Review – Ben Mininberg’s Battle Exellis

While in Boston last week I met up with Ben Mininberg (blog, Twitter) — creator of the E.killer resin toy (review here) — and we chatted about toys for an hour or so. And during that meeting Ben presented me with this custom Glyos System (Onell Design) action figure. The Battle Exellis melds parts together to create a combat-ready toy that sports a beautiful, weathered paint job unlike anything I do.

Build

Constructed from a Glyos Exellis and some Callgrim parts — plus Phase Arm pieces — this is a minimal build with one great feature I’d never considered; yeah, that shoulder cannon is a great idea and one I plan to steal. This isn’t the bulkiest Glyos custom we’ve ever seen, but those Phase Arm bits as shoulders always give a figure a bit of heft and it’s a good look that’s an excellent basis for that blaster arm.

Paint

This is where the custom really comes together. When I build Glyos customs I use a hell of a lot of gloss coat and it makes the toys shiny and sparkly. This toy, though, has a matte finish that plays nicely with the weathered effects Ben splattered across the action figure. And the tight paint on the detail lines and eyes shows that Ben put some real effort into making this. Man, I’m lucky to have been given such a cool gift.

Closing Thoughts

One of the great things about the entire Glyos fanbase is how artists have started customizing the toys and creating not only original configurations but also painting the toys. This DIY attitude that runs through the series is always inspiring, and it’s personally fun for me to get a close look at someone else’s custom because the toys always teach me new tricks and give me ideas.

Ben’s Battle Exellis was an unexpected and very much appreciated gift. This little guy is going right on the display with the other custom Glyos action figures in my collection.

Thanks, Ben!

Philip Reed figured it might be fun to toss some of his own Glyos customs into the last photo in this review. It helps show scale and even shows how drastically Ben’s style is from Phil’s. Now it’s time for Phil to get to work.