Over the past few months Marty "The GodBeast" Hansen and I have been working on a number of projects, further exploring the possibilities of making hand cast parts and creating all new characters to play around with. One of those collaborations which has gone from concept to reality is the latest incarnation of the Bio Jumpers!

When Marty and I were developing the recent Infection stuff we came up with a little guy called the Bio Jumper. The idea was that this nasty bugger would land on a Traveler's head and take control by literally "jumping" the victim's biology. The basic theme seemed to resonate and right after the first Bio Jumper release we started talking about what other kinds of chunky insectoids might be fun to make as all new Jumpers. Once I started drawing, the very first thing that popped out on the paper was a Grasshopper based Jumper. This was most likely due to my love of Kamen Rider and the influence of the iconic big round eyes that always adorn those awesome helmets. Microman was also on my mind, sneaking through in the Acroyear inspired "wing-horns" that a number of the new Bio Jumpers sport in the above concept work.

A personal old theme also resurfaced, having appeared way back in the early days of the blog. Once again the oddball buggy race of Glyos called the Eidrallim marched into my brain waves.. Originally appearing in an old Rechlen and Aves story line, these bug creatures were dipped in a super strong alloy at birth, which would grow as the Eidrallim would grow. Basically like Achilles being dipped in the River Styx by the heel (well exactly like that). I always dreamed of one day sculpting a proper Eidrallim figure, but once the initial parts swapping started rolling they popped up in the form of some combined builds. The little silver cricket Jumper with yellow eyes (seen above) is a baby Eidrallim. The skinny tall guy is an adult (rescanned from a drawing I did around 2001).

The pool of influences ran from Bugmen of Insectica, Megabug Gladiators, and Hornetroid, all the way to Nausicaa of the the Valley of the Wind. The process was very fun and going back and forth with a true toy historian like Marty made the references a kick to infuse into the core designs.

When the time finally came to select what designs Marty was going to sculpt, it was the Resin Master's Choice. Marty came out of the gates with the Larva, the Horned Beetle and the Dragonfly! My demented drawings can be more confusing than helpful, so I was psyched when I saw the first versions of what would become the all new additions to the now growing Bio Jumper collection.

Each time we work on something together, Marty and I get to know each other a little bit more, and this collaboration was no different. I feel very fortunate that Marty continues to create these crazy toys with our little crew. Hopefully by the end of the year some more Jumpers (and maybe even a Beast or two) will join the ranks of the Glyos System, and if they do, it will be thanks to the exceptional talent and dedication of The GodBeast.

Thanks go out to Sean and Cliff of MONSTREHERO for letting us be part of the awesome resin show they have curated for Super 7. With so many innovative artists on the roster, we feel humbled to even rub elbows with any of these guys.

The piece that was sent out West is one of two urethane castings of the original prototype for the Rig. The first cast went over to China to be sacrificed for the production run, and the other cast stayed here so that I could make a paint master and work out some ideas on applications for full production. Eventually the experimenting resulted in a very weathered looking "Old Rig". Usually these prototypes stay in the shop, but for this special event we are letting one out into the wild. The Old Rig will most likely be the last completely urethane version of the Rig ever made.

I remember years ago when we only sold urethane figures before we made the jump to overseas production. One Pheyden, with 13 parts, took me roughly 5 hours to cast, clean, dye, assemble and then paint. We sold them for $20 and they were fully articulated. Rechlen and Aves were a little smaller and were a tiny bit less labor intensive, but the paint applications were challenging. I remember making all those old urethane figures as if it was this morning, I think Ron still has nightmares about how much time we spent in the shop! Sometimes I think about digging those molds out for some crazy CC run, but that may be too nuts even for fools like us.

Thanks again to MONSTREHERO and Super 7 for pouring off a very cool show!