Welcome to the Glyos System 2: Kabuto Mushi

I cannot say I have met many folks that make toys for a living, but I was very excited to meet Marty “The Godbeast” Hansen at Wizard World Des Moines. (Mystic Warriors of the Ring creator Mark Vasquez was also in attendance, but more on his work in future columns.) The creator of the Kabuto Mushi line of figures, he showed off his then-upcoming Shogun Warriors inspired figures at the show, and I personally picked up a couple with strong resemblances to Skeletor and Hordak. I instantly was drawn into the looks of the Kabuto Mushi Mark II line, as it featured tons of detail and often more detailed paint schemes than other Glyos toys.

To me, this is the toy that best shows off just how much you can do with one figure mold. Through various paint and plastic layouts, one toy can look drastically different than the next despite using the same parts and design. The backpack of the standard mushi also can serve as a second head for figures promoted as Instar Warriors.

Some of the other Glyos-linked toys from Onell Design or Toyfinity have detailed back stories, the Mushis have very little so far (though their creator has ensured me a lot more is to come). I think that might draw me to Kabuto Mushi a bit more because he (or is it she?) is a character I could totally wrap a compelling narrative around. I can see this strange figure coming to Earth to right some wrong or defeat some evil. That is one of the things I enjoy most about the strange and wild world of independent toys: embracing the oddities and letting them inspire me.

For more on Kabuto Mushi, visit The Godbeast’s site or pick up some great figures at the Kabuto Mushi store.

Welcome to the Glyos System!

I am always looking for new interests and concepts to share on this page. But my criteria is often rather stringent. I want those posts to be interesting to you, interesting to me and organized around the general premise of this site: super powered fiction. It is one of the reasons I created The Wrestling Weekday as a separate blog. It is also the reason why I'll be debuting a third blog sometime in the next several weeks for another corner of my fandom to take route. But more on that later.

Right now, let's talk Glyos.

Image credit: Onell Design.

The Glyos System is an independent toy line from the folks at Onell Design. It is named after the part of space the tales take place, but it’s name also describes the system which holds the toys together. Every joint on a Glyos figure is built to pull apart for easy reassembly in a myriad of patterns. The figures become a cross between a classic 80s action figure and a LEGO design set.

With tons of amazing designs by the folks at Onell Design and thousands of other possibilities with multiple sets, the building capability of the line knows no bounds. Coupled with Onell’s ease with licensing the system to other independent toy designers, you get a line of interchangeable toys that cover the gamut of styles and looks. Other Glyos-peg systems include classic toy lines like Power Lords, Skeleton Warriors and Robo Force, as well as some great newer designs like Kabuto Mushi and the Weaponeers of Monkaa.

But in a universe of strange super-powered creatures fighting it out, I find myself immediately drawn in. This is a line that any fan of heroic fiction can find tons of joy. So I am now devoting a semi-regular column here to the figures. In the future, I will talk about some of the individual toy designs for the line, some of the other Glyos related toys and a few custom designs as well.

If that isn't enough to make you think Glyos deserves a place of honor on this blog, let's end with one picture that should convince anyone.