I usually slot in an opening as soon as I see Onell Design has a drop coming up so I can review whatever it is quickly, just in case you can still order it. Unfortunately Alien Aberration Kaisyriax sold out - but it's so cool I assume you'll see multiple recolors of it throughout the year. (If they do one in Astro-Nautilus colors, you know I'll be first in line.) With this figure, Mori Katsura and Matt Doughty somehow have a collective tentacle nightmare at the indie toy world and take their excellent (and recommended) Pheyaos figure and upgrade it with some next-level bio-mutant nightmare ridiculousness. For years I review action figures to varying levels of "hey I understand what the influences were" but here I can say that there is so much going on over my head that all I can do is say "wow." It's amazing. Despite the fact that I own several Pheyaos figures, I don't have anything like the fully-assembled nightmare fuel that is the Kaisyriax.
The Onell Design crew gives you a big $24 sack of plastic. In it, you'll get all the parts of the classic Pheyaos figure - and indeed you will be grateful - in addition to a new upgrade part pack which includes a new twi-sided head, some new elbow-like connector pieces that are unused in the default build but can be used in an upgraded model, new big shoulders, a mutant claw hand, and a mutant tentacle hand. The result is a figure that came out of designer sketchbooks that is too weird for a mass market release, but too perfect to go unseen by the world. You might not want to buy every last colorway of this figure, but you'll want at least one, so make sure you don't miss the next one.
When assembled, the figure is a lopsided pulsating mess. If you've seen a lot of anime or managa over the years you can probably sniff out some of the general influences but where else are you going to see a bulked-up limbs covered in what may or may not be extra eyeablls? The signs of muscles are there, as are some vaguely technological elements being absorbed by an unpleasant mass of tentacles. A giant claw seems to be equal parts whale skull and crabby nightmare. The original Pheyaos arms seem to be incorporated in the figure's thighs with new parts mutating into the creature's big, weirdly bulging shoulders.
Counting points of articulation is tricky because there are a lot of swivels in the extended legs. But what matters is you get at least a dozen points of articulation, plus some bits which are optional and can give the legs a bit of a bend if you like. At its maximum height, it fits in with Knights of the Slice figures - if a smidgen shorter - which makes it big for an Onell Design guy.
Given only the arms and head (and I guess bonus knee parts) are new, it's pretty amazing to see just how well they mesh in with the existing Pheyaos bits. But really, let's talk about the new parts. The tentacle arm as what seems to be a pink eyeball looking out from the center, and man is that great. The additional colors and twisty bits really bring it to life and give it a sense of being alive. And being alive is tough for something that looks like absolutely no creature on the planet.
I wish we lived in a world where someone would see this and make a mass-market figure like it. Wouldn't it be awesome to see something like this hanging in the store for $10-$12 with 2-3 joints that you could buy for a kid in your life? Couldn't you imagine living in a world where, in 1981, this sort of thing was menacing your Han Solo figure or your Micronauts? This seems like the kind of figure every kid that grew up near action figures should have had in their toybox, but at least it will be available to us aging Gen Xers and Millennials here and there.
I'd strongly recommend buying a version of this figure. Maybe two or three. I'll likely buy a green glowing one if it ever gets made, I'd certainly be interested in an Astro-Nautilus-flavored one, and if there were any cool color-change ones I might be interested in that as well. But I'm very happy with this one, and if it's the only one I ever get, I'd be thrilled. (But I already have the milky white one here in the box that I need to open, so, well, you know how it goes.) If you can find one at a fair price, buy it.
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