Clear with more paint! The Neo Granthan Pyrotellica is an orange release that looks like it probably owes a little bit - OK, a lot - to Micronauts. The previous Armorvor toys have rarely been clear, and those that have only had a tiny bit of paint. This is the first one to have painted faces on clear plastic, making it unique for a variety of reasons beyond merely being a new color with a newish head sculpt. Seemingly fans didn't jump on this one, because it didn't sell out quickly and actually stuck around along with his brothers beyond the point that the orders actually began to show up. It's still available as of my writing this, which is odd for a generally popular mold.
This one is great. The clear orange plastic could be brighter, but the silver paint is - as always with Onell Design - perfect. It's even and not too thick, so it brings out all of the details perfectly. The figure owes a lot to some of the great toys of old, but manages to be something new and great thanks to the fact that it's basically a dinosaur alien with a clear orange helmet over an opaque silver face. I can honestly say I don't have anything else like this. He's also the very first (and only) clear Neo Granthan to date.
If Onell Design just made all the faces silver for a while, that'd be great. The silver really brings out the detail nicely, better reflecting the grooves and lines while helping the eyes to pop a bit. Even in a dark room, the silver positively glows. I hope they make a whole suite of these in every color of the rainbow, or at least most of the 8-pack Crayola box. It really does seem to be the best deco on this mold so far, with my relative dislike of clear plastic being significantly outshined by the delight from the silver paint.
As always, the figure has the same paint masks as the other Granthans (and most of the Armorvors) plus comes from the same Glyos construction. Each point of articulation is a removable piece, plus you get a backpack and an alternate wolfy helmet for your figure swapping needs. The parts can be changed with other figures from the line, or dyed, or whatever. Only a few hundred were made so you can consider it a limited collectible, or you can consider it some goofy hipster nonsense. The truth is somewhere in between, probably, because without the millions of dollars spent on comics, ads, and TV shows this line will probably always be something of an obscurity, a toy line for toy collectors. Unless you're the kind of person that reads toy blogs - or writes them - you'll probably miss out on this nifty range.
As a slower seller, I find it a crime this figure didn't sell out immediately. It just seems like a strong combination of colors and parts, and it looks and feels different enough to be worthwhile on a shelf where I have dozens of the dumb things. If I ever am in a position to be forced to pare down the Armorvor herd, this is one I'm going to have to be sure to keep - it's just too striking to let go. Get one if you can - and do make it this one if the chance comes up.
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