http://nerditis.com/...haos-dimension/
Woah woah woah, Universe of Violence is BACK!
While past series mainstays Eric Nilla and Jimmy Rommel have retired to do their own projects, Universe of Violence has been picked up by MetalMonkey Studios, another contender in the indy toy game. He has teased a new two-character set for a while now, walking people through the figure creation process. And now, it went live! As of this writing, both figures are sold out, but they will be made available again - anything is possible!
Of course, being what these are, certain categories just don't matter. So while this review may be a little on the tiny side, understand that the point of these figures is not to be heavily-articulated or anything like that. The two new figures are Satyrant, a goat-headed demon, and Venus Maneater, a multi-mouthed plant with a taste for human flesh! So hey, let's take a look at these big, new, awesome MUSCLE-esque monsters!
PACKAGING: ****
I, uh, forgot to take a picture, but they come in little baggies with a cardboard header, just like most indy toys.
SCULPT: ****
Satyrant is a demon. Sure, you can try to justify him as a winged satyr or a goat mutant, but naw. He's a demon. And he's really amazing. The first thing you will note on this sculpt is how it does not look handmade - no fingerprints, no rough edges, and not even any of the "indy" signs that were on the original figures! Remember - factories try to look handmade, and individuals try to look like machines. But this sculpt is immensely clean despite its fine detail, which is just incredible. I want to call special attention to Satyrant's fur, the flawless chains across his body, and even his horns! Those horns weren't sculpted, though - the original prototype used wood screws. That's acually awesome - not only are the horns perfectly symmetrical and sharp, but it's also a stealth pun: Satyrant is screwed in the head! He's all screwy! Such a screwball. If I had to criticize, it would be that his sculpt seems a little flat from the side, and he may not stand very sturdily - it depends on how well the excess rubber in his feet was trimmed. He does have one leg in front of another, though, providing maximum stability.
Venus Maneater is a completely different beast from anything UoV has given us so far. While all the others were at least somewhat anthropomorphic, this one is pure, unadulterated plant! He has fice hungry mouths and four vines surrounding a fat central body, with one larger "lead" head. This sculpt is one of the smoothest indy toys I have seen, and it bears noticing that his smooth, rounded details do not betray a single sign of hand-sculpting. That is incredible - many big-company manufactured toys can't handle that! This figure just looks fantastic, and the only possible criticism I could give is that his smoothness might look too simple. If I snagged a UoVII figure in one of those fancy multi-color schemes, I would prefer this guy - he just has the surface space to be kind of a canvas. Venus ManEater is also surprisingly hefty for its small size, and can bounce pretty high when thrown.
PAINT: ****
These figures come blind-packed in a number of paint jobs. The original release included everything from swirled cookies 'n creme to a peach, orange, and red thermal color-change scheme. Mine are fairly plain - a MUSCLE flesh Venus ManEater and a gold/silver-ish Satyrant. That is fine with me, as I needed the to be neutral enough to take good photos, but if I get doubles of these guys I am going to hope for something creative. The next wave should be incredible!
ARTICULATION: ****
Nope. Not the point.
ACCESSORIES: ****
In the past, some Universe of Violence figures came with accessories - Elephunt's helmet, Essen's mask and sword, Beetle Punk's armor and beetles, Cythulhu's backpack and necronomicon, etc. These guys do not, but they do come with some goodies!
Each figure has a little card showing off concept art (something that I would love for the older figures, too), and a button. And what's this? Game stats! I have no idea how the game is supposed to work, but the figures have stats. Let's see how this one develops!
VALUE: ***
Each figure costs $11, which is excellent for an independently-produced toy. The one and onlycaveat I can give is that, since MetalMonkey Studios is based in Australia, shipping is going to be pretty high. So the ultimate price wil not be as affordable as past UoV releases, but it is still pretty good.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR:
Satyrant's horns are skinny, and I think one of mine has a tiny stress point, but other than that these two guys are quite sturdy.
WHERE TO BUY:
MetalMonkey Studios. Keep checking for news on when they will be available again!
OVERALL: ****
These are great! My minifigure obsession had been gnawing at my bones recently, and now look at what I've got! Yay! Satyrant fits in with all the hellscapes I photograph (seriously. I would've done a photo of him with that Pathfinder Baphomet, but I couldn't find the box with that figure on short notice). And Venus Maneater is just vicious - a little Mario-esque, but still awesome! I am really impressed by the level of clean detail on their sculpts, as you just don't see that anymore. So, what now? Here's hoping that the next set of Universe of Violence comes soon! The super-speedy release schedule of the original series is going to be hard to duplicate (probably impossible), but the wait for new figures will be really difficult. Three cheers for new rubber!
Edited by Ridureyu, 30 April 2014 - 10:42 AM.
