Enter the Shinobidoc!!!

In the store now!


http://monsterforge.storenvy.com/

Alloy

I really like silver toys. I have no idea why, I just do. Way back when I first saw that Onell Design was coming out with the rotocast vinyl Armodoc, I knew I wanted a silver one. For some reason or another, there isn't going to be an all silver one, so I did what I usually do. I made one. I got the Standard and Reverse Ayosire Armodocs and swapped out the colors to make an all black one, and I used the all purple one to make this figure that I now call the Alloy Armodoc. I thought about making it solid, clean silver, but thought it would look cooler all gritty and worn. There are mud stains, rust, old paint, and alien blood (not real!) smeared all over this guy. The way I see it, he's been at the game a long time, and I wanted that to show through.







I think he looks pretty spiffy with my other silver Glyos figures. Yay for silver toys!

It's Chaos, Man!

I got a package from a very good friend the other day. It was my Christmas present, although I had no idea I would be getting one so early (You sneaky devil!).

I had mentioned to him a while back that my "Holy Grail" toy was the RealxHead Chaos Man II figure. I knew it was out of my price range, so I figured the thing was pretty much an unobtainable.



Well... you can imagine my reaction when I opened that box and saw my Holy Grail looking back at me with his big buggy eyes. I couldn't talk for a few minutes. I just sat there looking the figure over like a goon. I sat him next to my Vader Grow and admired him. I posed him and turned his head different ways because, darn it... he looks so darn cool.

So thanks, buddy! You made my day, week, and year!

Now... let's look at this guy:

He's listed on the RealxHead page as being Chaos Man II. Some people have taken to calling him "Fly Man." I call him AWESOME.

He's obviously a tribute to Kamen Rider (I'm not sure which one, but I'm sure some of my astute readers can clear that up for me!) with his boots, gloves, and dashing red scarf. He's posed in a dynamic stance that really makes him look AWESOME!!!!!!!





He's more articulated than most RealxHead stuff; he has neck, shoulders, wrist, and waist joints, so you can pose him in all kinds of nifty poses.



His sculpt is pretty darn sweet, with all kinds of cracks and bubbles on his body and wrinkles on his gloves like leather.
His paint job is so good I can't stop looking at him. The paint is metallic and almost iridescent-- it catches the light in quite a nice manner from every angle.





He stands 8 inches tall, so he towers over most of my other vinyl pieces.



For fun I decided to see how parts of Onell Design's Armodoc fit with Chaos Man and vice versa. FUN TIMES!



All in all, I think this is one of, if not THE coolest toy I've ever owned. I keep Chaos Man and Vader Grow on my bedside table so I can see em before I go to bed and when I wake up. I guess they would scare a lot of folks, but I think they're pretty darn handsome fellows!

Thanks again for my Christmas present, buddy! I can't say that enough! You've been a great friend, and it wasn't necessary for you to get this guy for me, but it is MUCH appreciated! Thanks!

Real Vinyl

I have a problem. I have pledged that I won't spend over 20 bucks on any single toy purchase. This has limited me quite a bit in my collecting, but it has also allowed me to find some great deals specifically because I was trying to come in under my self-imposed limit.

I've recently gotten into collecting designer vinyl/ art toys-- specifically kaiju. Kaiju is a Japanese word that means "mysterious beast." Basically it's almost any kind of monster toy either made by the Japanese or made in the style of the Japanese. Kaiju toys are notoriously expensive, in part due to the high quality of the materials used and partly due to the fact that much of the production is a very hands-on process for the artists who make them. For whatever reason, the smaller figures tend to start off in the 40 dollar range.

When I first saw toys made by artist Mori Katsura of RealXHead, I fell in LOVE. These things are freakin' AWESOME! He's been making them for just a few years, and the runs on these guys are extremely low. The figures are hand painted by kaiju vinyl legend Goto-san. He's been working in the industry since the monster boom of the late 60's. So each piece of RealXHead vinyl has been painted by an artist who was into vinyl before I was in the world. I have a LOT of respect for that kind of track record!

RealXHead pieces are works of art, and they are priced accordingly. The smaller figures which stand at 3 inches tall run around $40. The bigger 6-7 inch figures go for $60-$70. WAAAAAAAY out of my comfort zone.

But then came Black Friday. Thursday night my friend Spencer and I sat up talking on the phone until 3 am when Super7, a pretty cool and pretty expensive designer toy store, was having its Black Friday sale. They had advertized discounts up to 75% off of retail prices. I saw a few RealXHead pieces on the sale page, so I knew it was then or never for trying these guys out.

I snagged the large-scale figure Vader Grow (I have seen the same figure called "Vader Glow" and "Beider Grow" on different sites, but I'll stick with Vader Grow). His retail price, as marked on the package, was $65. I managed to get him for $19.50. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Yeah!

Amazingly, when I got home from town today the package was waiting for me. Super7 is fast like a ninja on acid!!! That's one notch in their column!

Well? What do I think of the figure now that it's in my hands? Read on:


Who wouldn't love a grin like that?


Vader Grow comes bagged with a header card just like many traditional kaiju toys are packaged. I wish I could read Japanese. As far as I know that title says, "HA! I ATE YOUR BABY!"

I actually think it says "I'M AWESOME!"

Notice the $65.00 sticker there? Yeah... I didn't pay that. :)



This sucker is HUGE. I mean H-U-G-E, huge. He stands 7 inches tall at the tippy top of his lil' horn there. He's only articulated at the neck and shoulders, but that's to be expected-- traditionally kaiju toys are more about the sculpt and the paint job than the articulation. Even with only 3 points of articulation he's expressive as heck! Look at the head tilt there on that guy! He's got attitude!



I hope my pics do the amazing paint job here service... I can't begin to describe the depth that the different layers of paint give this guy. He has a great sculpt, but the paint just kills me! It's a black vinyl figure who was painted green and then wiped partially clean leaving green details in the crevices. Then there are airbrush sprays of metallic blue, gold, silver, green, and red. On top of that there are red details in the eyes added by brush. It all adds up to one impressive looking evil little guy!




Look at those crazy details. He looks like some kind of Japanese demon who has been taken over by an alien disease or something. I love how he looks like two totally different characters from different side views. He's SUPER sturdy, and the vinyl is very high quality stuff-- this isn't floppy soft vinyl like dog chew toys. It's rigid enough to hold a great shape and details, but soft enough to bend a bit with stress.



Here he is with some other vinyl toys and a Glyos figure so you can see the size difference. He's just a massive guy, and he's about as wide as he is tall!

The Armodoc from Onell Design looks perfect next to this guy! I've seen that the figures' arms and heads are interchangeable with the Armodoc, but I haven't tried it yet. I think I'll leave that for another day!



So this is a pretty kick-butt figure, and I'm officially in love with the designs from RealXHead. I'll still keep my spending under 20 bucks, but that doesn't mean I have to go without cool stuff like Vader Grow here-- I just have to look hard for sales and auctions!

The best part? The sale is still going on! You can snag several of the mini figures for 12 bucks each and some of the large-sized figures are still under 20 bucks each! Head on over to the sales page and check it out!

What's up, Armodoc?

What is an Armodoc exactly? This is an Armodoc. It is the latest release from Matt Doughty's toy company Onell Design. It is a roughly 5-inch-tall, soft-vinyl action figure that was first released in limited quantities at this year's San Diego Comic Convention. The first run of these guys was something of a smash hit-- not surprisingly, as the fanbase for Onell's Glyos series grows more and more each day it seems. When Matt made the figures available for the internet crowd they sold out within an hour or so. I know, because I watched the thread on the October Toys Forum and wept bitter tears. I was, as usual, broke, so I couldn't get one of these wondrous beasties. Priced extremely affordably for a limited run vinyl collectable of this size, the Armodoc sells for $25. The inaugural run of the figure had a little extra surprise for the dedicated fans. I'm not sure if it will be included with the upcoming release, but it was packed in as an extra. At any rate-- the cost of the Armodoc is quite justified without it.

I got mine in a trade with a friend from the October Toys Forum-- a trade for something that followers of this blog will get a chance to see step by step as I work on it. I think it will serve as the biggest custom I have ever made to date. Keep watching this space for something... BIG.



Cute little goon isn't he? Matt always packs a ton of personality into each one of his creations, and this one is probably one of the coolest I have been lucky enough to obtain so far! He's a stocky cuss, and he is a smidge wider than he is tall! This guy is one chunky little dude!

The figure is made up of 11 individual interlinking pieces, and it offers a world of possibilities for building crazy junk. For some awesome stuff Matt has built with the Armodoc, check out his blog! That man never ceases to amaze me with the way his mind works. I'm lucky if I can snap two pieces together!




The figure has 10 points of swivel articulation, but most of the pieces are cut at an angle, so you get a wide range of movement from each. You can pose him all kind of ways, and he looks great in any pose.



Since this is one of the first release figures it came with a bonus extra figure. If you play the Passcode game that is on the Onell site, you will see this shadowy, ghost-like Pheyden appear briefly when an Armodoc is destroyed. According to Matt's story, the Armodoc is a creature or robot that is tasked with capturing every Pheyden in the multiverse. When it finds a Pheyden, it defeats him and absorbs him into itself. The result are these burnt out husks of Pheydens. Pretty darn cool extra, if I do say so myself!




As I mentioned before, the Armodoc figure is made of soft vinyl, so it is quite easy to take it apart and build with it. A standard Glyos figure fits nicely inside the chest of the figure, and I'm sure someone with enough skill could make a spaceship out of the body parts that a Glyos figure could drive.




One of the coolest things about the Armodoc is its compatability with the Glyos system parts. The sockets in the Armodoc fit the ball portion of the Gobon blaster like a glove! Once you discover this little tidbit, your building possibilities go up even more!!!

The Gobon is still my favorite Glyos figure, but the Armodoc is definately my second favorite! This is one cool-looking, chunky little guy! He looks good standing next to my Glyos figures, and he's super fun to goof around with. He's very, very, VERY well-made, and, as with all Onell products, he is quite durable and play-ready!

Keep an eye out on the Onell Design store, because the new wave of figures, including several new colorways of the Armodoc are coming VERY soon!