Review – Glyos Custom Halloween Canne’boids

Line: Glyos * Year: 2011

There have been several artists creating Glyos System (Onell Design) custom toys over the last few years. Most are either complex builds or highly-detailed paintjobs, but there’s one artist who has a look and technique that’s unique and has yet to be duplicated. And while at the NYCC last month I was fortunate enough to get one of the Bah’glenn Creations (blog) Canne’boids toys. And finally, after weeks of travel and just not getting to it, it’s time to share this delightfully weird custom Glyos toy with everyone in the world.

A Fuzzy Monster

One thing that helps the Bah’glenn customs stand out in the crowd is the use of fur in the designs. By using a scrap of fur-like cloth and carefully cutting and then building the toy around it you wind up with these cute little fuzzy beasts that are fun, unique, and hell to photograph on a white background. (Now you know why I cheated with this review and shot the Canne’boids on the free display I created.) I’ve tried looking at how the fur is incorporated into the build but I’m too scared to snap the custom apart so for now I’m sticking with “it’s magic.”

Sculpted Hands and Head

And it’s not just the fur that gives the Canne’boids their fun look. Every single release I’ve seen has newly-sculpted hands and head that add a lot of character to the designs. The three-fingered monster I’ve got has pebble-like scales sculpted into those fists while the same texture appears on the top of the head, tying the two parts together and helping bring the entire beast together.

And even though these are monsters, they are — as you can see in the photos — Muppet-like cute monsters that take the Glyos System toys into a fun world that most customizers never explore with the series. The sculpt isn’t the smoothest and slickest we’ve ever seen, but it’s cute as hell and really shows up in the display with other Glyos customs. And there’s way more character and personality in this beast’s face than we get in some of the custom heads that are just basic Glyos toys that have been carved into. The work sunk into this entire line is impressive and I’ve got a lot of respect for the end result.

Closing Thoughts

Between the look of the toy and the fun of playing with it I’m gonna say that the Canne’boids is a Glyos line of customs that every collector of the series should keep an eye on. You may not want an army of these beasts in your collection, but I think that if you ever had the chance to play with one you would seriously want to take it home where it could fight and terrorize your other toys.

Bah’glenn Creations did a great job with this custom — from the cute packaging to the even cuter design — and I’m hoping that we continue to see one-offs and short runs released over the coming years.

And I kinda want to see an Armodoc customized with a giant head, massive hands, and a whole lotta fur.

Philip Reed used to look at photos of these online and find them cute, but it took actually holding and playing with one for him to really respect the work. And now he’s hoping that there’s a Christmas release . . . an arctic Canne’boid would be too much fun to skip.