October Toys Outlandish Mini Figure Guys (OMFG) Series 3 Glow-in-the-Dark Minifigures October Toys, 2014
Day #2,324: July 29, 2021
Outlandish Mini Figure Guys Series 3 Glow-in-the-Dark Dr. Decay, Barbarianaut, Fruit Punch, Pugnacious, TenCan
Outlandish Mini Figure Guys (OMFG) Series 3 Glow-in-the-Dark
Item No.: n/a Manufacturer:October Toys Includes:5 figures Action Feature:n/a Retail:$10.00 Availability: December 2014 (I think) Other: Available in multiple colors
I have some stuff that has sat unreviewed for years - some of it was opened, some not. Outlandish Mini Figure Guys Series 3 Glow-in-the-Dark Minifigures arrived from the October Toys store in 2014 - no Kickstarter on this one - and were opened at some point in the last couple of years. I never did get around to writing a review, so I'm going to correct that because there are still distributors and stores that carry this set for its original price, a mere ten bucks. They are absolutely worth the asking price, and when you factor in inflation you should just go order a set right now. Since they came out of the Onell Designs factory - whatever factory that is - they glow better and brighter than most other toys, plus they have cool designs that have excellent silhouettes that lend themselves to glowing plastic figures. You should buy these for friends as gifts. You should decorate your house with them. Two of the five figures are clearly inspired by Masters of the Universe, but all are original characters that look like something that may have been in the back of Andy's toy box in one of the less depressing corners of the Toy Story movies or shorts. You know, the ones with the Lizard Wizard.
Just go buy these. Why even read this? Ten bucks is a steal for five keshi/M.U.S.C.L.E. figures.
I wrote up the Flesh color review [FOTD #775] back in 2013, and this came out the following year. Made by someone who has since entered the business, TenCan was designed by Nikolos Sardos - as well as Bryan Fulk and Richard Brown. It's effectively a trash can packed with living garbage, and you can make out a peg leg, a sneaker, tentacles, and rogue eyeballs. The details are unfortunately obscured a bit by the glow plastic, but the shape is appropriate for a radioactive monster and it's a bit more lively when it glows, as you can see.
It's also a pretty nice chunk of glow plastic. If you don't have a collection of glowing figures, I recommend it - a closet filled with them seems to multiply the light and eventually you'll hit some sort of critical mass where you can see the carpet, ceiling, walls, and everything else. It's weird. but you'll need some pretty big boys to illuminate it all, and a shelf of these little guys helps. (Bigger glow guys do wonders, but sofubi are expensive.)
Next up is the creepy Dr. Decay, a creepy figure sculpted by the not-creepy George Gaspar based on the winning design of Jonathan Wojcik. I wish this one was bigger, because then it could probably support a few painted details. A fungus figure is a perfect candidate for something that glows and it's absolutely marvelous.
The little monster looks great, and looks like something you would want to photograph rising out of a swamp or a puddle. I know I do! But I can't, because I live in the desert. He's got a big feet, a hat and a staff, and just looks nasty. I particularly like its lumpy spore legs, a texture which shows up great even on glow plastic. The bony chest is absorbed a bit by the glow plastic, but it's still nifty.
It's not Ecto-Cooler, but Fruit Punch is a little green man once he glows, but is otherwise a box with boxing gloves. Thanks to the strong design, you get to benefit from the straw, the gloves, and the big feet. Unfortunately, the words "fruit punch" on the box can be a little hard to see. The face and the word "OMFG" on the back of the box is very difficult to see except in optimal lighting conditions.
With a black light, these figures absolutely sing - but unfortunately, they sing so loudly they are the opposite of a shadow. All light, no dark! You'll see the sculpted details best in normal light, as the shine reflecting off the surfaces makes the details a little more visible. And note, I said a little - it's still tough to make out sometimes.
Rounding out the set are the Masters of the Universe-inspired figures like Pugnacious, (nee Puggernaut.) Thanks again to a unique silhouette, the figure looks great glowing - and you can barely make out some doggy details on the head. The hands look great, and the furry shorts are mostly visible.
Other detials like the wrist bands, large nipples, and skull belt melt away under the glow plastic. It's the nature of the beast, as it were - there's a lot of spectacular detail work here, but glow plastic takes away some of it in order to give you a nifty superpower. I'm not complaining, as I bought both.
I am remarkably fond of Barbarianaut, especially now. He-Man has been rebooted, de-booted, nostalgiafied, and rebooted again - so this look never goes out of style. The space helmet with viking horns, the shield, and the axe all show up great regardless of the plastic. You get a great glowing silhouette, or a figure that just looks nicely ghostly on your desk.
Barbarianaut looks best under black light - don't get me wrong. The plastic glows flawlessly, but the sculpt has lots of little details, pointy bits, and various levels of armor or fluff that really come to life under a black light. It glows well, and it looks good in normal lighting, but for some reason you can better see the helmet's visor and the shield's detailing when you shine that UV light.
Glow figure collecting is something of a wonderful beast unto itself, so I've been picking up these as glow or white people flesh color as they pop up for sale over the years. I love the opaque ones to see all of the detail and to futz with them, but the glow ones are absolutely weird display pieces I keep in a closet with other glow display pieces. I think these are a delightful (and cheap) set of figures for older fans, and it's a pity series 5 never materialized. I hope they reconsider. Good mini-figure lines are hard to find, and after a wonderful surge of them it all seemed to stop. Maybe the trend has ended, or maybe people are just taking a break - I hope we may see more some day.
--Adam Pawlus
Additional Images
Additional OMFG Series 3 Kickstarter Packet Images
Note: Normally, the set of carded OMFG figures will be sold with just a green cardback with 5 figures inside. Kickstarter supporters, depending on their pledge level, were treated to an oversized art postcard as well as a card art checklist, a sticker, and possibly bonus figures. I elected to get the $25 level with black and flesh Zombie Pheyden figures, plus a bonus black set which is exclusive to Kickstarter.
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