Inferno a.k.a. "Phospherno" Outer Space Men Cosmic Creators Four Horsemen Edition Item No.: n/a Manufacturer: Four Horsemen Includes: Flame backpack, helmet, gun, arms, more figures Action Feature: n/a Retail: $65.00 (sold as a set with Xodiac, Metamorpho, and Astro-Nautilus) Availability: Summer 2012 Other: Brings the total to 7 Infernos, 8 if you count weapon variants
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If you can't get enough of Inferno, 2012 was a pretty good year for you! Not only was there a 2.0 redeco with transparent pieces, but this new one dubbed "Phospherno" is to action figures what the back of a Spencer's Gifts was in the 1980s. And presumably now, I don't think I can go in there without feeling creepy... not that it didn't feel creepy then. Where was I? Right, neon crazy alien man made of fire.

While the original Inferno's concept is pretty high-minded-- a man made of fire, forced to wear a suit as the cold of space would snuff out his life force in moments-- this new one's origins are tougher to pinpoint. Is he a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the aliens of Major Matt Mason? Perhaps a little bit of a nod to the crazy commercial recolors of numerous toys like Transformers: Generation 2? Or did the Four Horsemen just decide that neon is awesome and has been lacking in the toy space lately? Regardless of the reason, the dark blue armor with green accordion joints just looks insane, and the neon, black light-friendly flames pop like nobody's business. This figure is a rare treat.

Like the entire line, the figure is made of Glyos-compatible pieces. Inferno is as much of a construction kit as a figure, made of 20 plastic parts which can be reconfigured to your liking, if you've got a few Glyos-compatible figures laying around. Arms, heads, and other bits and pieces are easily swapped to make all sorts of creatures, although few match this one's unique color scheme. (For fun, you can see some parts swapped with Onell Design's Remnant Pheyden below.) I've got a big shelf filled with what must be a few hundred bucks worth of Outer Space Men repaints, yet I can't bring myself to say no to them just yet. Sets like this one really highlight just how much juice there is to be squeezed out of the designs still, especially if someone is really willing to deviate from the normal versions we've seen so far. Thankfully, Inferno seems to be getting the best repaint treatments to date.

His accessories include a removable helmet, a blue gun with blazing fire, a removable flame backpack, and swappable bent and/or straight arms which give "articulation" without giving an actual joint. It's creative, and it works well.

The edition size has not been disclosed and at press time, the set has not sold out. This particular quartet of figures seems designed specifically for a certain kind of toy fan, and I don't know how many of that kind of person exists. Are there a lot of stuck-in-the-late-1980s, familiar-with-toys-of-the-1960s toy nerds out there who also have the spare cash to track down what is essentially a collector's edition of an ancient mass-market toy line? Gosh I hope so, this is my #2 favorite take on Inferno, and let me tell you, I love all the various takes on Inferno. Even if you're done with this line and are sick of repaints, I still think it's worth owning. I'm so bummed out about more repaints of these guys, but geez, this set is just too nifty.

Additional Images

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Click here to see more Glyos Compatible figures in Figure of the Day.

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