Having been following Glyos lightly since shortly after its inception and paying close-ish attention since 2010, I know RealxHead products don't come up much. Mori (the gentleman behind this figure) is a guy who makes low-run, hand-painted and assembled vinyl figures in tiny batches sold mostly through actual physical stores. This means you most likely aren't going to see them. The runs he does are small, and based on the numbers I saw in the carts on launch day Stryker Lock Mohawk sold through in under two minutes - and this was at least the third run, having previously been sold in Japan. You could still add units to your cart for somewhere under 120 seconds, and that's it - when I checked inventory it was down to double digits quite quickly, which prompted an announcement for a possible fourth run. (That would be a second US shot at the figures.) These products come and go quickly, and their hand-made low-run nature inspires the awed, hushed tones that make them something of the toy equivalent of cryptozoology.
While frequently touted as being a sibling to Glyos figures, the figure's form fit does not inspire easy compatibility with your existing vinyl or PVC Glyos figures. Onell Design posted some interesting mash-ups, but you can't put the 4 1/8-inch figure's limbs on your other Onell Design releases. The material feels very differently, and on some toy collecting forms it seems the material (and indeed Japanese vinyl in general) is a highly fetishized fabric. If you have bought other vinyl figures, it feels incredibly different - it's glossy, harder. It has enough of a give to pop off the various limbs if you're so inclined, but despite being hollow it is not at all squishy or mushy. It's quite rigid for a hollow figure, and considering it is about the same size as a typical Star Wars figure or the new Jakks Nintendo line, it's nice that it sets itself apart so quickly.
This white molded figure has hand-painted black deco that give it a look that's closer to a living, breathing ink drawing on a sheet of paper than a toy. The lines aren't perfect - some are a little thick, some are thin, but this does add a lot of personality to the figure. If you ever wanted a sketch to come to life, this figure really seems to nail it. The joints are tight, the design is solid, and the metallic blue paint on the visor absolutely sings. I don't assume we'll see multiple recolors of these, but I'm sure if such things were to come to pass there would be considerable interest.
The right arm has a hand which can grip a Glyos peg with no real problems. The left arm is a cannon, not unlike the Crayboth or Samus Aran or Mega Man. There are a couple of buttons on the arm, but the mold itself seems to be newish - it's hard to tell given the blog isn't updated often and let's be honest, there aren't a lot of these showing up on eBay. I'd have loved some more color, but there are a lot of pieces here and they each needed to be trimmed and painted and everything - so I'd say that this is a worthwhile figure to snag if you're the kind of person that wants things that your friends can't have. Bragging rights are built-in here.
I'm told $30 is a screamin' deal for a figure run of this size, for Japanese vinyl, and for the piece count. I haven't done much with Japanese vinyl so I'm going to assume this is correct, but I will say that I'd have loved a slightly larger figure and am eager to get my hands on something a little weirder like the Chaos Troopers. If you can snag these for $30 or so, you probably should - especially because you probably can't. I personally will be watching with great interest in order to see the next new design or something really colorful, because without insane metallic paint or a new sculpt I think I'd rather leave these two-minute sell-outs to the rest of the class.
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