A few years ago I thought about actually rolling out a Villser Soldier, which was to tie in with a story arc we were kicking around at the time. This version of the Villser was designed as a warrior that could blend with its fellow soldiers and become more powerful, adapting to whatever challenges might arise.
The idea of sculpting a more monster like figure was really appealing, and the plan was to sneak a Pheyaos/Chaos head in as well. Mori and I had discussed pushing the crossover aspects our Pheyaos character a bit more, with a direct connection to Phase/Bio Pheyden. This element of story actually ended up resurfacing in the Gendrone Chronicles Part 2, which Ralph and I are still picking away at (and he has done some crazy art for).
Sculpting on the Villser Soldier actually did start, and I was cranking along, but somewhere along the lines the project started to alter, and something new was born. To add something new to the figure's functionality I kept going back to all the joint concepts that had been amassing, thinking about what would give the figure a kick. One thing lead to another and the Axis Joints were born. At the same time, elements that went on to become the Hub Set were also built, as well as something that should surface in 2013, which we have been calling the Swing Joints. This poor project's parts landed all over the place! The work on the Villser Soldier ended up being responsible for a number of our most integral building sets.
Maybe one day this odd duck will come to fruition, but for now it exists in spirit within the tiny parts that it inadvertently created.
PS -Cady even got in on the designs, as you can see her little scribbles all over the drawings.
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Please make the Villser Soldiers
ReplyDeleteThese are neat but I can see why they were passed up for other things! It does seem like the best elements of them have snuck in elsewhere. Some of the heads are awesome though, it would be cool to have a few of them somewhere down the line! Really loving all these concept drawings.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to see a 100% monstrous figure in this line, why settle for halfway... just make a dinosaur with 50 tentacles or something :)
So that'd explain why the Phaseons shun Axis Joint tech: they "came" from the Villser. Clever bit of real life influencing the story, Matt!
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I'm glad to see that these turned into such a fount of new ideas for add-ons and expansions. If you'd ever decide to make a "Villser corruption" pack that could be swapped-in for twisted, organic-looking monstrosities, though, I'm sure it'd also be a hit! Just imagine a Pheyden showing early signs, with legs "erupting" into asymmetrical masses, or a Phase Defender with a tentacled arm and claws coming out of its back. There's potential there, for sure!
Swing Joints what?!? 2013 sounds promising! I'm happy to be joining the Glyos universe with this awesome drop next week!
ReplyDeleteThese would be a welcome and awesome addition, I seriously like the touch of Vos(s) there too.
ReplyDeleteAnything storywise that has the slightest smack of The Thing I am all over, absolutely my favorite horror movie of all time.
Also the whole bio-mimicry, Chaos, Pheyaos, would be fantastic elements too. The Glyos System could use some more obviously organic sculpts.
The idea of a tie-in with RxH for the Villser really gets me thinking. Chaos is a plant-based shape-shifter, and we really don't know a whole lot else about his race. Maybe there are other Chaos out there. Maybe not all of them are well-intentioned. What if the Villser are actually a faction of evolved Chaos mutants that invade the Glyos universe? Whatever the story is, I'd like to see it play out some day.
ReplyDeleteSo the Villiser, true to it's nature, infected the whole physical glyos universe!
ReplyDeleteMan, this whole week has a nerdgasm so far! Loving all these reveals! Hope background posts don't end after this week (and half really). Love to see this sprinkled throughout '13.
ReplyDeleteYou see, this is a race (?) that I've been curious about. I remember going back a seeing these guys being featured earlier in glyos history but not really shown or talked about again. They add another shade of mystery to glyos.
You also name drop several of my favorite subjects. Namely, you mention Guyver and Lovecraft. I love, love, love guyver. I've not really been an anime guy or manga for that matter. I do however love Guyver. I have at least 2 DVD anime series version as well as at least 2 manga versions. In my head, I see Pheyden as a Glyan wearing Delphi-created Guyver-like armor. I also see his phase arm teleporting in from who knows where and forming around his arm. Love it. Now, I love the "cosmosism" (and I love Strange fiction altogether) and the idea that there are these malevolent beings just out there in the cosmos that just see humans (Glyans?) as fodder. I see this working for the Villser very well and can see these guys starting off as the shoggoth. Great idea.
It's unfortunate that these were never made much further then the rough "clay" version. While the Villser never made it much further then that, they gave us many wonderful add-on kits (btw, I love to see them sold as contained builds as will be in the coming drop). I think others have said that they would love to see an "infection" add-on pack including a Chaos and/or Pheyaos head included.
I can't wait to see what else you have in store for us. Can't wait for the drop. Thanks!
YEEEESSSS!! Oh please please PLEASE let this reach production level at some point! Either this or the vinyl Villser would be a perfect addition to my collection!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dex here. PLEASE make these guys at a production level some day! Or if not that, a CC or something. I have always wanted a Villser figure since you mentioned them in the blog WAY back. Those and the Voss have been on my want list for a long time. The Bio-Pheyden story line tie-in also is a fav of mine, and if we got a Pheyaos head in there I would DIE! I've wanted a Glyos Pheyaos head really bad ever since I saw Ralph's version.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see the Villser finally arrive today in the store. Well done Matt!
ReplyDelete