I love the retro toy trend of the past few years. It seems like every few months I hear about another company taking the plunge into retro styled toys. BifBangPow, Funko ReAction, and Fresh Monkey Fiction are all taking part. But the Four Horsemen's Outer Space Men line seems special. They've taken a somewhat forgotten toy line from the 1960s and breathed new life into it with modern Glyos technology and creative use of transparent plastics. And the absolute best part (in my humble opinion) is that the original creator, Mel Birnkrant, has created additional female characters for all the various extra-terrestrial species. So far, three have been produced (with a fourth Astrodite figure being shown at the 2013 Extra-Toyrrestrial event, but as of yet unreleased). The final three designs (Poseida, Moltina, and Dezdemona) will hopefully be produced someday, because the designs are awesome and these initial three figures are amazing. Let's check them out in detail below!
There have been a variety of variants already released for these ladies (5 variations to be exact), and I will be reviewing three: The Alpha Phase, the Beta Phase White Star, and the Infinity Edition.
I will start with the Beta Phase White Star Series. I like this series because it really shows off the sculpts with the plain white plastics, but also makes them look like finished products (as opposed to prototypes) due to the use of translucent blue details and accessories.
The Beta Phase White Star figures come in clear polybags with a full-color sticker.
Horroscope
The Woman from Saturn
(Sister of Xodiac)
Overall, Horroscope is my favorite of the group. She's creepy and weird and I just adore her.
Terra Firma
Astronaut from Planet Earth
Ohpromatem
The Woman from Alpha Centauri
(Evil Twin of Metamorpho)
Ohpromatem features a rotating three-sided face within her helmet. The ball atop her helmet spins the faces.
Here are the Beta Phase White Star figures together.
These figures are assembled using the Glyos system of snap-together joints. You can disassemble the entire figure effortlessly and reassemble them in endless combinations (this can get into some really fun territory with all the translucent variants and shared parts).
Next I'll look at the recently-released Infinity Edition figures. These are the fully-painted versions on full-color graphical cards that most collectors will seek out.
Horroscope
The Woman from Saturn
(Sister of Xodiac)
All the ladies come with extra arms in order to pose them with bent or straight elbows.
Her head is cast in an orange translucent plastic with a large unpainted area in the back to act as a lightwell and illuminate her eyes.
Terra Firma
Astronaut from Planet Earth
I love Terra Firma's body sculpt. To me it epitomizes the super-voluptuous sci-fi pulp fiction body style I oddly would associate with this genre (even though there were rarely any women in retro toy lines). She's so perky and curvy that she almost looks dumpy... like a R. Crumb cartoon in 3-D... or even Sam Kieth comics. I love it. And I especially love the odd contradictory styles it gives when paired with the creepy alien heads.
Terra comes with some amazing accessories. The anti-gravity backpack is hilarious and brilliant. The ray gun is absolutely perfect in its retro styling. The helmet is gigantic but perfect. And the American flag adds the perfect touch of classic sci-fi cheesiness. She is a very well thought-out action figure.
Seriously my favorite backpack of all time.
Ohpromatem
The Woman from Alpha Centauri
(Evil Twin of Metamorpho)
(Get it? Her name is Metamorpho spelled backwards)
I would love this figure so much more if she wasn't so dark. without being backlit, all her cool details are impossible to see.
From the back of her head, you can see the two unexposed faces leering back at you.. it's pretty spooky.
Her boobs and belly also have purple lightwells. But, again, her coloring is just so dark that you wouldn't know this unless she was heavily backlit.
Here are all three Infinity Edition ladies together
Finally I will show the Alpha Phase figures which are cast in colorful translucent plastic. I'm a sucker for any toy that looks like candy. These figures came in clear polybags with no stickers or hangtags.
Horroscope
The Woman from Saturn
(Sister of Xodiac)
Terra Firma
Astronaut from Planet Earth
Ohpromatem
The Woman from Alpha Centauri
(Evil Twin of Metamorpho)
Here are all three Alpha Phase ladies together.
This is a super anal-retentive chart I made (while at work trying to look busy) when deciding which version(s) of these girls to purchase. I skipped the Galactic Holiday and Galactic Holiday Ultra versions for monetary reasons in the end.
Mel Birnkrants sketchbook blog is amazing and full of tons of interesting details and backstory behind the development of these characters. Check out the following links for all the unmade (as of today) ladies.
Also, all of these figures are available for purchase (or were available for purchase) exclusively on the Four Horsemen's store page, Store Horsemen.
Time for some Group and Comparison Pics!
Here are all the Horroscopes together. From Left to Right: Beta Phase White Star, Infinity Edition, and Alpha Phase.
Here are all the Terra Firmas together. From Left to Right: Beta Phase White Star, Infinity Edition, and Alpha Phase.
Terra's flags have changed a lot for the various releases as well. The Infinity Edition (in the middle) is the best in my opinion. From Left to Right: Beta Phase White Star, Infinity Edition, and Alpha Phase.
Here are all the Ohpromatems together. From Left to Right: Beta Phase White Star, Infinity Edition, and Alpha Phase.
Cheers!
WOW! SHE’S FANTASTIC, Yes, you really are Fantastic! That is the best review I’ve ever seen! I’m not saying that just because you like the Outer Space Women, ( which admittedly, pleases me) but your insight, completeness, and dramatic Photography are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI also love your attitude, and the fact that you are not a prude. In other words, You Get IT! Your take on Terra, in my opinion, is “just right.” I mention this because, early on, when Terra Firma was still only a drawing, her design seemed to raise some controversy, among the terminally uptight.
I guess, at my age, I’ve earned the right to portray feminine beauty in a way that remains alluring, and “contemporary” to my eye, although her body may be seen as “retro,” these days, due to her abundant size. As you very astutely put it, she is almost dumpy, dumpy, but not quite! That’s just the kind of gal I like. When I was a teen, the luscious ladies of Renoir caught my eye, and, over the years, my tastes have never changed. Frank Frazetta, and R. Crumb, as you noticed, are both gods of mine!
In the beginning, I was afraid that the Horsemen, would sculpt Terra with a certain “toy company timidity.” But, to my delight, Eric amazed me, and brought Terra to life, with a brazen bravery and audacity that made her even more “perky” and curvaceous than my drawings dared to imply!
Lastly, let me add a note of explanation. The growing army of Outer Space Men that sit on the desk, beside me, are strongly lit from behind. So, as I attempted to ignite the flames of “Inferno,” and got into developing color schemes for two Cosmic Creator series, I became obsessed with doing something that has never been done in action figures, creating special effects, through light.
In these the final figures, I went all the way. Seeing your photographs, I now realize that Horroscope, named that, by the way, because she is Xodiac’s daughter, works fine with what, when not backlit, appear to be black eyes. But, perhaps, I went too far in the case of Ohpromatem, sent out into the Universe, without a word of explanation to convey the fact that she was designed to be seen, at all times, with a strong light behind.
Oh, one more thing! The flags were a constant bone of contention. They were the one weak link in what might, otherwise, have been perfection. The final outcome, the Infinity Edition, finally, approached a modicum of that, thanks to the tireless efforts of Matt Doughty, of GLYOS fame. Thanks, Matt!
Cheers! And Thank You “SHE’S” for a “FANTASTIC” Review!
Wow thanks for the amazing response! It's truly an honor to get feedback from the man responsible for it all.
DeleteI love that you say I'm not a prude. Some regular readers of mine might disagree with you, but I don't see myself as prudish at all. You see, I usually have a heavy distaste for forced titilation in action figures. There are countless action figures of girls in string bikinis wielding a rifle or a sword, and I find them cheesy, trashy and lame. And on a similar note, when a well-known heroine is sexed-up with gratuitous cleavage and a pouty mouth, I feel it's a total misfire. I don't believe there is anything indecent or obscene about the female form.. whether it's skin and bones or as curvy as the Venus of Willendorf. I just think it needs to make sense and have cohesion with the characters and genre. And these Frazetta-ish bodies on the Outer Space Women are well thought-out, delightfully exaggerated, and just great fun overall. The effort and intent put into their design shines through and my typical knee-jerk reaction of "sexual objectification - BAD!" is completely nullified.
I was glad to hear you clarify that the heavy backlighting was a part of the original design. I figured as much since the other details were so exact. I'm lucky to be in the process of designing a new mancave to display my collections (ie, a basement). And these figures remind me that I definitely need a section that incorporates such lighting. It must have been a lot of fun designing these figures to use light. We've seen similar effects used for the occasional pair of "glowing" robotic eyes, but nothng to this extent. It's a very cool gimmick that I'm surprised isn't used more often. Kudos to you for embracing it.
You seem to have found a perfect team of people to bring your creations to life. The Four Horsemen and Onell Design combine a personal touch with professional ambition and you can tell all their products are a labor of love. The extra work on perfecting the flag is just a small example of that, and it doesn't go unnoticed.
I can't wait to see the rest of your Outer Space Women come to fruition. You must be very proud indeed.
Thanks again for a great response! You made my day :) - Alex
Yay! Just ordered some of these, including Terra Firma :) Can't wait 'til they get here! Nice pics, as always-
ReplyDeleteThey are my favorite new toys in quite a awhile. My only problem is that I absolutely love the packaging for the Infinity Edition releases... but I'm not a "mint in package" collector at all. The plastic bubbles are tabbed over the cardboard without tape, so after taking these photos, I easily packaged them back up (since I don't have display space for them yet). They look so good though that I may have to buy a second set!
DeleteThese are all beautiful. I agree with your assessment re: the classic pulp/Crumb/Keith look of the body sculpt too. It looks great! I really like Terra - I better get me one!
ReplyDeleteI can't decide if I want to refer to the body type as her "b-b-b-body" or her "body-ody-ody" -- they both kind of roll off the tongue :) I'm glad everyone seems to be embracing the sculpts. I mentioned in comments aboveabout how I typically scoff at over-sexualized portrayals in toys, but sometimes it just works. You should totally order Terra. I love ordering from StoreHorsemen. I actually screwed up my order (by giving my old shipping address as I was in the process of moving), and they were so attentive and accomodating to my emails. A little different from the customer service nightmare tales you hear from Mattel and Hasbro.
DeleteI ordered the Infinity version of Terra and Ohpromatems last night. Can't wait until they arrive!
DeleteSome of those alien gals have faces only a mother (or a tentacle hentai fan) could love... :D
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteSo I guess the salami-nipples on Ohpromatem aren't removable things, just an effect of paint application? I love how the curves on these and the "gogo" attitude resemble a lighter version of Rockin' Jellybean art. Dislike the big, silly magnet on the one's back. lol.
ReplyDelete