Glyos Transmission Web Log

Custom Imperium Xodiac

2012-02-15T12:56:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics of the custom "Imperium" Xodiac I put together for the recent Futuretro show. The intention was to give a slightly more armored look (big surprise) but not get too beefy by sculpting up a few new bits. As if a member of Xodiac's race found a Flexion Suit while visiting Glyos and popped it on, resulting in the state above. The cosmic "beard" is a direct homage to Mel's Goldiac paint job.

I was working on this right up until we left for NYC last Friday morning, touching up the paint as the sun came up. These shots were taken between closing up the barn and loading up the car.

Man, I love being able to customize OSM figures. I still can't believe these guys are back.

Retroactive

2012-02-14T03:03:00.000-05:00

Marcus and I wanted to send a huge thank you out to everyone whom we met up with over the past weekend while we were visiting NYC for the Four Horsemen's Futuretro show. It was more fun than either of us could have imagined, with some truly awesome moments and unexpected twists throughout the trip.

The opening on Friday night was easily one of the best toy show experiences in recent memory, with a ton of positive energy and just a great vibe throughout the entire evening. Getting to see Mel Birnkrant surrounded by a crowd of his fans, both young and old, was simply awesome. The man really is a legend, and he lives up to any high expectations that you could ever hold.

Thank you to the 4H and Toy Tokyo for working so hard to put on such a unique and refreshing show, it will go down as one for the ages.

On one last note, the night was sealed with a killer Food Crawl around the East Village, where we all got to catch up and chow down.

We can't wait to do it all again.

PS -The special edition OSM set with Mel's new color selections is a knockout in person. I'm little obsessed with the Inferno, as evidenced above.

Futuretro!

2012-02-08T00:55:00.000-05:00

This Friday, February 10th at 7PM EST, the Four Horsemen and Toy Tokyo will open the doors at the Toy Tokyo Underground Gallery to unveil Toypocalypse 2: Futuretro, a celebration of 45 years of The Outer Space Men and a rare look inside the creative powerhouse known as Four Horsemen Studios.

From the Horsemen:

"Their second annual show at the TT Underground showroom in New York City will feature many all-new, never before seen items and even some fan favorites and toy industry classics from the Four Horsemen's past, present and future! Get an up close and personal look at action figure work that's seldom (if ever) been seen outside the Four Horsemen's own studio.

Toypocalypse 2: Futuretro will begin with a special opening night for friends and fans at TT Underground Friday night - February 10th 2012, and will run through most of the following week.

And if you're a fan of the Four Horsemen's licensed action figure line, The Outer Space Men, then you're NOT going to want to miss this show! There's going to be a specially featured Outer Space Men display that will most likely never be seen in this form again, as well as some special events surrounding the 45th anniversary of The Outer Space Men!

Last, don't forget about the AMAZING set of super limited Outer Space Men figures redesigned by Mel Birnkrant himself specifically for Futuretro! This extra special set of figures will be signed by Mel AND The Four Horsemen, and will also come with an exclusive Outer Space Men print by fan favorite illustrator and frequent Four Horsemen collaborator, Nathan Baertsch! All of that for only $125.00! What a steal! If you want a sneak peek into Mel's brain as he created this new variation on his old classics, check out the "Custom Colors" section of his "Sketchbook" website HERE.

The show's absolutely free, so come on by, chill out with us and some amazing toy industry dignitaries for a couple hours, have a free brewsky on us, and say 'hey' at Futuretro!"

-4H (clipped from the 4H blog)

Click over to the Horsemen Blog to catch up on all the details that surround this crazy show!

One particularly special part of the festivities is that the creator of the original OSM, Mel Birnkrant, will be in attendance on Friday night -this aspect alone is worth the trip! Between the Horsemen and Mel, you will be in the company of the best in the toy business, all in one spot.

There is also an open call OSM custom show on top of everything else (and fresh off his domination of cable TV, an appearance by the notorious Sucklord himself).

Marc, Jesse and I (the booby prizes) will also be coming down for the show on Friday night and possibly unveiling a thing or two in the gallery. We hope to see some of you guys and maybe go for an East Village Food Crawl later that evening. Crif Dogs is calling us!

All in all, a great time on the horizon!

Monkeying Around

2012-02-03T14:54:00.001-05:00

Today is the day! Head over to Spy Monkey Creations at 12PM PST (which is in about 10 minutes!) to get in on the action!

In celebration of this newest edition to our community of customizing, I used 6 Armory sets and tried to build something with a lot of "mech potential". I hope you guys have as much fun playing with the new Armory parts as I have been.

Good luck to the crew at SMC!

Spy Monkey Creations!

2012-02-01T23:45:00.000-05:00

This Friday, February 3rd at 12PM PST, Spy Monkey Creations will unleash their parts-packed Armory Series 1 sets via their website store!

These guys are great old friends of ours and have worked extremely hard to bring their incredible custom weapons to a full PVC production level. All 42 (!!!) pieces that make up one Armory Set are 100% Glyos compatible and are made at our factory by the same team that manufactures all of our releases. A ton of time, energy and planning were poured into the development of this Armory Set, and we were honored to work very closely with the Spy Monkey team during the process.

I have been personally messing around with the parts (some pics above) and the build potential within these sets is really something. We can now add some classic hard lined mechanical aspects to our collective builds as well as an entire arsenal of beautiful clear ABS parts, ranging from spikes to domes to wings -and this is only one small aspect of what these sets can do. For fans of larger format figures that feature certain blond, beefy battlers, the weapons that can be configured from the Armory Sets just blow apart previous limitations, opening up the true power of full customization.

Our absolute deepest congratulations to Jeremy, Brian and Bill for bringing Spy Monkey Creations into this new frontier with their dedication, talent and hard work.

We'll be ready on Friday to join in the mayhem!

Almost Done!

2012-01-31T23:22:00.000-05:00

Did anyone get the number of that bus?

All the shipping for the January drop is nearly completed, with the last round wrapping up by tomorrow afternoon.

Thank you so, so much for your extra patience during the process of us putting everything together.
Our usual packing team combo was cut in half this time, so things took a little longer.

After everything is out of here, I will get back to updating the blog. There are some really fun things happening in February, starting with Spy Monkey Creation's all new production drop coming at the end of this week -on February 3rd! These weapon sets have so much potential for building, that it truly is an eye opener once you start to play with them. Some pics of a few in-house builds will surface here tomorrow.

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week and a bit, but things are almost back to "normal" (HA).
I can't wait to share some of our projects that are finally coming to completion with you guys!

Thank You!

2012-01-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

Holy smokes! My apologies for not writing a proper thank you post yesterday, but we were busy bees after Friday night's drop. We experienced a few things that have never happened before, one being a near total crash of our website due to the high volume of traffic. Not necessarily a bad thing, but we were shocked by the event.

Maybe it was because we have not had a full release of all new Glyos stuff since last October, or maybe it was just one of those strange times that just occurs every so often. Whatever it was, it also resulted in our fastest sell out of almost everything in stock yet (it will be 5 years of selling production toys in July 2012). I feel psyched, but also a bit like a fool for not making more stuff.

The upcoming March release will absolutely have more Blocks, blank vinyl and more painted PVC. The numbers will be increased, but not to the point of overload. The vinyl aspect I know is not for everyone, but I'm hoping that the blank options might open the door for some of you that have hesitation. I'll be doing some basic tutorials (just me making something) soon, so hopefully that will also show just how easy and fun messing with vinyl can be. It really does add an interesting addition to this whole project.

For those of you who are hardcore PVC peeps, the nearly completed Hub Set should add some spice to your customizing endeavors. With 17 parts, and the ability to become various contained mini builds right out of the bag (think tiny mechs and the like), the Hub Set should add some new dimensions to things. I've really enjoyed playing with the test shots and feel like this set holds some true potential.

Thank you once again, for keeping us on our toes and for pushing us to become a better operation. Personally, I'll forever be astonished that this is real, and that we all have gotten to know each other through these weird little pieces of plastic.

Thanks for keeping us alive.

EMD Activate!

2012-01-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

The new stuff is LIVE! Make sure to REFRESH THE STORE!

Due to the amount of emails about possibly missing the new Block tonight, we are asking that each person limit their purchase of the EMD Core Block to 2 units and the Black Core Block to 2 units (4 units COMBINED).

Once tonight's release has run its course, we will assess the demand for the Block. New stuff is already on order, but we may beef the numbers up if you guys are feeling it. I personally apologize for not running more Blocks, but I was not sure if it would resonate at all because the concept is so strange.

Let us know what you think about the new round of toys! Thanks for coming out tonight!

9:30 PM EST Tonight

2012-01-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

We are on track for a 9:30 PM EST launch tonight! An extra half hour gives us a little bit to finalize a couple things that we think will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I will post a few of the more out there builds I have been working on since the Blocks came stacking and chopping their way into our house!

First up: Heavy Armored Block Trooper-Cane's Custom Version!

This meatball was created by lots of cutting and fitting, but using no adhesives. Everything was measured and installed using a knife and heat gun. Temperature manipulation makes things 100% easier when customizing with vinyl (and the regular PVC parts for that matter).
This figure is comprised of Armodoc parts, Rig parts, Block parts and Runner parts. I'll have an exploded view up in the next few days. The Phase Cannons can slide off, revealing Armodoc arms. The Phase Blockers can be removed, as well as the Block "skirt" -which rests over an Armodoc inner pelvis assembly. The "head" is made from the back of the Runner (WARP Bike) and was originally conceived to be used for things like this. You can actually see a trace of a mechanical looking Pheyden face on this small piece, right down to the three "teeth".
Makes sense that the front of a Warp Bike has the tough face of Callgrim and the bum is based on Pheyden's bulbous noggin!

At Work

2012-01-18T05:33:00.000-05:00

Ramping up for the drop on Friday night (looking like the standard 9 PM EST time), the Glyans are busy at work, enjoying their temporary Block Base and developing new uses and configurations for the Block itself.

Overseeing all of this activity is Operator Cane, who stands more than ready to test fly one of the Block Fighters the EMD Technicians have assembled.

Little does he know how dangerous his first flight will prove to be...

Battlegripped Blocks!

2012-01-17T18:50:00.002-05:00

On one of our great friend Phil Reed's many trips out this way he showed me a very cool technique that he created in which he can render just about anything in a cool geometric 2-D design style. This approach gives an almost cel-shaded look to whatever he puts his Battlegrip on!

Over the past few days Phil has been posting some awesome renditions of the Block builds that I have been shooting back and forth with him, over on his Battlegrip.com site. These visuals have really done wonders to help "illustrate" (ha!) the Block's potential for those that think I've lost my mind with this project (which I no doubt have).

Thank you Phil for taking the time to create these excellent works of art. They truly add a much needed dimension to understanding what the Block is -even for the goon that made the thing in the first place!

Gendrone Revolution: Shock Force

2012-01-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

Argen and his Gendrone Revolution return to challenge the Glyans in an all new hue!

This metallic purple has definitely become one of my personal favorites (paying homage to Shockwave). It looks quite different under various light sources, making it pretty tough to accurately represent in photos. What I've done is taken some shots in the Block Hangar with the regular light set up as well as some outside pics in natural lighting. Beneath the studio glow the purple just pops, with a crisp hue. When you go outside, the color dulls considerably, and the detail lines start to show in an interesting way. It's pretty neat to watch, but Michelle is getting a little sick of me going in and out of the house so many times to watch the color do its thing.

I guess I should just stand by the window.

Mission Details

2012-01-14T01:24:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the specifics of what's coming next week, I wanted to once again give my sincere thanks to all of you guys for being so positive in regards to the Block. I have had a lot of mixed feelings about actually bringing something that is pretty abstract (even by my standards) to full production, so seeing that there is some interest in this project is humbling. You guys are the best.

Details for the January 20th (Friday) release:

United Glyan Forces
-Glyan EMD Operator Cane (black with gray visors and tampo print) $6
-Glyan EMD Technician (orange with black visors/gray detail lines and tampo print) $8

Gendrone Revolution (pics later today)
-Argen MK VI (purple metallic/pale yellow visors with tampo printing) $8
-Phaseon Gendrone Revolutionary (purple metallic/pale yellow visors with tampo printing) $6
-Gobon (purple metallic/pale yellow visors with tampo printing) $10

Axis Joint Sets
-EMD Tech Set (orange) $4
-Purple Metallic Set $4

Phase Arm/Gobon Blaster Single Sets
-EMD Tech (orange) $2
-Purple Metallic $2

Travelers
-EMD Commander Rynevo (orange Pheyden) $8

Core Block
-EMD Core Block (gray and orange with black visors/tampo print) $14

-Black Core Block (black vinyl/no paint) $10

Rig
-EMD Heavy Armored Rig with Wings (gray and orange with black visors/multiple tampo prints) $25

Rig Runner (Glyan WARP Bike)
-EMD Rig Runner (gray and orange with black visors/multiple tampo prints) $20

Conversion Set (consists of 1 long Rig Arm and 1 short Rig Arm for customizing vinyl figures)
-EMD Phase Cannon (Rig long arm) and Phase Blocker (Rig short arm) (gray and orange with black visors/multiple tampo prints) $12

-Black Phase Cannon and Phase Blocker (black vinyl/no paint) $8

Buildstation
-Black Gendrone RESTOCK $4

A surprise or two might be in store as well...

The expansion of the vinyl stuff is a work in progress and will be tweaked depending on how everything shakes out after the drop. We're trying to keep the prices as low as possible and the margins are pretty tight, but I personally really want to offer something different and attempt to share the fun of messing around with all these larger vinyl parts.

Let us know what you guys think and we'll continue to twist the dials until we hit the right mix.

Experimental Mechanics Division

2012-01-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

I personally hope you guys get a kick out of this strange new addition to the Glyos ranks. There is something about holding one of these things that brings back a flood of memories for me. From playing near the ocean with the rocks, to customizing Star Wars Mini Rigs, to flying around Micronauts capsules and even overloading the old M.U.S.C.L.E. plastic trash can with piles of tiny Godzilla figures.

The idea of chopping these up to customize might be a horror to some of you, so all black "Buildstation" style vinyl Blocks and parts will be online when these fully painted versions go live next week.

This is still an experiment, so we did not produce a ton of these. If the response is good, then we'll make more for the next drop (sometime in late March). There will be a run of matching Rigs and Rig Runners (Glyan WARP Bikes) available in this wave as well, for those of you still wondering about what the hell the Block is and what it does. Ha!

More details on the January 20th (next Friday) release will be up tomorrow, including prices, full assortment and more pics!

Thanks for checking this stuff out during the past week!

Last Close-Up Sneaks

2012-01-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

Next post: Full Block Disclosure.

Thanks for checking out these strange close-up shots this week!
I hope you guys enjoy this new project and see some fun customizing potential on the horizon (maybe even as soon as next Friday).

Symbolism

2012-01-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

Twists and Turns

2012-01-10T23:38:00.001-05:00

Angles and Edges

2012-01-10T09:28:00.000-05:00

Blocked In

2012-01-09T22:50:00.001-05:00

The Core Blocks have started their journey and preparations for their arrival are underway!

Mercenary Alert

2012-01-05T19:48:00.000-05:00

Jesse reveals some new 2012 plans for Callgrim over on his blog!
The Wraiths will make you guys crazy when they finally emerge...

Zoanoid Inspired Pheyaos Customs

2012-01-04T17:14:00.000-05:00

When I was working on the Pheyaos customs a few received Zoanoid/Guyver inspired paint jobs.

Guyver's creator,Yoshiki Takaya, has created so many incredible and iconic designs that they seem to creep into everything I do -since all the way back to 1985! I can't believe Guyver is that old!

My childhood bedroom used to have xeroxed pages of Guyver taped to the walls that I would copy from old Japanese magazines. Guyver, Fist of the North Star, Grey, and Dragon Ball Z drove me crazy back in the 80's.

Oh yeah, I also loved Baoh!

20 Questions!

2012-01-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Brian over at Plastic and Plush recently grilled me with a 20 question assault and he has actually decided to put it up (the poor devil).If you are curious about the inner workings of our tiny operation, then you might want to check out the article that Brian has put together.

Thanks for risking the lowest readership your site has ever had by running my answers Brian!

In all seriousness though, P and P has always been a great supporter of the oddball things we get into over here and I'm very honored to have been asked to answer these 20 questions. Especially the one about the pound of burger.

Also the one about Toto.

Intelligence Report

2012-01-01T15:59:00.001-05:00

Pappysoup rolls 2012 out with a new MT short over at www.pappysoup.com!

Goodbye 2011!!!

2011-12-31T23:48:00.000-05:00

Hello 2012!!!
To all of you guys, thanks for a truly awesome year!!!

Red Ones!

2011-12-31T16:26:00.000-05:00

I was at the grocery store getting some glorious donuts a few towns over (I should have snapped some pics of those beauties) and lo and behold I spotted some RED twist-ties. These were always the toughest to find growing up, so naturally I grabbed a fistful and brought them home.

The result of my tinkering this time was a light armored Desert Knight kind of twisty.

As I was messing around, my daughter Cady jumped into the mix and schooled me with her creativity. She created a pair of Tap Dancing Shoes, a Space Ninja and a self portrait (with her extra long legs). I never thought I would have a little partner to make these things with, but awesome moments happen when you least expect them.

Happy almost New Year!

Spectre Pheyaos Will Return

2011-12-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

Due to the intense response on the recent Pheyaos release, Spectre Pheyaos will return in greater numbers early in 2012. I let Mori know about the strong turnout and he has put another round into the production schedule. We will give ample notice before the next edition becomes available (my apologies for the surprise attack this week).

Thanks again to all of you for showing a continued interest in the RXH collaborations.

2011 was a bit spotty for RXH releases here in the states and I've personally gotten a number of emails asking why the drops on our site, as well as the RXH USA site, have been so erratic. I think the causes are pretty varied, but I believe the main reason is connected to the subtle changes that are happening within the collecting communities both here and abroad. It's not that anything is going wrong, just that things are shifting for all of us, both professionally as well as personally. Mori is still cranking out the new stuff in Japan at a clip, but the production numbers are much smaller and more contained than they used to be. This is a direct result of the shift in dynamics happening within the vinyl collecting market over there. Again, I don't feel like things are in trouble, just that they are changing and Mori is staying ahead of the curve as usual. Through the use of Twitter he has been able to put together special drops at his shops and through experimentation has created a new way of selling RXH (and toys in general). Unfortunately, being over here does not satisfy our domestic desires for his fresh stuff when he rolls out new figures. Mori and I have talked about some different approaches to our collaboration that might pick up the pace and will continue to tweak things as we go along.

Both of us really appreciate the great support that you guys have shown each time we have had something new to offer. It means everything to Mori and I that you are continually there and truly allows this project to keep moving.

We will concentrate on getting more RXH out to you in 2012.

Intelligence Report

2011-12-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

Pappysoup rolls out another tale of the MTs with his new short story "Dead Time" over at pappysoup.com!

Spectre is Gonzo

2011-12-27T21:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I continue to be a fool with hitting the right numbers on these things. I'll let Mori know you guys still like these little creatures and get the next round moving!

What do you all think about the unpainted styles? Are you more interested in CC type releases or direct paint jobs from Japan? Are you in the mood for Pheyden minis or more Pheyaos?I really enjoyed painting these figures and I definitely want to do it again.

Thanks for coming out for this mini drop!

Sneak Release!

2011-12-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

We don't normally do surprise releases, but we wanted to end 2011 with something special from our ongoing collaboration with RealXHead Japan.

Tonight at 9PM EST we will have a GITD Pheyaos "Spectre Edition" available through a link in our upcoming 9PM blog post. The only paint on this sucker is his right eye, otherwise he is 100% pure Japanese glow vinyl (and he glows bright). Mori sent over a decent amount of figures so they should stick around for a bit. The price is $30 USD before shipping.

We will also have a small custom run of painted Pheyaos figures I did in the store as well. I couldn't resist the urge to paint a few of these guys, as the pure form just seems to scream for tinkering to occur. This will serve as the only real Custom Corps thing I have personally done in 2011. They will be sold blind bagged and run $40 USD.

We hope you guys have fun with this and it adds a little spice to the year end festivities!

Shades of Pheyaos

2011-12-27T03:31:00.000-05:00

Special for the end of 2011.

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Onell!
It's cookie time!!!

Inspired by the Bah'glenn

2011-12-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

I did the above drawings while the Bah'glenn was visiting. They are a mix and match of direct translations of his core designs as well as some alternate takes on his characters. His creation called "Cereblor" was particularly awesome, so I had to take a crack at illustrating a modern version of such a brainy beast.

Thanks again Chris, I had a blast scribbling these guys together.

The Bah'glenn

2011-12-15T18:48:00.000-05:00

Recently our friend, Chris "The Bah'glenn" Negri came up to visit and spend some time sculpting and developing his Canne'boids custom figures in the mess that is known as our upstairs.

For those of you unfamiliar with Chris, he is an artist and customizer operating out of Long Island, New York and has been heavy into collecting toys of all kinds for the majority of his life. The toys he played with fueled his imagination (Chris has a freakishly rich one) leading him to build his "Creature World" stories and characters, which were all from "Planet Slauria".

While we were upstairs in the studio I was lucky enough to get some time with all of his sketchbooks and I have to say I was astonished by the depth of creativity within them. Chris has a simplified drawing style that may not be the most technically advanced, but it has heaps of soul and is very clearly defined. There are pages and pages of extremely detailed descriptions, both written and illustrated, of just about every aspect of Creature World and its inhabitants.
Very inspiring stuff. So inspiring, that I asked Chris if I could take a run at drawing some of his monstrosities as well as his more recent creations such as the Canne'boids and Alien Mercenaries. He was kind enough to allow me to have some fun.

Chris eventually sculpted some of our fused concepts and heated up the results in his little oven that he lovingly referred to as "Old Red".

It was a great time and I came away from the visit very impressed by the amount of pure dedication Chris has to his creations. He makes stuff because he really loves to, and that was pretty cool to see.

Thanks for coming to the house Chris, and double thanks for the spark of inspiration your work brought out in me.

Long Live Slauria!

Mercenary Alert

2011-12-10T14:05:00.001-05:00

The freight is ready to ship! See more elves at work over at callgrim.com!

Pappysoup Rides Again

2011-12-09T17:08:00.001-05:00

The mysterious and legendary (at least in our household) Pappysoup has finally returned from his covert operations and hits the ground running with an all new entry into his ongoing MT-01 saga!

Head over to pappysoup.com and check out his "short report" called Heavy Casualties, which catches us up with the battle hardened Gendrones of the MT Unit and their hard boiled leader, MT-01.

Pappysoup and I have collaborated on multiple Glyos related projects in the past (check out the sidebar on his blog), so getting the chance to do it again makes me extremely excited for what's to come. With his incredible imagination Pappy adds a unique dimension to the spinning of these tales.

Great to have you back Papioca!

Mercenary Alert

2011-12-09T16:57:00.001-05:00

Jesse continues to work like a savage elf over at Rawshark Central.
Seeing those "skahves" gives me flashbacks to the Ayosire drop.
I had black fingers for a month.
I think Jesse will have them for life.

The Holiday Phase

2011-12-08T17:41:00.001-05:00

The Four Horsemen strike again with an all new Galactic Holiday Edition of the OSM Waves 3 and 4!
Packed with vac-metallized helmets (and certain weapons) featuring two special holiday themed tints (available in multiple options), these suckers really pop when you get them in hand. They are currently available at StoreHorsemen.com!

Mel's babies roll on!

Mercenary Alert

2011-12-07T18:28:00.001-05:00

Check out Jesse's report from the shop over at Callgrim.blogspot.com!

More importantly, Happy Birthday to Jesse and our own Michelle (both December 7th). The big 4-0 for Jesse and 42 for Michelle! I'm the young fool at 38! Ha!

Runners and Hoppers

2011-12-04T20:32:00.001-05:00

Customizing will be fun in 2012.

Ni's New Stuff

2011-12-02T10:56:00.001-05:00

Our buddy Ni has a new round of custom craziness going live today, December 2nd, at 3PM EST.

Looking freshly painted (I think I can smell the Monster Kolor through the computer) and ready to roll, Ni continues to impress with his attention to detail and cool color combos.

Packing Out the OMFG

2011-12-01T23:31:00.001-05:00

Should have almost all of the OMFG out the door by Saturday afternoon.Thanks again to everyone who has shown their support for this unique project. I've said it before, but I love seeing something like this come together.

Back to it!

OMFG Shipping

2011-11-30T22:16:00.001-05:00

Starts tomorrow and will continue into the weekend.

Good luck to Marcus on his trip! Have fun over there, 11!

A Tribe Called Glyos

2011-11-29T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Marcus here. I wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback for the OMFG media and make note that they have been added to the archives: Ralph's gorgeous OMFG comic is on the sidelines here and you can find the Project: OMFG Passcode at the select screen.

In other news, I am headed overseas tomorrow to tour Europe with a new band! I will join Latin rockers Mr. Kowalksy on a 3-week adventure hitting Germany, Switzerland and France. Expect to see a few random blog posts of Pheyden crowd-surfing to strange new places... and if we're lucky, maybe a certain Bruno Orbit dude will show up in some pics...

Destroy Babylon (my band of 10+ years) will continue strong next year, but Matt and I also have some fun projects on tap for 2012. Thanks as always to everyone involved in the Glyos Community. To spend everyday of my life making music, art and toys with great friends and family is all I could ever ask for. I'll miss everyone (especially my beautiful wife Heidi) and cannot wait to jump back into it in January!!

OMFG! Extra!

2011-11-25T23:58:00.001-05:00

It's a little bit late, but new content for tonight's OMFG! launch is ready to go, thanks to the combined talents of Marcus and Ralph!

You can checkout an all new Mini Passcode with some special interactive goodies put together by 8-Bit mastermind Marcus as well as a crazy brand new comic by the one and only Ralph Niese.
Both of these are connected in celebration of the OMFG! project and feature some sneak peeks into what's in store for January over here.

Special thanks to George and Ayleen of October Toys for spearheading the OMFG! project and pushing to make it a reality. We are already excited for Wave 2!

OMFG! is LIVE!

2011-11-25T21:00:00.000-05:00

OMFG! is LIVE: onelldesign.com/store (refresh!)

Edit: Stealth Glyan MK II has been added to the store as well!

Come back around 10pm for some fun extra content!

OMFG! A Wrasslin' Castle

2011-11-25T18:55:00.001-05:00

OMFG! Stones Throw

2011-11-25T17:40:00.001-05:00

OMFG! -The Phantom Outhouse!

2011-11-25T14:44:00.001-05:00

The product of artist Kyle Thye (designer) and our old collaborating brojack Ralph Niese (sculptor), the Phantom Outhouse (or Shithouse) is probably the most insane of the first 5 OMFG! in terms of concept and execution.

Directly from Kyle:

My thoughts for the Phantom Shithouse's back story is that a backwoods part of the Ozark's where greedy corporations started dumping their toxic waste also happened to be inhabited by a hillbilly family. The toxic waste leeched into their water supply and food creating some pretty unusual trips to the outhouse. Eventually the bacteria and toxic "waste" created a symbiotic hive mentality and uprooted from the hole, taking the outhouse right with them to exact revenge on corporate greed and any who dare stand in its stinky wake!

Kyle is also responsible for the above illustration, showing what happens when Travelers don't flush. Thank you to Kyle and Ralph for bringing this hilarious pile of wood and poo to life!

Turkey Time!

2011-11-24T14:48:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving from our Outhouse to yours!

Spectral Fumes

2011-11-24T00:34:00.000-05:00

From the Monsterforge!

2011-11-23T11:06:00.001-05:00

Charles "Monsterforge" Marsh, creator and sculptor of the OMFG!'s Multiskull and all around powerhouse of talent has created the above illustration to add to the OMFG! action this week! It looks like Aves Exellis is about to get his clock cleaned by a much cooler looking and flat out nastier opponent!

From Monsterforge himself:

The story behind Multiskull is that he's an amalgamation of the spirits of warriors slain in battle... he draws his power from all the dead killed throughout the history of armed combat-- both on Earth and beyond (hence the oddly sized skulls that are present in the figure). He uses the skulls of the dead to constitute a physical form. When a part of his "body" is damaged or destroyed he summons another skull (or skulls) from some forgotten battlefield nearby. He's a darn hard sucker to kill because there's never a shortage of death and destruction in the universe. He's neither good nor bad.... he's just this steaming pile of anger and resentment that has taken a physical form.

Seeing a toy represented in some kind of action scene always made me want that figure that much more. Charles has cemented Multiskull's place in my pocket for the immediate future with this illustration.
Thank you Charles!

The OMFG! Cometh

2011-11-22T17:11:00.001-05:00

The Outlandish Mini Figure Guys! will invade the Glyos System this Friday, November 25th at 9PM EST.
$12 USD per 5 figure set, bagged with a header card. Color matched to a certain big headed space traveler, the run is in the barn and ready to ship the first week of December.

We are beyond excited to be part of such a unprecedented project. Massive congratulations to all the artists involved in putting this whole thing together!

These chunky little guys feel awesome in hand and really capture the pure intent of just making something that's fun -for all the right reasons.

More pics over the next few days!

EDIT: I tweaked the photo a bit to represent the true color a little better. These dudes mess with your peepers under the light! The hue is just about identical to the lighter Standard Pheydens we have run in the past. Without detail lines it appears even lighter, like a muted Robin's egg.

TGIF OMFG

2011-11-22T03:41:00.001-05:00

WARPED MINDS UNITE!

2011-11-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

Head over to Callgrim.com now to check out the all new DRT Warp Bike Sets!
A ton of energy and effort were put into the development of these mechanical mongrels and we spent many hours together trying to get all the aspects to line up just right.
Jesse is one of the most creative and talented human beings I have ever been lucky enough to know and being able to make things together is something I never take for granted. I hope that bond shows through in the work.
You did it, Dinty, and I can't wait for the next one.

Pocket Poll

2011-11-21T01:05:00.001-05:00

As we all get ready for the Callgrim WARP Bike drop later today, I was thinking it might be fun to check out who is being carried around (if anybody is doing it) in your collective pockets.

I've been attached to the Sincroid configured Glyaxia guys in the above picture and also the White Skull Sincroid also shown above. The Glyaxia color scheme has that Commander Rann vibe happening a little more than usual in Sincroid mode, so I think that's the draw for me.

Before this batch it was the metallic green Argen in Rig Killer mode, but that was a bit much to have wedged in my pants.
Wedge+Pants=Bad.

Galactic Clarity

2011-11-19T18:18:00.001-05:00

We were lucky to get an early set of the new Outer Space Men figures over here and they are absolutely beautiful. The paint has been applied with precision and the clear helmets are simply knockouts. Once you put the new figures with the last Infinity Edition assortment the entire scope of the line becomes clearer.

Our hats go off to Mel and the Four Horsemen for putting such energy into making these classics come back to life. We are getting so close to completing the entire original series roster that I'm personally starting to feel like a little kid at Christmas thinking about the possibilities! Come on Colossus Rex!

5-OHH - July 11th 1994 - November 15th 2011

2011-11-17T10:53:00.001-05:00

On November 15th my sister Megan put to rest her cat of 17 years, 5-OHH.

If you have ever spent any time with Megan, then you most likely spent time with 5-OHH. She was one of the friendliest and most loving creatures we have ever had in our family and she will be deeply missed.

A lot of you know that my sister has played a big part in keeping things moving over here. Without her dedication and endless assistance, I'm certain that I would still be shipping things from 4 years ago.

The passing of 5-OHH marks the end of an era and the start of a brand new one for Megan and I know 5-OHH will always be just over her shoulder, making sure things go her way.
We'll never forget you Fivey.

Old Tricks

2011-11-15T17:19:00.000-05:00

More back story on the development of the WARP Bike
over at the Callgrim blog!

Mercenary Alert

2011-11-14T18:29:00.001-05:00

More details about Jesse's upcoming WARP Bike launch

are up over at blog.callgrim.com!

11-11-11 Callgrim Returns

2011-11-11T18:16:00.000-05:00

Today brings the biggest Mercenary Alert yet: Callgrim finally gets his ride, and with a full production Custom Corps paint job! Check out Jesse's all new vinyl toy, the Warp Bike, right now at callgrim.com! More news as it leaks!

Huge congratulations Gimli! This one has been a long time coming.

11-11-11 Nistuff

2011-11-11T15:00:00.000-05:00

Rolling with the days events, the Long Island creative machine known as Nistuff drops some all new customs over on his 481 Universe site shortly at 3 PM EST. Today marks the first official online release of Ni's Anomalies figures in their full PVC production versions- which were made in our Glyos factory in China.

Congratulations from all of us here Ni! You did it!Keep your eyes on this guy, he has a lot in store for 2012.

11-11-11 OSM

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

The Four Horsemen prepare for the next OSM Visitation today, making the all new fully painted Infinity Editions of Waves 3 and 4 available today, 11/11/11, at 11:11 EST for pre-order at Storehorsemen.com!

Combining the classic character design of the legendary Mel Birnkrant with the unparalleled talents of the FH, this new round of the Outer Space Men continues to fulfill every true OSM fan's dream of finally completing the original lineup.Package photography created by Mel himself! This is going to be a killer set.

Mercenary Alert

2011-11-09T01:39:00.000-05:00

Start your engines...

Lost Projects: Repoclaimer

2011-11-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

Back when the thought of creating something made of soft vinyl was just starting to come together, a very different creature almost made it to production level before the Armodoc was even designed.

The Repoclaimer was a Sincroid hunting juggernaut that would have marked our first foray into toys of a bigger scale and functionality. For multiple reasons this beef bomb ended up being put on hold when it was about 65% complete in favor of moving forward with what would become the Traveler hunting Armodoc. I guess the Sincroids got a "get out of jail free card" because of it.

Many projects almost make the grade, from Noboto to Rechlen and Aves. Some even go to steel and are not up to standard and have to be canceled, like a recent humanoid head with no helmet that kept deforming when pulled from the mold (this one still bugs me).

Over the next month we'll focus on some of these "Lost Projects". Hope you guys get a kick out of them.

Electrocution Solution

2011-11-04T12:55:00.001-04:00

Phil Reed (in town for a whirlwind visit), Marcus and I checked out the somewhat local Pinball Wizard Arcade in Pelham, NH last night.

Anyone who is in the Northeast who digs classic arcade machines needs to hit this spot. With a super clean look, tons of vintage and rare cabinets and lots of room, we all had a great time playing old school games.Phil had to bring the torture though, by challenging the electro-shock Adam's Family game. Phil Reed is a limitless animal and he coerced me into melting my hands.

If you guys get the chance, spend some time at this pretty new spot, just stay away from Uncle Fester.

PS- Cyber Lip!

Brain Mummy Twist

2011-10-31T20:12:00.000-04:00

click to animate

Here's a post from last Saturday that got a snow delay:

Took a quick break from packing to put the snow plow on and grab some things at the grocery and look what I found sitting in the produce section.The green ones were common back in my youth but they always delivered the goods!

Here is a quick twisty for a very murky day. Still the same core recipe for the inner structure after all these years!

October Attacks!

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000-04:00

We are just getting back online after a crazy weather assault that started on Saturday and went into tree killing overdrive early Sunday morning.I think I seriously picked up 200 plus fallen branches scattered freaking everywhere (one even tried to get into the barn, crashing right through a window). A big old tree split in half and assassinated a nice chunk of the yard as well. Total mayhem.

The power was on and off throughout Saturday and decided to quit completely early Sunday morning. As of this writing at about 2AM Monday morning the power has started to come back on in spurts and we are getting a web connection again.

Megan and I have finished just about all the packing and if the connection stays online we will begin the shipping later this morning.Thanks for sticking with us while we get back to normal!

Twist Tie Guys

2011-10-28T10:24:00.000-04:00

When I was around 7 years old I became obsessed with garbage bag twist ties. This sounds like some kind of Twist Ties Anonymous intro, but I really loved the things. So much so that I would steal them from wherever I would visit. Friends, family, grocery stores- if there was a twisty (as I called them) on the premises I would snag it. Why did I hunt these tiny little things down? So I could build all kinds of junk and not drive my parents insane with my endless asking for toys (I still drove them crazy).

The relevance of my time with twist ties is directly connected to what I create now. As a matter of fact I almost pursued a kind of "bendy" armature (much like the original OSM) instead of the Glyos pins that would have had slide on parts which would seat on small bumps, holding everything in place but completely removable and customizable. This was born from playing with the twist ties and learning how to build bigger and more complex figures. The thin tiny wires seemed perfect for cobbling together little guys, and once I started adding medical tape and tinfoil things really got bizarre. I made hundreds of twist tie guys and played with them as much as any of my mainstream toys. Over time my favorite creations would start to disintegrate, so I would retire the main players and introduce an all new cast that would carry on the story.

Every so often I'll whip together a twisty, and I'm reminded of the happiness that comes from wanting to create something, just to play with for a little while.

Update

2011-10-27T19:51:00.000-04:00

We have processed the bulk of the orders from the recent drop and will start the shipping process tomorrow morning! All the outstanding RXH Hades orders went out earlier today except for a few foreign boxes. Sorry for the delay on those, but the scarves were a killer!

Thanks again to everyone who checked out stuff from the new wave, we'll crank overtime to get this plastic out of here ASAP.

Thank You!

2011-10-23T23:48:00.000-04:00

Thank you for a great launch! The action was strong across the boards and as usual we have learned from tonight's drop about what we need to do to continue to improve. We will definitely run more Rigs for the next round. All of us truly appreciate your continued interest in that chunk of vinyl. I'm personally surprised that the Big Rig went as fast as it did (my being a fool proven positive yet again).

The metallic green Phase Arm Sets will join some other unique specials as the bonus items for this release. We hope you guys enjoy the assortment of extras that will be showing up inside your packages.

The last 6 months have been filled with some serious travel and intense activity behind the scenes, and I want to once again say thank you for making it all possible. 2012 will see some all new things pretty early in the year, and that's due to the support from each and every one of you who take the time to play around in this strange place that we call Glyos.

White Skull Attack!

2011-10-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

The new stuff is LIVE in the store. Remember to refresh!

We're hoping that the Big Rig cuts the mustard for you guys. This experiment will return if things work out good with this release. Strike Team White Skull gets a triple shot of support with couple variations on the Rig Wing for this drop. The color on the bonus Rig matches the Glyaxia shade of blue and pays homage to Max Sterling from Robotech fame. Easily one of my favorite characters from that old show (next to Roy Fokker of course).

We hope you guys have fun tonight! Thanks for checking everything out!

Big Rigged

2011-10-23T17:45:00.000-04:00

On track for 9pm tonight!

From The Shadows

2011-10-23T14:18:00.001-04:00

Mysterious Intentions

2011-10-22T13:54:00.000-04:00

Rig Killer

2011-10-22T00:15:00.001-04:00

Argen evolves into his most powerful configuration yet... the Rig Killer formation!

This build is comprised of one Buildman, one Phaseon and two sets of Axis Joints with every piece used. There is an alternate build with the left Triple Cannon broken down into a set of back engines and a single blaster. I've been having this version of Argen and his Phaseon Revolutionaries battle the Big Rig and the new Glyans for the last week.

The color selection on Argen for this round pays homage to the 1977 Lesney Matchbox line called Adventure 2000. The old metallic green used on those futuristic cars still kicks ass to this day. Topped off with the orange/yellowish tinted windows, Adventure 2000 stood out as an incredibly unique and exciting range for the Matchbox line.

Animation Inspired!

2011-10-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

We had a great time at the NYCC, maybe the best show we have all collectively attended. People were in great spirits and really brought a ton of super positive energy to the table. We will absolutely be there next year to do it all again!

Now that the mayhem has subsided, we are ready to release some new additions online that have been waiting to get loose (Sunday, October 23rd at 9PM EDT)!If the last wave of figures was a tribute to all things Real Type, this new round pays homage to the classic animations that we watched back in our 1980's youth (well in my youth anyway, Marcus was still in diapers). Robotech, GI Joe and Transformers were just a few of the massive influences that got so deep into our creative DNA. I was personally insane over the Zentraedi from Robotech (Macross) and all the additional armor designs that popped up throughout the three parts of the Robotech saga.

Some of the most iconic color schemes of those days came from Transformers, particularly the Decepticons. The Insecticons, Seekers, Predacons and basically every G1 bad guy colorway were glorious and hugely influential. The Autobots were also just as good, giving a super hero vibe to giant robots with their Marvelesque color choices. GI Joe was the perfect blend for me though, mixing Real Type qualities with classic color sensibilities. The Cobra designs were just so damn cool.

This new batch is dedicated to all the creative masters who brought those shows into our young lives. They proved to not only fuel our imaginations, but also to comfort many of us when the whole divorce era swept across the country. Our generation is what happens when Optimus Prime plays the role of your parents while your mom works two jobs.

On to the list!

United Glyan Forces
-Glyan Glyaxia Command Elite (yellow/blue) $8
-Glyan Glyaxia Outer Battalion (blue/yellow) $8
-Glyan Strike Team White Skull (red/maroon) $8
-Glyan Rig Crew White Skull (maroon/red) $8
-Glyan Traedian Deep Hunter Division (purple/deep purple) $8
-Glyan Secticore Tracker Unit (deep purple/purple) $8

Gendrone Revolution
-Argen MK V (green metallic/orange visors with all new tampo printing) $8
-Phaseon Gendrone Revolutionary (green metallic/orange visors with all new tampo printing) $6
-Spectre Phaseon Gendrone Revolutionary (GITD green/green visors with all new tampo printing) $6
-Stealth Phaseon (clear colorless, no paint) $4

Axis Joint Sets
-Glyaxia Command Elite Set (yellow) $4
-Glyaxia Outer Battalion Set (blue) $4
-Strike Team White Skull Set (red) $4
-Rig Crew White Skull Set (maroon) $4
-Traedian Deep Hunter Division Set (purple) $4
-Secticore Tracker Unit Set (deep purple) $4
-Green Metallic Set $4

Phase Arm/Gobon Blaster Single Sets
-Strike Team White Skull (red) $2
-Rig Crew White Skull (maroon) $2
-Green Metallic $2
-Black (restock) $2
-Clear Colorless (restock) $2

Rig
-Big Rig White Skull Wing Division (white with red and black details and multiple tampo printings-configured with 6 additional red vinyl parts which also feature white and black details and tampo printing) $50
-Heavy Armored Rig White Skull Wing Division (white with red and black details and multiple tampo printings- standard Rig Wing configuration with same paint job as Big Rig) $25

Travelers and Sincroids
-White Skull Sarvos w/Scar Pheyden head (red/maroon with white face paint) $8
-Venjorun Exellis w/Govurom head (maroon/red) $8

Extra Set
-White Skull Extra Set (w/red Pheyden head, red Phanost head and red Pheyden chest and pelvis) $4

The drop date will be this Sunday, October 23rd at 9PM EDT.This will mark the last larger release of 2011, with a possible small round of stuff sometime in December. The Big Rig was made in slightly lower numbers as it is on the expensive side to produce. If you guys dig the figure and the response is positive we may try it again next year. Please consider it a fun experiment and be sure to let us know what you guys think, positive and negative.Pics of the new stuff over the next few days leading up to the launch!

NYCC Image Dump 3

2011-10-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

NYCC Image Dump 2

2011-10-18T14:42:00.000-04:00

For the record, that's a kielbasa. Ruined.

NYCC Image Dump 1

2011-10-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

NYCC 2011

2011-10-13T20:20:00.000-04:00

We are set up at NYCC Booth #578! The scenario is a little different this year as we have merged our booth with Sidekick Media (booth #576- thanks Tom) for some extra space for all our friends who will be at the table throughout the show.

A small batch of preview figures from next week's launch will be available from us, but the truly cool stuff will come from the visiting artists who will be offering all kinds of new work that is collectively glorious to behold! The Godbeast, The Sucklord, Uamou, Nistuff, Healey Made, Peter Kato, Lamour Supreme, Bah'glenn Creations, Steve Jackson Games, Spaced Out Design, Eat Your Children, and Kranix are just a few of the artists that will be rolling out fresh toys to check out.

We are really psyched to once again get the chance to talk to some of you in person! Hope to see you guys over the next few days!

Science Fiction Master

2011-10-12T09:21:00.000-04:00

Mel furthers his status as a legend with the latest addition to his OSM site.Seriously, I can't stop looking at these pics! Cyclops is going to be a killer!

Hades Is Gonzo!

2011-10-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone who went after Hades! Hopefully we have gotten the supply numbers to a place that satisfies everyone who wants RXH crossover stuff. Mori will be happy!

Next up is a GITD Pheyaos Mini, sometime in late November...

Black Scars

2011-10-08T12:04:00.001-04:00

Mori handed me a special bag of vinyl while I was recently in Japan and when I opened it up these little guys were hiding inside.

Mini Hades Pheyden has a GITD head and black body with painted details on his face. This is the Black Scar Edition, and is a little sneak peek into the future of Hades. The scarves are made of a special fabric and match pretty good to the deep black vinyl (the black is so rich I don't think I've ever seen anything quite so truly black).

Hades will be available this Monday night, October 10th, at 9PM EDT. The price is $35 USD.

I know that the last Mini Sarvos release resulted in a few people missing out, which I apologize for. This drop should not leave anybody cold, as the supply has been increased to hopefully cover those that want this Mini.

This release will be leading up to a larger assortment of Glyos figures that we are aiming to have available around October 21st. If you are going to be attending NYCC you will be able to check out some sneaks from this upcoming wave at booth #578, along with lots of other much cooler stuff from many excellent artists. More details coming this week!

Glyoborg

2011-10-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

Inspired by the three Masters of Toy Tribe, this Glyoborg is dedicated to our Japanese brothers and the never ending ingenuity they possess. The builds in these pictures were built using Glyan and Axis Joint parts.

Mercenary Alert

2011-10-03T20:37:00.002-04:00

New blog entry from Jesse at blog.callgrim.com!

Nibblermania!

2011-09-30T17:50:00.000-04:00

The Tarantulas unleashes a truly menacing assortment of Nibblers TONIGHT!

From the Tarantulas blog:

From a dingy arcane workshop in the depths of Fishtank Castle they came - Mechanibblers - unstoppable metallic munching machines with a singular will - that of the Nibbler himself !!'

Fishtank Castle SHOULD* open for business Friday night 30th Sept at 12pm Midnight UK time ( 7pm East Coast ).. The store has been updated with the new stuff at 'coming soon' status..

My thanks to Don & Mori for their skill & attention to detail in getting the Mechanibblers just right, to Ali at Morpheus for playing along with my crazy projects and above all to Matt without whose inspiration ol' Chompy would never have existed ( at least not in this dimension )..

Pls note the Fishtank Castle playsets are a Pre-Order open for one day only - pls allow 60 days for delivery. Pls also note the classic deco 'Action Nibblers' will be limited to one per customer - the Mechanibblers are unlimited.

See you on Nibbler Night !!

*I say should - because if my girlfriend goes into labour today or tomorrow ( a distinct possibility - we are overdue now ) I will postpone the release until some time next week.. Twitter will be the best channel to keep tabs..

Congratulations to our brother in the UK on his biggest Nibbler release to date! What a round, Chris!

A Night with Nightow

2011-09-30T11:30:00.000-04:00

For the last few trips to Japan we have had the absolute honor of spending some time with Yasuhiro Nightow, best known for creating Trigun, Gungrave and more recently as a third of the design team (which also boasts the genius talents of Yutaka Minowa and Noriyuki Jinguji) behind one of the absolute coolest lines out there today, Assemble Borg (if you haven't discovered Assemble Borg take the time to check it out, it's like our much cooler Uncle who has his act together).

In what has quickly become a tradition, Nightow san took us out for some okonomiyaki (like a Japanese pancake/pizza) at a spot near Nakano close to where his studio is. The food was awesome as usual, even if we were without the company of Jinguji san this year (but he did send something special in his place -more in a moment).

On top of buying everyone dinner, Nightow showed us the latest installment of his wild manga, called Kekkai Sensen (Blood Blockade Battlefront under Darkhorse here in the states) and gave us the scoop on upcoming Assemble Borg projects. A total class act all the way.

The most shocking element of the night though, was when Nightow san whipped out an original sketch done by Jinguji san that nearly made me and Jesse's heads explode. According to Nightow, Jinguji had become interested in the Rig that I had given him last September, and after analyzing it for a while, decided that Callgrim should have a Rig type vehicle as well. So he designed one. One of the main mech designers for Assemble Borg made Callgrim a Rig. Suffice it to say it was a golden moment for both Jesse and I (Jesse is going to frame the original).

Deep thanks from Jesse and I go out to Nightow san and Jinguiji san for an unforgettable night.

I also want to send out an extra special thanks to Don "Datadub" Kratzer for getting us all together and also for once again looking out for us during our time in Japan. You know everybody D! Thanks a million for taking the time to shuffle our ragged frames around wonderland, it was a blast as always.

Dumplings VS Burgers

2011-09-24T10:51:00.000-04:00

Eaten in the span of one day, from Hong Kong to Japan. Paul, Jesse and I wiped out over 40 dumplings for breakfast. Our man Paul always delivers the dumpling punch and this time was no different.

After we left Hong Kong and said goodbye to Paul, we left for Japan and met up with Don for some late night burgers at our favorite McDonalds in Nippori. Gross but sentimental, that's us.

Tomorrow we tackle Tokyo again!

PS - Yes, that's an egg on that beef bomb. Night breakfast!

RXH Enforcer Sarvos Mini

2011-09-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

Real x Head Enforcer Sarvos Mini is GONZO.
Thanks everyone for your continued support!
I'll be posting more pics from the guys as I get them.

Chicken Twins VS Brainiac Fish

2011-09-21T12:47:00.000-04:00

From the Road Part 2

2011-09-20T15:10:00.000-04:00

From the Road Part 1

2011-09-19T18:54:00.000-04:00

RXH Attack!

2011-09-17T19:02:00.002-04:00

Mori strikes again! Cutting a simple yet sharp form, Mori's version of Enforcer Sarvos brings back Soul of the Traveler memories for us over here. As per usual, this is a limited edition and will be available on Wednesday, September 21st at 9PM EDT. The price is $35 USD. Please limit one per customer.

This guy should look good next to the upcoming RXH Hades Pheyden that is on tap for November...

Predecessors: A Fish Tale

2011-09-15T11:58:00.002-04:00

This old story about an unlucky (and then lucky) space pilot was one of the larger sized comics I made back in the 7th grade era. "Pilot" worked as a Space Delivery Man for the Space Federation (judging by the ridiculous writing on his chest), and managed to get blasted within the first four panels of the strip! Lucky for him, the ship he was "piloting" had a small escape pod.

The funniest thing to me about this demented yarn is the part where Pilot is fishing on what looks like a regular old 1980's style boat (our old boat to be precise) -with all his space gear on. Because everyone knows that after getting into a galactic missile battle all any true astronaut wants to do is cast a line and forget his worries.

Oh yeah, and he was delivering mini-Bonkers.

Thanks for checking out these first three looks at my old junk. Jesse and I head overseas in about 12 hours, but when we return I'll dig up some more stuff from my youth if you guys still dig it.

Business will operate as usual over here as Michelle and Marcus have the bridge! Keep your eyes peeled next week for some sneak peeks from the factory and workshop! New stuff is cooking!

Predecessors: Bonker

2011-09-13T00:20:00.008-04:00

Long before there was Pheyden, there was Bonker. You're not reading that wrong, I made a character named Bonker. When I was very young (Elementary School into Junior High) this little white furry alien starred in many of my earliest stories, flying around with his energy field zapping bad guys named after US cities. Why did he have a giant "B" on his chest? Did he come from a world where they used the English alphabet? Who the hell knows, but I have some strong memories of drawing Bonker.

Like any classic sci-fi tale concocted by a child's mind, Bonker had a special spaceship and even a hover bike to tool around in -even though he could fly on his own and didn't need those things. His ship was called the Polaris-1 and I spent hours thinking about how it would operate and what it was like inside. The old Japanese robot cutaway illustrations I would see at my Japanese neighbor's house seeped into my mind and made a permanent place to stay, making it mandatory that I draw the insides of everything. I drew the Polaris many times and was never satisfied with the internals. Maybe I should have just stuffed more vehicles in there!

The main bad guys who gave Bonker a hard time were the Bionic Trio, and a dude named Acron. Acron popped up in a few different forms (scientist/muscle bound beast) and always ended up getting blasted to cosmic bits. Then he would show up again with no explanation as to how he survived. No accountability, I love it. The Bionic Trio were my favorite guys to have Bonker fight, as they collectively filled the anti-hero role in the story. They were three brothers who lost different parts of their bodies when their spaceship exploded. That's it. Why did they want to waste Bonker so bad? Again, no real reason other than to cause chaos. Maybe I should have called them the Anarchy Trio. Either way, I loved drawing them.

For a modern take on Bonker, the Polaris-1 and the Bionic Trio I tried to imagine them in our current Glyos setting. Bonker evokes a bit of every half animal videogame character from the past 20 years. The Polaris-1 looks roughly the same, only now piloted by Pheyden (who also does not really need a ship-only Rigs-ha!) and the Bionic Trio remind me of the Galaxy Ranger's and Crusher Joe's love children.

Bonker will always hold a special place with me, so much so that he was the inspiration for the character Sarvo Halos, who has played a pivotal role in the Glyos System. Sarvo created Prototype Sincroid Exellis along with countless other Mechanoid based lifeforms throughout the history of Glyos and holds many secrets about what is really going on. He might even know what the Bionic Trio were up to. Nah, nobody knows that.

More old files will be explored when I get back from the upcoming overseas trip. Maybe we can take a look at another old series I used to draw called Hermit.

Predecessors: Skate Wars

2011-09-10T11:23:00.003-04:00

While working on the Glyan over the past year, I ended up digging through a lot of my old drawings from when I was younger. For some odd reason I felt compelled to review a particular series of scribbles from when I was in 7th grade that I called Skate Wars (shown above). Yeah, the name brings to mind some dudes battling on their skateboards, or maybe even a deadly hockey story. Neither of those things factored into Skate Wars. Apparently I just liked the word "skate" and used it. No deeper meaning, I was just a nerdy little guy (and still am).

Outside of the totally screwy name, Skate Wars had some fairly intense thought put into it for the product of a 7th grade mind. I was still obsessed with all the little details about each character, from height and weight to the type of rank each soldier could achieve.

Skate Wars was a futuristic Special Operations Forces Tactical Assault Team or SOFTAT (what the hell?). The designs were inspired by all the Japanese animation bootlegs that I was watching as well as my exposure to tons of Time/Life WW II books. This series of Skate Wars drawings always stuck with me, even after all these years. Being a spaz about hanging onto all my artwork since I was 6 works out pretty good for when I want to look at old junk I made. As I checked out the sketches, an interesting connection between the old me and the current me developed as I studied each paper. I felt like I was getting an assist from 7th grade me as I developed the Glyan figure.

In honor of my utterly bizarre younger mind, I thought it would be fun to dust off some of the older characters and worlds that eventually brought me to the Glyos System and draw them once again, keeping faithful to the original designs. If you think that Skate Wars is weird, wait until you see Bonker.

Battlegripped!

2011-09-07T20:01:00.002-04:00

The unstoppable work machine known as Phil Reed has struck again! Now he has gone and run the risk of low readership over at his Battlegrip.com site by dedicating an entire week to our weirdo stuff. Thankfully, he has managed to make what we do look half interesting by adding his own special creative spice to each entry he has posted this week.

My favorite has to be the Choose Your Own Adventure post. Phil has mixed some very clever Transformers homages into a fun throwback story that features his own take on a few familiar faces.

As usual, Mr. Reed brings his sharp perspective and trademark honesty to everything he does, his Glyos Week being no exception. Thanks a million Phil, you are way, way to good to us.

Shipping and Hammering

2011-09-03T12:42:00.001-04:00

All orders from the drop last week should be shipped out by the end of today, including all the foreign stuff. Megan, Marc, Jesse and Grilo (now with Fu Manchu mustache) all came to the barn ready to rumble and we hammered through a ton of stuff after all the processing was finally completed. The mountain of paperwork was once again conquered by Michelle and as usual she managed to keep things on track. We're trying harder than ever to get the packages out of here faster so the wait is not as long.

Thanks again to all of you for the Jedi style patience and for making this such a positive release!

Banimon Grand Prix

2011-09-01T23:16:00.004-04:00

Multi-talented workhorse and Banimon creator Boris Savic has unveiled his latest creation over at the Banimon blog.

Combining the storytelling style of old time silent movies with his now classic Banimon design sense, Boris has brought together something extremely unique, personal and fun with his Banimon Grand Prix animated short.

Make sure to also check out the Banimon store for an all new assortment of hand cast and painted Getto Rockets, BGP T-shirts and even special Banimon Grand Prix Shop Towels!

Huge congratulations go out to Boris for completing the latest piece of Banimon history.

Long live the Amazing Deda!

Revenge of the Bio Jumpers

2011-08-31T23:20:00.006-04:00

Over the past few months Marty "The GodBeast" Hansen and I have been working on a number of projects, further exploring the possibilities of making hand cast parts and creating all new characters to play around with. One of those collaborations which has gone from concept to reality is the latest incarnation of the Bio Jumpers!

When Marty and I were developing the recent Infection stuff we came up with a little guy called the Bio Jumper. The idea was that this nasty bugger would land on a Traveler's head and take control by literally "jumping" the victim's biology. The basic theme seemed to resonate and right after the first Bio Jumper release we started talking about what other kinds of chunky insectoids might be fun to make as all new Jumpers. Once I started drawing, the very first thing that popped out on the paper was a Grasshopper based Jumper. This was most likely due to my love of Kamen Rider and the influence of the iconic big round eyes that always adorn those awesome helmets. Microman was also on my mind, sneaking through in the Acroyear inspired "wing-horns" that a number of the new Bio Jumpers sport in the above concept work.

A personal old theme also resurfaced, having appeared way back in the early days of the blog. Once again the oddball buggy race of Glyos called the Eidrallim marched into my brain waves.. Originally appearing in an old Rechlen and Aves story line, these bug creatures were dipped in a super strong alloy at birth, which would grow as the Eidrallim would grow. Basically like Achilles being dipped in the River Styx by the heel (well exactly like that). I always dreamed of one day sculpting a proper Eidrallim figure, but once the initial parts swapping started rolling they popped up in the form of some combined builds. The little silver cricket Jumper with yellow eyes (seen above) is a baby Eidrallim. The skinny tall guy is an adult (rescanned from a drawing I did around 2001).

The pool of influences ran from Bugmen of Insectica, Megabug Gladiators, and Hornetroid, all the way to Nausicaa of the the Valley of the Wind. The process was very fun and going back and forth with a true toy historian like Marty made the references a kick to infuse into the core designs.

When the time finally came to select what designs Marty was going to sculpt, it was the Resin Master's Choice. Marty came out of the gates with the Larva, the Horned Beetle and the Dragonfly! My demented drawings can be more confusing than helpful, so I was psyched when I saw the first versions of what would become the all new additions to the now growing Bio Jumper collection.

Each time we work on something together, Marty and I get to know each other a little bit more, and this collaboration was no different. I feel very fortunate that Marty continues to create these crazy toys with our little crew. Hopefully by the end of the year some more Jumpers (and maybe even a Beast or two) will join the ranks of the Glyos System, and if they do, it will be thanks to the exceptional talent and dedication of The GodBeast.