You might not have given it any thought, but Electron+ hasn’t been having the best time of it these last couple years. He spent all those years hanging with the original crew, y’know those guys that hail from planets, only to find it he was really more of a Series 2 guy all along; poor guy. Lucky for him, Pluto is still a planet in the hearts of many, myself included.
I’ve been trying not to use the word ‘favorite’ when talking about the OSM because I’ll be tempted to use it on just about every character, but Electron+ here is once again vying for the honors. The sleek silver and powder blue look fantastic together – I know I’m a sucker for silver, go check out what color nearly all the original Glyos reviews were in, but I don’t think it’s just me that enjoys the color. Electron+ also features a great head sculpt, and more importantly Glyos plugs for ears! I think that’s been my favorite thing about watching the OSM come together as a new line, the 4H keep upping their game by finding new places to add Glyos-compatibility, for Electron+, it’s his head.
Electron+ includes the standard two arms and helmet, his classic pistol, and a new staff designed by Mel Birnkrant. Both accessories where done similar to Alpha’s, the pistol molded in orange and the staff in purple and then painted to silver to match the figure. I love the new staff in particular, the design allows for so many interpretations. Is Electron simply displaying his power. If so, is it benevolent? Malevolent? Or does he actually intend to use the thing like a six-foot long cattle prod? It could just look pretty, it could be deadly. (I know I’m way too fascinated, who talks that long about a single accessory…)
Both figures feature the same resealable packaging as Comet & Mystron, and the previous Infinity waves. I don’t display stuff in its package, but these retro cards make it really tempting. The figures look sharp on their own, but there’s a really great retro feel when they’re left on card.
The paint on both figures is superb, which is particularly cool given their size. The articulation for Electron+ is the same basic twelve points that all of the OSM have featured up to this point. Alpha clocks in with a little less, just nine, but the hip articulation called for to keep the aesthetic leaves a little to be desired. Hopefully, no more OSM need to use the “splayed v-crotch” (man that sounds dirty) employed by Alpha.
I know that this is yet another gushy OSM article, which is always suspect when toys are provided for review, but I do really enjoy these toys. To go from not knowing who the OSM were a few short years to ago to how much I appreciate and enjoy them is no small feat and that credit goes to all the folks involved –from Matt Doughty from Onell for the simple, but ingeniously employed Glyos system, to Mel Birnkrant for his timeless designs (and Mel’s still got it, check out his online sketchbook), and especially to the 4H for sculpting, engineering, and getting these great figures to market. These guys all have a lot of love for this project and I can see it right there on my shelf.
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Wave 1 & 2 Reviews |
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Wave 3 & 4 Reviews |
Great review! I love the picture with Electron finding out about Pluto! I’m gonna get these because the infinities are the ones I collect, but those birkrant editions are really tempting. Too rich for my blood though.
So, all this and nobody discusses the elephant in the room? How several of the designs are kinda sorta swipes from various sci-fi movies?
I mean, not that anyone even REMEMBERS “The Man from Planet X” anymore.
anyway, those do look like fun. It’s a pity more effort is being made to make them “rare! LIMITED! COLLECTIBLE!!! OOOHHH NOZE SOLD OUT TOO BAD” then just cranking them out, making them cheap, and letting people have a ball with them. That’s the whole ‘urban vinyl’ community style of thinking and man, you can make money but you CANNOT have growth, you just keep feeding an ever-narrowing circle of customers.
Ah well, at least I can enjoy the excellent as always reviews. 🙂
I don’t really think it is the elephant in the room, because Mel has discussed this.
http://melbirnkrant.com/osminterviews/
There is no secret. That is why I assume nothing is brought up….no one is hiding anything.
As far as your ‘limited’ argument, and the fact they don’t make many to make them collectible…..I think you are reaching there. The Infinity editions are designed to be made available for ‘Infinity’ if you will. For the first waves (1&2), there were a LOT of them made, (you can see a picture of all the boxes coming into their warehouse)….and they just recently sold out of that run. They announced they are back into production of them and they will be available for a spring restock. That doesn’t sound very limited to me.
The next Infinity waves (3&4), are also always available and can be bought in the Storehorsment right now. I would think they would go right back into production for these as well if they sold out. That doesn’t seem very limited to me either??
If you are referring to the ‘con-exclusive’ clear versions, then your argument still doesn’t really work. I have bought every version made so far, and not once has it been hard to do so. Maybe the first SDCC version, but that wasn’t even that hard. Those versions are only made as a way to help generate funds so that the 4H can move forward with other characters. Not only that, those versions are typically always a run of 300 or more. In terms or 4H figures, that is a pretty high number. Most of their variant ‘big in house figures’ are runs of about 250….and those typically take forever to sell out. You really can’t expect them to make a huge run of each figure and have to sit on all that stock that doesn’t sell out….that would kill this line immediately.
Many of those ‘limited’ figures that you say are so rare….are available at the Storehorsemen, or sponsor website for months and months after they are released. You can still get NYCC OSM on the Storehorsemen and those were released in October….you can still get the Galactic holiday edition at the store which were released in December. Many of the sponsors (i.e. AFX) have been trying for the past few months to move stock so they have been clearancing them out. So again, this doesn’t seem really limited to me. Infact, it seems pretty obvious that more than enough are made if they are clearancing them off and they still are not moving.
My point is, your argument is flawed because is just simply isn’t true. The only thing I think I can agree with is that the variants are priced high. But again, this comes back to the fact that they are being made to generate funds to move the line forward. And while the prices do seem high, you need to look at the rest of action figure market and see that these prices are right in line these days.
Well, I have to own up, I guess I am ignorant on this, so, there’s that. I’ve never really looked at Storehorseman as I just don’t have any real interest in their product. I know, that makes me at least apostate if not an outright heathen, but they really don’t do anything for me. 🙂
My apologies all around.
No worries Steve. I just didn’t want misinformation out there about the line.
As far as your lack of interest…..this line seems like people are either all in….or have no interest at all. There doesn’t seem much in between. Obviously we are both on different ends of that spectrum. 😉
Oh, if I could buy OSM in a store I’d be all over it. I’d prefer they be Major Matt Mason size and made of rubber but even so.
I was referring to the other 4 Horsemen toys, which while I can admire them from a technical standpoint, leave me utterly cold.
You need a Scarabus, my friend.
What I *NEED* is Space Ghost with 32 POA, and Magnus Robot Fighter with robots that go *SQUEEEEEE* when he chops them in half, and…and… 🙂
Space Ghost would make a cool figure in the OSM scale… O.o
It’s ok Electron+, March 13 is Pluto Planet Day (in New Mexico anyways). How many other planets have their own day?
i love the kirk bit, but come on… space is still plenty cool. especially w/ some of the recent reveals, like the deep space long exposure shot and the insane number of exoplanets we have now identified, and then NASA just released that 3D moon map… great shiz man. never has there been more need for imagination to run wild and toys needed to spur young minds to ponder the heavens.
Is it too late for my to get into this line if all I want are the “normal” colored ones?
Nope.
http://www.shopfourhorsemen.com/
Waves 3 & 4 are in stock. Waves 1 & 2 will be restocked in a couple months.
Thanks for the link Fire King! I meant to post that the other night, but I had too much going on.
Anyone ever read C.S. Lewis’ “The Space Trilogy”?
In the books Lewis described space travel, other planets, and extraterrestrial life in a far different manner than the way we currently imagine it with science, film, art, etc… Space was filled with light, planets were filled with benevolent creatures of all shapes and size. The extraterrestrials had a very different ideology on life, culture, and society than what we have on Earth. It all seemed to have a warm, glowing “Kum ba yah” feel to it. Anyways, I get the same vibe from the Outer Space Men that I got from those books. After reading that interview posted above, it seems Birkrant created the line with that same vibe. Whether he’d ever read the books or not I don’t know.
Where’s that little flying saucer from again?
Club Penguin? I think. I found it at TRU.