Review – Glyos System Armorvors Venjorun
While at NYCC last month I got a look at the (at the time) unnamed resin action figure that was designed by Matt Doughty (Onell Design), sculpted by Jason Frailey (blog), and produced by TheGodBeast (blog, Twitter). I even snapped photos (post here), but the shots I took at NYCC of the flat green first run are nothing compared to what you’re gonna see in this review of the newly-launched limited run of resin works.
Packaging
A simple bag with header card, but hiding inside the bag is a gorgeous art card by Nate of Dork Dimension. Now Nate is always creating fantastic artwork for toys, but this time he seriously outdid himself. I considered posting a photo of the art card but in the end decided that it was best if I just link to the art on his site. You want to see this illustration.
It’s Like a Battling Beast or Something
What really grabbed everyone’s eye when this toy was first revealed online (see this post at 16bit.com) was the Battle Beast-like influences in the design. Armored body. Wolf head. Gem-like design on the center of the chest. Yeah, this was definitely inspired by the old Battle Beast toys, but what we get isn’t at all a simple copy of an old toy. No, this is a completely new design that just happens to draw its inspiration from an obscure (but still popular) eighties toyline.
Hand-Crafted Work of Art
Glyos System (Onell Design) fans used to the PVC figures from the factory will find the handmade nature of the Armorvors a bit strange since the resin joints don’t work the same way. Where the PVC parts can be popped apart and reconfigured quickly and easily while the resin pieces should really be left alone. Even snapping off the wolf head and popping on the robot head is something to do rarely since the resin pins are a bit more fragile than the production pieces.
Bright Colors
For the limited run of the toys in resin each customer was given the chance to select their own colors, so what we see in the release are a lot of bright, fantastic color schemes that we’re not likely to see if this toy ever makes it to mass production. See this post at the October Toys forum for a look at the various colors. My black/orange/yellow design looks tame compared to the colors in the pictures in that post.
Backpack Robot Head is My Favorite
I know a lot of people are going crazy for this because of the Battle Beast-like look of the toy, but for me it’s the robot head that’s my favorite head for the toy. Lean, mean, and a machine monstrosity that — for me — looks far cooler than the wolf head. But I was never a hardcore Battle Beasts fan so it’s no surprise that the robot’s my favorite.
Above you can see the wolf head and the robot head which should give you a good idea of how the head swap changes the basic look of the toy. I’m not saying that I don’t like the wolf — actually, seeing the wolf head makes me want several of this body with other animal heads — but the robot is the winner for me. Maybe I’m just weird, though.
Closing Thoughts
Fantastic! It’s a unique release in the Glyos System and a limited edition collectible and something that I suspect Glyos fans will be proud to own in a few years after the molds have died. And if this thing ever does find its way to production then these resin versions are going to be rare and unusual first run pieces that, I suspect, won’t exactly match the production toy.
There’s likely not to be many more of these made, but if you like what you see then you can try contacting TheGodBeast (blog, Twitter) and ask him about crafting a toy for you. This is a really nice work and a piece that I’m happy to have on my shelf.
Philip Reed knows that not everyone can afford limited edition toys so he’s doing everything he can to try and talk everyone involved into getting this made in China. Fingers crossed!
This is such a cool toy! I sure hope they do a production run. Perhaps they will do what Real X Head did and take pre-orders.
Definitely not just you. I love that robot head to death!
@Aaron – I don’t think Onell has ever taken preorders before.
I like how you don’t mention the outrageous price anywhere in the review.
@Dkun – Good to hear I’m not alone. I hope we get some more heads if this beast makes it to production; maybe something more mechanical and boxy.
@Toycollector – You know, I didn’t even realize that I missed mentioning the price. These were sold for $160/each, which is really high for such a small toy. No argument that this one was insanely expensive, but I’ve seen toys run in higher numbers sell for a lot more.
I’m not sure if I’d call the price outrageous, but considering that the short run of the release paid for the sculpting and manufacturing it was a very low $/hour for the people who worked on the toy.
This is one of those pieces that is more of a collectible/art object than it is a payable toy. And if this does make it to mass production then I see the price as basically a Kickstarter-like approach; everyone who bought the hand-crafted toy effectively paid for the toy’s sculpt and design.
Very Predacon-like colorway on this Armorvor. I dig that robot head too, it really makes that little toy look like an unstoppable juggernaut that could just charge through people like bowling pins. If this makes it to production-level, I will totally buy one.
Great review Phil…glad you got some robot head pics as I forgot to take soem of mine
It looks incredible, great work again from TGB.
I was in for the $80 option, but then the $80 option went up to $110, and that makes it feel so much less affordable.
I imagine they set the price that high to keep production limited so as to keep things manageable. Making a resin figure, which also involves cleaning and fixing imperfections, etc. can be VERY time consuming. I can certainly understand that.
Oh, and they should have totally used Metal pins for the connectors. Sure they’ll pop right out, but they’ll also pop back in and you don’t have to worry about breaking your connector that way. They’re not too expensive either.
What boggles my mind is how this is not already headed to China for production. This is about as close to a no-brainer as you can get. It had both the Glyos and Battle Beast collector markets salivating upon the first images released and would no doubt be an instant sell-out. You think the Big Rig went quick? Toss some of these guys up and watch a new sellout record be born. Very few things are guaranteed in life, but I think this one is certainly up there.
Whatever the case, hope these guys show up in the store in the next year or so. Especially the cat-headed one – that looks sick!
@Bah’glenn – Yeah, I’m glad I went with the Predacon colorway for this. Bright and works very well. But of course the more I play with it the more I wanna see it make it to production so I can get the design in several colors.
@Jekyll – I think the biggest issue is cost. Getting this into PVC is likely to cost $10,000 to $12,000 in tooling costs. Even at $30/each that’s 400 units that have to be sold just to cover the tooling; and that doesn’t even count the actual manufacturing cost which just adds to the price.
Great review!
Onell will never do pre-orders because of Robozone and the Macross pre-order debacle. Google might have details.
I love the look of this figure. I find this colorway ugly as sin. 🙂
Just to add another voice to the “robot head is superior” chorus: you are not alone in your preference, Phil.
And as I’ve posted elsewhere, I think having the figure tooled with the robot head might be a way to skirt potential issues with licensing, no? That way, the animal heads can still be made available to collectors through TGB’s awesome work, but the figure itself can be released with minimal issue. Then again, I’m totally talking out of my arse here — especially with tooling costs, as you’ve mentioned, and no guarantee that a release can make overhead…
@DoctorKent – I selected these colors just so that my toy would be forever safe from you.
@kranix – Brotherhood of the Bot! It makes me very happy to hear that others also like the robot head.
I’ve FINALLY figured out what the robot head reminds me of! It has a lot of similarities with the Legioss from Genesis Climber Mospeada, with a similar camera eye piece, and the head is shaped a bit like the Tread’s head.
I am also bearing a bot-bias! If these ever go into production I’ll be all over them.
I am with Vangelus on this one. The cost is too high right now for my cheap polish blood.
@Dkun – You know, looking at the head I’m now thinking we should beg TGB to craft a Transformers Generation One Whirl-like head to go on this body. If this toy makes it to mass release then I may just call Marty daily until he makes that head for me.
@Vangelus and Marv – The only way I know to get this produced as a mass piece is for all of us to make it clear to Onell Design that we want the toy and are ready to buy one (dozen) if it gets made in PVC. So keep up the chant, guys!
Ooooh, Whirl would make an AWESOME head. Plus you could use his head like a laser cannon-gun too!