http://nerditis.com/...nicle-unboxing/
Hey, guys! First up, I want to say that I'm sorry about the sudden lack of Figure Photos of the Day. My internet has been weird in the evenings lately, but it should be back to normal soon.
Anyway, I have written about Demon's Chronicle before... a ton of times. So why not take a look at how the figures are in their natural packaging? And I've got two for this - Allocer from Series II and Beelzebub from Series III. Beelzebub is a "Hidden figure," i.e. it does not show up on the paper flyer, and is comparatively rare. It's acually one of the three hardest to find figures in the whole line. Allocer is really heavily-detailed, and tends to be in high demand, as well.
Here is the blind box for Volume III:
And here are the contents. The figure's pieces are in a little baggie, the resin base is in bubble wrap, and the flyer shows the rest of the series, a description of the figure, and a little diagram/ches suggestion - the first three sets had instructions for using them as chess pieces. Beelzebub was meant to be a king, clearly.
Here are Beelzebub's pieces. These figures come in a lot of parts, and sometimes their connections can be creative or tenuous. His face, for example, hangs on shallowly, whereas the legs connect ot those human bones in a really creative manner.
And here's the final figure.
For Allocer, Volume II's box features the Chimera figure the most.
Much like Beelzebub, Allocer is meant to be a chess piece - a knight this time, which is really obvious when you see him.
Allocer is made up of more parts than Beelzebub. Note that the rider's feet are part of the horse torso piece. It is amazing how complex these figures are, considering that they aren't even three inches tall when fully assembled.
And here is Allocer assembled:
And now, time for... LEARNING! Who are these, and where did the legends come from?
BEELZEBUB
Beelzebub is derived from Ba'al-Zebub, literally meaning "Lord of Zebub" or "Lord of the Flies." Ba'al was never a proper name, it's a title - "Lord." Lots of gods shared it, and even some people (your landlord is your Ba'al). Some examples in the Old Testament incluse Ba'al-Zephon (Ba'al of Zephon), Ba'al-Pelor ("Ba'al of Pelor"), or Jezebel's god, Ba'al-Sidon (Melqart, Ba'al of Sidon). Many of the Ba'als were forms of Hadad, a fertility god, and in some cases even Zeus (Ba'al-Pelor was related to Zeus, believe it or not).
As for Ba'al-Zebub, there is no location called "Zebub." the name first appears in 2 Kings 1:2-3, when King Ahazaiah injures hiself and petitions "Ba'al-Zebub, the god of Ekron" for healing. Now, one major difficulty in translation is that everyone has their own names for things - the Chinese scholar Kung-Fu-Zhu was known to the Greeks as Confucius, for example. Or the Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu was renamed Cheops by the Greeks. Hebrew did this as well, which makes identifying gods such as Moloch very difficult. Ba'al-Zebub is actually a pun, apparently on Ba'al-Zbl ("zebul"), which means "Lord of the Manor," and is a reference to several gods. Although "Lord of the Flies" may refer to some fly or pestilence-related cults, that is improbable, as little evidence of said religions has been found. Instead, the association tied to Ba'al-Zebub since the beginning was to point at the thing that attracts flies the most: Dung. Essentially, Ba'al-Zebul means "Lord of Bullshit." The real debate is whether it meant that in 2 Kings, though I personally wouldn't doubt it, because there is some sarcasm in other arts of the text (Elijah was the most sarcastic man ever born, I swear). Historically, since 2 Kings, it was used in this way - calling pagan gods a load of horseshit - and it also became a perjorative name for Satan, as seen in the Gospels when both the Pharisees and Jesus use the name "Beelzebub" to refer to Satan.
As far as making it the name of a specific demon, the Testament of Solomon (a 5th Century pseudepigraphal work), which is the foundation of modern occult demon-summoning, featured Beelzebub as the first demon summoned by Solomon. In this story, Beelzebub is the demon of the evening star, who excites peopel to lust, jealousy, and murder, and causes people to worship demons. He is treated as second-in-command only to Satan, and this tradition has been picked up since. In more modern occultism, Beelzebub is one of the top kings of Hell, up there with Astaroth, Asmodeus, and even Satan himself - he is often cast as the second-in-command, taking the form of a large fly. This figure takes the artwork from the Dictionnaire Infernal (a fly with skulls on its wings), and adds a crown, sword, and trident.
And look! The Lord and Lady of the Flies - Lady of the Flies is a Dreamblade game piece.
ALLOCER
"Allocer is a strong duke and a great, he commeth foorth like a soldier, riding on a great horsse, he hath a lions face, verie red, and with flaming eies, he speaketh with a big voice, he maketh a man woonderfull in astronomie, and in all the liberall sciences, he bringeth good familiars, and ruleth thirtie six legions."
-Johann Weir (1583)
Allocer, sometimes translated as Alloces, is one of Solomon's Seventy-Two demons in the Ars Goetia, and is a grand Duke of Hell who oversees thirty-six legions of demons. He appears as a knight with leonine features and a ruddy face, riding a horse with the features of a dragon. Allocer induces people to immortality, teaches the art of the sky, and provides familiars. This figure has some incredible detail for something the size of a MUSCLE, and it matches his Dictionnaire Infernal art exactly, even down to the weapons and chicken feet.
