Pulp Arcana Studios: To Nostalgia...And Beyond with Ph'Shr Ryyce

To Nostalgia…And Beyond

As a young child, some of my very favorite toys were the Fisher Price Adventure People line. These were some of the very first “action figure” toys I remember playing with. Taking a look at them on the fabulous Fisher-Price Collector’s Club site brings a powerful and emotional hit of nostalgia. I remember playing with the Sea Explorer set with my dad. He was a competitive water skier, and we made that blue and white boat drag those little skiers around the family room for hours. I had a number of the sets, and they were all fantastic. But none held the magic and the sheer awesomeness of the majestic Alpha Probe space shuttle and its dark counterpart, Firestar-1.

The pilot of Firestar-1 was easily one of favorites, a mysterious looking human in a domed space suit, with teal green skin and blue-white hair. The figure’s yellow eyes were powerful and the black of his space suit set him apart from the normal looking astronauts that came with the Alpha Probe. He was mysterious and dangerous, ready to face whatever the universe could throw at him.

Apparently, I was not alone in my love for that figure from the early 80s. When Four Horsemen Studios released their Cosmic Legions line, they started doing special “Retailer Appreciation” figures. And the one from 2024 was a fully updated, modern interpretation of this beloved, classic figure from the old Adventure People line. Sporting the wink and nod name “Ph’shr Ryyce, this addition to the Cosmic Legions line took the iconic color scheme of the Firestar-1 pilot and ran with it. So let’s look at the Cosmic Legions Ph’shr Ryyce to see if he can live up to the legacy.

A PULP ARCANA FIGURE FIELD REPORT Mission Brief:

Artifact Identified:

Ph’shr Ryyce

Cosmic Legions

Four Horsemen Studios

OUT OF THE CRATE:

Four Horsemen Studios do simple but effective packaging. It’s collector-friendly so you can remove the figure from its case without damaging anything. This is a welcome feature for collectors who want to enjoy their figure and keep it in the packaging for display. The best of both worlds.

Moving on to the deco, the box for the figure has a black and purple space motif, with a photo of Ph’shr Ryyce prominent on the front corner. The majority of the front piece though is a window to show off the figure and his assorted accessories. The Horsemen know how good their figures look, and are not about to hide them.

The side of the box has a nice bio for Ph’shr Ryyce, which includes some subtle (ok maybe not so subtle) references to the Adventure People line. I love that this is unabashedly a tribute figure, and it shows how much Four Horsemen Studios loves what they do.

THE DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS:

When you get the figure out of the box and in hand, he is, for lack of a better term, perfect. The iconic teal of the skin, the fierce yellow of the eyes, this is the figure of my childhood. Only now he looks exactly like he did in my imagination. I’ll be honest, I was a little floored when I first held him.

The color scheme of the figure is beyond striking. The black of the space suit is accentuated by various textures, so even the monochrome aspect of the picture is a benefit rather than a hindrance. Armor has a glossy sheen to it, while fabric has a rougher texture that never goes to gray but instead lends a complexity to the palette of black. When set against this, the silver accents of the suit at the chest, boots, and wrists pop even more. But it is that teal head that steals the show.

The expression on the head is one of grim determination and the face sculpt is fantastic and characterful. While the sculpt itself is a reuse from the Mythic Legions line, it does not matter in the slightest. This is Ph’shr Ryyce.

Accessory-wise, the Horsemen have gone absolutely nuts with this figure. Our boy comes with three sets of interchangeable hands, two large, futuristic pistols, and a rifle. These are the same weapons we saw included with Kalian Shunn, but in the black and silver color scheme of Ph’shr Ryyce. Small pegs are included to attach the weapons to the hips or back. I always love when a figure can carry their accessories.

Beyond this, the figure comes with three additional heads. Two are black and silver full helmets, of the style we see with the T.U.5.C.C. characters from cosmic legion. There also is a wonderful six-eyed alien head in the same teal and yellow of the original head. All look amazing, but I’ll be honest with you — they are never going on this figure. Not when you have that classic Adventure People look you can recreate.

The final piece to make this perfect though is to recreate the bubble helmet of the space suit from the Adventure People figure. Four Horsemen do not disappoint here. They include a full bubble helmet that attaches to the armor pieces at the back and chest. It simultaneously manages to capture the look of the original and expand upon it, giving it a 1950’s rocket-punk sci-fi aesthetic that I am absolutely in love with.

As if that wasn’t enough, the fine folks at Four Horsemen Studios included variant arms and legs. These have a more armored appearance to them, and can absolutely change the look of the figure. Both Mythic Legions and Cosmic Legions lines are known for their ability to “pop and swap” parts. Pretty-much everything in the two lines is fully interchangeable as long as they are at the same scale. This encourages customization in an easy, accessible way that is honestly one of the best parts of the line. I will likely be using the armored pieces on this figure and the cloth pieces on a really beautiful T.U.5.C.C. pilot figure I have, so that the black breaks up the red and allows the candy colored armor of that figure to pop a little more. Watch this space for a how-to on that soon.

MOBILITY AND MANEUVERS:

When you pose a Four Horsemen Studios figure, something magical happens. The articulation on their lines is definitely good, but never hits great. The elbows are single jointed, and all the joints absolutely benefit from a few seconds with a hair dryer to warm them up and get them moving. You think you are going to be limited. But then you start moving the arms, the head, the legs, and suddenly you have something in your hand that seems downright cinematic. What their figures lack in points of articulation, they make up for in presence and character.

I was especially pleased to see that the bubble helmet has enough space in it for the figure’s head to be posed looking to each side. The combination of the static bubble with the posed head within works really well, again pushing that retro-sci-fi vibe even further. I think there is even room to fit one of the fully helmeted heads inside the bubble, which is absolutely a nice touch.

The legs give good movement at the hips. While the knees are single-jointed and a little limited, it does not do much to hinder the posability. Given the space-suit that the figure wears, this works especially well. The poses all look great.

RECOVERED EVIDENCE:

FINAL RECKONING:

The more that I look at this figure, play with it, shoot photos of it, the more I am convinced that Four Horsemen Studios have done something truly special here. This is more than just a great figure, and yes, more than just mainlining a hit of pure nostalgia. It is a testament to the progression of action figure design and artistry. By evoking the past, they have made something that showcases just how good the present is.