Swing Joint Mechanical

Hey guys, here is the actual mechanical that Matt and I sent to our factory overseas. Hopefully this clarifies some of the questions you've had! I always enjoy making these mechanicals, until we decide to post them on the blog, and then reanalyze every single anchor point... -Marc

The torture test of capturing all the tiny angles can drive a person a little insane, but the results are always worth it. That being said, the process may have taken at least a few years off of Marc's life. -Matt

Color Mechanicals: Gobon

The Gobon mechanical was a fun one to make. Because of its more geometric and symmetrical design, I worked off a photo this time around, as opposed to vectorizing Matt's line art. Included below is the hi-res template to create your own sets of Sarvonic Gendrones.

We are working on a download page that will compile all of these mechanicals and more- stay tuned!

GlyosMechanical-Gobon.pdf

Color Mechanicals: Buildman

The Buildman Gendrone design is probably one of the stranger things to have popped up in the Glyos System since we started. With its asymmetrical limbs and backpack parts, this odd duck was the first figure to really embrace the "buidling" aspect of line. Buildman was truly the first sculpt specifically created to be as interchangeable as possible at the time, with the fit function appearing in many new locations. In contrast, Pheyden was originally engineered for just the most basic of parts swapping, focusing more on looks than functionality.

Buildman's entry into the range signaled an overall shift to more customizable figures, with clearer attention being paid to the pure building potential within each specific piece. These developments kept things moving towards an increasingly modular design aesthetic.

When Marc and I were getting ready to make the color mechanical guide for this character, we ran into a small timing issue, and were subsequently saved by the razor sharp talents of Banimon's creator, Boris Savic. Boris took my original line drawing and converted it into a completely swappable, fully realized AI file.  Marcus then pushed the elements to completion and another set was ready to use.

The above Buildman Gendrone mechanical has a extra special place over here because of the contributions Boris made to the file.

Speaking of Boris, he has a brand new selection of his Banimon figures on track to be released tonight, December 22nd, at 9:30 PM EST over in his store. The new colors look awesome and really capture the vibe of his comics and heritage.

Thanks again for saving our butts all those years back, Boris! Long live Banimon!

GlyosMechanical-Buildman.pdf

Color Mechanicals: Crayboth

Here's a peek from the first round of Crayboths we did back in 2007. These guys have always been a personal favorite. Bonus DIY Crayboth 2-pack below!

GlyosMechanical-Crayboth.pdf

The Mechanicals of Color

Since a good amount of backlog has been unleashed this week, I (Marcus) feel compelled to join in on the fun. Here's an inside look at the making of Glyos from a different perspective- the production color mechanicals.

When Matt and I started working together, one of the first things we created was a blind box series of toys for a company we both used to work for called Beantown Toys. In addition to developing characters and designing packaging, a critical part of our duties was constructing color mechanicals for overseas production. These are basically PDF blueprints for the factory workers to follow. Matt would draw the line art, I'd convert them to vectors, and then we would digitally paint the figures. This became not only the launching pad for many of our current methodologies, but it was also the start of our late-night insanity trying to make deadlines for China. Fact: a mechanical is not ready to be submitted until it has been tweaked one last time between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00 AM. Hence, Formanchies and other horrid midnight snacks were created and consumed all too often.

We've developed a fairly steady system of generating Glyos mechanicals over the years. Matt will put together the initial palette of colors (usually connected to a specific story arc), then we'll play around with the PMS codes (Pantone Matching System... not the most regal acronym for the rainbow) and see what color families work well together. I'll make a master page displaying the full wave of figures and we'll proceed to tweak it all until everything comes together as a unit. We're normally together for the leg work of this, but often we'll spend days or weeks editing the line up, leading to 50+ strings in our email conversations about the outer eye color of a Pheyden. It can become all consuming- since we assemble these batches so far in advance, we constantly need to switch gears and refocus on what we started months ago to get ready for the next release. It's a cyclical, challenging process for sure, but in the end very rewarding. As satisfying as the colors look on our monitors, nothing compares to holding a production figure in natural lighting.

I love making cards and stuff for my nieces to color, and recently put together a mini coloring book featuring "those 'lil guys I make". This process got us thinking over here. In the spirit of celebrating 5 years of Glyos, we'd like to share with everyone our actual production mechanical files, to maybe have some fun playing around with. Included below is a hi-res/printable PDF featuring our first production characters, waiting to be vandalized via computer, marker or crayon. I plan on posting a few more of these type of entries (with MUCH less banter), and if you guys really get into it, we'll release all the mechanicals we've done to date. What would you like to see next?

GlyosMechanical-Pheyden-Exellis.pdf