Another nod to a classic and rare action figure, Armorvor Kugarrec
hit as part of a trio of new creatures near the end of September. And
it's good. Our new pal evokes a classic figure from the Laser Beasts
range known in English as "Scope Cougar," named after the game early
20-something toy collectors do at Target at toy runs. And now that I
have alienated all of you, I can just gush about this one.
Along with the Kugarrec and Arthrodak flavors, the Armorvor Neo Wyverillian
dropped three new heads on us all at once - which is kind of stunning,
given the Armorvor has only been a Wolf and Neo-Granthan for the last 8
years. Due to Matt Doughty's hesitance to waste anything, this figure
is particularly curious - the dragon head is painted grey plastic, and
the wings are molded in red plastic. What other parts are hiding out
there for future release?
Think pink with the clear glittery Armorvor Neo Nonilla.
Colored like a rabid Lisa Frank binder, this nifty figure brings you
the Neo Granthan head with the classic wolf helmet and a backpack. And
glitter. So much glitter.
Marty delivers his figures fast. I placed an order on April 25 for Kabuto Mushi Hunter Mushi
- it was in my hands April 30. He is amazing. His figures are
really good too - since most are new colorways of a pretty good mold,
and I've been trying to cut back on armies, I only get these very
rarely... this Boba Fett-inspired figure came out in a batch resembling
Skeletor and other familiar faces. How could I refuse?
Clear with more paint! The Neo Granthan Pyrotellica
is an orange release that looks like it probably owes a little bit -
OK, a lot - to Micronauts. The previous Armorvor toys have rarely been
clear, and those that have only had a tiny bit of paint. This is the
first one to have painted faces on clear plastic, making it unique for a
variety of reasons beyond merely being a new color with a newish head
sculpt. Seemingly fans didn't jump on this one, because it didn't sell
out quickly and actually stuck around along with his brothers beyond the
point that the orders actually began to show up. It's still available
as of my writing this, which is odd for a generally popular mold.
He's green! The Glyos-powered Rise of the Beasts
line is pretty fantastic, although it's hard to view them purely as
wholly their own thing. I keep expecting to see squat little guys, but
Cerula - Green Scorpion with Grey Paint is more of what a small
figure of the 1990s might look like, rather than the 1980s. The
overly-muscular creature is fundamentally the same as Cahriv except for the coloration.
The name is evocative! The Neo Granthan Cliffstalker is a brown, chocolate-flavored take on the Battle Beasts-inspired
Glyos figure. With an orange skin and a red Black Core, this feels
like many of the popular 1980s robotic toys out of Tomy. While not a
perfect match, it immediately reminded me of Robostrux mixed with a little bit of the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. He is orange with blue eyes, after all.
While
the name (and an unhelmeted hand-molded head) existed for a while, the
mass-produced mold is new here! One of three releases, the Neo Granthan Vrylless
marks the replacement of the wolf headed Armorvor in favor of a
dinosaur-headed Granthan. Two other figures hit at the same time, each
of which use the classic Armorvor body with a new head. The wolf helmet
head is still here, and you get 18 total parts as always.
He's different! Or at least, mine is. I was lucky to get an early sample of Rise of the Beasts Bal Kharn - Green Rhino with Grey Paint
is pretty fantastic. If you bought the first version, this is
basically an improvement in terms of color - the quality of that painted
black plastic release is impossible to match, but this one is still
quite good.
It's live! The Little Rubber Guys store has a new drop of 4 Rise of the Beasts figures!
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.