A
surprise! In June 2019 I got a message from Jon "Little Rubber Guys"
Karis with glow in the dark blue and green versions of his Rhinoceros
and Scorpion figures. No names, no dates, just a surprise - and of
course, I immediately had to photograph them for a review in the future.
I shot Rhino and Scorpion - Blue and Green Glow individually, and it turns out they'd be a four-pack. Ah well.
New at the Little Rubber Guys store - ROTB Rhino and Scorpion Glow Figures! Just a reminder - 4 for $20. Blue glow. This is a steal.
Hey, it's a classic! I got the Rhino - Flesh
a couple of years ago, and basically shot it and had him ready to
review - I like to keep a few figures around for a while so I can look
back on them and see how they turned out after a few years. Rise of the Beasts
was a Kickstarter project that got funded, but due to some factory
issues was pulled at the last possible minute - and later released, sans
Kickstarter. Later, a second series went to Kickstarter - this did
not get supported. In this time a grand total of 20 PVC figures were
released, each of which had 4 points of articulation and was based on
one of two sculpts. As is popular, they were eventually run in "flesh"
plastic like the popular vintage M.U.S.C.L.E. line, which to this day remains one of the gold standards for collectible minifigures.
He's green! The Glyos-powered Rise of the Beasts
line is pretty fantastic, although it's hard to view them purely as
wholly their own thing. I keep expecting to see squat little guys, but
Cerula - Green Scorpion with Grey Paint is more of what a small
figure of the 1990s might look like, rather than the 1980s. The
overly-muscular creature is fundamentally the same as Cahriv except for the coloration.
He's different! Or at least, mine is. I was lucky to get an early sample of Rise of the Beasts Bal Kharn - Green Rhino with Grey Paint
is pretty fantastic. If you bought the first version, this is
basically an improvement in terms of color - the quality of that painted
black plastic release is impossible to match, but this one is still
quite good.
O nameless beast, from you we can know the great secret of the universe! Maybe not - but I will say that the Rhinoceros - Silver Mail-Away Redemption
is a low-run mail-in freebie cast in metallic black PVC and painted
exceptionally well. He has no name of his own, and the figure itself is
basically the grey painted one with silver swapped out - and man, is it
pretty. I work mostly in a basement so it's darker down here and the
silver positively glows. The reflective paint looks sharp.
It's Christmas, so let's look at something that I didn't necessarily originally want. The 60mm Scorpion - Flesh
is one of three unpainted figures from the initial runs of these molds,
and dagnabbit, it's pretty good. Creator Jon Karis runs
LittleRubberGuys.com, which covers the male action toy figures that are
too small to be deemed "action figures" by the serious (read: boring)
adult collector. It's a wonderful site and a great resource, mostly
because this is where you're going to see Japanese capsule figures or
American Garbage Pail Kids figures early - it's not wildly active, but
it's one of those sites that I personally find informative and useful.
The biggest success in that little rubber figure space is, in the eyes
of many American fans, Mattel's M.U.S.C.L.E. - and this figure (as well as his Rhino companion) are a tribute to that classic line of toy figures.
One
of the advantages of covering small lines is that the people behind
them, at times, are super cool and will sell figures to the press early.
The Cahriv - Metallic Black Scorpion with Orange Paint is the
only painted Scorpion on sale to the general public, but there are a
grand total of five of this guy so far. There's a gold promo figure (reviewed here)
in addition to an unpainted flesh figure, an unpainted black metallic
figure, plus two more mail-away figures - a silver figure with painted
bits, and a black figure with painted bits. They're pretty stunning.
As of when I write this, I don't know much about the long-gestating Rhino and Scorpion. Prototypes for these and other 2 1/2-inch scale mini figures have been around since Rise of the Beasts
was a Kickstarter project back in early 2012. Creator Jon Karis
assured me that the line would come to fruition and I have to admit I
had my doubts - but the figures are here! And they're pretty good -
painted samples exist, as do flesh figures and a sort of a bone-colored
sample. No on-sale date is known, but backers were given their choice of
figures as a promo piece - the original plan was for a golden lion,
which is not in the immediate future plans.