After the fiasco that was KFC Ditka (to their credit, KFC did send out replacement parts that fixed most but not all of the issues), I was worried about Kingorilla. But, my preorder was already in and I did enjoy all their previous figures so I decided to wait and see. I was not disappointed. Despite hitting me in the face with a horrendous stench on unboxing, the figure itself doesn't suffer from the stability problems that Ditka did. In a rare feat, Kingorilla also manages to pull off three pretty decent modes for a triple changer.
Kongor is a typical Nebulon. His face has metallic paint, but the rest of his body seems to be colored plastic. He does have light-piped eyes. No attempt was made to hide either face on his back and legs. His head is on a swivel. His shoulders and hips are on ball joints that don't quite give you the expected range of motion from such joints because of his face backpack. His single-jointed elbows can curl a bit short of 90 degrees. His single-jointed knees can't really bend normally but do bend in reverse for transformation. He has magnets in his feet to let him stick to the panels next to the cockpit of the jet. He even has a spot on his chest for a tiny Decepticon symbol. While there are tabs to help hold him together in head mode, he does come apart rather easily.
In vehicle mode, Kingorilla is a rather large and flat jet or space fighter of some kind. The overall shape is that of a flying brick. It is definitely reminiscent of the G1 toy. Gorilla feet are visible in the back. To my kids' relief, I did not buzz them while making swooshing sounds. I like the detailing in the cockpit, which is visible through the translucent canopy that opens. Opening the cockpit triggers a light up gimmick for the console. Batteries are not included. Kongor fits easily enough inside, but you have to move the console out of the way first. He has three sets of retractable landing gears and an extra pair of tiny wheels, none of which do anything to keep him off the ground. I couldn't get the rear ones to fold out completely. His rifles can store towards the rear or under the wings.
Transforming to beast mode is a bit fiddly. I had a little trouble with the backpack because the nosecone gets in the way of where you need to peg the robot arms. It's also easy to get turned around with the robot legs. You are supposed to connect the bottom of the shins to tiny little black pegs on the robot shoulders and simultaneously connect the red piece on the calves to the base of the wings. The red pegs are far more useful in keeping the backpack locked into place so I would just ignore the black tabs that are hard to fold out anyways. When pulling out the gorilla hands, do not pull by the fingers. Those tiny KFC ball joints seem too delicate to withstand that kind of force. The tail fin section separates and can reattach on his back so there is a bit of parts-forming.
Gorilla mode is rather odd looking, but I really like it. Although he has a little trouble standing upright, he easily stands on all fours. Metallic gold detailing on his arms and legs are a nice touch. His mouth can open to reveal a pair of cannons. The teeth are quite pointy. The backpack is chunky, but it actually merges into the silhouette pretty well. His rifles can peg onto his back via the tail fin piece.
Unlike most other beast formers, the limbs in beast mode are a completely separate set from robot mode. Although his head is on a swivel, there isn't much room to swivel. The neck plate has one notch of vertical articulation. His shoulders are on ratcheted swivels and hinges. He can raise them out to 90 degrees. His ratcheted, single-jointed elbows can curl about 90 degrees. He has double-jointed wrists. I am not big a fan of KFC articulated hands. Every finger is on delicate-looking little ball joints and, more often then not, the fingers wind up in awkward looking poses. His hips are on ratcheted swivels and can hinge outward one click. He has ratcheted, single-jointed knees that also curl about 90 degrees and about 45 degrees in the reverse direction. His ankles are also on ratcheted hinges with some tilt. His toes are one solid piece on each foot that hinge at two knuckles. The big toe is on a separate hinge with a single knuckle. If the toes were individually articulating, I would actually prefer this system for the hands as well. The heel spurs are hinged.
Transformation from gorilla to robot mode is actually more interesting than I had originally assumed. It's more than just flipping him upside down. Gorilla limbs fold away to make room for robot limbs, which is a detail that I really enjoy. This is by far the easiest transition. Like Ditka, the legs are on sliders, but they don't wobble in their shafts.
Robot mode looks pretty good. Paint applications are a bit lacking, but there is some line work at least. The grey panels have swirls, similar to Planet X figures. Despite being rather back and top heavy, Kingorilla has no trouble standing because of his solid joints and significant heel spurs. KFC definitely earns some nostalgia points for their tech spec gimmick. Unlike every other recent Headmaster, including Generations Brainstorm, his tech specs spring up from the bottom once his head is plugged in. That is certainly a welcome callback to my childhood. Yes, Generations Brainstorm had a gimmick as well, but it was more of a flap that flips down, which I found very disappointing. Too bad the paint applications on the tech specs are a bit sloppy.
I wish more care had been taken to hide the ape face in robot mode and the robot face in beast mode. As it is, you can swivel the head around to choose between either face in either mode. I also don't like the seam running down the middle of his face. The backpack is also a little finicky to get to stay in place. As far as I can tell, you have to make sure the two gray tabs at the bottom are completely pressed in and then the gray tab in the middle. If you don't do it this way, the backpack will flop backwards. The shiny black paint on the metal section section of his backpack is prone to chipping and coming off just from touch alone.
His head is on a swivel only so he can't look up and down. Swiveling his head around too far will reveal the ape face. His shoulders are on ratcheted hinges and swivels. He can raise his arms out and up past horizontal but not quite to vertical. His double-jointed elbows only allow him to curl slightly past 90 degrees. He has swivels at his biceps, forearms, and wrists. His fingers have the same articulation as his gorilla fingers. The afforded articulation just doesn't seem worth the danger of breakage. Fans Toys Phoenix manages quite emotive hands without the fragility. His thumbs have a single hinge at the knuckle. The rest of his fingers are hinged at the second and third knuckles. He also has a ratcheted waist swivel. His hips are on ratcheted universals. Despite a side splits that would make Van Damne proud, his butt flap prevents him from raising his legs straight behind him. Even with being up at the universal joints, his thigh swivels are not hindered by their sculpt. His double-jointed knees can't quite curl to 90 degrees. His ankles are on ball joints, but seem to be very stable.
His accessories include two rifles, a shield, fire effects, extra hands and fingers, a display stand, and a screwdriver. The rifles are red plastic with some gunmetal paint applications. The barrels are transparent plastic to facilitate the light-up gimmick. Batteries are not included. They use Masterpiece-styled tabs that simply do not work. The tabs are too small for the slots on his hands. There is just enough tension in his fingers to hold the guns loosely, but any movement will cause them to fall out. I found a pair of replacement handles in Kingzilla's box. They do work better, but are still fiddly. The wings of the shield swivel and are also hinged. The shield can peg onto either arm. It can also peg onto his backpack in gorilla mode. There are ports to receive his rifles. The fire effects are for his jet mode. Unfortunately, they won't fit on his rifles. The display stand is transparent plastic and works well enough for the jet, but is a bit wobbly. I don't know what the extra hands and fingers are for. They are grey instead of purple and require assembly.
After airing out the figure in the garage, I am now ready to place Kingorilla on my KFC shelf. He doesn't suffer from any of the stability issues that plagued Ditka. I really like all three modes, which is rare for a triple changer. I'm ready to continue collecting KFC figures and hope Kingzilla will be just as an enjoyable . . . and free of that smell.
