It's Christmas, so let's look at something that I didn't necessarily originally want. The 60mm Scorpion - Flesh
is one of three unpainted figures from the initial runs of these molds,
and dagnabbit, it's pretty good. Creator Jon Karis runs
LittleRubberGuys.com, which covers the male action toy figures that are
too small to be deemed "action figures" by the serious (read: boring)
adult collector. It's a wonderful site and a great resource, mostly
because this is where you're going to see Japanese capsule figures or
American Garbage Pail Kids figures early - it's not wildly active, but
it's one of those sites that I personally find informative and useful.
The biggest success in that little rubber figure space is, in the eyes
of many American fans, Mattel's M.U.S.C.L.E. - and this figure (as well as his Rhino companion) are a tribute to that classic line of toy figures.
Generally speaking most Kickstarter toys have one exclusive-to-early-backer figure, but not Gothitropolis. The Four Horsemen took about eight extra months to deliver Cardinus
and his friends, and during this time those who neglected to support
the line on Kickstarter could pre-order figures at a slightly higher
price. All of these save for one pre-sold out, so at this point it
looks like if you want these figures and didn't pre-order them, you're
out of luck. Given how long some of the Horsemen Glyos-compatible
figures stuck around this is probably a wise move, but seeing how
wonderful these figures are I'm sure more than a few of you are going to
read this review with some anger and hope of schadenfreude. Despite
delays, high costs, more delays, and the Horsemen flat-out saying
figures may have problematic joints I experienced no problems with
Cardinus (and as of my writing this, I'm still opening the other
figures) save for the spare feet. The alternate claws had a stuck
joint, but this was easily remedied by my favorite Boiling Water Trick.
One
of the advantages of covering small lines is that the people behind
them, at times, are super cool and will sell figures to the press early.
The Cahriv - Metallic Black Scorpion with Orange Paint is the
only painted Scorpion on sale to the general public, but there are a
grand total of five of this guy so far. There's a gold promo figure (reviewed here)
in addition to an unpainted flesh figure, an unpainted black metallic
figure, plus two more mail-away figures - a silver figure with painted
bits, and a black figure with painted bits. They're pretty stunning.
The Armorvor Rig Crew Mimic
was the final painted wolf headed Armorvor, complete with orangey
colored fur. He's not the first one to be close to that color, but he
is in fact the last! I appreciate the finality, as the mold is
starting to feel old if you're a long-time card-carrying member of the
Glyos cult and I'm not sure if the line has fans who aren't more or less
on board with buying new figures every few weeks.
As of when I write this, I don't know much about the long-gestating Rhino and Scorpion. Prototypes for these and other 2 1/2-inch scale mini figures have been around since Rise of the Beasts
was a Kickstarter project back in early 2012. Creator Jon Karis
assured me that the line would come to fruition and I have to admit I
had my doubts - but the figures are here! And they're pretty good -
painted samples exist, as do flesh figures and a sort of a bone-colored
sample. No on-sale date is known, but backers were given their choice of
figures as a promo piece - the original plan was for a golden lion,
which is not in the immediate future plans.
The Armorvor Neo Phase
is the end of an era. Along with the Rig Crew Mimic Armorvor, these
two guys round out the final run of wolf-headed Armorvors - the furry
head goes into retirement and will be replaced by something new in late
October. Until then, these two figures - and a fifth run of the
super-popular clear colorless version - seem to be available in the
Onell Design store. They're quite nice, and if you never picked up an
Armorvor I'd strongly advise you do so now as it really is the last
chance to get this head outside eBay. Over two years we've had dozens
of the little guy, but this is the first and only clear plastic one to
feature painted details. The Infection Red and Stealth clear colorless
releases are undecorated.
The Armorvor Glyaxia Command Mimic
is a little less colorful than his ancestors, but it brings us a second
blue Armorvor - and this is a good thing. Previously we've had an
unpainted "OMFG Mimic" and a dark blue "Ecroyex Mimic," the latter of
which was a striking figure with dark blue, light blue, red, and silver.
This guy? He's got yellow and black. It's not bad, but it doesn't
"pop." With the price increase, my guess is we're seeing a pushback
against increasing wages in China and other inflationary things.
Most of what interests me in toys are really old things - like Battle Beasts - or brand-new figures. I went nuts and got as many of these guys as I could a few years ago, including Pixilated Pointer.
I'm not a big dog person as such, but this is a fine figure - the
2-inch pooch has jointed arms and a weapon, plus a rubsign sticker.
It's awesome. You should get one, or whatever figure best represents
your spirit animal.
Familiarity breeds contempt - if you want a line to get some long-term love, martyr it. Rynas Burst was a clear, almost completely unpainted redeco from Beast Saga,
a toy line which I foolishly assumed would be brought over to the USA
by Hasbro as they did with Beyblade. I still imported pretty much the
whole line, mostly because I was so high on vintage Battle Beasts
and filled with optimism for the Minimates that I simply had to have
everything - and now I don't feel that way. Because this line burned
out quickly I actually kind of miss it, even the clear repaints which I
was actually starting to get sick of after the third series. Two more
unpainted series were planned, and were mercifully axed before it was
too late.
Courtesy
of most toy lines dying out in the late 1980s, the toys made their
statement and left a more or less perfect plaything that most kids
missed out on. Rainbow Sam was released in the USA in limited
numbers, so he can be had for a somewhat hefty but not insane price.
$30 is the usual going rate for a loose and complete specimen.
It's impossible to look at the Ecroyex Mimic Armorvor
and not love it. Depending on how old you are, you'll see any of a
number of inspirations. Perhaps the blue with red will remind you of
some of the "stealth" Iron Man action figures. Perhaps the silver head
and blue body will remind you of Micronauts, with the name coming off as
a garbled up variation on "Acroyear."
Upon first glance Wonderriver could just as easily be a jokey custom figure as it is the real deal. After the Admiral Turtle, also known as Tarlock,
it seemed that Takara-Tomy was going to allow these figures to go
beyond the template of "animal in armor" set by the original Battle Beasts
toys. Personally, I wish they did a lot more of this - the animal
faces were fairly realistic, so giving them hats or other real-world
equipment helps to add a little personality. The 1980s figures had
those robotic eyes and bizarre coloring, while this wonder retriever
seems content to wear a sensible set of armored scrubs. With what I
assume are the T-Virus and antidote on the shoulders.
Part of the Sky Kingdom, the non-bird Moreek was one of the better designs in this line. The original Battle Beasts
Blitzkrieg had a hook for a hand and a cybernetic eye, making this one
look a little better for wear. Moreek has cybernetic goggles of some
sort, purple armor, and a face that would be right at home in Snake
Mountain with Skeletor's evil warriors. The big leathery wings look
great, and he has deco on the interiors of his ears as well as his
teeth. Takara-Tomy should be commended on a nice job here.
When I first saw this Beast Saga figure, I didn't know his name. I thought Dacker might be a platypus, but now that I have it in my hands I think it's a regular duck. There was a little yellow duck in Battle Beasts
too, but this one is a lot more clever. The 3-inch figure not only has
armor that looks like a plane, but he's wearing a flight cap and
goggles! As the Beast Saga line went on the people at Tomy put a
lot more thought into the whole "animals in armor" idea, so we'd get a
dog doctor, or an admiral turtle, or a figure that is for all intents
and purposes a cyborg Launchpad McQuack.
The delivery on the Kabuto Mushi Standard Pearlescent Brown
in nothing short of miraculous - on Friday, orders were placed at 7 PM
Arizona time. By noonish on Monday, the figures were delivered. I've
been through dozens of releases of indie figures over the last few years
and usually, at best, things tend to ship out in about a week. To be
shipped by Monday would be amazing, but delivered? In a crazy cold snap
in which all sorts of mail delays are going on? That takes dedication
- but that's just another day at the office for creator Marty
"TheGodBeast" Hansen, who has been crafting all sorts of Glyos heads,
prototypes, and hand-cast figures for collectors and others for years
now. It's rare to see someone with the collector gene, a keen eye for
toys, and tons of talent put out a figure like this but here we are!
Sometimes a toy line can't surprise you - Beast Saga
is one of those lines. If you bought one figure, you know what to
expect - it's limiting and liberating all at once, because I knew I'd
probably like Ogre before I opened her package. I also knew she
wouldn't have new weapons and there would be little to get excited about
after opening it - if you don't like how she looks, well, there ain't
much here.
As a kid, I loved the armadillo. So when Battle Beasts made Armored Armadillo and as a kid, I had to have it. When this line got one as Aljaylo I got it and the clear "Burst" version too. How could I not?