[Glyapaedia] A Classy Combination

In nearly every major science fiction toy line or property, white and black variations are a recurring theme. Stormtroopers and (now) Shadow Troopers (I guess Darth Vader was really the obvious choice there). Ultra Magnus and Nemesis Prime. Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow.

Glyos continued this proud tradition in the late spring of 2008 by releasing the duo of Eclipse Pheyden and Empire Exellis. Eclipse Pheyden was sold through the Onell webstore in a mini release in March 2008.[1] (This is technically a version 2 of Eclipse Pheyden, as a very limited number of version 1s were created from off-white Standard Exellis parts and hand-cast urethane heads.)[2] Empire Exellis was exclusive to New York Comic Con 2008 in April 2008, but a number were sold through the webstore as well.[3] Nerd fact: Eclipse and Empire are two of the only three production Glyos to exchange Pheyden and Exellis torsos (the third is Andromeda Pheyden). In their production configurations, Eclipse pulls off the swap a little better than does Empire. The slim white armor is very striking against the black head and extremities. Exellis' head has a unique appearance due to the prominent pupil on its eyes. Very few, if any other, Exellis versions have this added paint detail. Hyper Exellis may have this detail as well, but I'm not certain without checking. The detailing on Empire is pretty rough compared to current Glyos figures. Onell has certainly come a long way in terms of its production standards.

But ultimately, I think it was Onell's secret design to have the parts swapped between Eclipse and Empire: Those names make a LOT more sense when seen this way. Recombined Eclipse also became our first (unofficial) Classified Glyos figure (an official Classified Pheyden would have to wait until the Soul of the Traveler release in September 2010). Classified all-black figures are a neat 'gimmick' version that have made their way into the Glyos lineup. Nearly every major character has received the Classified treatment to-date.

Soul of the Traveler (SotT) introduced the first all-white counterpart to Classifieds- the Enforcer Sarvos. (I guess Empire Exellis kind of counts, but he had a lot of paint detailing.) Supposedly introduced in response to demand for DIY figures for customizers, Enforcer was also neatly shoehorned into the SotT story as one of the Glyaxian troops, along with Classified Pheyden and Sarvos (I was waiting for the MJ-style synchro dancing, which sadly never happened). My only complaint is that the new white PVC seems to pick up dirt and smudges much more easily than the old material (suppose that is the trade-off for parts that can be disassembled without breaking your hands). Onell recently also released an all-white Pheyden torso and head w/ Scar Pheyden head set to complement the Enforcer Sarvos. The classic colors of sci-fi live on in Glyos.

-----

[1] The Mystery Trio Arrives, Glyos Transmission Web Log, March 15, 2008, at http://onelldesign.blogspot.com/2008/03/mystery-trio-arrives.html

[2] October Toys forum/ Onell Design / Glyos/ Metran Times, thread titled "What is Glyos? + Official Checklist and helpful links," (page 1, post 1, dated April 7, 2009, 5:08 a.m.), at http://www.octobertoys.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3118 (last visited November 6, 2010).

[3] New York Comic Con, Glyos Transmission Web Log, April 7, 2008, at http://onelldesign.blogspot.com/2008/04/new-york-comic-con.html.