skin, hazel eyes. She wears a boar's tusk helmet, i.e., a helmet made of ivory slivers of boar tusks that are attached to a purple leather cap in rows (the cap is visible through the gaps between the horizontal rows), with the tusks running all around in alternate directions in each row. The helmet also has a pair of cheek-guards and a double bony hook on top

Body: the exposed parts of her body (i.e., lower torso, forearms and legs) show cream white skin

Wearables: a V-shaped brown crop top with a purple motif (i.e., a seven-rayed sun) on the front and mid-length sleeves marked with beige stitches, a purple jacket with very short jagged sleeves, a brown emblem (again a seven-rayed sun) on the back and a collar made from brown-coloured fur that is darkly marked with both blotchy spots and stripes, two pairs of armbands made of either black leather or green woven grass, two finger bracelets (each made of a brown leather strap that wraps around the wrist and part of the forearm, forms a harness with a silver stud attached across her knuckles, and then loops around her middle and ring fingers), two brown leather shoes, two narrow loose fitting criss-crossed brown leather belts, and a short tattered purple skirt. The jacket (whose serrated hem, like the crop top, is cut short so that it reveals the stomach) is completely open and exposes a necklace, from which several pendants resembling teeth or claws hang down in front. The skirt doesn't really match the upper body's outfit and I guess it's a reference to the short dress with criss-crossed straps briefly seen in the comics.

Action feature

In the comics, Leutra is a young tribeswoman who dreams of becoming a great hunter like her father. She develops impressive skills in concealment and prefers to work alone, since she thinks that few could reach her level of sneakiness and camouflage technique. So, the figure comes with an alternative head as well as an alternative lower section that replaces the standard legs and attaches to the upper body by a peg at the waist. The alternate head shows brown camouflage paint applied on both her face and helmet as well as some natural foliage such as grass, leaves and twigs added to the helmet. The alternate lower body includes a pair of above knee-length purple trousers patched with beige, green and brown pieces of cloth, a pair of under knee brown leather boots (whose shafts are fastened with two pairs of bands made of either black leather or green woven grass), and two wide loose fitting criss-crossed brown leather belts, which incorporate several sculpted darts plus one loop for a separate dart. Each dart consists of a stone point fitted with a triangular bony arrowhead and attached to an equally long shaft of wood that is fletched with feathers to provide stability of flight.

Weapons and accessories

Aside from the alternate head, lower body piece and projectile, Leutra comes with a kestros, a specially designed sling that she uses to throw her heavy darts. The sling is composed of a metal ring to which two chains are linked. Each chain is connected to a length of rope: one rope ends with a loop, while the other rope is attached via a circular leather patch to a backbone (roughly of the same length as the chain-plus-rope section) ripped out of some animal. To throw the dart, Leutra holds the weapon by looping her middle, ring and small fingers around the central ring, passes the butt of the dart through the loop at the end of one rope, wraps the dart's head in the leather patch by bending the other rope and the spine at their joint, and grasps the end of the spine portion with her thumb and index finger (in the accessory, the end of the backbone clips onto the ring). The dart remains fixed in that position while the weapon is whirled round and round similarly to a lasso, but when at maximum centrifugal force the end of the spine is released, the dart is propelled towards an enemy. Wow, sounds like it takes great amounts of training and skill to properly deploy a dart with this weapon! The accessory is made of real metal chains and pliable purple (except for the brown leather patch) "rope" parts, while the silver central ring and the bony white spine portion are made of rigid plastic. It is also fictionally used as a spiked whip (that's why the sling is not just made of rope - the spiny backbone and the chain sections look pretty vicious) and can be worn over the shoulder and across the body like a bandolier.

Additionally, the figure includes another alternative portrait, which is helmet-less and shows auburn (i.e., reddish-brown) hair tied in a short ponytail at the back, and with side swept bangs at the front.

Final thoughts

Overall: Leutra is an excellent figure with a great likeness to the character. This heroic female warrior was featured in one of the best episodes in the Foundation series and I think she's a pretty good representative of the Kimarhan tribe, which is incredibly important to the KR mythos (after all, that's King Tah-Ron's tribe!) She definitely deserved a figure. The attention to detail, paint applications, sculpt and accessories look great. The neck peg seems a bit fragile though and I had to make sure to use some caution while swapping out the heads, as I definitely don’t want to risk breaking it

Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #98: Vehicle Driver

Toy prototype details
Name: Vehicle Driver
Subtitle: mysterious vehicle maneuverer
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: action figure - Nº 61 in the line.

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: uncertain
Sex: presumably male
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: varying
Rank: maneuverer.

Background
The Vehicle Driver has the distinction of being the only figure in the entire KR line that doesn't correspond to any characters in the stories. The figure comes with a set of interchangeable heads, chest plates and weapons that match up with the eight vehicles included in the Foundation series.

Articulation
Standard.

Description

The basic look of the figure hails from the generic warrior design on the tokens of the Key Raiders board game. In terms of sculpt, the figure makes extensive re-use of previous moulds... there’s very little new here.

Body: the figure's torso and limbs use the same proportions seen in other KR human male figures. In addition, he wears a whole-body protective clothing of dark red-and-purple leather, while black leather is visible in the form of gloves and boots on the hands and feet

Wearables: a golden armour with black details, two golden wrist guards with knuckle protectors, two golden knee/shin guards, a golden belt and a black groin protector. The new, relatively simple armour features some great design elements such as raised edges, rivets, and circuitry details. The back of the armour shows off what are presumably some sort of air tanks, while the attached spaulders are softer and do move nicely when you pose the shoulders.

Action feature, weapons and accessories

The included heads are inspired by “made-up” background characters for the artwork on some large items packaging, promotional posters and comic books. To help tie each of these characters more closely to the vehicles they're identified with, PoliganToys have incorporated design elements from the rides into a number of unique chest plates and weapons. The interchangeable chest plates are separate pieces that merely plug into a socket in the armour. You can easily remove one and replace it with another.

Wheel-Wolf driver

Head: a bulbous silver space suit helmet with an orange visor, a trapezoidal breathing apparatus connected to two headphone-like devices on the sides by bundles of golden tubes, and lots of cyber details all over the dome at the top, which is reminiscent of the Theriom Trooper's helmet. The visor is nice and wide, and can be popped off to reveal the eyes of a beast-looking, brown-furred character inside

Chest plate: modelled after the silver armour on the Wheel-Wolf's hull front, which subtly resembles a wolf's head

Weapon: a shield modelled after one of the Wheel-Wolf's wheels, including the black off-the-road flotation tire and a silver central spike.

Aviotak driver

Head: a full-face golden helmet with a pair of blue-violet lenses and a breathing apparatus composed of three silver hoses (two smooth that are threaded horizontally through two loops on the sides of the head and one corrugated that extends vertically between the lenses, with all three hoses ending at the back of the helmet) and black O-rings

Chest plate: an electronic panel modelled after the Aviotak's high-tech silver dashboard and equipped with a blue-violet pliable hose that plugs into the figure's mouth piece

Weapon: a double-barrelled (side-by-side, with a substantial gap between the two barrels) red-and-silver gun modelled after the Aviotak's pair of turbojet engines.

Ceratank driver

Head: an off-white (i.e., a white colour with a grey tinge that looks like tarnished silver) great helm consisting of a flat-topped (actually slightly curved) cylinder of metal that completely covers the head and has small openings for ventilation and vision. The helmet is also extended downward until it reaches the throat and has a cross-shaped shiny steel ornament riveted to the face portion

Chest plate: modelled after the ivory-white bony armour on the Ceratank's hull front, which strongly resembles a Centrosaurus skull (with some metallic dark-blue tech details and red glowing eye sockets)

Weapon: a club modelled after the Ceratank's wavy ivory-white bony tail ending with a head shaped like the tank's metallic dark-blue missile-launcher.

Pterajet driver

Head: a tech looking glossy black covering, which looks like a full face motorcycle helmet with an overall shape that is reminiscent of the Rexodon Troopers' robotic head. Instead of being covered by a visor, the large cut-out in the eye and snout area exposes a reptilian face underneath, characterised by an insanely wrinkled and orange-coloured skin, two yellow eyes with round black pupils and open jaws lined with sharp whitish teeth

Chest plate: modelled after the black-and-gold shape and outline of the Pterajet

Weapon: a double-bitted axe (similar to an onzil with a golden handle) whose glossy black blades are modelled after the Pterajet's bird head-shaped, red-eyed nose and one of the folded-wing structures mounted to the neck, respectively.

Pyrosaur driver

Head: a metallic purple helmet with three parallel ridges (or crests) raised from the top of the skull and running from front to rear (the two on the sides are smooth and sharp, while the keel-like, segmented one in the middle is made of silver laminar armour), a thin curved translucent red eye guard and a pointed, serrated flap of silver chain mail for mouth and throat protection. The visor plus curtain of mail can be detached to reveal a reptilian face underneath, which is characterised by scaly greenish skin, three white eyes with small round black pupils, a purplish proboscis-like nose and two large yellowish tusks pointing upward

Chest plate: modelled after the head of the Pyrosaur Siege Warfare cannon's battering ram, which looks like a robotic lizard's silver skull equipped with bronze tusks, chin spike and sagittal crest

Weapon: a large silver-grey gun modelled after the Pyrosaur's flamethrower.

Serpocraft driver

Head: characterised by slimy light-blueish skin, a pair of goggles with large oval glossy black lenses (or are they actually eyes?) and a segmented greyish bony nose/mouth guard that kind of resembles a trilobite's carapace. He wears a ceremonial Attic-like red-orange helmet that is very reminiscent of the Spektrosaur Troopers' helmet

Chest plate: modelled after the Serpocraft's dark-green cockpit that resembles the head of a cobra

Weapon: a double-sided sword whose slightly curved jagged-edged pearl-grey blades are modelled after the Serpocraft's rotor aerofoils.

Arkiopod driver

Head: human-like, characterised by a ghostly, pale blue-green skin, thick black eyebrows and dark-green face war paint on the forehead, around a pair of solid purple eyes, down the cheeks (somehow slightly extending beyond the jawline) and the top part of the nose. He wears a dark-red cowl that also covers the upper back, similarly to a short cape

Chest plate: modelled after the Arkiopod's reddish-brown copper hull front equipped with a pair of tech looking dark-grey arms (each split into three tentacles) and a pair of headlights (similar to two beady eyes)

Weapon: a wrist-mounted retractable whip modelled after one of the Arkiopod's tentacles ending with a sharp claw (the dark-grey whip portion is detachable from the tech looking reddish-brown portion that clips onto the wrist).

Rotakord driver

Head: warty purplish skin, two large light-blue eyes with slit-shaped dark vertical pupils, two small nostrils, and a wide mouth that is equipped with sharp dark-grey teeth and flanked by two pairs of arthropod-like dark-grey crushing mouthparts. He also wears a silver-horned golden-yellow helmet, whose design, combining barbaric and tech features, is very reminiscent of the Destructomorph Troopers' helmet

Chest plate: modelled after the Rotakord's metallic purple canopy with translucent yellow windscreen, which is shaped like two connected devilish eyes

Weapon: a purple staff with one end modelled after the Rotakord's boring/suction mechanism fitted with spinning steel saw blades, while the other end is shaped like the chainsaw/jackhammer-like silver tool mounted to the vehicle's nose.

Final thoughts

Overall: while the Vehicle Driver isn't really a fan-demanded character, the figure itself came out nicely despite having mostly reused parts. I know a lot of people don’t like these obscure characters, but this is the kind of thing that makes the line cool to me, so I am very glad to have him as well. PoliganToys was also smart to just call him a “vehicle driver”, so you could potentially army build him

Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #97: Murmirian Warriors

Toy prototype details

Name: Murmirian^TM Warriors

Subtitle: insectile hooligans

Line: KR|Foundation

Item type: multi-pack (army builder 2-pack) - Nº 21 in the line.

Character details

Name: unknown

Classification: insect

Sex: male or female

Home: Tahron

Era: Foundation

Affiliation: Destructomorph

Rank: vandal.

Background

First appearance: KR|Foundation #12 - Dawn of a new past

Related character(s): Zektax.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of two fully articulated arms (each pair of arms on either side is connected to an extra swivelling double socket) and with the exclusion of a hinged abdomen.

Description

Heads: each figure's head is somewhat human-like, and is characterised by a scale armour golden-yellow helmet that surrounds and merges with a reddish face. The helmet is equipped with water polo-like ear coverings, a central caterpillar looking crest and two short tubes from which a pair of fairly long, thin black forward-pointing antennae projects. The face displays a pair of evil almond-shaped glossy-black compound eyes, three smaller red glowing eye spots on the forehead, a vampire looking mouth complemented with two pairs of honeybee-like black mandibles and elongated black maxillae (above and beside/below the lips, respectively) as well as a housefly-like stretched out black proboscis extending from the chin, which is equipped with two palps and ends in a pair of fleshy protrusions that are more or less fused to form a single structure similar to a sucker

Bodies: each figure's four slender arms are protected by a segmented reddish chitinous exoskeleton and bear spinous ridges running down the sides. The arms and the legs end with reddish clawed hands (four-fingered in the upper arms and two-fingered in the lower arms) and digitigrade feet (reused from the Destructomorph Goblins, with the heel section high up, and three massive claw-like black toes in front and one in back). The figure's torso is essentially a jar of viscera, which is filled with a slimy fluid that allows his/her internal organs (such as heart, air sacs, guts and ganglia) to float around; these can be seen through the transparent chest (which features sculpted pecs and abs) and back, while the sides are spray-painted in red

Wearables: each figure wears a metallic purple collar characterised by a triangular shape in front and back, "insect-style" sculpting and golden-yellow details, four scaly (with some of the scales developing a bit more into spines) purple bracelets, two purple shin guards fastened with criss-crossed leather laces, a purple belt with a rectangular golden-yellow buckle, and a pair of laminar armour golden-yellow trousers.

Weapons and accessories
Although in the comics the Murmirian Warriors are shown to be extremely skilled hand-to-hand fighters, to have the ability to lift 20 times their body weight, and to communicate with each other telepathically via pheromones produced by their antennae, these figures have no action feature (apart from the translucent torso as well as the additional shoulder joints that allow the arms to spin in an attack motion). However, each figure comes with a giant winged weapon that can either be worn on the back or used as a dual-bladed staff of sorts. Designed to look like insect wings, these two pieces are as tall as the figures, are cast in translucent yellow with added golden glitter, and feature some excellent golden-yellow and metallic purple paint apps to bring out all the detail. On the back of each figure's collar is a clasp that the handle of the winged melee weapon can snap into. I like to imagine that they are made of an extremely lightweight material that could enable the Murmirian Warriors to glide.

Final thoughts

Overall: the Murmirian Warriors turned out wonderfully and have a lot of new parts to make them stand out on my KR shelf. Even if they were not my most anticipated figures, there is a lot to like about these excellent prototypes. And I'm very happy with how the translucent chest came out... with almost 100 prototypes in the line, I definitely appreciate a KR toy that stands out from the rest due to some unique feature. Their weapons design and colour scheme is rather eye catching too

Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Origin Review #29: Varadria

Toy prototype details

Name: Varadria^TM

Subtitle: faithful spouse

Line: KR|Origin

Item type: multi-pack (2-pack) - Nº 5 in the line (this figure will likely be packed with a re-release of Zhongat).

Character details

Name: Varadria

Classification: lepidosauromorph reptile

Sex: female

Relationships: wife of Zhongat

Home: Tahron

Era: 520 years before Foundation

Affiliation: Theriom (formerly belonging to the Reptonoid faction)

Rank: ally.

Background

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

Related character(s): Zhongat.

Articulation
Varadria's articulation scheme differs from the standard one significantly and is the following:
- neck (ball jointed)
- shoulder (ball hinged, x2)
- elbow (ball hinged, x2)
- wrist (swivel + hinged -for left wrist front-to-back movement and right wrist side-to-side movement-, x2)
- mid-torso (ball jointed)
- tail (swivel)

Description
Head: similar to a Komodo dragon, characterised by ochre skin, a long scaly snout with a closed mouth, light-blue eyes, and a gular fold
Body: shorter than most characters (only 12 cm, almost 5"), bulky. Her body is covered from neck to toe except for the hands and a tail. Her hands display long black claws, while the thick pointy tail, which is as long as the rest of her body, emerges from under her skirt. Her exposed body parts, especially the tail, display a rugged hide reinforced with bony armoured scales, and show crazes, warts and an ochre drybrush that brings out all the amazing detail in the sculpt

Wearables: a floor length, long-sleeved light-green crocodile leather dress (with yellow cuffs and hem, all showing a tortoiseshell-like texture and decorated with golden studs). A broad collar/necklace is wrapped around and supported by her neck and shoulders; from the inside to the outside, the collar is made of closely placed rows of teardrop yellow stone beads, tubular golden yellow pieces and large scute-like golden plates, and is connected with clasps of gold. The dress is secured by a Y-shaped belt made of several metallic light-green rings laced together (except for the forked tongue-shaped, tortoiseshell-patterned studded yellow vertical element that includes a purple-gemmed golden buckle resembling a neural spine sail). Finally, she wears a dark-green fabric removable cape characterised by a wide collar that slightly rises on the back, forming a sort of cowl, and a hem trimmed with light-green crocodile leather.

Action feature

In the comics, Varadria is depicted as an incredibly wise creature, and such a quality is well rendered by the standard portrait of this figure. However, a second head, showing a slightly open mouth with closely spaced serrated teeth along the edges of the jaws as well as a long, deeply forked yellow tongue flowing out, is also included. I like that although the sculpt is very reminiscent of Zhongat's face, it still has a feminine appearance.

Weapons and accessories

Apart from her alternative head, Varadria comes with a wooden stick around which two intertwined golden dragons (one looking European, the other Chinese) are coiled; the two dragons' heads emerge over the end of the stick, which is topped by a purple glassy orb, while the other end is adorned with a metallic light-green point.

Final thoughts
Overall: I think Varadria is perfect. The sculpt, colouring and paint-job are spot-on. I am also very happy with this figure being packed with a re-release of her beloved husband's figure. If you’re not a fan of their scaled down aesthetic, I can see how they wouldn’t be appealing, but since I’m a completist type of guy, I want as many characters as I can

Rating: ☺☺☺ / 5

KR Review #96: Deptilion's Legacy Demon (One-Horned)

Toy prototype details

Name: Deptilion^TM's Legacy Demon (One-Horned)
Subtitle: cruel leviathan
Line: KR|Foundation
Item type: large scale figure - Nº 8 in the line.

Character details
Name: unknown
Classification: spirit
Sex: uncertain
Home: Tahron
Era: Foundation
Affiliation: Destructomorph
Rank: demonic entity possessing Geel-Ber.

Background
First appearance: KR|Foundation #12 - Dawn of a new past
Related character(s): Geel-Ber, Deptilion, Three-Horned Demon.

Articulation
Standard, with the addition of a ball jointed tail.

Description

Head: sea serpent-like, covered in warty dark blue-green skin and characterised by a spiky grey-brown sagittal crest, a pair of deep-set solid purple glowing eyes, a pair of small pointed ears, and one dark-grey forward-pointing horn on the beak-shaped, orange-tipped muzzle. The slightly open mouth shows some sharp whitish teeth

Body: the figure is 23 cm tall (around 9'') and displays a body covered in warty dark blue-green skin, with large scales occurring especially on the neck (thanks to a rubbery removable neck piece that fits right on top of the body and mimics a horny collar with a sequence of extended, spinous grey-brown processes running down the middle of the upper back) and shoulders (the latter are also equipped with two pairs of curved grey-brown spikes), and sharp grey-brown spikes sticking out of the elbows. He also has clawed hands and feet (including one claw protruding from each heel) as well as a fairly long dark blue-green scaly tail with grey-brown spikes projecting from its upper side

Wearables: none.

Weapons and accessories
The Demon has no action feature and doesn't come with any proper weapons, but includes two interesting accessories. The first piece is an alternate head that shows a screaming, much angrier expression compared to the regular portrait.

The second accessory is Demo-Rha's sceptre as it is shown in the 10^th issue of the KR|Foundation comic book series Evanescing act, where it is used by Deptilion to teleport his enemies to Cereutis. The staff is moulded in purple plastic and is topped with a modified version of the Destructomorph symbol, i.e., a square-shaped black spider, whose back resembles a human skull. The only difference with Demo-Rha's standard sceptre is that two red gemstones are embedded in the skull's eye sockets. As another option, the staff can also be grasped by the Demon and wielded as a weapon.

Final thoughts
Overall: of course PoliganToys couldn't deny us the perfect companion of the Three-Horned Demon. He is tremendously sculpted and looks great on my monster shelf or with the rest of my KR prototypes
Rating: ☺☺☺☺☺ / 5

KR|Emergence Review #27: Tauton (Emergence Edition)

Toy prototype details
Name: Tauton^TM (Emergence Edition), aka White-Outfit Tauton
Subtitle: fighting cadet
Line: KR|Emergence
Item type: action figure - Nº 24 in the line.

Character details
Name: Tauton
Classification: human
Sex: male
Home: Tahron
Era: 3 years before Foundation
Affiliation: Theriom
Rank: officer cadet; expert in hand-to-hand combat and weapons master.

Background
First appearance: KR|Emergence #2 - The war of all against all: Part I – Breach
Related character(s): Tauton.

Articulation
Standard.

Description
Head: he wears a crested (i.e., with a longitudinal raised band) white balaclava that covers the whole head and neck except for the eyes

Body: the torso and the legs are covered with a tight, sleeveless white uniform. The uniform looks solid white at a distance, but up close it appears to be painted in a camouflage pattern of dull and pearlescent white. While his upper arms wear two white leather armbands, the trousers are equipped with two pearl-white knee pads, a high-tech looking blueish-grey strap around the left thigh, and a simpler white leather strap bearing a side-pocket around the right thigh

Wearables: a padded white vest held tight by a pearl-white sash that wraps around the waist (with a small silver non-removable dagger tucked in), two white gloves fitted with silver knuckledusters, two white boots, a blueish-grey belt equipped with many pockets, and two vertical flaps hanging from the front and back of the belt. The vest is accompanied by two shoulder pads (which almost look like short sleeves) as well as a chest plate shaped like a hybrid of a blueish Theriom insignia and a silver throwing star, and held in place by an asymmetric arrangement of white leather straps choke-full with small silver weapons, i.e., throwing stars and hand grenades. The shoulder pads and the flaps protecting the groin and the posterior are made from white leather strips reinforced with blueish-grey steel plates, while the sculpt of his feet vaguely suggests that the boots are actually a combination of socks and rope sandals. Moreover, both the gloves and the boots are complemented with white boxing wraps around the forearms and the lower legs (another small silver non-removable dagger is stowed in the wraps on the right leg).

Weapons and accessories

Although in the comics Tauton is depicted as a skilled hand-to-hand fighter even in his younger days, his figure has no action feature, but it does come with some nice weapons and accessories. The included weapons are the same compound bow (plus separate arrow), techno-katana and kamas that came with Foundation Tauton, just redone in the new white-and-steel colour scheme. He can actually tote these weapons around thanks to a brand new white backpack/quiver piece that contains several sculpted arrows, and has an attached pearl-white sheath for the katana (the quiver and the sheath intersect each other like in an X) and two clips on the bottom for holding the kamas.

An extra spinning nunchaku is also part of the package. The effect is achieved using a white handle connected perpendicularly to a spinning disc, mimicking the appearance of the other stick whirling around. A semi-transparent plastic disc with white accents is used to create the spinning look; to complete the illusion, six white sticks, each attached to a few steel chain links, radiate from the centre of the disc.

Additionally, the package includes an alternate unmasked head, which shows Asian features, olive brown skin, black hair and a pair of hazel eyes, and two blueish-grey hoods (or rather a hood in two different forms: down and up) that can be positioned between the body and either head.

Finally, Tauton comes with a weapons rack, which looks like a conical frame made out of wooden poles and is done with the same premium detailing found on the figure. You can load it up with both the included weapons and those that came with Wog-Rauan.

Final thoughts
Overall: as a hardcore KR fan, I'm really glad to have this version of Tauton to finish off the Emergence line. If the second portrait isn't enough for you, you can remove the plastic armour on the figure and put on the cloth piece that was included with Wog-Rauan. This gives you yet another option to display Tauton on your shelf, though I’ll really have to ponder what style to have him represent on mine. I may be leaning towards the soft goods look, because it’s unique to the series. If the line ever comes to fruition, I'll even be ready to buy more than one figure, so I can showcase them all
Rating: ☺☺☺☺ / 5

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