Huntra

One of my favorite GI Joe "vehicles" was the PAC/RATs, a set of three little autonomous weapons that could roll around the battlefield independently of any operator. So when I saw that the Kharn had something similar, I knew I had to get 'em! Huntra is an agile, scurrying turret that pins down enemies before striking. Brutally quiet and stealthy, Huntra is a nightmare that is all too real. There's something about the juxtipostion of the words "brutally quiet" that I really enjoy. I want that on my business cards. That's how I want to be described by strangers I've met, like a cryptid passing briefly through their lives. (The?) Huntra is not a vehicle, but rather a small, insectoid creature. Well, "small" in comparison to something like the Rumbler - it's probably the size of a large dog, which is definitely not "small" for an insect anywhere other than Skull Island. It has four crooked legs and a head with two round eyes and dangling mouth-parts. The most impressive part about this design? We don't know who's responsible for creating Huntra's look, but it's a creepy evil alien that owes no overt physionomic debt to the Xenomorph! Do you have any idea how rare that is? Sure, it has some Gigeresque lines and ridges, but that's it. The body is carried beneath the upper point of the legs, like a spider, and the short head hangs beneath, as well. This owes more to Starship Troopers than Alien, and even then it's only a very light connection. The most unnatural part of the design comes on top: Huntra's back sweeps up to a point, where a rotating pair of missile launchers can be found. Those look almost as organic as the rest of the creature, but Kharn technology usually doesn't look very mechancal anyway. The launchers fire vibrant green missiles that contrast with the two-tone purple body very nicely. With a gimmick built into the figure, there's not a lot of articulation: the launchers can swivel, and so can the legs on each side. Unfortunately, the plastic used is a bit too thin where the legs plug in: my first Huntra had a broken peg on one side right out of the package; I got a second one (because, come on, it's $1.25, grabbing a replacement is no worry), and one of the tabs on its peg snapped, leaving that leg loose. It can still stand, since the peg goes up into the body, but that's still something you need to be aware of when you're buying this. The Alpha Team has its own little army-builders, in the form of the P-131 drone and the X4 turret, so it only makes sense that the Kharn would get an equivalent. Huntra is a neat design, but you do need to watch out for breakage. -- 08/11/23

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