PSA + Ad: Battle Beasts Seires 1 Preorders Available Now

 

It's time to order Battle Beasts Minimates Series 1 at Entertainment Earth!   The specialty ones are going to feature two shortpacked sets, so you may wish to order tis set to make sure you get all the characters.  Tate and Bliss are exclusive to specialty, and are paired with Gruntos and the Snake, respectively.

Pricing is currently set at $33.99 for all 8 figures (4x 2-packs) with an estimated January release date.  Click here to support this site and order yours now!

First Reviews of Beast Saga Getting Out... in Japanese

We'll be posting more Beast Saga stuff than is sensible over the coming days, largely because nobody knows what the heck it is.  Armorvors are fun Glyos figures. Diamond's Battle Beasts are awesome Minimates.  But these?  These are a mystery.

A Japanese blogger posted a review packed with new images and some details, but there's a catch: they're in Japanese.  Google Translate can help with some of this, although it's not a perfect match, it's still more English than you had before.  It looks like the figures are largely rubbery/soft plastic like the classic Battle Beasts, with a harder plastic plunger and dice launcher in the chest.  

Presumably importers will be getting them very very soon, and then you can expect to see an uncomfortable amount of English-language commentary from your fellow American man-children discussing the latest Japanese toy for kids.  Until then, check this out.

Beast Saga Figures Hitting Japan As You Read This

Your pal and mine Sylvain posted pictures from a guy in Japan named Syncson, which show the first-ever look at packaged Beast Saga figures next to an old-school Battle Beasts figure.

At first glance the new Beast Saga lion looks larger, but if you cut him out in Photoshop and put him side-by-side with the Battle Beasts guy, the new figure seems only slightly larger.

American fans, it's not yet known exactly when the importers will have theirs but it's presumably going to be pretty soon.  Be sure to apologize to your wives and significant others before the credit card statements arrive in October.

Two More Glyos Armorvors Show Up, Sell Out

If you were looking to pick up the clear Stealth Armorvor or the black Hades Mimic Armorvor at Onell Design, we hope you got yours! The black version was gone in about 8 minutes, while the clear lasted under 15, selling through even faster than the red Venjorun Armorvor despite the numbers being reportedly higher.  (You'll recall, the red Venjorun figure was a surprise launch and it still sold out in under an hour.)

Some points to consider if you missed the Armorvors so far, at the risk of coming off Pollyanna-ish:

• Onell Design rarely does a straight-up reissue of an existing product, but similar figures do get remade all the time.  The Glyan is an excellent figure which was introduced a few years ago, and so far three slightly different black versions of this figure have been produced.
• The last all-new PVC Glyos figure before the Armorvor was the Glyan.  A couple of versions were made that sold out quickly over a couple of drops.  Then they did a drop of 7 new styles all at once, followed by another release of 6 more unique styles. Today, you can buy at least 3 different styles of Glyan in the Onell Design store with 1 new version and 2 from the previous release.
• More Armorvors are coming! (Keep reading.)

In the Onell Design Glyos Transmissions Web Log, Matt from Onell also had this to say:
"We will have 3 all new styles available in mid October, and then a larger run of new styles in late November. Hopefully this will even the equation out."

So it looks like they may well build into an army by year's end!  But hey, don't forget there are lots of other Beasts on deck while you wait for an Armorvor.  Beast Saga will hit Japan in the coming week.   Diamond Select's awesome Battle Beasts are due out late this year or early next year, and there's a comic book you can go get right now.  And who the heck knows what The God Beast has planned in his mysterious plastic factory of wonders between now and the holidays?

So in short: don't overpay on eBay. Wait it out.  Reissues or similar figures should be making the rounds again in the future!

Promotional Beast Saga Figures Surface on eBay

Two unpainted figures, called prototypes or promos or whatever you want to call them, are making the rounds on eBay! The good news is you can see them, the bad news is the seller wants $200 for the pair.  Jidam and Pirazon can be yours if the price is right, and they seem to be similar to the fully-painted figures coming out in a few weeks, minus the paint.

Reader akum6n has this to say:

"There are two methods of release for these figures. First, they were given out to participants at Saikyou V Jump Festa at Makuhari Messe (in Tokyo) on 7/21 and at Intex (in Osaka) on 7/28. These are probably the ones showing up on auction sites now. Second, the figures will also be given out through coupons in the September issue of Saikyou Jump (for Jidam) and October issue of V Jump (for Pirazon) that can be redeemed for the figures. Both issues became available last month. So, I suspect we will be able to pick these up eventually without paying the premium prices attached to those on eBay."

...if you have a much cheaper lead on these, let us know in the comments or email us! We're interested!  (Well, if they're cheap or if you trade.)

Review: Hasbro Battle Beasts Pillaging Polar Bear

Most vintage Battle Beasts I've reviewed so far (aside form the Lasers) are treasured childhood heirlooms. Pillaging Polar Bear was one I bought in the last year, during a mad scramble to pick up as many vintage rubsign-era figures as possible before you people realized a new line was coming and the prices shot up. (I got mine in a lot at an average price of $2.78 or so. Now, it's about $12-$15.) This was one of the figures I wanted as a kid, due to my endless fascination with polar, aquatic, and extinct wildlife. It took me roughly 25 years to get one, and it was arguably worth the wait. 
[ READ THE FULL REVIEW ]

Armorvors Returning in Black, Clear

Did you miss the Venjorun Armorvor figure the other month?

The Hades Mimic Armorvor (black with aqua green) and Stealth Armorvor (clear colorless) figures will be going on sale Wednesday, September 5 at around 6:30 PM Pacific time.  (Maybe.  Watch the Onell site for details.)  Each figure is $8 plus shipping and there are many, many other action figures to choose from as well which are fun and worth a look.

You can buy these at the Onell Design store this week.  Or you can just read about them here.