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.
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.
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.
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."
Armorvors sell out fast, always. At 2 per customer, the Sonesidar Mimic Armorvor
sold out rather quickly - I waited a while to write this review so I
forget exactly how long, but I know it was under 20 minutes. It was
part of the "Operation Sonesidar" series, which was the first series of
2013 which was inspired by the classic Fisher-Price Adventure People
action figure line. The bright colors are evocative of the 1970s-1980s
line, and this guy matches the driver of the Alpha Star vehicle which I
had as a kid. As such, I'm biased - and I like this a lot.
The third Armorvor to sell out is the clear, unpainted, colorless Stealth Armorvor.
While I personally am not too keen on clear figures, Onell Design
seems to have a plastic that really shines if lit properly. I haven't
seen a lot of discoloration either, so it's (so far, at least) easy to
see this as quality stuff. Many fans buy clear figures not to keep,
but to customize by dying them red or green or some other color and you
can find some really spiffy designs on the October Toys Forums and
elsewhere.
UPDATE: SOLD OUT as of 10:37 Eastern time. 
