Armorvor: History and Concepts

The idea behind the Armorvor (or Neo Beast as we used to call it), began many years ago, but it only started to become a reality after combining forces with Marty "The GodBeast" Hansen and Jason Frailey.

Marty and I had discussed a Battle Beast inspired figure all the way back in our first communications together,  as we had both wished that the classic line would make some kind of return, whether as repros or as a completely new series (which arrives this September from Takara Tomy!). I had added some small joints to a few of the vintage figures, imagining that a new line might resemble something of that nature and shared the images with Marty, who seemed to get a kick out of them. Even though it was just a passing conversation, the seeds were sown for what would eventually become the Armorvor.

Fast forward to the spring of last year, when the subject of making a beast inspired figure popped up again. I was preparing for our next figure, which was looking like the Delphi or Noboto, when a change of plans occurred. Marty had mentioned that he knew an extremely talented sculptor named Jason Frailey, and that he thought Jason would be the perfect artist to build the "Neo Beast" that we had been discussing for so many years. I was a little hesitant at first, because we had never produced another sculptor's work under our own banner in PVC before. Would Jason understand the multiple properties each part would need to have? Would the figure look too out of place when completed? Even with some reservations, we moved forward.

Once I had my first conversation with Jason, I knew we would be more than alright. Jason Frailey, as it turns out, is not only a world class sculptor, but he is also an gifted designer. I think this is a little known fact even amongst his peers at his job with NECA. After supplying Jason with the initial conceptual drawings, he started in on roughing out the core proportions. I was thinking about making the overall figure a little leaner, so that it would fit in with our standard range of figures, but Jason wanted to give the little guy a bit more heft, evoking a deeper BB connection. Initially I was concerned that we were getting too close to the core BB property, but with a few tweaks and many late night talks, the right balance came into focus.

Jason stayed very true to the first drawing with the early sculpt, but then started to add some of his own twists and details into the design, which made the figure really come to life. The entire shoulder structure was improved, as was just about every single piece of the Armorvor thanks to the intuitive process that Jason employed. He even came up with and designed the backpack/phaser/drone head without missing a beat. I realized fairly early on to trust in his abilities as a designer, as well as a sculptor. The Armorvor became something more than it would have if it were only developed in our shop. It became a true collaboration between all of us. Marty would weigh in on the creative direction, using his BB expertise to assist in the visual cues that we all eventually settled on.

Once the final sculpt was a lock, Marty began the casting process to bring the early prototypes out to all of you guys, with him and Jason continuing to design new heads all the while (I squeaked a few out with Marty as well). Nate from the Dork Dimension then brought his illustrative arsenal to the party and made some incredible works of packaging art, rounding out the urethane release in proper form.
The first phase of the Armrovor's life had begun.

The basic storyline for the Armorvor has been in place for some time, so having Jason sculpt it also played right into the "alternate tech" idea, representing a slightly different aesthetic for this particular race of characters. I really can't say enough about Jason's contributions to the final piece, it's as much his design as it is mine, maybe even more so.

Our goal was to get this little bugger into full production, and thanks to our man Paul over at our factory, we have been able to finally do it, after an entire year of development!

Thank you Jason, Marty, Nate and Paul for working so hard with us to bring this new creation to life. Hopefully, we can do it again real soon.

Thank You!!!

Thanks to all of you for bringing us through to the other side once again! My apologies for the hiccups on drop night. There were a lot of angles to cover and Marcus and I were like crazy men over here. In the end it turned out to be pretty fun, after the tears of course. Ha! 

The Armorvors will be back in September. A small launch is planned, with only the Armodoc representing the vinyl side of things (and that may get bumped). The September release will consist of an all black PVC wave, with some painted accents and tampos. There will also be some GITD restock on some items as well.  Two styles of Armorvors should be available, with a higher volume of each. This first surprise launch took things right to the wire at the factory, so that was part of the "under wraps" reasoning. A ton of time has been poured into bringing this new part of the Glyos family into production, and I didn't want to let anybody down after all the beautiful and talented work Marty, Jason and Nate have put into this project. We all worked together to bring this beast to life, and I want to honor that with something that will last.

I've been reviewing the past 5 years quite a bit recently, even more more than usual (which is still a lot), and I continue to be astonished by how lucky we have been. To try and explain the way things string together, by chance and occasionally as planned, is nearly impossible without sounding like a made up tale.
I truly am surprised each time we make it through to another round, as I know how tight capital has become. The fact that each of you throws down every time we do this is beyond anything I could have imagined.
We without a doubt  have the brightest and most dedicated group of people supporting what we do, in each one of you out there.

Thank you so much for bringing this to the 5 year mark. Our small crew will remain focused on pushing the boundaries and hopefully making it half interesting as we attempt to keep Glyos something worth being part of.

This creation belongs to all of us, as we did this together. Right from the beginning and right until the end.

Together.

Crossover Conceptual Designs: Infection 2.0 and Kabuto Mushi

Marty Hansen AKA The GodBeast has been a great collaborator on the various projects that we have worked on together, but our recent crossovers have been pushing the levels of dual creativity even further than before. The Infection 2.0 and Kabuto Mushi roll outs were a lot of fun to work on, and Marty really went the distance with his execution of the concepts we were throwing back and forth.

The conceptual side of things was actually a three part combo, with the sharp talents of Nate from Dork Dimension bringing the Infection 2.0 head designs to the level they needed to reach. I truly enjoyed getting to work with two extremely dedicated artists who held nothing back when sharing their ideas.

One of the main things I wanted to expand on as we progressed was the storyline that involved the Infection Forces pursuing the Beetorian Corps through the Edge of Space, bringing all of Marty's characters into the Glyos System's time stream. I personally liked imagining how the Infection cast would adapt to their new surroundings, and how Kabuto Mushi and his Beetorian Corps would do with some Traveler DNA upgrades. Their spaceships were also designed, giving an idea of what they might look like flying around our familiar system.

The above designs flesh out some of the crazier ideas that Marty and I had kicked around. I had wanted to explore how the characters would look if they were completely sculpted from scratch, with all new body designs. Marty has actually started the sculpting of the Infection Bio Jumper and the Beetorian Kabuto Hybrid Trooper which are coming out great as I write this.

I want to thank Marty for putting so much effort and expertise into these crossover projects and for inspiring me to get drawing some more. I also want to thank Nate for continuing to make awesome artwork that brings all these things together and seals the vibe with a unique touch. More to come very soon!

Galaxxor Crossover

Not too long ago I was invited to work on a new Galaxxor edition by its creator, artist and Nerd City host Ben Spencer. I've admired Ben's Galaxxor project since discovering it and was very excited when the chance to collaborate popped up! Galaxxor has a very cool vibe and the sculpt looks right at home with the stuff we do over here, so working together seemed a natural fit.

What's really fun about this particular edition is that it's not just Ben and I pairing up, but also Marty of TGB Customs and Nate of Dork Dimension doing their magic in the casting and illustration departments! Marty has been on fire with his Kabuto Mushi and Infection 2.0 turnout, so seeing an all new set of casts is a great way to keep the ball rolling. Nate continues to impress with his abilities to push the characters into new territories with each illustration he completes. Both of these guys have been doing incredibly solid work since kicking off 2011.

For my part in this crossover I sculpted two "jumbo" sized heads for Galaxxor's larger body. Compared to a standard Glyos figure, Galaxxor is a giant, so the heads had to match up. When approaching the design itself on the brainy looking one, I was trying to get that Mother Brain feel from Super Metroid fused with the big brained enemies from Robotron 2084 (and a dash of Brainoid from the Adventure People line). This had to be a head that would also be fun to make larger scaled Glyos bodies for down the road. I've always wanted to have a few beefier noggins to use for the purpose of topping extra large builds, and for deformed Braniac little creatures as well. Hopefully you guys find this pile of synaptic scariness interesting!

The other head has kind of a funny story, as it was actually created after the Main Brain one. When Ben, Marty and I were going back and forth about what the special head should be we all landed on a version of Pheyden to do the job. Well, I had a hard time getting into it when the time came to actually start the sculpting and I mutated the once innocent Pheyden into the bulbous thing seen above! When I showed the boys I think they were a bit surprised by the weird direction I went in and were a little confused by what I had done.

Since the brain head had a reversible "back" face that has a kind of visor thing going on, it made the cut, but since I felt a bit like a mad scientist unveiling his freak I created another head more in line with the original idea.

Naturally even that head was warped by my hazard of a mind and it became a part of the ongoing Pheyden storyline from the Passcodes involving the Delphi. I imagine it is very possible that the Delphi may have evolved from something like a Traveler throughout their long existence, and that it might be that the current Travelers could follow this pattern. This "Delpheyden" head represents the next step in a Traveler's evolution, taking design cues from the Delphi look. I see the Galaxxor body as an inter-dimensional technology that was discovered and then utilized to hasten this evolution by Glyaxia Command. I know, I have problems.

The plan is to eventually release these two heads on their own in continued collaboration with Marty, following up on our work together with Kabuto Mushi and Infection 2.0. The first place to get them though, is on the special C2E2 Edition of Galaxxor coming out on March 18th at the Nerd City Booth at C2E2 in Chicago! Ben has created a very cool color scheme and Marty has done some of his usual super quality molding and casting work. Top it off with an all new illustrated header card by Nate the Ace, and the team up is complete!

I wanted to say thanks to Ben for inspiring me to get sculpting and for allowing me the chance to play with his creation. Galaxxor has an excellent feel as well as a lot of heart. My thanks also go out to Marty for bringing together yet another fun collaboration with some very talented people. I'm lucky these guys even let me in their building!

Infection

Continuing our recent crossover collaboration with The GodBeast, AKA the super talented Marty Hansen, we will be releasing a special clear red Infection colored Echo Morph with the upcoming new wave of figures. This color matches up with with the Infection Pheydens Marty released a while back and marks the first time we have rolled out a clear red in our own assortments.

Marty really knocked it out of the park with his Kabuto Mushi project, and I really enjoyed working with him and Nate (of Dork Dimension fame) on its development. These are some extremely talented guys who keep pushing the envelope on what they create, inspiring those they work with to try and do the same.

This colorway is dedicated to the work that Marty has put into all of our crossovers together. I hope to remain his friend for another 10 years and beyond.