11.18.2021
11.05.2021
Thank You!!!
Thank you for warmly welcoming us back and making Wave 91 a strong and positive return! We'd been working on this smaller "rebirth" assortment since all the way back into last April, so we hope it hit some of the right notes for old timers and new folks alike. The concept was an Alpha and Omega selection, with the very first production piece we ever made (Pheyden) accompanied by the very latest addition to our ranks (Sincroborg), marking almost 14 years between their debuts.
A big component of this round came in the form of the the short animation that Marc, Cady and I put together. Making any kind of new art since the loss of Ralph has been tough on a number of levels, and I've personally struggled with getting back into doing something more expansive than the sneak animations that usually accompany a new wave, without him. So I stuck an old picture of Ralph that Michelle had on the mantle in front of me as inspiration and did my best to learn how to draw some finished art on the iPad. Come hell or high-water, each day I dedicated serious time into that black mirror, and slowly started to feel more in tune with it. Cady was super patient with her old man, and imparted all her digital tricks to boost my understanding and get me up to speed. Ralph is an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle here, but I know he'd want the art to continue, so as a family we'll forge ahead and see what we can make, here in the new frontier.
We had a few shifts in the way we ship things here, mainly being that we're giving the Shopify shipping interface a shot. So far it's seemed pretty good. Michelle was the eternal champ, learning the ropes of the new interface with only moderate levels of insanity between us. Marcus tackled the taping duties with me so Pj (The Paper Palace King) could have a break from the boxing trenches. Music was kept to a minimum during the first stage of packing, but near the end Marcus unleashed another great playlist, with many highlights including Little Dragon (my favorite), D Train, Cobra Man, Tuxedo, and Mndsgn. Music absolutely keeps us alive.
On an additional note, we also tried something different with the bonus item for this wave, which may or may not float with everybody. The idea behind it was to switch things up and promote some easy building action beyond the usual figure selections. That being said, it's not a permanent thing, and we will continue to experiment here and there. Additionally, we've been discussing a possible Buildstation for 2022, and what molds to revisit if we open the gates again. Speaking of molds, expect some interesting items to debut in the next wave, which is currently scheduled for December or January, depending on the ongoing global mayhem.
As always, thank you once again from the whole family for continuing to check out the things that we create. There may be longer spaces in between our time together on the blog during these extreme years, but I assure you, our hearts and minds are clear and still full of life over here. We absolutely love what we get to do and are endlessly grateful for the creative freedoms we've been allowed to enjoy, through the incredible support that comes from each of you.
10.23.2021
Wave 91 is Go!
Wave 91 is live!
Refresh: https://onell.store
EDIT: All limits lifted. Thanks!
Please place only ONE ORDER WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR TONIGHT. We will lift all limits after the first hour. Thanks for your cooperation. Have Fun!
Also, due to the state of things with Covid-19, we will only be shipping domestically (and to Canada) for this wave. We sincerely apologize to our international customers for the situation.
Glyos Generations
LAUNCH BUMPED TO 10:30 PM EDT
Since we're channeling the old days here... we've of course ran into a hiccup and need an extra hour to power through. The small assortment of figures will be revealed inside the store at 10:30pm. Apologies for the delay!
10.16.2021
Delay Relay
It's been more than a bit since checking in, but after some heavy recharging and refocusing, I think we're feeling ready to dip back into the public pool a little.
My apologies to those that felt frustrated with our absence here on the blog, your criticisms are not without merit. That being said, I assure you that even though it might have seemed like we'd faded into the beyond, it's not the case. Just needed to spend some quality extra time fine tuning and powering up the old soul for whatever this new world decides to dish out next.
We'll have something kind of neat to share this coming week in conjunction with our much delayed 14th anniversary Wave 91, which we're shooting to have available on *(UPDATED) Saturday, October 23rd at 9:30PM EDT. It's not a big round, but it contains an assortment that really channels the early days of Onell.
Thank you for the continued patience as we navigate these bizarre times.
*We've bumped to Saturday for a little extra time to tighten all the hatches. Thanks again for bearing with us and for all the great comments down below.
6.05.2021
Thank You!!!
Thank you for warmly welcoming us back from our long winter (and spring) hibernation. The turnout for the new wave was really something special, and Michelle, Marc and I are forever grateful that your genuine interest and positive energy still flow through this entire project. We deeply, deeply appreciate that you all kept the door cracked open for when we finally wandered back in from the cold.
By now many of your packages have arrived or are in transit to their various destinations, and as of this writing, everything except what came in overnight has been sent out. Michelle and Pj really went to town for this release, processing and sorting the largest amount of orders we've ever had like a pair of cyborgs. Or maybe more like a a pair of Sincroborgs. Massive thanks to Pj for making yet another critical assist. The Paper Palace was even reinforced for the event! TBS, Saosin and Tuxedo were all on loop.
Speaking of Sincroborgs, I hope that the new build on the block sparks some fresh creativity and brings a little fun into the mix for those that picked it up. I tried to pour an extra level of custom potential and secret discovery everywhere I could into the sculpt. That bugger now holds the record for the longest amount of hours I've ever logged into a figure project, with its actual starting point dating back to 2019 (if you nose around the blog you'll find that Sincroborg action was slowly forming in the background). The late, great Ralph and I had even worked previews of the basic design into the illustrations he did for Wave 84 and 87. He was excited to draw the new character, and enjoyed busting my chops because I had "finally sculpted some new humanoid faces". So it's only fitting that we dedicate the release of the figure (and its two humanoid faces - and some more to come) to him. I like to think that part of Ralph will live on in the Sincroborg, and at some point maybe we'll show a few of the raw drawings we sent back and forth when we were hiding bits of it in his launch work.
Looking ahead, we do have plans to do a smaller release in late July to mark our 14th year, and then hopefully another round in the fall. It feels good to hear the engine running again, and the whole family thanks you for jump-starting our batteries and giving us a push to get back on the road.
5.20.2021
Wave 90 is GO!
Refresh: https://onell.store
EDIT: All limits have been lifted. Thanks!
Please place only ONE ORDER WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR TONIGHT. We will lift all limits after the first hour. Thanks for your cooperation. Have Fun!
Also, due to the state of things with Covid-19, we will only be shipping domestically (and to Canada) for this wave. We sincerely apologize to our international customers for the situation.
Sincro Synthesis
Cady, Marcus and I combined forces to put together this small window into what other strange activity lurks inside the high plains tundras on Planet Granthan. Huge congratulations to Cady for once again diving into the mix and sharing her talent with us. I know her late Uncle Ralph is smiling somewhere in the beyond.
Big thanks goes out to Glen Schricker for the awesome reimagining of the "Soul of the Traveler" theme, originally composed by Rich Vreeland. The full track is available now at the Circuits and Brains bandcamp.
Imperfect Paradigm Sincroborg: Corderrun
Special combination build with Star Marshall: Sincroid Superior Black Core.
5.13.2021
Emerging Entities
New horizons welcome new arrivals.
Wave 90 launches Thursday, May 20th at 9:30PM EDT.
3.07.2021
Surface Healing
The last few months have been spent mostly away from the public digital world, with a tight focus on clocking in more solid hours with the family and contemplating the past, present and future of our operation. You know, lightweight stuff.
Though massively belated, I will eternally be thankful for all the truly extraordinary dedication that we've been shown by so many of you out there, now coming up on fourteen years straight. It feels very surreal to think about all that's changed during that span of time.
It absolutely sounds generic, but 2020 really did have some incredible highs coinciding with some of the deepest lows, all coming right on top of each other. The sudden passing of Ralph flattened our whole household, and it made it extremely hard for me to stay focused on keeping the ship running with excitement knowing that he was gone. After mostly pulling it together for the big December 2020 release, I felt the need to circle the wagons and regenerate with the kids and Michelle. It was a very quiet holiday season but the silence was welcome. That healing period extended into the last three months.
Clearly this blog has been something that I've slowed down on over the last few years, though I do still love that we built so much through this now fairly antiquated portal into what we do over here. It's not shown as much, but my time is still spent drawing, sculpting and assisting all the other makers on the regular. I've just become a bit more introverted over the years in posting about it. I tend to go the other way when I see so much heavy overexposure happening with almost everything out there.
With the above being said, we do have multiple things in motion and hopefully at the end of the month or maybe early April we'll be ready to share some new stuff.
The creative fire will never go out, it's just not burning in the spotlight.
12.06.2020
Wave 89 is GO!
Refresh: https://onell.store
Extra special thanks to Cady for the amazing new illustration. It's the absolute best having you in the mix now, kiddo.
Wave 89 is dedicated to the memory of the great Ralph Niese, and the powerful legacy that he leaves behind through his incredibly unique and prolific work.
Please place only ONE ORDER WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR TONIGHT. We will lift all limits after the first hour. Thanks for your cooperation. Have Fun!
Also, due to the state of things with Covid-19, we will only be shipping domestically (and to Canada) for this wave. We sincerely apologize to our international customers for the situation.
12.01.2020
Shining Sundowns
We must march on with our memories.
Wave 89 launches this Sunday, December 6th at 9:30PM EST.
11.28.2020
Ralph Niese 1983-2020
2020 will go down in history as an almost impossibly challenging year, and earlier this week it truly punched into the surreal with the news that our brother and long time collaborator, Ralph Niese, unexpectedly passed away last Monday evening. Our whole family has been trying hard to process this incredibly deep loss, joining Ralph's family, his fiance Jana and his countless friends and colleagues from across the world in mourning.
Ralph and I met online 11 years ago and immediately connected, sharing similarly oddball perspectives on art, music, movies, food and of course, humor. Damn, did Ralph possess one of the quirkiest and sharpest senses of humor ever. This was made even more impressive considering that English wasn't even his native language.
When he made his first extended visit to our house, we all fell in love with his unforgettable laugh and deadpan delivery, dispensed each morning in the kitchen as he brewed his "special" coffee while standing in just a t-shirt and underwear, Michelle and the kids uncontrollably cracking up the whole time. We would then spend the entire day right into the late night talking about everything and anything, listening to tunes, drawing, painting, sculpting, customizing and planning out lofty toy and comic book conquests. His old workstation is still intact upstairs to this day.
Ralph meshed seamlessly with Marcus as well, sharing the same birth year and growing up with many of the same interests. On one occasion during a visit, Ralph asked to use Marc's computer to edit a few elements on one of the comics, and both our jaws hit the floor as we watched Ralph effortlessly do things at lightning speed in Photoshop that weren't even on our radar as being possible. Ralph did that a lot, making impossible things look easy. The tales of his talent could fill a galactic library.
We would also clash on the regular, driving up each other's temperatures as we jousted over the details and deadlines of our various projects throughout the years. Sometimes after a dust-up, we would drop out of communication for a month or two, but one of us would always reach out and right the ship, which is part of what made Ralph feel so much like family. True family, with all the scars, dents and tears that real love carries with it.
It's only too natural to want to curl up and hide from the pain of losing Ralph, and that's what so many of us who really knew him are struggling with right now. As I spent the last few days going through literally thousands and thousands of our old emails back and forth, I came across one in particular that contained Ralph's usual blunt, yet accurate, assessment of death itself:
Reading this really brought me back into focus, because I knew he'd meant every word.
We will honor Ralph here and throughout all the things we do moving forward, doing exactly as Ralph wished in his message above, celebrating the person we all loved and never forgetting the astonishing work that was done while he lived.
We'll meet again, Ralph.
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