Insecticus and Branchtearer the Furious Carded with Cards Gormiti Series 1 2-Pack Item No.: Asst. 01500 No. 01502 Manufacturer: Playmates Includes: 2 figures, 2 cards Action Feature: n/a Retail: $5.99 Availability: ca. 2008 Other: Ahoy Clearance
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I bought a lot of Gormiti when Toys R Us was closing a store a few years ago. One of the packs that got stashed away (until now) was Gormiti Insecticus and Branchtearer the Furious. For those asking why toy companies won't make more little rubber guys, cheap toys, discount collectible figures - here's an example. This is basically Battle Beasts meeting up with M.U.S.C.L.E. with some sort of trading card game built in and a price just a smidgen too high to be a good impulse buy item. They're charming and neat, but have no articulation and zero accessories. Three bucks a figure is pretty high, especially when you consider low-run indie lines like OMFG are $2 per figure and even Super7's mini figures are roughly the same. Sure, the paint and cards add to the cost - but really, this is a low-cost item. At $1 or $2 for an unpainted, blind-bagged figure, we'd all have been collecting these.

The clear figure in the set is Branchtearer the Furious, a lengthy name and arguably a sign that Gormiti has some of the best character names this side of Robo Force. (And let's be honest, Robo Force wins. Enemy the Dictator? Vulgar the Destroyer? Awesome.)

Painted and clear (with paint) figures were made, and this one takes the plant theme to give you a plant monster with a leaf shell, complete with the imagined super powers of stretching limbs. The copy on the card seems to be the sign of a bored, young writer. "...all his limbs can stretch, chasing his enemies among the branches, catching them, and... well, it's easy to imagine!" Having seen Evil Dead, yes, yes it is and no I don't think that's appropriate for children, thank you very much. (Eh, who cares, the little buggers aren't Raimi fans.) The figure itself has "stand there and be 1 1/2-inches tall" action, with no features, no articulation, nothing. It is what it is - a nice little collectible figure.

The branchy limbs are clear green and have various grooves to represent the basic look of wood. Assuming, of course, that wood can be clear and green - let's run with this. The head is painted a gorgeous brown, and the feet match it with added leaves thrown in for good measure. Yellow tendrils are present on his waist for some reason which I care not to dwell on. The figure is a wonderfully charming hybrid of insect and plant, and is probably worth picking up on the cheap. These things are starting to get a little more expensive lately.

The Abbot to his Costello is Insecticus, which is an amusing name but not quite as awesome. The figure is cast in red and, like his companion, is about 1 1/2-inches tall with no articulation to speak of. The head is very turtle-like in appearance, with dark grey eyes and a yellow "mask" around his face. Each claw is painted on his hands as well as his feet, giving him a rather menacing appearance - although I can't say why one hand has 3 and one has 4 claws. As a member of the Volcano Tribe - Magma (there's also a lava faction) you won't see too much giving him a very volcanic feel. Sure, there's grey ash on his shoulders and some yellow that gives a feel of heat or perhaps the ASU Sun Devils, but as it is it's just a red turtle bug in a crop top. Muy sexy.

There isn't much detail here. While the Forest Tribe trades on leaves and wood and bark, the Volcano tribe seems to benefit mostly from color. It could just as easily be an ice monster, but it's not, so it isn't. Eh. I like it. I don't love it, but I went and got all the clearance Gormiti I could because they are absolutely worth a couple of bucks.

If you're a toy collector you probably missed a lot of stuff. This may be counterintuitive, but watching Star Wars is a full-time job - it's not like you cared about Zibits and you probably didn't care about Gormiti, either. The line is just one of many small (and popular) collector lines from Italy, where the manufacturer put out little germs and other beings to varying levels of success. If you ever see these figure sets on the cheap, buy them. You can just send them to me, I'd appreciate it. I enjoy them, they're fun. They don't do anything, but neither do a lot of smaller, cheap toys.

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