Review – Real X Head/Onell Design Pheyaos

Line: Glyos * Manufacturer: Onell Design and Real X Head * Year: 2009

During my recent trip to the Boston area for work, during which time I had an awesome meeting with one of the printers that we work with at the office, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of nights with Matt Doughty of Onell Design. In addition to feeding me, showing me around, and letting me play with his toys, Matt was kind enough to send me home with some new toys. Toys like this Real X Head/Onell Design joint vinyl toy, Pheyaos. A blending of Matt and Mori (the madman behind Real X Head), Pheyaos is gonna get me in some serious trouble. He’s neat, and he’s exactly the entry point into Japanese toys that I’ve been avoiding.

Packaging

Header card and bag, again, but this bag is quite a bit larger than what we’ve seen used on Glyos System toys. Not surprising, really, since Pheyaos is substantially larger than most of the Glyos toys (not counting the Armodoc, which is clearly the king of the Glyos line at this time).

The header art, by Matt, perfectly shows how Pheyaos is a melding of two existing characters into a single new design. If I had been smart I would have snapped some pics of the sketches for this guy that I saw at Matt’s house, but I wasn’t that bright so now we’re left with asking Matt to post the sketches over at the Glyos Transmission Web Log. Please, Matt.

I’m still not a fan of bags, but I can understand why a small company would use these, since packaging costs could drastically increase the price of toys. A bag and header card is a very inexpensive way to present the toys, and since these are direct sales only this system works. Still, I hope to see a packaging upgrade as the line grows.

Pheyaos

Cute and creepy wrapped up in a single package, Pheyaos blends the Real X Head character Chaos with Onell’s Pheyden (discussed in this post at the Glyos Transmission Web Log) to create a toy that’s two creative visions in one piece. The toy’s sculpting is tight, with all of the detail carried through in shallow lines that cover the entire body.

The photos above give you a clear look at Pheyaos, and both shots show you just how much detail has been poured into this 4-inch tall vinyl toy. The head is clearly the most detailed part of the design, but that left arm’s also pretty crazy, with knobs and ridges forming an almost tentacle-like appendage that makes me wonder exactly what Pheyaos does with that arm. Is it for grappling and holding opponents? Is it used as a whip when fighting? Or does he just use it for party tricks?

Articulation

Not much, with only the head and arms moving. The smaller Glyos toys have a hell of a lot more articulation than this, but for a small vinyl toy this isn’t bad. You’re not gonna get a lot of amazing poses out of Pheyaos, but he’s got just enough articulation that you can make some decisions when playing/posing him.

I would have liked to have seen articulation in the legs, but considering that this is a step up from other Real X Head mini-toys, we have to see this as a stepping stone to more elaborate Real X Head toys in the future. Hopefully Matt’s love of mini-figures will push Real X Head to create a more posable version of Pheyaos some time in the future.

My Inexperience with Japanese Toys is Showing

That doll eye in Pheyaos’ head is remarkable, and nothing I had ever thought of doing. It gives the toy a look considerably unlike any other vinyl toys in my collection, and better yet it gives me some ideas for future projects. The clear Pheyaos that Matt carried with him while we traveled his area (mentioned here) showed off the doll eye better than this, but it also was too easy to see the backside of the eye and the connector that held it in place. I was happy to get a look at the clear version, just for the reason that I could better see the eye connection, but I’ve gotta admit that I prefer this painted version of the toy.

I’m gonna have to spend a hell of a lot more time exploring toybot studios if I want an education in Japanese vinyl, because I’m starting to figure out that this doll eye trick has been used before. What other tricks are used in Japanese toys that would stun me?

Paint

Pheyaos has both spectacular airbrush work and some not-so-clean brushwork (on his right eye), but the overall appearance is amazing. The shallow and deep lines sculpted into the body are filled with black paint — probably done by covering the figure and then rubbing off the excess — while the airbrush blast on the chest is exactly the sort of paint application that has me wanting to buy myself an airbrush.

It’s definitely the rough, almost-dirty black on the figure’s body that really makes me happy, though. Take a look at Pheyaos’ left arm and part of the left side of his head for a look at what I’m talking about. That black over the dull whitish-gray really adds some depth to the toy; I’d love to be confident enough with paint to attempt something like that myself.

Sure, this isn’t the most elaborate paint job we’ve ever seen on a toy, but it’s perfect for this design and looks good. What more can we ask for than a paint design that suits the toy’s sculpt?

Closing Thoughts

It’s fun to watch cross-overs, and a toy event that ties two different toy lines into a single piece is the sort of thing I’d like to see happen more often. Pheyaos is something every Glyos fan is going to want, because it’s a vinyl toy with the design sensibilities that make the Glyos toys so unique-looking, while Real X Head fans are going to need this to complete their collections.

This was a perfect introduction to Japanese vinyl toys, but unfortunately it has taken me from enjoying photos online to actually owning a piece. And now that I have one, and a cool one, I find myself thinking about maybe picking up one more. After all, what could go wrong if I bought just one Japanese vinyl toy?

For a look behind the scenes, and lots of photos of Pheyaos at the factory, hit this post at the Glyos Transmission Web Log.

NOTE: This piece was sculpted in Japan by the guys at Real X Head. And they did a great job with it.

Philip Reed is going to follow the FTC ruling and say right now that this toy was a gift from Matt Doughty, which means that this is a “comped” review. Why the FTC cares about what he writes about toys is beyond Phil’s knowledge, but if this simple statements keeps the feds happy then so be it.