Task Major and Task Minor

I've really missed the Phaseons over the last few releases, even more so recently since the the Swing Joints rolled out. It has been a blast having them back again!

The above builds are contained, save for two renegade Switch Pins on the Task Major construction (top one) and the option for less Switch Pin "spikes" on the Roundfacer Task Minor form (bottom one).

Using the Switch Pins as little spikes give these Phaseon builds a little medieval armor/Alien Xenomorph look. I imagine that as the Phaseons evolve, they start employing more aggressive forms, a reflection of their darker purpose in the Glyos System.

My focus on the Phaseon might seem odd, but I think the challenge of pushing what was once a Beanbot into something else is always running in the back of my mind. A funny fact is that the Beanbot was actually a character from Michelle's Monsters VS Robots stories first, which also featured Gobon and Noboto. Being that Michelle and I are always blending everything together, the development of a particular character can take some bizarre turns, and the Phaseon's life cycle has been no exception.

Mission Details

Got busy over here today! I'll skip my top of the post ramble and cut to the chase (new ramble can be found below the list):

The following items are scheduled to be in the store on Friday, June14th at 9:30PM EST.

There will be purchasing limits on select items: 

-Armorvors (2 limit per customer) 

-Travelers (4 of each special SOLID style per customer)  

-Stealth Pheyden/Standard Pheyden/Reverse Pheyden (6 per customer)




Buildstation: Stealth (Clear Colorless/No Paint)

Traveler -Stealth Pheyden MK III (with painted eyes and scarf) $8

Glyan -Stealth MK II $6

Buildman -Stealth MK II $6

Phaseon -Stealth MK II $4

Crayboth -Stealth  MK II $3

Armorvor  -Stealth MK III $8

Swing Joint Set -Stealth $3
  
Hub Set -Stealth $4

Axis Joint Set -Stealth $3

Phase Arm/Gobon Blaster Single Set -Stealth $2


Standard Pheyden MK IV (Light Blue/Grey with Grey eyes and Grey detail lines) $8
Reverse Pheyden MK II (Grey/Light Blue with Pink eyes and Grey detail lines) $8


Source Pheyden (Light Blue with Grey eyes) $8
Source Reverse Pheyden (Grey with Pink eyes) $8
Ivorinium Pheyden (White Pearlescent with Blue eyes) $8

Armorvor -????? $8

Crayboth -Standard MK II (Light Orange with painted Pink accents and Pink detail lines) $4
Crayboth -Traveler Hybrid (Light Blue with painted Grey accents and Grey detail lines) $4

?????
????? 


We have reduced the prices on the majority of the Buildstation items, so that you guys can build more things for a little less dough.

The Armorvors will stay at their current price of $8, as we've already pushed that item as low as we can go, even with higher volumes. The Travelers will also remain at $8, as the same holds true for Pheyden.

The Source Travelers are designed for those of you who may want a detail line free version of the Standard and Reverse Pheydens. Swap the parts and you can have the option for something more Fisher Price styled.

Ivorinium Pheyden uses a pearlescent additive in the PVC, which gives the figure a kind of "cosmic ivory" look. Tough to photograph, but very interesting when in hand.

As mentioned before, a few surprises are on deck for Friday night, one of which has an interesting history that we will share before the launch. The other surprise (two styles) should add something unique yet familiar to the Glyos equation. Hopefully you guys will like what you see.

I'll be posting some new Contained Builds starting tomorrow and leading up to Friday night.

Buildstation Express

The Buildstation will come back to life this Friday, June 14th at 9:30PM EST. This release will be a little different than usual, as the majority of the items popping up in the store have been ordered in high amounts, the highest since the original Founders many years ago. All the Clear Colorless (Stealth) figures and parts will appear in the resurrected Buildstation section on Friday night, and hopefully remain there for some time to come. This is an experiment, and hopefully it makes getting stuff for building easier on a regular basis.

There will be some special releases as well, with order limits in place like in the past.

The thing we're most excited to see finally return on Friday is Standard Pheyden! This will be the MK IV version, with a slightly brighter blue and lighter grey PVC. Of course you can't have Standard Pheyden without Reverse Pheyden (literally), so one of my personal old favorites is also back, now as a MK II edition. Both of these figures have been run in higher amounts and should stick around for a while.

A list will be up tomorrow afternoon, detailing what's in store for the store. There will be some surprises on Friday.

Possibly some big surprises.

More pics (featuring a couple new builds) and information coming tomorrow!

A Visitor

While exploring outside for a good spot to shoot some pics, this little critter wandered into the scene!

The Mordle seemed to fascinate our new friend, as a major stare down went into full effect, lasting for way longer than it should have.

Eventually the turtle took off towards the woods, maybe to find a computer to join Club Mordle.

Club Mordle!

John Kent and his partners Charlie Parry and Mike Hart over at Toyfinity.com have released the details on their new Club Mordle promotion, which grants collectors of the upcoming Mordles line a chance to purchase some new toys ahead of the crowd.

From John's blog:

UPDATED JUNE 1st.

CLUB MORDLE is now open over at Toyfinity.com!

Head on over there and you'll have the chance to join Club Mordle, which guarantees you the chance to order any upcoming Mordles product. Remember, you don't have to join Club Mordle to purchase product - but product available on release days to the general public will be available in limited quantities. You can see the full details in a previous post on this blog.

Today, I'm happy to finally give you some details about the very first product releases that Club Mordle members will have access to! 

Mordles love to arrive in groupings called waves. The first wave will consist of SIX colorways, released over the next three months (one release in June, one in July, and one in August).

The first two products, available to Club Mordle members starting on Monday June 17th through Sunday June 23rd (and release to the general public on June 28th) include:

Mordles - Standard Edition TEN PACK with special bonus item! The price for this pack will be $16.

Mordles - Crawler Edition TEN PACK. The price for this pack will be $12.

Product photos will follow this week.

The countdown to the return of the Mordles is on!

Link directly to their store HERE

Marcus and I have been working with John on the Mordle project since its inception, and we are both really excited to finally see the little buggers come back to life after all these years. The figures have been manufactured at our Glyos factory and the production process has been looked after carefully from start to finish, just like our own line.

The Toyfinty boys have some really fun things lined up for the Mordles that will make diving into their mysterious little world well worth the price of admission.

Hey Cavey... Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Cavey from Onell Design!

Here's a little something inspired by the amazing world that Holly has created. Click the top link to check out a digital card / animated wallpaper thing! The image above can also be saved and tiled to make anything it touches Cooler, Better, Cuter.

Good luck with the Birthday Show in London, Holly. Congrats on 3 fun years with Cavey!

Cavey's 3rd Birthday

Cavey is turning 3 years old!

Holly Stanway, creator of Cavey and all around multi-talented artistic powerhouse, has steadily been building a plush - and now plastic - empire over the past 3 years. When she invited me to customize her new vinyl Cavey (shown in the top pic) for Cavey's 3rd Birthday Show, I was excited to get to work!

Continuing the crossover aesthetic that was started on our last custom collaboration (shown in the drawing above), I wanted to push the sculptural aspect of the piece, covering almost all the surface area, save for a few small spots. The goal was to stay true to the form and vibe of Cavey, but add some "Glyos" lines and design.

The little guy weighs a fair bit due to the amount of epoxy applied, and is covered in about 20 coats of paint!

It was an honor to participate in Cavey's 3rd Birthday celebration, and we wish him many more!

Thank you Holly!


Here are the show details from Cavey's mum:

Vinyl Cavey Custom Show
May 31st 2013. 8 – IIpm, Fleet River Bakery, WC2A 3JF, London.

Featuring delicious customs by: A Little Stranger, Chaukoskis, Cris Rose, DMS, Doktor A, DrilOne, Jay222, Jon Paul Kaiser, J*Ryu, Gary Ham, George Gaspar, Haus of Boz, Jake Waldron, Jeremiah Ketner, Kerry Dyer, Lady Lauren Loves, Leecifer, Lisa Rae Hansen, Luke Chueh, Lunabee, Matt Jones, Map Map, Mike Strick, Mister Lister, Okkle, Onell Design, Onorio Depiro, Peskimo, Phil Corbett, Planet Domu, Podgy Panda, RunDMB, Scott Tolleson, Scott Wilkowski, Sergey Safonov, Stitches and Glue, The Sucklord, The Tarantulas, Squink, Triclops.

To purchase items from the show contact holly@alittlestranger for current availability list.

Paint Test 2

Another angle of the Flex Form Build with painted accents on the Swing Joints.

When filled in, these particular areas can make for neat cockpits on micro fighter builds as well.

This guy is still riding around in my pocket, waiting for the next experiment!

Paint Test

Trying some tests with painted areas on the Swing Joints. Looking at this one, I'm reminded a bit of the designs from the Guyver.

Flex Form Zero

The build above is an exercise in pushing the old classic "heroic" form a little more by using the new Swing Joints. The form follows the old Glyoborg design a bit, at least in the proportions of the parts arrangement.

I've been carrying this guy around for a few weeks (making small adjustments here and there) and the joints have held up solidly under very heavy play and general pocket abuse. The range of motion is pretty good, and the Swing Joints add a neat aspect to the actual feel of the figure in hand.

Originally I had a different chest assembly, but something about the painted areas on the Hub top looked neat in conjunction with the scarf "belt". The shape brings a unique look to the midsection, as opposed to the combination that was initially there, which was a stack consisting of a small axis disc and a Gobon disc. I also had complete small Axis Joints at the shoulders and hips for a bit, but I kind of like the above construction a little more now.

I'll probably change it around again next week.

Hope you guys get a kick out of this build!

Banimon Blast!

Head over to Banimon blog to check out the latest Troopers to join the ranks! Brilliant blues and radical reds mixed with the glowing greens make for a unique, menacing bunch.

I love playing with the mini-army men that Boris has created, and felt inclined to convert them into the pixel world. It was a fun challenge to keep them in scale with the rest of the lineup. They may weigh in under 20 pixels tall, but these sprites pack a punch, proof of great character design.

Keep up the excellent work, B!  -marcus


Boris continues to bring his unique artistic vision into tighter focus with each new release. I've been playing around with this wave for a few weeks and the figures are still on the desk, albeit in various states of beefed up builds.

Banimon is something special, and so is the guy behind it.

Congratulations on another great rollout, Boris! -Matt

Special Effects

Digital Apparitions

New Banimon Tonight!

2-D Design ace and master of all things Banimon, Boris Savic, has prepared a brand new wave of plastic action for release tonight, May 17th at 9PM EST in the Banimon store.

From the Banimon blog:

So as the drop date is approaching, the details are slowly unfolding. As far as toys are concerned, we will have two new colorways: the Revolutionary Guard (Red Army Men faction) and Ghost Troopers (Banigoth faction). Colors are blue with red paint and detail lines, and Glow in the dark with Black paint apps and no detail lines. There will also be some brand-new Banimon content detailing the clash of these two elite units in a fierce battle for Planet Havvacor, and a special, limited-edition t-shirt. 

The blue that Boris chose for the Revolutionary Guard is really stunning in hand, and pulls off quite a unique look with the red detail lines in place.  For the Ghost Troopers he selected a high contrast black for the spray applications, and the effect is extremely crisp and completely ominous -especially once the lights go out!

Our crew is very excited to see what Boris unveils tonight!

Keep cranking B!

40 Years

When CC walked into the kitchen with this on her face, I knew I had to share.

I can see her teeth.

Doubled Up 2

Bloodlust Umbreus, also sporting the double stack look.

Doubled Up

Been extra busy behind the scenes over here, and the old blog has suffered for it. I have some new pics on deck, to hopefully make up for the quiet spell.

Lots of projects that have long been in the works are coming to fruition, and should start to surface over the next few months. Some brand new stuff from us and some brand new stuff from our partner companies. This summer should be pretty wild, at least as far as new Glyos is concerned!

Speaking of new projects, there is something secretly going on with Callgrim that may actually break your brains. Jesse really knows no limits. Be ready for big things.

I recently spent some time playing with Spy Monkey Creation's latest Weaponeers of Monkaa wave and wanted to see if I could put together a convincing Contained Build, using just two complete Weaponeers to make a single character. It is possible to use every single piece, but depending on who you want to represent, a few of the extra heads may be left to the side.

Each time that I build with a Weaponeer, I am really impressed by how big things get with so few parts! It's great having the different aesthetics to choose from, as it pushes the creativity in fresh new directions.

Weaponeers of Monkaa: Bloodlust

Our friends Jeremy and Brian over at Spy Monkey Creations will be unleashing some brand new Weaponeers of Monkaa action today at 12PM PST! Umbreus looks deadlier than ever in black and red (and makes for a good match with our recent release, and Flaw matches the older Hades Force run).


From Spy Monkey's site:

Figures and accessory packs as featured in the Bloodlust Storyline will go on sale 12 noon PST on Wednesday May 1st at the Spy Monkey Creations Store!

The new products will include: 

1.  Weaponeers of Monkaa DX Bloodlust Umbreus - $15

This is a deluxe Weaponeer figure featuring additional paint details, a full set of bonus heads, sword and sickle weapon and bonus Vac Metal ABS Accessories! Each figure includes 35 Glyos System Compatible black PVC and silver chrome ABS parts, and a matching trading card.

2.  Weaponeers of Monkaa Flaw the Obsidian Gohlem - $12

This standard Weaponeer figure includes a full set of bonus heads and sword and sickle accessories.  Each figure includes 31 Glyos System Compatible black PVC parts and a matching Trading Card.

3.  Weaponeers of Monkaa DX Obsidian Close Combat Armory - $5
    
This deluxe Close Combat Armory includes a complete PVC Close Combat Armory in an alternate build plus bonus Vac Metal ABS parts!  Each Set includes 17 Glyos System Compatible black PVC and silver chrome ABS parts.   Compatible with all Weaponeers of Monkaa actions figures and other 6-7" action figure lines!

4.  Weaponeers of Monkaa Obsidian Close Combat Armory - $3
    
This standard Close Combat Armory ships un-assembled and includes 14 Glyos System Compatible black PVC parts.  Compatible with all Weaponeers of Monkaa actions figures and other 6-7" action figure lines!

 

This new wave really delivers a sinister punch and sets an appropriate tone for Spy Monkey's new fiction, Bloodlust, which further expands the Weaponeers of Monkaa legend. The story features awesome illustrations by the super talented Nate Baertsch!

Have fun today and good luck Jeremy and Brian! We love the new round!