Review – Nistuff’s Anomaly Customs

Year: 2011

Toy artist Nistuff (website, Twitter) got his start working on Glyos System (Onell Design) custom action figures but now he’s moved on and started his own series. The Anomaly series (last mentioned here) is a line of small PVC one-piece toys without any articulation. But at NYCC Nistuff was offering not only the factory-made one-color toys but also a swarm of hand-painted resin and PVC versions of the toys. And he was kind enough to give me a few of the toys.

Three Resin Toys and One PVC Toy

Out of the four hand-painted Anomaly toys shown here only three of them are resin works. Can you identify the hand-painted PVC toy by just looking at these photos? Don’t answer now, but if you think you can tell which one is the PVC piece make sure to leave a comment in the review. Once I get around to reviewing the set of six factory-produced Anomaly toys I’ll point out which one of the four shown here is the PVC release. Until then guess away!

Two Inches Tall and Ready for Adventure

These M.U.S.C.L.E.-like creations are growing on me. When I first heard of the line I wasn’t so sure about it, but once I held the toys in my hands — both these customs and the factory pieces — I started to change my mind. And the more I play with these toys the more I think that Nistuff may have captured something fun, because I already find myself watching his website for news on when he’ll release more of the hand-painted versions online. They really are getting under my skin!

A Fun Sculpt

These multi-layered and paneled toys are covered in tiny details, and looking at the sculpt for each toy I can see Matt Doughty’s (Onell Design) influences on Ni’s work. Each one looks like it belongs right beside my Glyos System action figures and I kinda find myself hoping that Ni earns enough money on these toys to finance a larger version of one of the designs so that it’s articulated and fully compatible with the Glyos System toys. I love the grooves and lines that decorate the pieces and the heads are especially nice. Overall the sculpting on these little guys in remarkable and each one looks like a little action figure just waiting to go out in the dirt and play.

That’s a Lot of Paint!

I have no idea how many of these custom Anomaly toys Ni had at NYCC but there were dozens of them, which makes me wonder where he found the time to paint them. As you can see in the photos these are detailed paint jobs with spots of color and dark washes that get down deep in the grooves and bring out the details. As I mentioned the factory-produced toys are not at all painted, but looking at these I suspect that many fans will paint the basic factory toys once they get their hands on them. Me, I’m still hoping to get a handful more of Ni’s hand-painted resin pieces . . . because the resin versions do not match the factory versions. Yep, Ni had more sculpts than he could manufacture in China so the resin toys are different from the PVC toys.

Closing Thoughts

I was skeptical of this line when I heard about it but now I think I can safely say I’m a fan. Thanks, Ni, for the free taste and now when can I order some more of these toys so that these four don’t feel so lonely?

Fans of M.U.S.C.L.E and similar one-piece little toys will want to keep an eye on Ni’s website for release details because the factory toys — six different designs — were selling for $15/set at NYCC and that’s not a bad price at all for independently-produced toys.

And the other place to watch for information on the line’s release is this thread at the October Toys forum. Just be warned that buying any of these could lead you to looking for more of them. But if that happens just give one of the factory-produced versions to a friend and spread the infection; after all, you don’t wanna be the only one in your neighborhood addicted to the Anomaly series.

Philip Reed also wants more of the gray PVC versions so that he can try painting some of these toys. His probably won’t be as cool as the ones shown in these pics, but he’s gotta try.