With the ever changing trends in the independent toy world, we are more grateful than ever for your interest and support of Glyos. Without the connections that we share together, this whole adventure would be meaningless, and the fact that we've survived for all this time is a testament to those bonds.
It's been a year of many strange turns, and I believe more than ever that we are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the way that we interface with our collecting habits. The rise of the independent action figure has been elevated to even greater heights by groups like the Four Horsemen and Boss Fight Studio, with powerful (and well publicized) Kickstarter campaigns that proved both inspirational and eye opening. Fresh companies that also emerged through Kickstarter were Warpo and IAmElemental, both of whom established themselves quickly with exciting and comprehensive campaigns. When you begin to analyze just how small the amount of people that truly make up the independent toy fan base is in comparison to the mainstream toy world, you really start to understand how incredibly risky all these unique and smaller projects actually are.
The pre-order model is quickly becoming the only way for anything to remotely stand a chance of getting produced, targeting the core audience and asking for a commitment up front (where you essentially purchase multiple waves of a toy line at one time) that in nearly all cases becomes a better deal with the more you spend. This is an excellent method for those of us who choose to go "all in", but if someone only wants a taste, the single unit cost usually falls a bit on the high side. This system seems to be the major draw of the Kickstarter model, and I'm extremely interested to see how it evolves as more companies have no choice but to use it. Personally, I'm thankful that Kickstarter exists, even if it has forced certain older models closer to their commercial graves. In many ways, the emergence of the crowd funded model has equalized and rationalized the basic viability of any given project proposal.
Moving forward, we will continue to keep the releases on the smaller side for the majority of 2015 (with only a few slightly larger waves planned), as well as placing additional focus on a few other projects that delve into the mythos of the Glyos System, reminiscent of our older booklets. Some new partner companies will begin to emerge next year, and some older partnerships will separate and travel in different directions. I'm fairly certain that 2015 will continue the roller coaster ride that has been in full effect since 2013, keeping things moving through thick and thin. That being said, no matter what occurs, we'll stay present and focused on bringing you our very best.
Thank you for reading and for inspiring us to keep pushing into the unknown!
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Glyos has brought great joy and fun to my family since i discovered it a short year and a half ago. I am pleased and always will be to support onell design. For me its very grass roots and organic i like that. 2014 has been awesome and cant wait to see what next year will bring! Keep up the incredible work!!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, so long as we still have a few "Accessory Set" waves where a person can build some Phase Defenders and other such 'bots, I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteThe smaller waves of 2014 have held a lot of charm, a lot of narrative heft, and to be honest, sometimes have really tapped into the small-scale-but-big-imagination that the first few waves did. It's a fun challenge to try to do a lot when not every mold is available in every color, and more so when colors just "work" across releases. (Personally, the loss of detail lines actually help with this kind of cohesion, as only plastic needs to be matched-up.)
Case in point: Tracker's small drop. We finally learn what's up with the Sarvos line, we get some good character background, and lots of room to grow beyond. Or the Crayhunter wave: we get lots of background about the Villser, Voss, and Crayboth from the Supers, but not without some Glyans, Travelers, and Axis Joints to "complete" the drop.
That all being said, I hope we do get to see what's going on with the Phaseons soon. An Enyriun in gold with blue (or red) highlights and matching Accessory Sets would be tops, even if we only got one or two molds (probably Argen and a Neo-Sincroid) beside.
Long comment. My apologies and gratitude to anyone who stuck with it this far!
Thank you for all you do, Matt. I haven't ever said this about a company, but I trust you and your decisions. You have proved to be a great leader for numerous other companies. Onell is the glue. You are trustworthy in my eyes and I'm excited to follow all the excitement of the new year. Thanks for the past 4 years (when I discovered the Armodoc at San Diego Comic Con)
ReplyDeleteI just want to thank you for creating such an imaginative and compelling play system I'm having such a fun time diving into the Glyos multiverse, I'm sad I wasn't aware of it back in its initial inception!
ReplyDeleteThanks for everything Matt!
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