Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men Infinity Edition Colossus Rex 2.0 Action Figure

Since taking a nap in 2014, it seemed that the Outer Space Men toy line was done. Well, it seems that with Colossus Rex 2.0 the manufacturing duties are being handled by the licensors, rather than the Four Horsemen, although the original packaging templates and figure toolings are brought back to make a similar-but-different release. If you bought the 2014 original, good on you - it got expensive on eBay and Amazon if and when one showed up for sale. Based on some rough numbers at least 1,000 are estimated to exist of the original, and most fans ultimately just wanted the painted ones - so thankfully Gary Schaeffer brought this one back with a bluish deco variant. If you just want a painted Colossus Rex, either version of this 5-inch-and-change titan should be just fine for your shelves.
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New Outer Space Men Friday Night - Colossus Rex Returns

They're back, again, Friday night!  In about 20 hours, you can get Colossus Rex 2.0 - the bluish variant.  Check it out on the Instagrams.

The official Outer Space Men account also teases a couple of other figures and word on them in 12 hours.  I'm all ears.   The guy to the right goes on sale Friday night at 9:00 PM Eastern over at TheOuterSpaceMen.com.   Word has it he's $30 and if you saw the 1.0 version's going rate on eBay, $30 is quite a bargain.  (If you've followed inflation on toy manufacturing in China over the last few years, it ain't bad either.)

Anyway.  More are coming, this one's first, keep an eye on this space for more, don't ask why just buy buy buy, etc.   I'll have a review up as soon as time and space permits.

The Outer Space Men Continue - 3 More Figures by October

The Outer Space Men are returning!  (Again!)   The last new wave of painted figures was a huge hit, with the 2 classic characters - Colossus Rex and Gamma X - selling so well that they will now cost you a lot of money.   (And that's assuming you can find them for sale.  Good luck.)

The fine folks behind the line are reissuing them with some improvements, along with a glow-in-the-dark Colossus Rex for the very first time. Gary Schaffer was kind enough to reach out with some details... and unrequested commentary added by yours truly.

Colossus Rex 2.0 - this will debut on the official Outer Space Men web site, and will also be sold at Star Trek Mission New York (September 2-4) and also New York Comic Con (October 6-9).  The figure is slightly closer in the rich color of the original Colorforms release nearly 50 years ago, but includes gold - rather than purple - accessories.  

If you missed the original figure, this is a much cheaper alternative to the secondary market.  If you didn't, it's different enough that you may wish to get one anyway.   $30, carded - this figure will feature new graphic design and new logos on the packaging as the Four Horsemen are no longer selling these.

Gamma X Cosmic Radiation - This will debut at Star Trek Mission New York (September 2-4).  The original Infinity Gamma X was covered in a light layer of glowing paint, which didn't glow fairly well.   It was colored similarly to the original prototype figure, but didn't glow well.  The new Cosmic Radiation edition is cast in glow plastic and looks like it will brighten the night.   It's a worthwhile upgrade.  $25, bagged.

Colossus Rex Cosmic Radiation - The New York Comic Con exclusive for The Outer Space Men will bow October 6-9.   This mock-up shows silver detailing added to the figure with silver accessories.  (Silver accessories were previously made available with the Ni Stuff handmade Galactic Holiday 2013 figures, and also as a set from the Four Horsemen Store.)   $25, bagged.

At press time the only figure we know will be sold online is Colossus Rex 2.0 - I'll post more as updates become available.

Overview: The Killer Xodiac

Xodiac!   Man of Saturn, born of Outer Space!   The Outer Space Men had a significant number of repaints, most of which were interesting, and also there was a White Star version.   The only one you don’t see in the above photos is the Galactic Holiday variant - there was a gold accessory version (pictured) and a silver accessory version which I do not have.  I hate that kind of variant, but hey, if you’re sellin’ I’m buyin’.

This is a remake of another figure from 1964, which was a bendable figure like Gumby and Major Matt Mason.  The newer, smaller figures from The Four Horsemen (and the Glyos factory) can pop apart at each joint, allowing you to swap arms, legs, heads, and other pieces to your liking.  It’s fun in practice, great for customizers, but if you’re just a guy with a lot of toys it isn’t terribly useful in the long run.   But if you ever wanted to see what someone looks like with mismatched pants?  It’s handy.  It doesn’t hurt anything.

With 9 distinctive mass-produced versions (plus a weapon variant) Xodiac has more variation going on than pretty much everybody.   At Comic-Con in 2010, he was one of the first four figures with his clear neon orange Alpha Phase release.   I have a hard time picking a favorite, as there are so precious few action figures which include the planet Saturn impaled on a stick for my amusement.

They all more or less share the same name, but the gold one - pictured above carded with the original name - was christened “Goldiac” by the creator, Mel Birnkrant.  He’s notable in that he has a beard that is painted a unique color that does not match his skin.   He’s Xodiac’s pop.  

Also interesting, Xodiac’s weapon received a semi-late change before production in 2010.  The butt of the gun is actually a Glyos peg, whereas the mechanicals for it (seen here with the PMS colors: http://database.glyos.com/2011/08/xodiac-glyaxia-command.html) show it rounded off.

Now if you want my sentimental favorite, that’s Glyaxia Command Xodiac.  The Glyos people were kind enough to give me an early look at it at SDCC 2011, and I was kinda ridiculously giddy to have it.   The figure also sold out almost immediately - not unusual for an Onell Design drop, as they cultivated a fanbase who shows up on time to buy.  Just tell them where to go, they’ll be there.
Anyway - Xodiac got a lady friend, the horrifying Horroscope, in 2013 and 2014.  The head looks more like  triple-eyed Cthulhu, with tremendous breasts and a booty to match - just like you want from the alien space creature of your nightmares, envisioned through the prism of Harvey Kurtzman’s cartooning.   She only got three figures - a clear purple one, a White Star one, and the fully-painted one.  I kind of hope they do more.

Want more Outer Space Men reviews? http://www.16bit.com/fotd/land-outerspacemen.asp

Overview: Astro-Nautilus Thus Far

More Outer Space Men!  I haven’t done an updated complete group shot in a while - maybe I will if we get another Astro-Nautilus - but these shots cover the major bases.  The four-armed creature from a planet associated with a god of the sea, Astro-Nautilus was one of the most memorable figures from the original line-up.   If you saw pictures of the original bendable toys, you didn’t forget this one.

Each tentacle on the 3 3/4-inch scale alien is two pieces, and each leg is three.  The pieces all rotate and allow for mixing and matching.  The designer Mel Birnkrant incorporated a couple of loops on the staff, allowing a tentacle to slither through on the giant 1960s bendy figure as well as the modern action figures pictured above.

Like many figures, many Outer Space Men from the modern incarnation are more popular (and tougher to find now) in their “regular” incarnations, with the lower-run, often 300-piece exclusives slowly declining in price while their painted peers go up. Later waves are particularly pricey now, and from the look of things this week’s new Orbitron Diversus edition might be as low as 100 pieces.  (We don't know, but it sold fast.)

What’s really amazing was the price range on these guys.  Most of them started at $10 - a  bargain!  As time went on, prices went up.  The largely unadorned white one was part of a big boxed set of 8 figures for $115, which makes it a little over $14.   The black suit one was sold first at a gallery show I was at for $125  with an art print and only 4 figures, or about $30 depending on what value you put on the art print.

I took the above photos in numerous places for several reviews over many years, and they’re pretty inconsistent.  However, you’ve now seen every modern era Astro-Nautilus save for the gold staff variant of the red one, which I do not have.  If you like space toys whose designs largely hail prior to the moon landing, these are some you should absolutely look up - along with the Marx Mystery Ship and of course Mattel’s own Major Matt Mason.  After the moon landing, space toys were a tough sell without a major media tie-in.   Thanks for nothing, New Frontier.

Here’s a review of the White Star one: http://www.16bit.com/fotd/130801-white-star-astro-nautilus.asp
Here’s a review of the Cosmic Creators Four Horsemen edition in green: http://www.16bit.com/fotd/130124-osm-4h-cc-astro-nautilus-neonautilus.asp
If you want more reviews, here’s a list:
http://www.16bit.com/fotd/land-outerspacemen.asp

Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men 2.0 Metamorpho Action Figure

Thousands of years ago, series creator Mel Birnkrant posted on a forum that the original Metamorpho did not quite meet his expectations. He was hoping the figure's helmet would be cast in a translucent white color and suggested you swap the painted figure's helm with a glow-in-the-dark one to achieve the desired effect to allow more light in to help the face glow while inside the helmet. A tricky innovation, to be sure, but Mr. Birnkrant is quite the lightsmith when it comes to his toys. He knows what light can do to make them look better.
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Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men 2.0 Astro-Nautilus Action Figure

If shiny does it for you, the 2.0 edition of Astro-Nautilus is worth your while. The staff is more vibrant and bluer than blue, while the figure itself has slightly purple-r skin and a shiny coating to his bronze space suit.
The figure keeps the exact same construction as before, with 4 arms jointed at 2 places on each tentacle. It's a great-looking, if top-heavy figure and probably one of two Outer Space Men likely to topple over if not balanced correctly. The head's pretty big, so be sure to set it up so if gravity does get to the best of him, he won't steamroll over your shelves. I've made this mistake before.
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Review: Four Horsemen Outer Space Men 2.0 Inferno Action Figure

The 2.0 edition of Inferno feels that it actually succeeds in the mission to make these figures as close to the 1960s bendable concepts as possible. While Xodiac has slightly different accessories and Astro-Nautilus is like 10% different, Inferno has undergone some interesting changes to give the figure non-electronic "light-up" properties, similar to Blazing Inferno from earlier in the year.
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Store Horsemen Blows Out Most Old and New Outer Space Men for 50% Off

Not two months after some new items shipped out, Store Horsemen has a bunch of newer Outer Space Men figures for half price.  So if you preordered months in advance and waited patiently... well, I guess the tortoise beats the hare yet again.  Good deals, people!

This year's Comic-Con exclusive from San Diego? $25.

The 2.0 sets?  $25.

The 2011 Infinity figures?  $25.

If you've been dragging your feet, at least you'll get to feel super-smart when you get these bargain-priced figures.   Good on you for not being an early adopter!

Outer Space Men 2.0: Inferno Action Figure

Of the four 2.0 releases of the Outer Space Men figures, Inferno is unquestionably the most compelling.  Along with Metamorpho, these two look significantly different, particularly when compared to the original 2010 release.

Previously, Inferno was cast in silver plastic and painted in the colors you see, with an opaque flame, gun, and head.  This time around the figure is a mix of silver plastic and clear yellowish orange plastic.  Take note of the feet, hands, gun, chest, chest jewel, head, helmet, and flame as all of these are actually painted clear yellow, while the other body parts are opaque silver.  Because of the high quality paint job, it's actually really hard to tell these are different colored plastics unless you shine a bright light through them.  If a tiny little bit of light didn't peek out through the chest, I'd never notice!

If you ever get the chance to buy these individually, get Inferno first.  The clear red, plus the clear areas on the back of the torso and helmet allow light to shine through so even packaged collectors can enjoy the new lighting feature.   The set of four 2.0 figures is $50 at Store Horsemen.

Overall I'd say the set is an improvement, although perhaps not one enough to warrant another $50 on the set.  If you were dragging your feet before, or missed the first round, these are probably the best ones to get.

One final note-- series creator Mel Birnkrant himself posted a confirmation that the 2011 figures of Mystron, Electron+, Alpha 7, and Commander Comet would not get a 2.0 release as the originals were already more or less perfect.  (I agree.)

Outer Space Men 2.0: Astro-Nautilus

Of all the 2.0 releases, Astro-Nautilus is one that seems the least changed.  Go ahead, take a look.  That's the problem when something looks perfectly fantastic the first time.
 

On the left is the original 1.0 version, on the right is the new 2.0 version.  Can you tell the differences?  They're quite subtle, and unless you put them side-by-side you may not notice.  (Or I didn't notice, anyway.)  The original 1.0 version from 2010 has slightly pinker skin, the 2.0 is more purple.  The staffs seem basically the same at first glance, but it turns out the new one is a little more vibrant.  Also, the space suit is different as the metallic bronze color is much shinier and more glossy on the 2.0 release.

Since the packaging is identical and the figures are nearly so, get either. Or both.  2.0 seems to be just barely more in line with the original figure from Colorforms, but this is one of those differences that your wife will mock you for if you dare try to point it out.  (Maybe I speak from experience, maybe I don't.)  I like 2.0 best.

Outer Space Men 2.0: Xodiac

The Man from Saturn gets an update, and Xodiac has been given a minor tweak to his accessories.  The original figure was pretty fantastic and, I would've assumed, flawless.  Nothing really beats that metallic blue suit, but it turns out that the accessories were not quite the right shade relative to the original.

The revised 2.0 figure has candylike clear red accessories and a bright orange helmet.  The 1.0 release has pink accessories, and a yellowish green helmet.   The 2.0 figure more precisely matches the photography on the packaging, though, and it seems a smidgen less sparkly than the eye-catching original, although they may be 4% more vibrant.

Surprisingly, it seems the 1.0 accessories more closely match the original bendable figure while the 2.0 helmet seems to be closer in the pictures.  I say "seem to" because I've only seen the original Colorforms figures in person but once at Futuretro in New York last February.  I'd say the 2.0 is, overall, better but you might not notice the difference at first.

Outer Space Men 2.0: Metamorpho Action Figure

Here's one of the two most-changed figures in the Outer Space Men 2.0 lineup.   Metamorpho was originally sold in a very light grey color, while the intent was to have more of a white which helps the face pop and glow and all that jazz.  Also, the weapons have clear orbs at the end rather than opaque pink ones.  How did they pull it off?

Simple-- the entire figure is cast in clear colorless plastic, painted white and black as appropriate.  Even the head is clear plastic, with 2 of the 3 heads seeming to be more lively than the original.  The red ape-like face still looks great, but the eyes seem to shine and sparkle more on the 1.0 release.  There's also a weird sparkling quality on the 2.0 figure that's tough to describe, although I assume it comes from the painted clear plastic. 

The white really does make it look like a different figure more in line with the coloring on a Stormtrooper or Clone Trooper from Star Wars, while the light grey looks more or less like it's own thing.   Because I dig this line too much, I decided I needed both.  If you don't have either release, I'd say get whichever is cheaper for you.   (Unless, of course, you're buying these for kids, in which case go with 1.0.  If 2.0's paint scrapes off, the exposed plastic will be clear.)

Store Horsemen Outer Space Men 2.0, Four Horsemen Editions Live

After a couple of hours of delays, Store Horsemen updated with the Cosmic Creators Four Horsemen and 2.0 editions of the Outer Space Men action figures.  I'm not exactly sure what time, as they weren't up a couple of hours after the original time, and the forums went down at some point in the evening as well.  Hurry, order now!

New Outer Space Men Pre-Orders Thursday, Pricing

They're coming! The new Cosmic Creators set (pictured) will be $65 plus shipping, and signed by all seven of the Four Horsemen.

The 2010 2.0 figures will be $50.

Find out more here.

Credit cards will be charged at the time of the preorder, and the product won't ship until after Comic-Con in July.  So, prepare to be patient!

Outer Space Men Waves 1 & 2 2.0 Revealed

They're better! Are they better enough?  The Four Horsemen revealed new takes on Astro-Nautilus, Metamorpho, Inferno, and Xodiac, and dang if they aren't all pretty neat. 

Inferno (pictured) now has clear plastic parts which look closer to the original prototype bendable figure.  Astro-Nautilus has a darker trident and newly-colored skin.  Xodiac's accessories are recolored... the figure was pretty much perfect before as it was.  And Metamorpho has a lot more clear plastic and a newly-colored sorta-translucent helmet, based on Mel Birnkrant's own customizations shown on his web site a year and change back.

All in all, interesting stuff.  Be sure to take a look!

Four Horsemen OSM News Round-Up: Convention Figures, Reissues

The Four Horsemen's site updated with a ton of new info. Some of which, frankly, is annoying. But here it is.

1. 2010 Figures Getting 2.0 Treatment. So you know those figures you bought in 2010 in like four different colors to support a small line, and then paid $125 for in February in a new paint job? Well, they're getting the "just different enough to make you mad" treatment in time for Comic-Con 2012. They say: "We've gone back in and made some minor tweaks and alterations to the paints that will bring these guys closer to Mel Birnkrant's original vision of the Outer Space Men. The changes will be minor, but sure to be appreciated by true OSM fans." To which I say: that is where you are wrong.

2. 3 Figures for SDCC. Orbitron and Gemini will be made, and Cyclops will be the first "deluxe" figure. Which probably means it'll cost 20% more. (But eh, it's cool, and it has some sweet, sweet gear.) As always, these are the "Alpha Phase" figures and will be sold at the show and online.

3. More Cosmic Creators Series: Four Horsemen Edition Outer Space Men are on the way. Odds are these are the same ones highlighted at the Futuretro exhibition, although no prices were alluded to so it's unknown if these will be priced like normal figures or at a triple markup just yet. As with the last batch, these will be a one-shot deal and signed.

In short: things are moving along nicely, but the honeymoon phase is definitely over.