When my first Glyan arrived a year ago, he quickly became one of my favorite Glyos figures. I waited on the review hoping to pick up some older Glyans I’d missed. Then I held off waiting on new ones. Well, I’m up to more than two dozen now. I should probably get this review on the books.

Last summer, I was changing up jobs and money was a little tight. IAT chugged along without incident, but what I was buying was mostly cut down to my Mattel subscriptions and the DC figures I made a priority to pick up. I got behind on Glyos and missed a few cool items, namely the introduction of the Glyan.

That first Glyan, hailing from the Black Skull Combat Team is pictured above. (many thanks to my fellow Glyos collectors on the October Toys Forum for hooking me up) This one differs a bit from the other Glyans that would follow. One small change is internal, a peg in the middle torso was made removable on future versions, but the other major change after this version was the addition of a head featuring a more human-like face.

I mostly blame that piece, the Neo-Sincroid head, for amping up my Glyan obsession. I do like both looks available on either side of the original helmet, but the neo-sincroid puts this figure over the top for me. I wanted to snag that first neo-sincroid one, but I missed him too. Doh. After that, I resolved that I would snag the next one.

And I did last August. Once I had that first one in hand, I was hooked. Before I get too deep into the figure itself, I should say that there is a lot of building potential in the little guy. There are 25 pieces crammed in his tiny 2.75” frame; many of them designed to aid in the construction of building other, larger, more intricate Glyos creations. But, honestly, this guy appeals to me of his own accord. I kinda don’t want to build with him.

That’s because he’s a great figure on his own. The sculpt is excellent. He just looks like a fun little trooper. And the multiple pieces create several points of articulation, some like multiple swivels in the legs are just by-products of his construction, but we also get plenty we can work with including swivels at the neck, shoulders, wrists, waist, hips, and ankles. The elbow swivel cut is also slightly angled, giving the illusion of a slight hinge, which really opens up the posing and makes the figure that much more fun.

One of the other things that appeal to me is the basic premise Matt envisioned the Glyans as the workers in his universe. These aren’t the “super” Travelers like Pheyden, they’re the pilots, the grunts, representative of the larger populace of Glyosdom. Coming late to the Glyos System, I’m sometimes confused by the largely backstory – are all the Pheydens… Pheydens? I’m a little more at home with newer concepts (or at least newer releases) like the Glyan or Armorvor where I can easily read up on everything that’s been said. When it comes to the Glyan. I know they’re the glue that make Glyos society function. Someday I’ll happen on the right colors for the Glyan Garbageman or the Glyan Candlestick Maker. And I can keep snagging them up til my hearts content. They may all look the same, but it’s by design and it’s cool to have a bunch of them. Continue to Page 2…