Morphonauts

[the_Archivist]

I'm not sure about the scale on these yet but they look interesting.
There is 12 characters and they have some kind of magnetic joint that allows to mix-and-match parts.
There may be a kickstarter for these in September.
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/morphonauts
Morphonauts Action Figures

 

[the_Archivist]

Just received confirmation these will be 4".

 

[the_Archivist]

Some better picture of the figures:
I think they are going to be 5 POA
Red guys

Spoiler

Blue guys

Spoiler

Orange Droids

Spoiler

Purple Droids

Spoiler

Yellow Aliens

Spoiler

Green Aliens

Spoiler

 

[Obi-Shinobi]

These look pretty cool... too bad if 5 POA.

 

[fogger1138]

Yeah, there's some useful parts there, but I'd love to see higher articulation.

 

[Iok]

If they're using magnetic joints, I don't understand why they're just 5 POA (if they are...)

 

[K-Tiger]

Not the first line to tackle the parts-swapping formula.

 

[the_Archivist]

Not the first line to tackle the parts-swapping formula.

Mega Bloks did some 4"ish Knights called Mag Warriors. They were a hair taller than most 4" figures. They are pretty nice and have a bunch of POA but fall apart and don't stand too well.
I have the red one.

these new ones kinda remind me of IM3 Assemblers though... but more than just Iron Man

 

[K-Tiger]

I was thinking of Socket Poppers.
Socket Poppers by Ertl - Weirdo Toys - Weirdo Toys

Though Xevoz was the best at it. It was a shame they axed that line. Just goes to show you kids are stupid motherfuckers.

 

[Dropshipbob]

If they're using magnetic joints, I don't understand why they're just 5 POA (if they are...)

I just asked if these were going to have mag ball joints on their facebook page. I like this line idea, but if they are going to have pop-in/pop-out mag joints, I won't be buying.
But...I doubt I'm part of their intended market.

 

[Obi-Shinobi]

Xevoz, which Hasbro bought rights from Stikfas. Man... I remember buying the first Stikfas "Alpha" kit straight from the company's website, before they were big. $10 per kit.

 

[Obi-Shinobi]

I just asked if these were going to have mag ball joints on their facebook page. I like this line idea, but if they are going to have pop-in/pop-out mag joints, I won't be buying.
But...I doubt I'm part of their intended market.

Looking at the pix, the joints don't look to have the rotation space needed for mag-balls.

 

[Dropshipbob]

Yeah, but I'm hoping that's just pre-production type stuff, and not indicative of finished product.

 

[Dropshipbob]

I love Stikfas...Xevoz is pretty cool too. I have a few Stikfas, and I'd have more except they are soooo expensive on the secondary market. I don't like having the pop all the parts off sprues and then having to whittle off the sharp leftovers. And the decals....man those things suck. You're lucky if they stay on for a day.

But then again these are getting pretty old so maybe the decals aren't aging well.

 

[Obi-Shinobi]

I love Stikfas...Xevoz is pretty cool too. I have a few Stikfas, and I'd have more except they are soooo expensive on the secondary market. I don't like having the pop all the parts off sprues and then having to whittle off the sharp leftovers. And the decals....man those things suck. You're lucky if they stay on for a day.

But then again these are getting pretty old so maybe the decals aren't aging well.

Agreed. They were cool for what they were, but they could have been better.

 

[Iok]

I had a few Mag Warriors a few years ago. A green alien and a red robot dude. The problem was, as you say, the magnets were just too weak. The irony is, my Micronauts Baron Karza figure still stands without any problem. And he's 37 years old.

 

[the_Archivist]

from the creator:

The joints will be arms legs and a head. in addition each character will have a magnetic detachable backpack with two magnetic detachable weapons.

 

[Iok]

Yup - sounds like they'll also be single-plane joints:

They are actually disk magnets to achieve the greatest amount of magnet strength. Ball jointed magnets would be cool for more articulation and I looked into that a little bit but there was a company that used ball joint magnets and got sued because they popped out easily and kids would eat them. So my patent is for disk magnets imbedded inside to give them the articulation like vintage star wars characters

EDIT: It's not my sort of thing but I also don't want to sound too negative. This guy is producing his own toy line, which is more than most of us have done so kudos to him for that.

 

[the_Archivist]

I'm okay with them only being 5 POA because the designs are pretty good. That's not to say that I wouldn't like a little more range of motion, like knees and elbow hinges. But I still hope he does well with his Kickstarter. Because one thing we all need is more toys

I already added his concept art to my archive.
search=naut

This will have some extra figures in there but it sorts them into lines still.

 

[Iok]

I'm okay with them only being 5 POA because the designs are pretty good. That's not to say that I wouldn't like a little more range of motion, like knees and elbow hinges. But I still hope he does well with his Kickstarter. Because one thing we all need is more toys

Yeah, I don't mind some low-articulation figures if they look good (which these do.) I think I'm just a little bummed because my expectation was for a Magne Force-style figure with ball-joints and a wider range of movement, rather than a 5 POA figure.

 

[Dropshipbob]

I dunno, I seem to recall seeing toys recently that had mag ball joints...but that may be the very company that got sued.

I too don't want to dump all over his idea, he's putting his neck out there and I wish him the best. Not everything appeals to everyone.

 

[the_Archivist]

The joints will be arms legs and a head. in addition each character will have a magnetic detachable backpack with two magnetic detachable weapons.

 

[the_Archivist]

I saw they started a new website in preparation of a Kickstarter campaign.

Action Figures | Morphonauts

 

[the_Archivist]

They posted a new video.
[ame="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aLMmwoBQMxU&feature=youtu.be#"]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aLMmwoBQMxU&feature=youtu.be#[/ame]

Said they were getting close to starting the kick starter.

 

[AdrienVeidt]

When this was first announced I told him to use Glyos joints instead, but he didn't dig it. I think this will succeed, but doubt it'll get to a second wave since magjoints are a gimmick and gimmick lines rarely succeed long. The plain old fact is that most people want playability more than anything else and they'll quickly get tired of gimmickry. I guess it's cool and admirable that he's getting to make his own toyline, too bad he's too selfish and shortsighted to max the fun for everyone instead of just himself.

And yeah, great designs here and they'd be fantastic if they could do more than just stand there.

 

[K-Tiger]

Nothing here for me. Could have sworn I'd seen magnetic joint figures somewhere before.

 

[the_Archivist]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/49729681/morphonauts-magnetic-action-figures-the-toys-of-th?ref=discovery

This one is live now. They are supposed to be about 4.5".

 

[AdrienVeidt]

Yeah, this one is being sold as if it's a toyline when he's obviously got his heart set on it being a game. These sort of half-n-half toylines just never really go anywhere. The Marvel Showdown and Xevoz lines sold *entirely* based on the strength of the figures, and while the designs of these are very cool their action figure playability is essentially zero since one can't do anything with them except the part-swapping. All the other half-n-half lines we've all seen rarely even make it to the second wave and wholly failed to make an impression in the fandom. The only chance this one really has to succeed is on the strength of the game, and I'm not seeing anything innovative there.

But, man...the designs are really cool. My ... hope is that this fails and he redesigns them as Glyos figures compatible with the PowerLords line because that would be seriously bitchin'.