Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys Recap

I only became aware of and started collecting Glyos toys in the past year. In that time I've completely fallen in love with this stuff. All I really want to do with Glyosphere is just to simply raise awareness of the existence of Glyos so that more people can enjoy the fun. There are so many great new things on the horizon for 2015 that I cannot wait to share them here and on facebook and instagram (like and follow).
Without further ado I present the Glyosphere Top Ten Glyos Toys in the ever popular list format.

#10 Crayboth by Onell Design
#9 Rise of the Beasts by LittleRubberGuys
#8 Banimon by Rocket North
#7 Callgrim by RawShark Studio
#6 Armorvor by Onell Design
#5 Advanced Phaseon by Onell Design
#4 Weaponeers of Monkaa by Spy Monkey Creations
#3 Power Lords by Four Horsemen Studios
#2 Kabuto Mushi by GODBEAST
#1 ROBO Force by Toyfinity

I would also like to thank Ni Stuff, October Toys, True Cast Studios, and all the rest of the fandom for making 2014 such a fun and exciting year! THANK YOU!!!

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #1

Number one on my countdown of top ten favorite Glyos figures is another lost and forgotten property from the nineteen eighties. ROBO Force was a toy line from Ideal that received a huge marketing push upon release but was ultimately eclipsed by the phenomenon that is, and was, Transformers. Thankfully, MAXX Steel (now Maxx Zero), Hun-dred, and the rest have been salvaged from the scrap yard of obscurity, restored, and upgraded by Toyfinity!

When preparing for this review I searched my photos for ROBO Force pics and realized that this is the only one I have showing an unadulterated kit. None of the figures you'll see in this review come as shown. I have had too much fun recreating the characters in their original colors and most you will see are works in progress. A standard ROBO Force figure consists of forty one individual pieces cast in a single color. Deluxe characters get additional pieces, usually in a different, complimentary color.

Each character comes as their own unique build and Toyfinity has also released instructions for additional builds on their website to represent even more characters. This is Glyos though, so the name of the game is customization. Most all of my figures have augmented builds to make them a bit taller so they fit more in scale with four inch action figures.

The amount of different parts allows for many different types of builds. ROBO Force is perfect for creating vehicles for your other Glyos figures. I've seen some great examples around the internet and I'd encourage you to search out some photos. They're also excellent for making larger weapons for your other figures as well. ROBO Force mixes especially well with other robotic Glyos toys like Banimon and Weaponeers of Monkaa.

Toyfinity will start releasing characters in their classic color schemes in 2015. A preorder for the Ultimate Edition of MAXX Zero was taken a few months back and more will presumably be held in the future. I know that Hun-dred, Cruel, and Vulgar are all in the works.

In the end, you have got to check these out. Whether you're a Glyos fan looking for unique parts to build with, a toy collector thinking of making your first jump into the worlds of Glyos, or anyone really who enjoys fun and creative play, ROBO Force gets my most enthusiastic recommendation.

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #2

Second place in my top ten countdown goes to GODBEAST and the Kabuto Mushi! I was really surprised how much I liked them when I first picked one up on a whim. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm mainly a four inch scale action figure collector and I didn't know how well they would fit in. I'll tell you what, I've been playing with my Kabuto Mushi figures more than any other toy this year except for probably number one on this list.

Kabuto Mushi are Insectoid aliens that come with twenty six parts in their kit. The default build gets eighteen points of swivel articulation. They are available in a multitude of colors and more recently have been receiving deluxe paint applications.

Kabuto Mushi figures are slightly larger than an Armorvor and they look great together. Where the Kabuto Mushi far surpass them is with their "buildability". The twenty six pieces can be reconfigured in virtually innumerable ways. This allows for a lot of creative fun time.

One thing that GODBEAST is known for is the custom casted heads that are occasionally available for sale with Kabuto Mushi in their online store. I only have the mantis but hope to get others in the future.

Kabuto Mushi gets one of my highest recommendations. They are great fun wether you have a lot of extra Glyos parts or not because they have so much potential built right in.

Blogger App is acting up on me and not alloing me to insert a link. Visit GODBEAST and check out Kabuto Mushi at GODBEAST.COM

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #4

Today's is number four in the top ten count down of my favorite Glyos action figures. This one will cover Spy Monkey Creations' Weaponeers of Monkaa.

Spy Monkey Creations started making Glyos toys simply as customizable weapon sets for six inch scale figures such as Masters of the Universe Classics. It wasn't long before they had developed their own glyos compatible action figure to wield these mighty implements of destruction. Weaponeers of Monkaa has its own rich mythology telling the tales of the mighty Gearo lead by Empyreus against the Vilhain and their diabolical master Umbreus. 

The standard build for a Weaponeer of Monkaa figure is rather large when compared to most other Glyos figures. It consists of twenty-two pieces which gives them nineteen point of swivel articulation. Due to the design of these figures you can build them with many different configurations in order to get even more poseability options.

Of course Spy Monkey is known for their weapons and there are many options available to collectors. From Close Quarters Combat sets to Deluxes and full-on Armories, there are many more parts available to customize your figures than I can list individually today. Perhaps I can get to do a more complete review of the weapon sets posted in the future.

Monkaa figures and weapon sets come in many different colors and price points. Deluxe characters tend to get more paint applications, usually with full panel lining. Golems are characters with very little paint and only the basic accessories.  Here we see one of each in gold combined to form a monster behemoth. 

 With guns, knives, cycles, swords, gurkhas,  and more included the possible weapon combinations are virtually endless.

Here are some examples of how well they work in combination with other lines. These ROBO Force builds from Toyfinity were designed in combination with Weaponeers of Monkaa parts. The first includes parts from an Armory, the second integrates figures from both lines fully. 

I highly recommend people check out Spy Monkey Creations' Weaponeers of Monkaa for their solid action figures and the many many useful bits and parts for use in combination with different Glyos and other toy lines. 

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #3

Number three in my top ten figures reviews is the brand that first caught my attention and got me interested in Glyos. I am mainly a collector of four inch scale action figures. When I discovered how little Hasbro had planned to celebrate G.I.*JOE's fiftieth anniversary my dollars started looking elsewhere. When comic book super heroes could not be found, Power Lords were there to save the day.

This is a toy line from Revell that was originally made in the early nineteen eighties. The designs were created by Wayne Barlowe. Revell had originally contacted him about licensing aliens from his book Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. Since he didn't own the rights to some of the characters he offered to come up with original concepts for the company. The Extra-Terrestrial Warriors produced many different characters before the line ended but now they have been plucked from relative obscurity by the famous (infamous?) Four Horsemen Studios. This review covers the Power Soldiers, other characters will get their own some time later.

Power Soldiers serve Lord Power to protect the galaxy. Each one is made of sixteen pieces, half of which have hinges built into them. This gives a Power Soldier twenty three individual points of articulation. There are two different heads, one standard, the other Elite. Either one posts onto a ball peg which allows full range of motion. Each joint in the arms and legs are designed for maximum poseability.

The sculpting on these figures is immaculate and I would expect nothing less from a studio with 4H's reputation. The costume is a skin-tight space-suit with a striped texture sculpted throughout. They have a simple belt and large pouches on either thigh. Ribbed hoses run down the outsides of the arm and legs. The hoses converge in the center of the chest under a triangular device. 

They come with two weapons and hold them both very well. One is a ray-gun space-rifle that can be held two-handed with its foregrip. The other is a long pike. Unfortunately their grip is rather tiny so they won't be holding many items from other toy lines. 

Power Soldiers have been released in six different colors. Black and white were the original release and presumably default. Light gray and dark gray come from the Slate Zone. The Ophidian Squad wear red and blue. There will be a seventh soon with the Power Lords Club members getting an early shot at preordering the new Dark Nebula Power Soldier in army green.

Despite some early quality control issues I've witnessed I would still give Power Lords a solid recommendation to any fans of great sci-fi toys.

(getting a figure with two right hands is the perfect excuse to do some customizing)

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #5

I've been counting down the last ten days of 2014 with reviews of my top ten Glyos action figures. This review covers my favorite of Onell Design's robotic toys, the Advanced Phaseon.

The Advanced Phaseon (center) and Advanced Phaseon Mk II (right) are made of one Phaseon (left) in combination with one Hub Set (not shown). This makes the total number of parts in an Advanced Phaseon kit thirty one. An Advanced Phaseon effectively has ten points of articulation. No, there's no knee or elbow joints but dispite this limitation what articulation the figure does have is surprisingly expressive. The simple addition of the Hub Set parts to the shoulders makes a world of difference. Phaseons can be upgraded further using Phase Arm sets.

The look of the Phaseon and it's ugrades is that of an old-school space robot. They remind me of Robby the Robot and other such robots of yesteryear. The iconic look carries through even to today. My wife calls the Phaseons "Benders" and the allusion to the Futurama character is apt. Advanced Phaseon Mk II probably looks more like IG88 from Star Wars with it's less cylindrical body. 

One of the best parts about the Phaseon is the versatility of the parts included. With their decidedly mechanical appearance, these toys work great for building weapons and vehicles for your other Glyos figures. 

Probably my favorite thing about the Advanced Phaseon is how it towers over Onell's other characters. It doesn't look out of place with them but still works great alongside larger scale figures. They work perfectly with lines like Power Lords and ROBO Force. They wouldn't even look out of place as some random droid in a Star Wars display. I would definitely recommend the Advanced Phaseon highly to any action figure collector who may be considering getting into Glyos figures for the first time. 

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #6

Alright, so I missed posting a review on Christmas. I hope I will be forgiven. I'm still shooting for ten reviews in ten days. The second review for today will cover Onell Design's Armorvor. 

The Armorvor is such an awesome little warrior. This anthropomorphic mechanoid pays homage to the old Battle Beasts much like the Rise of the Beasts figures I reviewed on Tuesday. An Armorvor has eighteen pieces. That includes two different heads. The first is the infamous wolf head that is soon to be retired. The second is the reversible helmet head. From the front, the helmet resembles the alternate wolf head. When reversed, the helmet appears completely different and looks like a bull's head to me. The ingenuity of this design must definitely be applauded. Once the wolf's head has been retired, another new one will replace it. I've been speculating that the new Armorvor head will be that of an organic bull or minotaur. I have no real evidence to support this and in actuality there are many different custom casted heads out there that are already sculpted specifically for the Armorvor. 

The Armorvor body has fourteen points of articulation. The angles on the joints in the arms allows for a great deal of poseability. There is not a whole lot of customizability built into the Armorvor itself but when coupled with other sets the results tend to be pretty astounding. I personally like their default look. The most I've done and kept is a few ROBOForce bits in the shoulders to bulk up the "Minovaurs". 

All in all, I highly recommend that if you don't own any Armorvors that you track them down in your favorite color schemes or just pick up one of the ones they have available in their store. 

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #7

Alright, so I missed posting a review on Christmas. I hope I will be forgiven. I'm still shooting for ten reviews in ten days. The first review for today will cover the elusive Callgrim.

The standard Callgrim kit is made up of twenty seven individual parts. The eighteen parts that make up the figure gives him sixteen points of articulation.

Callgrim has been around for a while but only recently was I able to obtain them. There was a drop a couple of weeks ago that was the first since about a year ago. Now that I have the figure in hand I understand what all the hype I've been reading is about. This is a figure in the similar vein as the Traveler or Outlander. When next to other standard Glyos figures this guy looks big. He is taller than most but his sleek armor keeps him from looking too bulky. He does have large feet and gloves in keeping with the Glyos aesthetic. The skull face absolutely solidifies Callgrim as a badass.

Callgrim comes with what they call Warp Gear. This comes as a backpack consisting of nine parts. Basically it's two guns and two heads but the ingenuity put into the design of this toy allows a great variety of building options. 

Callgrim really is one of the most versatile Glyos figures around. If you don't own one you owe it to yourself to order some while they are still available in their shop.

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #8

I was asked recently what my top ten favorite Glyos figures were. In response I intend to do a review a day for ten days straight. This short review covers Rocket North's Banimon.

Banimon is an interesting little figure. There are sixteen pieces packed into this one inch tall package. The basic Banimon has four points of articulation, swivel neck and waist, and arms that raise and lower. Each figure comes with two heads. The Red Army head is almost completely spherical with little eyes peeking out from under his helmet. The Banigoth head is mushroom shaped, much like a samurai helmet. The face of the Banigoth is a recessed skull shape. Banimon figures are fun in their own right but what really makes them shine is their weapon allotment. They come with one sword and two pistols. Each part of a Banimon figure lends themselves very well to augmenting your other Glyos toys.

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #9

I was asked recently what my top ten favorite Glyos figures were. I decided to respond by attempting to do a review a day for the rest of the year. This one review will cover the two Rise of the Beasts characters available from LittleRubberGuys.

Bal Kharn (the rhino) and Cahriv (the scorpion) are newcomers to the Glyos family.  Their initial offering gives collectors a variety of options including fully painted figures as well as unpainted versions in fleshy pink, metallic black, and gold. There are painted silver and gold versions too but you've got to jump through hoops to get them.

Cahriv has six parts which gives him five points of articulation. His neck swivels as does his waist. His tail moves side to side and his arms can be raised and lowered. He is cast in metallic black pvc and primarily painted bright orange on his muscular shoulders, biceps, forearms, and thighs. The shiny dark metal color shows on his head as well as his large claws and scaly armor. There are tiny details on the face including three green cybernetic eyes on the right and three orange eyes on the left side of his head, orange mandibles and snarling white teeth.

Bal Kharn has five parts which gives him four points of articulation which is all the same as Cahriv except that Bal lacks a tail. Again Kharn is also cast in metallic black pvc. His head, biceps, middle-section, thighs, and hands are all exposed and painted a dark gray. There are painted plates on top of his imposing armor. His forearm gauntlets have painted guns on them as well.

Both characters pack a lot of detail into a very small package. They may not be made of the most versatile parts for your Glyos building needs but what they offer are great little action figures in their own right. I fully anticipate more colorways in the coming year and I really hope new characters will be made available sooner rather than later.

Glyosphere's 2014 Top Ten Glyos Toys #10

Someone asked me recently what my top ten favorite Glyos figures were. So, I thought I'd try my hand at doing it in the form of reviews.  There are ten days left in the year and I'm going to try to do one a day. This review will cover Onell Design's Crayboth.

The Crayboth is a crazy little creature. The toy is made up of five parts which gives it four points of articulation. The body has a round shape that tapers to a point towards the bottom. There are grooves and ridges that give it a shell-like appearance. Unpainted, the face might be all but indistinguishable if not for the two little eye sockets. It's left arm ends with a bulky claw hand that has two fingers and an opposing thumb. The right arm ends with a cannon reminiscent of Mega Man. The Crayboth's little legs keep it standing upright with a pair of stout, two-toed feet. The overall look to this little alien is very crab-like but also vaguely insectoid.

The Crayboth has been released with many different color variations over the years. Many of them are one solid color and others have numerous paint applications.