TFC Toys Poseidon: Thousandkills

 

 Thousandkills is the last of the TFC Toys Seacons, and for quite a while was thought to not be a real figure. Most of the promotional images of Poseidon in his combined mode omitted this unofficial Tentakill, and there truly was a sense that this combiner masterpiece would finish without one of its members. Images and teases began appearing, one of which showed a pot on a stove with Thousandkills’ tentacles hanging over the sides. Then Thousandkills was released, Poseidon was complete, and all was well.

The last of the individual Seacons, Thousandkills is a fairly heavy reworking of Mentarazor, and borrows elements from all the other members of the set. It’s kind of a perplexing figure to take in, because on one hand, it seems like it will be the most exciting member of the group, offer something truly different from the other sea monsters, only to have that feeling evaporate in hand, when one realizes that Thousandkills does a lot of things we’ve already seen at this point. Monster mode coming together via panels? Check. Sharp, pointy parts? Check. Weapons that are largely interpretive? Check. Same general robot profile? Check.

Quite obviously, the most distinguishing feature Thousandkills has are the tentacles. These are both blessing and curse, as they give the figure a completely unique look and functionality. The tentacles are composed of several segmented parts, and they can be elongated or contracted by adding or removing chunks. This is beneficial, since the thing the tentacles do best is get in the way. Sure, you can do cool things with them: they can be wrapped around Thousandkills like an odd sort of cloak, and they can be arranged in some fairly menacing poses. But they can’t grasp anything, and they do spend most of their time in the way of posing the robot. They are real detailed, and all of the segments are jointed. But, they don’t lock in to the body in any way, be it robot or monster mode, and they are mounted on pieces that aren’t tight enough to hold their combined weight, so they will flop around in both modes. Well, maybe that should be revised. The panels that hold the tentacles do actually peg onto the sides of the body, but not very well, and lining the necessary parts up is generally frustrating.

 

Thousandkills shares the overall profile with the rest of the limb members of his team, but the tentacles really do craft an entirely unique look. The figure looks pretty great with them spread out behind him, or flowing behind like a sort of cape. The two red tentacles can wrap around the torso, beneath the shoulders, for variation. Aside from the options the tentacles provide, Thousandkills is “another” TFC Toys Seacon, for all that that entails.

Monster mode has a marvelous face, complete with lower jaw that slides up and down to create an opening mouth. It’s a terrific beast face, easily the best of the entire set. Large fangs and pointy teeth are everywhere, and it’s just expressive and full of character. The translucent eyes add some extra color and depth. It’s such a good face.

Otherwise, the monster mode is plagued by the same general tentacle-related issues that the robot mode is. It’s also a very bulky but compact monster, and the monster legs are kind of small, the feet pretty tiny. So there are some issues with stability and balance in monster mode, and Thousandkills needs to be tilted slightly forward in order to maintain his balance. The knees, which happen to be the robot elbows, hold the weight of the figure surprisingly well, so there’s little worry that the monster is going to just pitch forward or not be able to stand. As with the other TFC Seacons, monster mode is largely realized via aligning panels, and that can be a little challenging with Thousandkills; but, if you’ve made it all the way to Thousandkills, chances are good that you either don’t care about this, or you’ve figured out how to manage the panel madness that transformation includes.

Overall, Thousandkills is colorful and fun looking, for as far as that description will go for what is pretty clearly an octopus monster. The tentacles are both good and bad features, but really, there’s not much of a way that this figure could have been made without them, and the general aesthetic of the team limits the variations of tentacles that could have been used. Something more like Doctor Octopus’ gear may have been a little more manageable for the figure in hand, but that would have disrupted Thousandkills’ inclusion on the team, giving him something vastly outside of the combined team look. It would be nice if they pegging in better, or were able to be secured. In either mode, picking the figure up means having to deal with tentacles flopping around and getting in the way. Combining Poseidon was a real chore until Thousandkills was finished, and then the rest was a snap.

Thousandkills also comes with this thing:

the purpose of which is sorta unclear. It looks like a stand, but also converts into a handheld blaster for Poseidon, which is unnecessary since any of the limb figures can become a blaster. It doesn’t really work as a stand, but it is available in a few different colors to be purchased as an add-on part for the set. I’m still not totally sure what it is. Officially, it is a stand, but it doesn’t really support these limb figures in their weapon configurations. It’s also apparently intended to be a blaster for the combiner, despite being redundant. Points for trying? Sure, but a piece that raises more questions than it answers.

In general, this write up feels less enthusiastic about Thousandkills than the figure actually warrants. Like the other TFC Toys Seacons, this is a really excellent piece, and it shares both the strengths and weaknesses of the rest of the batch. Thousandkills most resembles Mentarazor, so there has been some time and distance between similar figures, unlike CyberJaw and Big Bite, so Thousandkills feels fresher and a lot less “this again” than those other ones. But the figures’ best and most unique feature is also its biggest drawback, as the tentacles offer lots of posing and playing options that generally wind up being pleas to just get out of the way so I can pose or transform this figure. The final figure of a team is also somewhat difficult to stay fresh and excited about, since it’s the last one that follows others of a theme or team, or shares parts of engineering with things you’ve already devoted a lot of time and energy to. That is super unfair to Thousandkills, who isn’t dull or repetitive, but just happened to be the last one released, and thus the last Seacon featured here. An excellent figure, and one that offers some new and cool elements to the team regardless. Apparently there are collectors who choose among the five limb figure options, choosing to keep Poseidon as a five-member team. I wouldn’t want to put myself in that position. It’s hard enough trying to decide who’s going to be a limb and who’s going to be Poseidon’s blaster.