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
Crossovers
are far and few between in this line - cosmically speaking, anyway - as
it has been nearly eight months since the last one. OSM Colossus Rex Tyraxsis
must have been in the works for a long time, as I remember Matt Doughty
of Onell Design talking about doing a special version back in 2011 -
years before the figure even saw production for the first time - and I
had no idea what he had planned for the mold. According to his notes,
the Tyraxsis is a dinosaur-inspired colorway, and I see it - it looks
like it would fit nearly any terrible lizard toy.
