robots/monsters/misadventure

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Autobot Ratchet (Studio Series 86/Voyager Class)

I happily picked up Ratchet shortly before Christmas. I say happily as I've been quite endeared to Ratchet since the early days of G1. In particular, during a time when my family was moving to another state, my older brother and I found ourselves often staying with family as our parents locating us a new home. During that time, well, it wasn't terribly exciting. I often found myself re-reading issues of the Marvel G1 Transformers comic. In those early issues, Ratchet took a starring role for a bit. I fondly look back at the frames of Ratchet helping campers cook hot dogs still to this day. Of course this toy of Ratchet is meant to represent him as he appeared in the 1986 movie, being a Studio Series toy and all. I've made my fondness for this series of figures known and having this very screen accurate figure of Ratchet is a real treat.

Of course Ratchet is a remold and repaint of the Voyager Ironhide figure I've talked about before. I raved about that Ironhide... and that's pretty much the same opinion of this Ratchet. A truly excellent toy of a classic character. Let's look at their differences. Not just a simple recolor as you'd assume, Ratchet has some new molded parts. A new head, as Ratchet traditionally has a chevron on his helmet as opposed to Ironhide's 'mowhawk'. Being an ambulance, of course he has a light bar. Most notably and something they really could have not done is Ratchet features a different waist piece. To differentiate the two back in the day, there were slight differences in their show models. Something like a slightly different waist made for a somewhat different looking character. In a toy though... I probably wouldn't have noticed. That little extra attention to detail is appreciated. Ratchet retains the dual pistols Ironhide was packing, they both used them. Ratchet is sporting a show accurate deco that really pops on this toy. Of course the Red Cross markings on his shoulders have been replaced with the Autobot variation seen in recent toys for legal reasons. Like Ironhide before, this is my favorite figure of Ratchet to date. As a legacy character, he gets plenty of updates. This one, however, is special. It feels like a much more premium figure than it should for a standard retail release. That's a good thing and this is a good toy.

Monday, March 18, 2024

Frozen Monday

Light 'em up, a new week is starting up! Not just any week, the first special event week of the year on Zone Base! Toylanta is this week and with it comes my annual con report MEGA-POST! Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire also comes out in the US this weekend. Of course I'll be waiting to see it until next weekend with Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire on my birthday Empire of Old double feature. I'm excited, two big weekends in a row!

I'm going to be exhausted.

This was a fun weekend. I got some rest and enjoyed some great food. My cheat meal for the week was some pizza on Saturday and the wife made low sodium tacos Sunday! Speaking of Saturday and Godzilla X Kong, I stopped by Circle K with hopes to find their GxK tie in stuffs! The breakfast sandwich was sold out and the candy bar was nowhere to be found. However they did have the slushies! No special cups either, but I went in with low expectations from a gas station movie tie in. Godzilla Blast is a cherry slush, while Kong Crush was blue raspberry. It was a delightful experience drinking the two, even if the store under delivered on product. I drank the two with straws crossed in an X. Because they're teaming up.

That was a lot of sugar.

I did get a few things. As it's been the past few weeks, Toylanta and my birthday are coming up. So I didn't want to buy myself much. However, I did pick up the GxK Suko and Doug 2 pack. The set has been tricky to get as everyone wants a Doug, and so did I! Not to be outdone, my Mom stopped by for dinner Sunday bringing gifts. Some odd TMNT figures she found at a thrift store. As well as MOTU Origins Mossman, Earthspark Spin Changers Bumblebee, and some Transformers Classic Hero team figures that she had picked up on clearance. I've already got a Mossman, but don't mind having another. I wasn't counting on buying that Bumblebee, but am suprised with how fun he is. Delightfully Super Robot for a modern toy. The Classic Heros? Delightful.

Well, time to finish my coffee and this episode of AEW Collision on my DVR. I've got some chores to do as well as get ready for the convention. The con bag needs to be prepared and I've got to find a way to survive the short week before Toylanta! It's only a 4 day work week, but will feel like FOREVER. Speaking of fun, have you tried the new Cold Foam Creamer from International Delight? Wonderful. Making lattes at home has never been easier. Well, we've got one heck of a week in store. These special events on the site are a blast. Thank you so much for reading Zone Base. This would be a great week to share the site with your friends, I mean dude... Toylanta! Mutal high fives everyone!

Friday, March 15, 2024

Antagony (Generations Selects/Voyager Class)

In another case of a prior BotCon exclusive getting a second life in recent years, Antagony is made from the wonderful Legacy Inferno toy as the original was made from the Beast Wars toy. I missed out on that original figure. I was working my way through local city college in 1998 with a job at Office Max and generally broke. BotCon was still out of reach for a few years and so were those wonderfully cool exclusives. However, like Sandstorm (whom I must cover here at some point), good fortune shone with a second chance at owning the character in an updated form. As much as I love that original Inferno mold, the Legacy version is a great new toy that improves on the original with modern engineering and great sculpting.

If you came looking for the more human faced Antagony Andrew Wildman drew, this is more screen accurate to Geof Senior's depiction. Antagony, being a straight repaint of Inferno doesn't offer anything new aside from including an alternate head. The alternate head can change her or Inferno into Scavenger, the other Beast Wars ant. It's a neat extra and makes me wonder what the Legacy version of Scavenger would have looked like sold on his own. Like Inferno before, Antagony replaces the original toys missile firing gun with a update of Inferno's BFG and the flight mode no longer has it's spring propeller gimmick. That's something I consider an improvement.

Antagony transforms into her giant ant beast mode fairly easily and robot mode is satisfyingly articulated. I really enjoy the new Legacy head sculpt with its opening jaws. It's just so satisfying to open and bare those big teeth! Antagony is a black ant with great uses of purple and lavender. While no longer a BotCon toy, she is exclusive to the Generations Selects branding making her exclusive to online and specialty retailers. Antagony was another Christmas gift from the Mrs. which makes the toy a little more special to me. Like my own little special edition.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Bios: Overhaul

One tough Autobot, Overhaul has never thought much of intellectual pursuits. His solution to a complex problem is generally to stomp on it until it gets simple or stops being a problem. He's never felt that he's had the respect his strength deserves from the other Autobots, but now that he's on the Jungle Planet -- where might makes right -- he feels right at home.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 5 Speed: 4.5 Endurance: 8
Rank: 4 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 7

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

The Mandelorian (Epic Hero Series)

Hasbro's newest Star Wars series just launched at the beginning of the year in January, though it wasn't until mid February that my local Walmart started stocking them. I was initially interested in them from early reports (and was under the assumption they were Walmart exclusive). After dipping my toes in the Epic Hero waters am firmly hooked. I got my first one when they first started showing up locally and he's the subject of today's post. The Mandalorian is Star War's newest hero starring in his own series alongside that adorable Grogu (who has his own Epic Hero toy). Mando (as his friends call him) is a cool gunslinger who's everything you want in a Star Wars character post original trilogy. He's represented well here in this new EPIC HERO SERIES figure format.

What makes an Epic Hero Series? Hell if I know, but what I can tell it's a throwback to the classic Star Wars figures of old. I'm thinking these are along the lines of Hasbro's 'Core Class' style figures with a more exciting name. A simpler figure at a lower cost intended for children. Din Djarin (as people who can pronounce it call him) is a 4" action figure with 5 points of articulation. That's a little bigger than the Kenner figures we associate with Star Warriors (normally 3 3/4"), but overall mighty similar. Din is decently sculpted and comes with both his trademark blaster pistol and the Darksaber that he carried for a while. He also has a removable plastic cape and little ports in his forearms. A good bit of the figures in this series has these. While I don't have any that utilize the ports yet, I'm assuming it's for sharing accessories. The figure is obviously kept simple with basic articulation and minimal paint apps for budget. Regardless, it still looks pretty good and as someone who swears by Kenner style figures... I like it! Sure it's a little bigger than I have come to expect, but I have big hands. That extra 1/4" isn't super noticeable to me. I look forward to getting more of these cool little figures.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Neo Micro Battler Arom (Battle Tribes)

This past Saturday was Microman Day, a day that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Microman toy line. With this year being the 40th Anniversary of Transformers, it's absolutely important to take a look back at the building blocks of Transformers as we know it. Microman's place in Transformers history is without doubt obvious. Micronauts which was also made from Microman prior to the launch of Transformers is important to observe. Last year Battle Tribes by Spy Monkey Creations offered a complete Micronaut homage set in their Battle Tribes wave 32. They have prior homaged the Mego line, but this set was particularly great. 

Arom is a translucent green Micro using the Micro Battlers wrestling body. As such he comes with a variety of extra parts. Additional boots, trunks, extra heads (many food themed), a tector belt, and matching mini wrestler partner. Arom is a really cool homage to the classic Microman and Micronauts toys. Battle Tribes are a fun Glyos toy line featuring various fantasy and wrestling figures in a variety of options. Being Glyos toys, their interchangeable nature is a perfect match for a Micro update. We'll be taking a look at the Microman/Micronauts flavored wave 32 over the next few weeks here on Zone Base. 2024 looks to be a special year in the world of Takara SF. Arom is here to help celebrate.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Stick around Planet Zone this Week

It's Monday Zone Base readers and time for a new week of fun! I had a good weekend despite it starting off with some routine medical testing Friday. It's just something I don't enjoy and am thankful to be over with. With Toylanta and my birthday nearing, I haven't bought myself much. However did pick up Turtles of Grayskull He-Man and a Ghostbusters Fright Features Phoebe from Frozen Empire. Saturday was Microman Day, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of Microman. This being the 40th Anniversary of Transformers, this is an important milestone to observe. I enjoyed seeing various toy bloggers post pics of Microman toys in celebration and joined in on the fun by posting pictures of the most recent Micronauts themed Battle Tribes toys. Sunday was Mar10, aka Mario Day. I enjoyed the various Super Mario Bros news and played Super Mario Bros 2 for awhile in observance. Not to be left out, Godzilla: Minus One won an Oscar! I don't watch the Awards, but am so happy for the movie! It really was an amazing film. Not to be left out was a online Digimon convention full of news. I look forward to those new Digivices! I also managed to watch several episodes of Samurai Pizza Cats and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3. A surprisingly fun, but simple weekend. I've got some errands to run and some chores that need to be done. So it's time to end this and get to work. I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thank you for reading Zone Base and please don't forget to share the site with your friends. Mutal high fives everyone!

Friday, March 8, 2024

Gamer Edition Optimus Prime (Studio Series/Voyager Class)

While I still don't understand the Gamer Edition figures being in Studio Series and not Legacy, I am quite fond of them and am enjoying the updates to some generally neat looking takes on classic Transformers characters. This Gamer Edition Optimus Prime is his War for Cybertron design as a Voyager Class toy instead of the smaller deluxe class figure it was originally released as in 2010. Even for a Voyager Class, Optimus is really large and imposing. His War for Cybertron look was so bulky, he needs to be big for it to work properly. If it seems like I'm focusing on him needing to be big, then you've arrived at one of the reasons I like this figure. It's big and imposing as it should be. Optimus is not some little squirt, he's a big bruiser and this toy conveys that very well. While there's definitely larger scale Transformers toys out there, this feels substantially larger than other Voyager Class toys. Like a Armada era figure level of chonk. That's good.

Optimus is also pleasantly articulated with plenty of gimmicks. You can remove his lower right arm and replace it with a gun arm. This is more screen accurate to how he's portrayed in the War for Cybertron video game and similar to the live action movies. It's pretty neat, just be care not to lose that arm. Optimus is carrying his big axe as well. It can be unfolded to be double bladed as it is during melee attacks, or folded in half to match it's appearance in cut scenes. I've been told blast effects can attach to the gun, but I've never done so myself. Last but not least, Optimus's chest can open up and reveal a removable Autobot Matrix of Leadership. I'm always a sucker for this gimmick, no matter how many times they do it. Sadly the Matrix is too small for Optimus to hold it, but it's still super neat.

Optimus transforms into his Cybertroinan truck mode fairly easily. I say fairly as one of my major complaints about the original War for Cybertron figures was the complexity of the transformations. Some weren't so bad, but others.... look, it took years to run the Cenobites off. Everything goes where it should with minimal fiddling. With so many toys having odd clearance issues these days (I swear it's the CAD models being a little tight), it's nice having one with things just going where they're supposed too without trivial adjusting. Remember that removable arm I mentioned above? Make sure you've reattached it for transformation. Unfortunately the gun arm and axe don't have anywhere super convenient to go in vehicle mode. There's places to put them, but results may vary. The gun actually looks pretty decent on the roof, but you'll need to get creative with the axe. That or stick it somewhere and don't loose it. That's the closest to an actual complaint I have and it's really just a nit pick. I could complain about how easy it would be to loose the removable forearm, but that'd be a nitpick as well. This isn't intended for children to play with, it's meant to be a collectors thing like GI JOE Classified or Star Wars Black Series. These little extras are meant for a nicer figure to stick on a shelf and show off. They didn't sacrifice some details just so I could stick the axe somewhere. I get it. It's like buying a Lexus and complaining that the car was nicer than a Kia. That being said, it's a great figure of a cool design. I really appreciate having a nicer figure that's meant to be a more premium item available at standard retail. Not to mention, there's just nothing better than a big chonky Optimus Prime toy.