Review – Glyos System Custom Corps War Monger

It’s time for another look at toys from Onell Design, but this time is special since it’s a look at another Custom Corps release. As I said I would after the first Custom Corps release hit my house (review here), I grabbed two of this release. And I’m glad that I did, since I got both a custom Buildman and two custom Crayboth.

This time around, Custom Corps figures were all assembled by Matt Doughty of Onell Design (many were standard figure designs, but there were a few “Lucky Draw” figures mixed into the random selection that were heavily customized builds) and painted beautifully by Matt Walker of Dead Presidents Designs. As much as Matt is a great guy and artist, it was really Matt (that’s not confusing at all, is it?) and his fantastic paint that made this Custom Corps series what it is. Just scan down to the photos — or check out this page at the Glyos Transmission Web Log — and you’ll immediately understand what I mean.

Packaging

Like many of the toys in the Glyos System, the Custom Corps figures came packed in bags with header cards. Unlike standard releases, though, the Custom Corps figures come packed in black bags which are them randomly distributed to the fans. This way the guys at Onell can’t play favorites; everyone has as much of a chance of getting one of the really elaborate designs as anyone else. I’m still not a huge fan of the bag with header card packaging, but since it cuts down on costs I can live with it. And besides, all I do is throw the packaging away anyway.

There’s really not a lot to say about the pack. We’ve all seen this sort of packaging before.

War Monger Buildman

Wow. I’d been told that these look just like candy, and in the photos online they do have a candy-like quality, but until actually holding this Buildman in my hands I hadn’t realized just how much these paint jobs make the toys look like hard candy. Using a clear Buildman, Matt Walker sprayed several colors over the different pieces to create the work of art you see in these photos. I’m not sure how he does it — magic, I think — but the end result is a semi-translucent figure decorated like a rainbow that is still playable. Every piece pops apart and snaps back together perfectly.

It has to takes years of experience — and a hell of a lot of talent — to paint like this. Every time that I see toys using this style of paint, especially a lot of the stuff that pops up over at toybot studios, I dream of learning how to use an airbrush this well. Of course I’d need to buy an airbrush before . . .

Crayboth

The Crayboth isn’t my favorite of the Glyos System toys — there just aren’t as many customization options with these little guys as there is with the larger pieces — but it’s got a cute design (hell, I even painted up a Crayboth a few months ago) and the weapon arm is an excellent piece to pop onto other Glyos toys.

Well, part of the deal with this Custom Corps wave was that if you got a Crayboth then you would get two. I completely misunderstood the plan, though, because I thought you would get two of the same basic paint design. Instead, the black bag included two very different Crayboth figures . . . and both of them glow!

Even though these two Crayboth look less like candy than the Buildman does, they’re both excellent examples of the airbrush paint style I’m just loving these days. And no matter how long I stare at these guys I just can’t unlock the secret. Maybe Matt Walker would be kind enough to show me how he does this if I ever ended up in his area.

Closing Thoughts

I immediately assumed after the first Custom Corps wave that future waves would be more designs by Matt Doughty. The fact that it looks like the Custom Corps will be the place for artists to experiment with the Glyos System just makes the entire concept even cooler than if everything was completely produced by Onell Design.

I’m not sure what’s planned for the third wave, or when it will be released, but I’m definitely buying two again. These War Monger customs by Matt Walker do not disappoint and I can’t wait to see what comes up next.

Philip Reed knows that these are meant to be playable customs but, like the first Custom Corps wave, he can’t bring himself to treat these as roughly as he does his basic Glyos toys. Philip promises that he would never pose one of these works of art on the edge of the Grand Canyon. What if it fell in?