Toy Review: Glyos Armodoc

The Glyos line continues to sink its talons into me ever deeper. I'm a huge fan of vinyl Godzillas, so when I heard that Glyos would be releasing a vinyl figure called Armodoc, I was all over it. I was fortunate enough to get to the website early (as with most Glyos figures, they sold out almost immediately) and I decided to buy two of them: Standard Armodoc and Reverse Armodoc (which is the same figure except the pink and white areas are reversed). Armodoc, don't let me down!


Stats:
Company: Onell Design
Size: 5"
Price: $25 (from Onell's online store)
Packaging: Bagged (no card)

Looks:
Armodoc's sculpt is awesome. Despite the fact that it's the only vinyl figure in the Glyos universe, it fits in very well with the rest of the Glyos line. And like the other Glyos figures, Armodoc's sculpt is weirdly abstract, stubbornly defying a specific classification. Armodoc could be an exo-skeleton robo-suit that Pheydens pilot; he could also be a kaiju looking for cities to demolish. The ambiguity makes the figure fun.

The paint apps are basic but appropriate. The head has the most in the way of paint with black and white eyes and pink highlights. Linework on the head and body bring out the sculpting details well (even though there's a bit of slop here and there).

Articulation:
Like most vinyls, Armodoc only has swivel joints: head, shoulders, wrists, waist, hips, and ankles. For a vinyl figure, the articulation is excellent. But, not all the articulation is particularly useful, especially in the legs. And, maybe this is too much to ask from a vinyl figure, but a few ball-in-socket joints would have been awesome.

Accessories:
Pop open each Armodoc and you'll see a Shadow Pheyden figure inside! It's always difficult to tell what the "true" accessories are for the Glyos figures because Matt includes a few freebies in each order. That said, I think this Pheyden was supposed to be an accessory specifically for Armodoc: I assume these Pheydens were the dudes in the Passcode game whose shadows we see in the Armodocs after they're destroyed. The Shadow Pheyden is a really cool bonus that lends credence to the "robo-suit" interpretation of Armodoc.

Value:
These are low-run "designer" toys and as such the prices are a bit steep compared with stuff you see at Walmart. But compared with other designer toys, these Armodocs are cheap and certainly in the price range of tight-wads like me. And with a Shadow Pheyden thrown in for each Armodoc, the value is better than average for a Glyos toy.

Coolness:
As with other Glyos creations, all of Armodoc's parts are removable so you can swap parts around at your leisure. I actually prefer my Armodocs to be monochromatic, as you see above.

Armodoc is even able to interact with other Glyos parts via the Gobon blaster. The round part of the blaster can be inserted into the sockets which then lets you build upon it, opening up the figure to all kinds of tomfoolery.

At 5 inches, Armodoc is a bit on the small side compared with Godzilla vinyls. But he's certainly compatible with 6" Godzillas (like the American Bandai Burning Godzilla).

My wife actually digs Armodoc because she says that the vinyl and the pink coloring reminds her of My Little Pony. I'd agree with that... if My Little Pony was a robotic Phanost-hunting bad-ass, that is.

Overall:
Armodoc is an awesome figure that somehow maintains the Glyos look while it expands the line into an entirely new and innovative direction. I'd love to see more vinyl Glyos creations, as well as more of Armodoc himself in a myriad of different colors. Armodoc's main problem is distribution, as he sold out in a very short time. But hopefully this won't be the last we see of him!