4.29.2015

The Chicago Whirlwind

The trip out to C2E2 was a lot of fun, and it was great to spend some time meeting up with friends, both old and new. The combination of going to C2E2 and then attending the Chicago Toy Show in Kane County made for a wicked double header of plastic insanity! In all my years of collecting and checking out shows, I've never seen anything quite like the Chicago Toy Show. If you ever get the chance to go, do not hesitate.

Above are a few of the spoils from the breakneck table exploration. Make sure to check out Phil Reed's great Battlegrip post about the classic LJN Official AD&D toy line for multiple resources on one of the best series from the early 1980's!

Enormous thanks once again to all of the Chicago crew for their true hospitality, it really made the short time in the Windy City something to remember.

4.24.2015

C2E2 2015

This Saturday I will be checking out C2E2 in Chicago, spending some time at the Nerd City booth (#760) and hopefully getting to meet some of you guys in person. I've been out to Chicago a few times over the years, but never to C2E2.

Huge thanks go out to Ben Spencer and the Nerd City crew for letting us use their table as a home base at the show, and to Marty "Stuffed Crust" Hansen for pushing me to leave my cave and visit the Deep Dish capitol of the world again.

I'll have a small assortment of figures available at the Nerd City booth from our upcoming small May release, which is tentatively scheduled for May 4th at 9:30PM EDT.

See you soon, Chicago!


4.20.2015

Deconstructed

Thank you to everyone who sent in their emails over the weekend. We now have a solid idea of what to add to the reorder of the recent Stryker Lock release, as well as a general sense of who's truly interested in Stryker Lock for future runs. The information has since been relayed to Mori and he is excited to roll out another round for all those that missed out. We're probably looking at a mid June return of the white version to the store.

Thanks again for taking part in this little experiment! We'll keep you updated as things roll along.

4.17.2015

Thank You!!!

Tremendous thanks from both Mori and all of us here at Onell for the strong response to the first domestic Stryker Lock release.  It definitely turned out to be another intense run on our system, with an unfortunate shortage of supply versus the actual demand. Since the manufacturing process for Japanese soft vinyl is a much more laborious affair than Chinese rotocasting, the initial production run was based on how our previous RealxHead crossover releases had sold in the past. This number was then increased in anticipation of potential new interest in the RealxHead brand by folks who may have just discovered the magic of RealxHead. Clearly, the production numbers should have been even higher than what Mori and I had planned for, but walking the line between too much and too little is an increasingly difficult tightrope to navigate.

So, we are going to attempt something a little different with Stryker Lock. If you are interested in another chance at the white with black rub edition that we just offered on Wednesday night, please send an email to us at: info@onelldesign.com

Just let us know which style you prefer (or both) and if you would like multiples. Please include your name in the message and write Stryker Lock in the subject title. We will then see if we can adjust the rerun edition to cover everything that's requested and determine what the true demand actually is.

Mori and I consider the white version sort of the "Standard" color type, and Mori has already run two larger rounds over the last few months in Japan (our domestic run is actually the third production run of the white type). The new (4th) run will be virtually identical to the previous 3 editions, with some possible minor variations to the paint rub (Mori and the legendary Goto San apply everything by hand).

I'm not 100% positive that this will work seamlessly, but we are willing to try a different approach to get this new series out to all of you who dig it. Mori and I sincerely want anyone who'd like to check out Stryker Lock to have the chance to do so. The core concept behind this project is to supply a hybrid series that combines our two worlds into one that's easily accessible at a solid price, wherever you reside.

Thanks again for sticking with us as we adjust the dials over here! Together, I think we can tighten the system and most importantly, keep things positive and fun.


4.15.2015

Lock On!

The new store is live!

The response on Stryker Lock has been absolutely intense, and we will be placing another order with Mori for a second edition of these two figures this week. We understand that the stock was burned through extremely fast, but please be patient as we adjust to meet demand. This is the very first domestic run of this series, and the numbers were already four times higher than anything we have previously run with RealxHead. Please leave your feedback here on the blog and we will collect all the information to relay to Mori.

Thank you for the positive response to this new project.

Craylision


4.13.2015

Stryker Lock

A crossover project that Mori and I have been discussing behind the scenes since back in 2011, Stryker Lock has finally come to fruition, with the first edition rolling out in Japan last month.

Stryker Lock was designed to continue merging the aesthetics of RealxHead and Onell Design, with a compact structure comprising of 11 separate parts and 10 points of articulation, packed into 4 inches of Japanese produced soft vinyl. These figures are meant to travel across our combined story arcs without limits, whether as mutant hunters, titanic watchers from beyond or simply armored warriors surviving within The Zone.

We are excited to announce that the first domestic edition will be popping up in the store this Wednesday, April 15th, at 9:30PM EDT.

There will be two types available:

Stryker Mohawk -White Soft Vinyl w/ Black paint rub and Metallic Blue Visor $30 USD
Made in Japan by RealxHead

Stryker Crossborg -White Soft Vinyl w/ Black paint rub and Metallic Blue Visor $30 USD
Made in Japan by RealxHead 

As far as compatibility goes, due to its smaller stature Stryker Lock possesses a uniquely sized fit function system, with the head, lower arms and lower legs designed to be easily swappable with future Stryker Lock releases. We did add a few cross compatible features, the biggest one (even though it's very small) being a right hand that can firmly hold a Glyos peg (Glyos Grip!). This means that you can build a variety of blasters and assorted phase hardware from your existing Glyos parts to give your figure some additional firepower.

Mori's mastery of soft vinyl production was in full effect throughout this project, as he solved a number of challenging puzzles to get everything to work just right. The smaller scale and multiple part construction feels tight yet robust in hand, and the sculpting truly captures our original concept and design principles. The master of RealxHead, as always, put on a clinic.

Thank you Sensei! 

More pics and information on the development of Stryker Lock will go up later today.

RHND.


4.03.2015

Thank You!!!

What a whirlwind! The turnout for the Tuesday night release was intense, with some heavy traffic flowing through the store. Thank you for the solid response to the new round of stuff!

Along with the hustle on the site, there was also some old school activity on the blog over the last few days, with both positive and negative feedback being shared. Though a few comments were pretty charged up, the open lines of communication between all of us are always 100% encouraged and respected, even if sometimes things get a little bit bananas. We are dedicated to making you happy, but for some of you that might not happen until after you give our system a chance. For everyone new to our end of the pond, we're truly interested to hear what you think.

Over the next month, we'll be focusing on a couple projects that are in various stages of progress, a major one being a crossover with the incomparable Mori Katsura, the creative genius behind Real X Head Japan. Mori and I have been working away on a new "series blending" concept we call Stryker Lock. Starting next week we'll be posting about the details behind Stryker Lock including when we'll be releasing the first domestic wave of these new figures. They travel great in the pocket and make for some fun scale warping characters, depending on what world you decide to have them visit.

Wrapping up, our team has been steadily working away since Tuesday night, concentrating on processing and packing all the orders. After we hit the post office tomorrow morning,  just about everything should be shipped out. Major props to Michelle for her Rain Man-like invoicing abilities and the Megan/ Pj/ Marcus shipping juggernaut! I would be in a van down by the river without them.

Marcus has also once again brought his mutant pixel mixing abilities to the table, producing the new animation you see above! From the looks of it, Elder Exellis may have acted too late, as a Rebellion slowly rises to become an Empire.

Thank you from the whole family for making this such an exciting release! As always, Glyos owes its continued existence to each and every one of you.