ThreeA - Popbot: Obsidian TK (Shadow Mode Original TK).

You have seen my children. I was the first born, and the first to be sent away to sleep. Again I have awaken as I always do, at the start of the end.

- write up from the box.

A (mis) interpretation:

Category type: Experimental prototype replicants.

Model type: The Tomorrow King - GEN 1.0
Unit type: Obsidian TK.

ID: Kokuyōseki / 黒曜石.

Rank: Kyodai / The Old Guards.

Incept date: TKG01MAC27111986OTK.

Function: TK Champion.
Longevity: Unknown.

Physical level: A+

Mental level: C

Abilities: Panzer Kunst - anti armour martial art; superhuman physiology; silica reinforcement physicality.

Std. armaments: "Temhota" - monomolecular edged katana x 1; Ion-cyclotron glove x 2; Panisshā ( -パニッシャー) - desumasuku (デスマスク) armour vest x 1; "Hellstorm" - SOL Militaris lascannon x 1; "Night Reaper" - combat knife x 1.

1986. Leviathan 1, L7. 'It is finally done. The first of the replicant. The one of which many would spring from based on its gene seed sequencing and coding collated by the DNA Organ,' said a jubilant Luthor Bean Jr, biorobotic extraordinaire and entrepreneur. 'Let's not forget Queeny. She is the Firstborn,' muses the Hatchery 51 chief genetic engineer. 'True. But of different purpose. And a TQ. This replicant, on the other hand, is the male counterpart, the first TK though not on the same grade nor blessed with advance neuro mapping and memories as Queeny,' replies the dhampir lord. 'And how shall we mark this occasion, Luthor?' asks the chief. 'From the darkness, it would come to cut down the lives of those whom detests flesh and blood, a quote I heard long time ago of source which I couldn't recall. As such I shall designate this TK as Kokuyōseki, the Obsidian. I hope it would live up to its name, sharper than the finest sword. I want you to tattoo its entire torso. Not a single area would be left un touch by the needles. Is that clear?' orders Luthor. 'Crystal, sir,' replies the chief. 'And by the way, would you be kind enough to ask the Marcom department to propose to our sponsor, 3A that the tee-shirt should be emblazoned with SiO2, to represent this TK's exclusive silica reinforced physicality? Thanks,' says Luthor.

1996. Grid 7174. The battlefield is littered with bodies of intertwined fallen TKs, TQs and fallen machines of the Mortis Legion. Smokes rise from the fires and circuitry of decapitated Mortis Titans and the Flayed Ones. Sporadic explosions both minor and loud occurs. Luthor and the other replicants stand staunchly and defend the final position. It has been the second year of what is known as the Ten Years of Darkness. The Punk King and the 7Bones still hold onto the seemingly impossible feat of singularly stopping the hundred hands Hecatoncheires which sweep and cut everything and everyone down across the Field of Sorrow with murderous intensity outside the Grid. With the remaining progenoid glands harvested and secured, making on its way to Terra for Lady Sham, Luthor Bean Jr. heaves a sigh of relief. He decides it is time to awaken the First. The ground shakes. He looks across the war torn battle field. The TK Hunters have been unleashed. The magnetic plasma minefield would take care of the first wave and buy him some time. Luthor takes out an encrypted data-lock device and punches some numbers. Within Hatchery 51, the sole enclosed replication container tube rises from its hexagonal shaped slot. 'OK. What're we lookin' at?' asks the hatchery chief. 'Stats indication stable across all spectrums. Neural damage non detected. Memory implant scattered a bit but nothing less than a few seconds of fine tuning shall restore it,' replies the hatchery engineer. 'What about physical?' enquires the chief. 'No deterioration detected. Peaked above standard grading. And exceptional resiliency, with higher than usual naturally occurring silica lining on each cells, joints and tissues,' replies the engineer. 'Scan for mutation,' ordered the chief. 'Interloper mutation risk below minimal threshold,' answers the engineer. A loud explosion could be heard from above, even five kilometres beneath surface. It echoes and vibrates the entire hatchery. 'OK. Wakes him. Don't have much time,' requests the chief. With a hissing sound, it opens and inside, the hibernating Obsidian TK awakens. He moves out silently and swiftly, without even a glance to the people around him. On his way, he grabs a katana, a Death Mask armour vest known as The Punisher and a SOL Militeris lascannon.  The elevator moves to the surface, and the Obsidian immediately engages the TK Hunters single-handedly, while dodging the path of the spraying bolters shot at 6000 rounds per minute from the FU2 assault cannons of the EDO TKs and TQs. Suddenly the unmistaken, familiar screams of the Soot Divers appear overhead, dive bombing the Hatchery. The EDO TKs redirect their firing at the kamikaze tactics of the Divers. A Hunter manages to find it way in, and though not as colossal as a Titan, it is still imposing enough to crush and tear anything apart. But before it could raise its arm and fling the Grappler, the sound of sword slicing vertically up from bottom could be heard. The Hunter splits into half, as the Obsidian moves on with incredible speed. A Soot Diver detonates nearby with thousands of shrapnel spraying in every direction but the Obsidian is protected by the armour vest. He uses "Hellstorm" a SOL Militaris lascannon and with deadly precision, shoots each Soot Divers down before they could reach the surface. Unlike a laspistol or lasgun, a lascannon weight and size restricted it to mounted or crew served position. But a replicant can carry and shoulder fire it due to their superhuman strength. A Ecclesiarchy of Mars weaponry from the age of the Great War, the SOL Militeris type does not require an external battery pack, utilising the Hotshot Laser Power Pack instead. It is good for 80 shots before depletion. It is more compact and robust. Its enhanced power matrix can discharge more energy through any standard laser weapon, making it more powerful with superior armour piercing capability, though the drawback is an increased chance of overheating the weapon or draining the pack itself. The small, rechargeable power pack is located beneath the weapon, in front of the trigger guard. The pack can be recharged in many ways, including sunlight These hotshot packs also put more stress on the weapon's barrel. Enhanced phase capacitors allow for a standard laser discharge to be fired in a series of semi-automatic or rapid fire mode.  Under  rapid fire mode, the lascannon is highly effective against hordes of infantry or lightly-armored vehicles. While losing some of the penetrative power of a standard shot, the resulting high rate of fire improves the weapon's ability to engage a series of targets in rapid succession. Each shot has longer range with its high intensity emission of a beam of focused light.The high amount of energy in a beam causes the immediate surface area of a target to be vaporised in a small explosion. It has a Auspex sight mounted along the top of the weapon. . It can also be "overcharged," a trick used by replicant Old Guards that causes the pack to explode, turning the weapon into a makeshift grenade. This tactic is only used in last-ditch situations, as it results in the destruction of the weapon. The resultant explosion, however, is powerful enough to crack open the frontal armour of a Hyperion class Mortis Titan. Lascannon has several lethality settings that adjust the damage of each shot in order to conserve power (weaker settings use less energy) or disable rather than kill a target. He also possesses a combat knife with monomolecular edge for close combat call "The Night Reaper". The TK champion would continues the fight well, pushing back assaults after assaults. But by then the backbone of the Mortis Legion has been broken and the battle of attrition would begin, with neither side too strong to win nor too weak to loose.

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Honestly, I was 50-50 on getting this one when it came up on Bambaland. Why? Coz of the colourway. Except for bots, I am always 100% on getting flesh tone (or close) coloration for a TK, TQ or say, human characters from AK or Popbot line, be darn whether it is a non exclusive or limited. Heck, even on my fourth 3AA membership now (late bloomer), it is the overall appeal - design, coloration, what does the figure means to me or theme - which takes precedent. As such, standard drop or non-3AA exclusive appeals to me because often, the exclusives or random/surprise drop comprises of those so-called "shadow mode" or bath in its entirety in white. I'll be frank here. It is a good marketing ploy ;) to snare the kiasu ones or flippers. The membership is actually for me to get a chance to have some discounts (though I doubt I would ever recoup back the membership cost against the total discount obtained per annum, but no concern there) and of course, certain exclusive which comes across my fancy (which usually involves exhibition exclusive, and ThreeA always have the affinity to release something which I fancy for an exclusive event) and if offered for Bambaland, I'll probably have to F-5 away like Jack Kerouac on his typewriter or get cart-jacked. So why did I jump on this one? Coz it catches my fancy. I imagined it to be a champion of the TKs, and as to why it is all black, well, because he was Miami Inked all the way from his forehead to the toes. It doesn't make sense and not official backstory but that's the way I "mis-interpret" the fan-fiction aspect of this figure. And I took note of the write-up as well as the silicon dioxide chemical formula on its tee. Onto the figure, it is a standard OG TK. Which is nice with minimalistic gears, depending on how I look at it. RVHK OG TKs still remain one of my favourite TKs. But who am I kidding? I loves them TKs and TQs. Except for the McFloppy torso syndrome. I added The Punisher armour vest and Appleseed's Briarieos rifle on it. Then I could re-imagine it as an oyabun TK sans the obligatory sideburn of course. The roller-coaster QC continues with this one, publicised in one those ads, I might be wrong on this one, with "re-tooled body", which I take it as a way 3A addresses those flip-flop bodies of late. No rough and tough packing on this one as well. When I say that, I refer to whomever is packing the figure is in a hurry to go to the loo or late for a date or a subtle flirtation on Instagram ;) Just slam in the figure without checking. Like the Zomb MD of which the leg wasn't attached fresh out from the box. Indeed the body is sturdy and well articulated, just like back in the days when I first gotten into this brand's unique line of quirky and eccentric figures. Which I love. As I feel that 3A is gravitating more towards other lines, away from their primary three, the biggest casualty being WWR and to certain extent, Popbot and AK lines, and might even down scale the size from 1/6th as well as the upcoming 24 inches Pascha, maybe it is time for me to downsize my collection as well and keep the classic ones only. Maybe it is already written on the wall - escalating cost and prices on the newer ones, and really rare to come across a decent (let's park the pricing aside here) 1/6th scale major WWR robot on eBay. Oh, since it is black, just want to say, Temhota which I think means The Dark in Russian, comes from watching Teddy's inks in one of the scenes from The Equalizer. And that's that.