Doppelganger Accessory Pack
Item No.: n/a Manufacturer:Spy Monkey Creations Includes:42 pieces to make 4 weapons, a shield, and then some Action Feature:n/a Retail:$20.00 (sold as a set) Availability: February 3, 2012 Other: Available in at least 5 colorways
In this day and age it's hard to be delighted, and it's even harder for someone to make something awesome that I never knew I wanted. The Spy Monkey Creations Armory Series 1 managed to do just that, mashing up Glyos pegs and pieces to create large weapons sized, ideally, for Masters of the Universe Classics from Mattel. This is the kind of product that begs-- no, demands-- that you play with it. By purchasing this, you're guaranteeing yourself about an hour or two of fun from whipping out your old figures and seeing who looks good with what. And if you want to swap around blades and customize your own stuff? Well, it's basically a LEGO set that builds swords for your other figures.
Small companies and fans can put together some pretty remarkable stuff now, sold to collectors at prices which are, all things considered, quite fair. $20 for a pack of 5 weapons sounds expensive, but if you actually figure out how much it costs to tool all the parts and pieces... OK, it's still $20. But you've paid more for less, and this is something that you're going to have some good fun with, I'd wager. The weapon construction system borrows from Glyos nicely, and I can't help but feel that in some alternate universe, Kenner or Hasbro would have built a complete action figure line around this kind of accessory. Weapons are usually as fun (if not more so) than your average figure.
The star of the set-- if you ask me-- is the Master Blade, modeled here by the lovely and delightful Raphael. The weapon is made of a blade, a handle, and 5 orange pieces which can rotate and spin, letting you replace or modify it to your will. It looks really slick, and it seems to be a little big for the green teen-- but that's OK, you needed to see how it would look in the hands of a reptilian astronaut.
Next up is the Demon Sabre, a clever design made up of 3 parts. Skeletor models the weapon by gripping the handle, which separates from another toothy part, which itself can separate from the blade. Since all the parts rotate, you do need to pose the weapon carefully-- it's not a solid piece-- but the customization options open to you are probably worth the minor hassle of having to fidget with it now and again. This particular weapon has the qualities of a bat wing, with a sturdy, flexible orange grip and a fairly hard plastic blue blade. The wing details are wonderful, and the other color schemes look pretty hot. In blue and orange, it's positively birdlike.
Even more birdlike is the Falcon Sabre, which looks quite similar to the aforementioned Demon Sabre. Xevoz Storm Wing holds it proudly, as he's able to easily grip it in his articulated talons. Other Xevoz figures' hands may be too small, but gripping hands make a big difference when it comes to using these figures. Like the Demon blade, this is made of three parts and splits apart nicely. Instead of a demonic bat pattern, you get a swell feather-inspired blade. With two "wing" swords, it should come as no surprise that the set includes a bird head piece and everything can be combined to construct a birdlike creature. Nicely done.
The last weapon in the set is Dominar, which is part axe and part hammer. I actually wish it was more of either-- a bigger, more ridiculous hammer or an even more insane axe would be more fun to play around with here. Man-E-Faces has no problems modeling this fine piece, made up of several pieces. The blade or hammer end can be removed, so if you buy two sets, you could make a superb axe or a complete hammer. Various implements are separate Glyos pieces, so if you aren't crazy about the pommel you can substitute it for any of the many extra pieces included in the set. The extra pieces means extra customization, which means this one is a bit harder to keep looking right. Of course, you can add little blue "jewels" to the side, or replace them with clear blue spikes... I don't think anyone else does this with their weapons. I feel like I need some sort of mammoth warrior to carry this one correctly.
The fourth Doctor wields the War Shield, which is presented here as it shipped to me in the baggie. There are four holes for connecting Glyos bits and pieces, two spikes were fastened to it as well as a jewel. You have to sort of figure out which piece(s) make the best grip on the back of the shields o your figures may carry it, and you can add spikes or jewels to it in order to further customize it. (And yes, extras are included.)
If you collect MOTUC or any similarly sized figure line, this is an essential purchase. Maybe in a different color-- or maybe this one. I have a feeling my Transformers Alternators would enjoy these, as Masterpiece Starscream seems to like them just fine. If you're a Xevoz fan, I'd say you're going to be limited to figures with big hands featuring articulated thumbs. The cats at Spy Monkey Creations boast about compatibility with Glyos/Onell System figures and the Outer Space Men, and that's sort of true. As you can see below, there's a neat bird piece which makes a swell head, plus there's no arguing that you could plug an arm into an axe if you wanted to-- but the weapons are far, far too big to be used by the diminutive figures. Anything less than 4 1/4-inches probably won't get a lot of use out of the weapons as weapons... but Glyos customizers will go crazy with all the pegs and new pieces. Do you see the little male-to-male plug in the parts pictures? You get a few of those. I'm still figuring out all the things I can do with this set-- I didn't want to mess with it too much prior to snapping reference shots for the review-- but I can safely say that even if I couldn't customize them, the set is still an excellent value for the asking price. Since it is, you can make double-swords, or swordhammers, or axe shields, or anything else you can imagine. Want to mount an Eagle head on the shield, rather than the blue jewel? It's doable. You could put bits of the Outer Space Men there too if you wanted. The options are somewhat overwhelming, and with no instructions I'm not completely clear on everything this set was meant to do.
I'm eager to see what Series 2 brings, and I hope they do that one teeny tiny thing-- include instructions. Some of the parts are great for constructing my own original designs, sure-- but I'm a putz. What should I do with those spare bits and pieces? But I am sure that the sculpted skull on Dominar is awesome, and I can't wait to see what the next item these guys crank out will be.
--Adam Pawlus
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