Red and Blue Fight

While working at my desk, the similarities between Redman and movie Optimus Prime occurred to me, and now I can't shake it. Watch the opening scene from Revenge of the Fallen and any episode of Redman and you'll never un-see it.

#bayverseisredman

Screaming into space

Damn that art sells it

SDCC is right around the corner and exclusive talk is on every bodies keyboards. Super 7 is teasing a Transformers exclusive by the way of their upcoming Henshin Cyborg style line that honestly looks pretty neat. I do love a good X-Ray/Cross Section robot image.

But, the big one. The poop your pants one. 

The stuff dreams are made of

 A Studio Series Bumblebee set that comes with reissues of Dial and Zaur, some of the rarest Transformers, and they're coming out of nowhere with a Bumblebee. I'm obviously not going to the con, and I hope I can score a set from the after con sales. I say hope because it's already hard for a working adult to get some of this online stuff as it sells out pretty quickly, but there's going to be all sorts of extra competition for this one. I mean, these are the kind of figures you rarely get to even see in real life... and they're coming with a Bumblebee in a SDCC set. People might actually kill over this one. Going to be a bummer when I wake up and find out it was availible for all of two seconds while I was driving home from work.

I'm a positive person, but knowing I'll likely never get this is super depressing

Sparkabots and Firecons UK commercial

I love Firecons, love them. Though it dawns upon me, I don't have an original Flamefeather. I have just about every new version of him except the original. I have the G2 Redux Cindersaur, but none of the other G2 Firecons. I need to fix this situation.

Robots in Disguise One Step Soundwave

After putting it off forever, I finally bought the One Step Changer Soundwave from Robots in Disguise and boy are my arms tired. Mainly because I've been changing him back and forth over and over. I had been intending to get Heatseeker before Soundwave, but as I never see him anymore, I just grabbed Soundwave and don't regret it at all. Soundwave is a classic Transformers character that's Robots in Disguise design just looks great.

In vehicle mode Soundwave is some sort of boxy truck/SUV/Crossover thing that fits for a modern update. He looks like he'd fit in with late Euro G1 or with most G2 toys. Which I've noted before is my draw to these more simple toys in that they're seemingly lost toys from that era. Soundwave transforms extremely simply (per the gimmick). Just pull the front of the truck over the robot and the parts mostly arrange themselves into place with a small amount of adjustment. They really should call these One Step and a little fiddling Changers, or as they're known these days, Turbo Changers.

Soundwave looks great in robot mode. Like most of these Turbo Changers, he's limited in articulation, really just arms and head. Which is fine as it's a simple toy and like I said... it feels more like an older toy. He's got a decent paint deco going on, looking like classic Soundwave well enough. I can't help but to wish his cannon fired or he had some sort of other weapon. He just needs some big honking accessory to polish off the presentation. Either way, for the price and for just the toy on it's own, it's pretty great.

GiG Predators and Turbomasters commercial

I've made my love of late European G1 to all of G2 Transformers known more than on a single occasion. The design style that started in that nebulous area between the end of G1 in European countries (oh the things we missed out on here in the States) and went through Generation 2 (with those European molds surfacing in Machine Wars and Universe). It's just perfect to me, the ideal evolution of that Diaclone/Microman genesis to original Transformers. Even now with all our fancy engineering in modern Transformers, if something makes me think of that era, I gravitate towards it.

It's a major reason why I like the more simple toys that come from lines intended for smaller children (Turbo Changers, Authentics, Cyber Battalion and so on), it's that they are extremely similar to this era of design and that's just something I love. Take that Authentics Bumblebee, despite all his budget restrictions slapping you in the face, he's got the skeleton of a G2 car bot. The various more simple toys of Robots in Disguise are 100 % seemingly lost in time relics of this era. Hell, there's a couple of 3 Step larger versions of Optimus Prime from RID that would blend right on in with a Victory or Brave figure. Whenever people say they wish Transformers were made like they used to be, all one has to do is point towards those. There was a Fast Action Battler toy from Age of Extinction, Vehicon, who was pretty much a remake of Stormtrooper Rage.

Occasionally I get asked why I like these oddball toys, and I usually just answer that I just like the random stuff (and I do), because sometimes folks just don't get it. They don't have too, it's all subjective and really not important. Everybody enjoys things differently, and this is one of the ways I enjoy things.

Power of the Primes Battletrap

When I talked about Battleslash and Roadtrap, I said they were parts of a combiner that's the newest incarnation of Duocon Battletrap right? That's right I did and here is is in all his Trappin and Battlin glory! The two toys form a pretty well done new version of the classic character.

The two smaller robots form Battletrap who's roughly deluxe size. He's the sum of both parts and it shows as the two distinct forms show clearly, which is part of the Duocon theme after all. I can't find any fault with this approach and hope Flywheels gets similar treatment (I've always liked him).

As I've noted before, the two toys are nice looking, but are obviously intended to form a bigger mode and it really pay's off here. I can't really find any faults with the toy as he forms together pretty well. If I have anything negative to say, it's pretty minor. I'm not fond of how parts of Roadtrap come loose easily in leg form, making the knee's look a little messy without sticking them back together (that could also be just mine though) and that helicopter blade of Battleslash is just kinda stuck in the back of Battletrap kind of awkwardly (I did say I'm usually never happy with how helicopter blades work out). There is an attempt to stow it between parts, but the bottom half is still dangling.. I'm sure if the components were deluxe or larger, there would be an additional few steps to work this out better. As is, it's just part of the scales economy and not the end of the world. Two minor gripes in an overall great toy is pretty reasonable and there's always a little give and take with any combiner.

Power of the Primes Battleslash

Battleslash, like his partner, is the other part of Battletrap in Power of the Primes. Giving the helicopter portion of the Duocon a life of his own and serving as a stand alone toy as well. Oddly enough for a toy that turns into a helicopter, Battleslash is very stocky looking. Wide chest, big thighs, aside from the propeller on his forearm, you'd never know he turned into a helicopter.

Probably owing to his colors and that helmet, Battleslash makes me think of Astrotrain. I'm sure I can't be the only one, but for now let's just assume I'm crazy and just said something ridiculous. Of course with his wide stature, the only thing that really clues you into his alt mode is the propeller on his arm serving as some sort of melee weapon. That's a drawback in helicopter modes for me. Most of the time the blades are kinda just there in robot mode or combiner mode (more on that later this week). At least Battleslash has a weapon thanks to the propeller and it matches up with his name. You see he will slash you, presumably in battle. Or if you said something about his Momma, then he might cut you. I guess they could have called him Mommacutter.

Like I said, he turns into a helicopter, and unlike his partner, it's a much easier transformation. I really like this mode, just a good helicopter that's not too unrealistic for a space robot that turns into a helicopter. Fortunately his combiner mode doesn't impose too much into the toy aside from some visible hands and a hidden away head (and they're decently hidden). Though I'm sure there's a fair complaint for the connector outlet on the helicopters nosecone, it doesn't bother me regardless.

Battleslash is a fairly neat toy that's fun on his own aside from the combination gimmick, and I really like the colors. I really wish I could find more words to say about him, but it's really as simple as that.

Duocons, Throttlebots commercial 1987

Power of the Primes Roadtrap

Somebody at Hasbro had a great idea, taking the classic Duocon Battletrap and turning his two vehicle forms into separate characters. That's what we got here with Roadtrap, now the SUV portion of the robot is his own character as well part of the combiner. The end result is pretty neat, with Roadtrap (now his own bot) making for a pretty decent little toy.

He's short and squat, owing to the fact that his third form is a pair of legs. Often with combiners you have to sacrifice a little for the combined form and that's true here as well. Fortunately, it's not too bad and Roadtrap's still a pretty satisfactory little figure. I'm really impressed with the articulation, which owes more to his various modes and the means to put the toy into them than anything. Which equals a pretty articulated little guy. However, it that means to transform between the forms leads to my only real problem with the figure. I don't like transforming him.

While at first glance, he doesn't seem to challenging, but to go from robot to truck, there's a bit of magic with his chest that must be done that I didn't enjoy doing. It wasn't terrible or anything, just a little more fiddly than I'd like for a smaller figure. This partially owes to the fact that he also turns into a pair of legs (more on that later this week), but it still hampers the fun of the stand alone toy. Either way, I quite like the little guy despite a little trivial inconvenience. It's nice to see a little original thought go into a update of a classic character and add to him a bit.

Power of the Primes Tailgate

It was a big relief when I stumbled onto POTP Legends class wave 2 at my local Walmart. The class is one of my favorites to buy and just like Titans Return, I don't want to miss a single one (still cheesed about the few Combiner Wars ones I missed). In all actuality, just like the Windcharger before it, I was a bit confused for a new Tailgate. Both Windcharger and Tailgate got new Legends scale figures not very long ago and I'd figure they'd want to use the resources towards new molds of other characters first. Though just like Windcharger, I was very pleased with the end result as the new mold is a big improvement over the prior toy. Actually, though Tailgate is basically the same toy with a different head and colors, I like him a lot better than Windcharger. Sometimes it's the little things than can make a big difference.

Tailgate is a short, squat little guy with plenty of articulation for his size. Sure, you can't roll him up into a ball, but he has a pleasant amount for a smaller figure that turns into a car. He also benefits from a  limited color deco being used wisely. Tailgate's always been pretty basic on the color front, but those basic colors look really nice here. He's just a good looking toy.

In his car mode, Tailgate is completely adequate. He looks exactly like he's supposed too with no real surprises, and that's ok. Some people have complained (take a shot) that Generations toys from the past few years are really just G1 toys with better articulation. Which is pretty much the same thing as complaining that water is wet. These are meant to be updates to classic characters, and just happen to be that. I'm sure if they would look up they might see the point sailing over their heads somewhere in orbit.

In all I'm really happy with Tailgate, more so than I thought I'd be. I'm a little surprised just how much I like him as I technically already have the toy since my wife got me Windcharger for Christmas. Like I said, sometimes it's really the little things that can make all the difference. It doesn't hurt that I've been in that frame of mind I get where I can see all sorts of different used I could get from a toy mold if I was in a position to come up with such things. This is a mold that I can see plenty of other uses for, and with the Tailgate head, I can get more out of it mentally.

GI JOE Japanese theme

This weekend the final Official JoeCon is happening and it's a shame to see another official convention go. I went to one in 2007 and thought it was great as well as my involvement in Toylanta which was originally known as Joelanta (and still maintains the original convention within the show itself) makes me really appreciate the fan base and the franchise. While not as hardcore of a GI Joe fan as others, my love for it is strong and I always hope for it's return to glory. I've always appreciated the shared Sunbow animated Universe and while the traditional GI JOE theme without a doubt is classic, there's something special about the Japanese intro music isn't there?

Power Rangers Russian movie poster

Instead of one of the magical posters I normally find for foreign releases of movies, for Power Rangers all I could find was pretty straight forward poster. Though, I can't argue that it's a good picture, the Rangers and Zords look really good here and man... a logo somehow looks a little more neat in a foreign language.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Russian movie poster

Sadly this is the best picture I could find

I've been on a touch of a TF movie kick today, which led me to wondering about what kind of interesting foreign movie posters I could find for some of them (regular readers have probably already noted my fondness). Doing so led me to this beauty. First off, let me just say I really appreciate the depiction of the movies final act with the design flair of folk art I normally see for sale along the side of rural state roads. I mean, just look at that, it looks like it was painted on a discarded piece of wood by hand. It's pretty great and somehow manages to match the color palette of the actual movie.

I feel like the artist probably has interesting views on the government and secret radio transmissions.

Shadow Run and Gun

I've talked about the new SEGA Transformers arcade game before, and I've still yet to even play Human Alliance somehow (man, time can get away from you when the closest machine is over an hour away). Watching this new video of the game's development process so far is pretty encouraging. I love a good SEGA arcade light gun game (and SEGA in general) and this looks like another quality thrill ride from them. This is the kind of thing I'd love to see a special edition Studios Series of. A Shadows Rising edition Optimus or something. That'd be super neat. Maybe the current Optimus Prime Voyager with some brighter paint aps and some different weapons. Maybe his backdrop could be a scene from the game. Or hey, what about using someone like Crowbar and making a generic Decepticon figure of with game tie in items. That'd be great.

If I were cool

I'll never be involved with any official Transformers fan entity. I'd like to be, I think I could be. I'd like to think I'd do a good job figuring out things like exclusives and fun activities for a convention and stuff. I may be wrong, but I may be right. It's a fun day dream to one day come up with something cool like a fan club exclusive toy. Sure, it looks like they heyday of that sort of thing has passed us by and when it was a thing there was plenty of the same dudes always in those spots. I know, what's to say I'd actually come up with gold ideas. Maybe all my ideas are crap. I'll never know, but I'd like to think I'd be good at it.

I mean, I've been doing this Transformers thing for a long time.

And I still really like it.

Gig Monsterbots

I'm not even going to lie, Tigerbot and Drekbot are better names than Grotusque and DoubleCross. Actually, Il Drago and La Tigre is even better. I don't have any tattoos, but if I did, it would be Flammeggiante around my bicep. That would be so much cooler than barbwire. You hear that linebacker in 1998? IT WOULD BE BETTER THAN YOUR BARBWIRE.

Imagine Grotusque BUSTING THROUGH A WALL.

Wreck-Gar

Collect and save, collect and save.

Wreck-Gar leads the Junkions, a race of junk robots. He's made of rusted scraps, chassis bits, manifold parts, and dented odds and ends. A little scatterbrained, he speaks in odd-ryming, pieced-together sentences. His words are a junkyard collection of broadcast fragments from T.V. commercials and radio jingles. In robot mode, he carries an armor axe and a decelerator laser that inhibits an enemy robot's flow of cerebral impulses.

The Walgreen's Wreck-Gar Saga continues

In what has seemingly become a legendary adventure, it's seems Walgreen's exclusive Wreck Gar is soon to becoming a reality. My main man at Walgreen's shot me some more info regarding the release. Like the past 2 Transformers exclusives, Wreck Gar will be available in the fall/winter.

Credit: Homeslice from Walgreen's

That date implies an arrival of September 28th 2018, though considering it's in a deluxe shipment, that's not a hard date (so settle down if it's not at your store until a little later). The past two exclusives have been making appearances anywhere from October - December, so this shipping date falls in line with the same general expected time frame.

Also of note, looks like the smaller Authentics figures will be making an appearance at Walgreen's too. Hoping this leads to a few more molds, I'm sure enjoying the silly little things.

Bilz and Pap commercial featuring TF

Ok, so I live in the soda capital of the world and I'm not in the region that sells Bilz and Pap, so I can't participate. However those are some great 3D models used in the commercial, they all looked really good. Though I couldn't help to wish I had those larger scale Cyber Battalion toys that kid had...

TF Car Robo meet up, wish I could go

【告知】
7/15(日)13：００～都内会議室にてＴＦカーロボオフ会開催します！
カーロボットが好きな方大歓迎です！
お菓子や飲み物、ちょっとしたゲームも企画しています！
よろしくお願いします！！
※今回募集人数が少ないので注意です！
[TwiPla] ＴＦカーロボオフ会 https://t.co/BR3HRZVtzL pic.twitter.com/thiwmokFaG

— テノ@ カーロボオフ会募集中 (@teno_sss7) June 15, 2018

Translation-
  [Announcement] 7/15 (Sun) 13:00 ~ TF Car Robo-off meeting will be held in the conference room in Tokyo! If you like car robots, you are welcome! We also organize sweets, drinks and a little game! Thank you!! ※ because the number of recruitment is small this time, it is attention! [TWIPLA] tf car robo off Kai http://twipla.jp/events/322058

Beyond your wildest Imaginext

Credit: Matthew Garrison of Imaginext Generation

The current 'on fiya' post in Imaginext Generation is the first sighting of the newest Imaginext blind bag series. Which is, without a doubt, all that and a bag of chips. Let me elaborate in case the amazing picture doesn't already make your mind explode. Imaginext, while being a toy line intended for small children, is very well catered to adult nerds. I've said before that Imaginext is the modern day Adventure People, but as you can see in the picture, there is an Adventure People homage in this series (not the first time either).

What's super cool is that the new X-Ray Man also pay's homage to it's Microman/Micronaught leanings with with a doggy nod to Henshin Cyborg. That's super awesome. I'm tempted to also get one for my brother. The sci fi Adventure People held a proud place on his bookshelf from childhood well into his teen years and I'd wager he still has them stowed away somewhere. Then there's Triple Threat Snake from Battle Beasts making a sneaky appearance. Readers of Zone Base already know how I feel about Battle Beasts and many have fell from me cutting them over many a heated rub sign fight. I'm willing to disagree on many things, but I might kill you over a Battle Beast.

Last and certainly not least. In fact probably the most surprising, a two pack of Muscleman/Kinnikuman and Terri-Bull/Buffaloman from M.U.S.C.L.E/Kinnikuman. That's the kind of awesome surprise you not only didn't expect, but probably embarrassed yourself when you found out. Like other folks my age, I've probably got a metric ton of the little toys and pop hard when I see anything similar. This... this right here... is amazing.

The other guys on the bag look similar too, though I outright am fuzzy on them. Fish head dude is really reminding me of something. The centaur looks a lot like a Navi from Avatar, but being a centaur makes me wonder if he's supposed to be somebody else. Radiation suit guy is a long awesome trope that doesn't need any explanation. You know, there's tons of high end toys for the adult collectors market, but the best one can be found at any Walmart in the toddler aisle for not a lot of money.

Combiner Wars: Bruticus vs Sky Reign commercial

For some reason, I've been thinking about Combiner Wars toys. Specifically the deluxe class. Ironically, in a line focused around combining, I found myself really enjoying the individual members on their own. While some complained (take a shot) about the rampant reuse of engineering in the line (they wanted scramble style combiners, but I guess not the working system?), It never fazed me. I really liked the proportions of the figures and the overall build of the robots. I found myself really liking the odd members of more random combiners like Sky Reign that were composed from classic characters that were traditionally not combiners. There was just something about those proportions that just clicked with me as a figure. Sometimes I'll find some customs or digi-bashes of the toys and wish they could have been real. Not that I minded the Titans Returns figures or anything (man, I love that line, it's right up there with Beast Wars as far as favorites go), but it could be part of the reasoning that I enjoy the Power of the Primes figures so much, even though they've got somewhat different proportions.

Offroad

The newest member of the Stunticons is pressed into action on missions his teammates want no part of, giving him the opportunity to show off his extreme-conditions combat training. It's dirty work in the most dangerous situations, but it's the only way he'll win his teammates' trust.

Ready to pounce on season 6

Voltron season 6 hits this weekend on Netflix and it's cat crazy time at Zone Base in anticipation. I think I've settled on what pair of basketball short/t shirt combination to wear while I form the recliner and binge the new season of the best damn robot show going. Ideally, this will be a good time to test out that Little Caesars app for an Extra Most Bestest of ideal combination.

Form ice cold Pepsi!

Spider-Man PS4 E3 trailer

I feel like it's taking forever for this game to get released, but man it looks like it may be worth the wait. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

Starlink Starfox trailer

I was kinda interested in Starlink prior to this, but now I'm really tempted.

Form ratchet Devastator!

It occurred to me that many of you might have assembled your Constructicons from various thrift stores, loose seller boxes, or random bootleg toy sets. Assemble those mofo's into Devastator! Actually, if you've got a bunch of mismatched parts, even better! Know what? If you've got some Frankenstein creation of a Devastator, send me a pic (include a link or something for the pic) with some details and I'll highlight it here on Zone Base. I don't know just how many of those K.O set Devastators I have, but man there's a million! I've seen folks mix and match parts just to form a Devastator and it's usually great! I still regret not building that Walgreen's multicolored set from around 2003 (that joker was diecast!).

Lupinrangers theme

I spent a good bit of time watching Luipinranger vs Pataranger this weekend and boy are my arms tired. Mainly from flopping them around in excitement as I enjoyed episodes of the excellent series. This show is freaking great and I really hope (though don't count on) it becoming a Power Rangers series.

I absolutely adore the Lupinrangers theme music.

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom trailer

The upcoming follow up to the recent remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap looks to follow in the great footsteps the first game left. Those beautiful animated graphics really looks sharp. Looking forward to this.

Pillow Fort Max

He almost looked like this

I've always really liked Fortress Maximus. Just have. Just really dig his look. I wish there was more of him available at a smaller size. I have the Kabaya kit, it's love. I'd like to get the TF JR version, and hope to find that tiny K.O of him someday at a Tuesday Morning. Just to have more Max and also so I'm not wrestling with a toy the size of a toddler like when I play with my G1 or Titans Return versions. In fact, the first night I was playing with my G1 Fort Max I hurt myself a few times due to his size. There I was, a broke community college student who finally gotten his own Fortress Maximus after wanting one for so long. I was in my bedroom in the apartment I had at the time. It was pretty late at night and I had just finally got some time to myself after another shift at the crappy Office Max I worked at and the hordes of people that always find a way to your place when you're young finally left.

I was sitting on my bed, cross legged, in a pair of basketball shorts and a t shirt. Just chillaxing and playing my finally acquired treasure. My large, stiff hinge jointed treasure that required to be put into wrestling holds to transform. Then it happened, I closed a part and with a loud kachunk... I pinched a good couple of inches of skin in the hinge and while gasping in pain pulled my arm from the trap trying not to curse too loud (roommate was asleep). There was a long red line forming on my arm and swelling.

I had given myself a 4 inch long blood blister with Fort Max. 

Ow. 

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I carefully put him back into robot mode... from a  slight distance. I held my robot joy up in the air to look upon him, sitting cross legged... and man he's kinda heavy...

He slipped and fell right into my man parts.

DAMMIT

So, needless to say I put him away for the night.

Halloween (2018) trailer

Earlier today (posting this in advance) the first trailer for the new Halloween movie was put online and man does it look good. It brought me back to my late teens and the first half of my 20's when I'd watch the entire run off VCR all week. 1, 2, and 3 at least once a day. Just couldn't get enough, of course as time goes on I haven't watched them as much, but the original Halloween still remains one of my all time favorite movies.

There's something funny and poetic about this films release. It's hard to believe that 20 years ago I was a kid in college and in high anticipation for H20, which was essentially another rebooting of the series taking 20 years after the original. Now we have this new one, 20 years later, taking place 40 years after the original (this time outright skipping part 2, which H20 did not) and here I am 40 and am exactly as much time from H20 from the original has passed that has between H20 and H40.

I wonder if this will be a every 20 years thing.

Microsized to maximize

The impeding rumors of Micromasters in the upcoming War For Cybertron Generations line just keep me in a state of hope and excitement that just cannot be contained. I keep thinking about possible scenarios where I have a money bin like Scrooge McDuck full of Micromasters that I swim around in and occasionally have to visit the Emergency Room to have them removed from my nose. The prospect of what's to come is just mind shattering (and pants shatting) in terms of stuff that I would really want. Then it hit me. Which was rude, I'd rather talk it out, but here I am with a black eye from an idea that I wear like a badge of honor.

The ongoing rumor also hints that the two main size classes in WFC will carry the Micromasters and Battlemasters. So, I think of integration, how if the bulk of the line is micro sized and if say the leader class would ultimately be gigantic in scale...

McDonald's 1977 commercials (Japan)

I've made note of how I miss when McDonald's was awesome before. It could be part nostalgia mixed with the notable decline of quality and service over recent years, but I'll lean on the nostalgia factor a little more here. Because I loved and still love the McDonald Land characters. Sitting here at my desk and remembering my wife picked me up some McD's on her way home (going to scarf that down in the morning when I get home) and honestly needing a little distraction from work for the moment I found this freaking AWESOME Japanese commercial that's just so great. Just freaking great.

Rock and Roll McDonald's, rock and roll.

Brackets, easy! Lost Age! Series Song

I don't recall if I posted this before or not, but even if I did, I'm doing it again. Because this is amazing. My affinity towards One Step Changers/Turbo Changers is well known, as is my love for commercials. I think my appreciation of silly goofy fun is also pretty well known, I know, I'm such a weirdo. What kind of jerk enjoys himself with his hobbies? So as I'm currently having a stressful week at work, I could use a laugh and this commercial is just so silly. There's a certain charm to watching the cast of Age of Extinction/Lost Age in One Step Changer/Turbo Changer form put on a little song and dance number.

Man, I really need that big Optimus.

Hyou-Man/Leopardman pilot

Following Jaguarman, P-Productions made another pilot following the same idea as Jaguarman. Named Hyou-Man, it's basically the same thing but with a more furry kitty superhero costume. The same company also made the Lion Maru series and Tetsujin Tiger Seven. Clearly they liked the idea of cat themed costumed heroes. Which I can get behind, though clearly all the bad guy would need is a spray bottle to defeat them once and for all.

You be my homerun, I'll be your Bumblebee

Admittedly, I just like this graphic.

So with the Bumblebee movie trailer all up in everyone's bees-nests, I feel it's time to talk about the elephant in the room. Why is there an elephant in the room? What kind of mad house do we have with wild pachyderms just in our rooms? Roaming around. Kinda silly if you ask me. Also, I thought I'd talk a bit about that trailer.

I've seen mostly praise from fans excited to see a movie that's full of wonder and magic in the trailer. That Spielberg vibe that really meshes well with meeting an alien robot from outer space that wants to be your friend. It's seemingly what most people wanted the 2007 movie to be, which in all honesty could still be more like the 2007 movie than the trailer leads us to believe, but let's put away that cynicism away and just enjoy feeling happy. I think the most I'm getting from the trailer outside of the tonal shift is the designs, they manage to merge the traditional Transformers look with the Bayverse aesthetic we've all grown accustomed to, and very successfully at that.

Common theory is that the movie will act as a soft reboot as well as a prequel, which if you think about it in the same vein as those younger cast X-Men movies (I swear I've talked about that before here), it works. It absolutely works in a way that would appeal to the casual viewer as well as the more in-tuned viewer.

I know I'm excited, it looks great. The designs look to make for some great figures and licensed merchandise has already popped up that looks super cool. Will Bumblebee bee the sting in the butt this franchise needs to recover from the box office slumps of that last knight all under performing and such? Who the hell knows. I can't tell the future, and nobody else can either. So time will tell, but for now, it's nice to bee optimistic and have that optimism well founded.

Jaguar Man pilot

This past weekend I watched the pilot for the un-produced  pilot for Jaguar Man, what would have been a neat-o and wacky toku series featuring a jaguar themed hero. I don't know how good an actual series would have been, but I can at least say this one shot was kooky fun.

Voltron season 6 trailer

It must be robot trailer day, as we get a preview of the best damn robot show on TVs new season later this month.

Bumblebee trailer

I can't lie, this looks fun. Really dig Bumblebee's mix of classic and movie look and who dat jet bot?

Every adventure has a beginning. Watch the official teaser trailer for Bumblebee now, starring @HaileeSteinfeld and @JohnCena! See #BumblebeeMovie in theatres this Christmas. pic.twitter.com/8GrhIwT6IT

— #TRANSFORMERS (@transformers) June 5, 2018

MMPR pilot intro

It's easy enough to forget the pilot for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and it's slight differences from the finished product, most notably is a different actress playing Trini, though the intro does have a different vibe despite not being that different.

Go! Greenman! intro

Greenman probably one of the catchiest theme songs of it's era. As I've noted before how my mind drifts more towards horror and monsters in summer, and Greenman has some really crazy monsters. A good bit of suit recycling goes on in this series too, most notably Gaira and Minilla, it really has a great roster of kaiju sent by Maoh (also known as Satan) to collect the blood of human children (no, really). Considering Greenman is a robotic envoy of God, sent to protect the children from the devil who wants their blood and uses monsters to obtain it... this is probably the most Halloween thing ever.

Abominable Beastking thinking

Earlier, I lucked up on finding Hun-Grrr from Power of the Primes when the Walmart by my work apparently got a few cases of Voyagers. I had been slightly worried as the Terrorcons are kinda a big deal to me and I had been hoping to get my new Abominus without much trouble. I've had Rippersnapper since March when the wave 2 deluxes were part of the birthday presents from my wife. Then as luck would have it, POTP toys started getting spotty distribution for awhile there, I started to worry I'd have to pay too much on ordering him or the Takara version.

It doesn't help that so much doom and gloom is going around and making the outlook look like we'll never get these figures. Facts are facts and we know POTP is shorter than anticipated and Transformers is having a bit of a slowdown. But if one remembers the giant leak from last summer, it outright outlined the majority of the toys in the line. It just so appears that the line is a bit shorter than we're accustomed too for whatever reason. But assuming Studio Series is in the general same arena as Generations toys to the corporate offices of Hasbro, it might be a little more easy to see. And frankly, if War for Cybertron is running side by side with more Studio Series figures (and by all accounts looks to be) it may be a little shorter as well. Because they may consider it in the same basket at those corporate offices (it's not a stretch to see how and why they might). Or they all could simply be coming from the same factory in different production cycles.

What helps me form that train of thought is looking at how the line has played out in release. First waves were at stores right before Christmas. Second waves started right as spring started hitting and by late spring it was all Studio Series. Until what is now early summer as those are at retail saturation for the first waves and what do we have? Well the rest of those POTP wave 2 voyagers have been popping up as well as the third wave voyagers are showing up. It's like something came unplugged in the distribution channels all the sudden right? Looks like the Studio Series initial push might have bottle necked things a little, at least to me (this is all my opinion after all). But thinking about it, since wave 2 was so sparse after first showing up 2-3 months ago, I wonder if it's still shipping?

Now, what about those wave 2 Legends. Well, wave 2's are usually harder to find in any line and man I really hope I find them sooner or later or I'm going to cry a big old pile of tears. BUT, what about that dooming and glooming that's been crying out? What about wave 3 deluxes, will we ever get those? Well, look at that pic of Abominus above. It's an official image, it's from those image leaks from last October, before all the recent doom and gloom. Read the other three members info.

Coming late 2018

So, seeing as we don't know about things until after the decisions are already made (everybody is just an arm chair quarterback in this game after all), I think the rest of POTP is intertwined between batches of Studio Series and that first batch of Cyberverse (due in the fall). When in that Financial call report, it's reported that by December 2018, "Power Of The Primes will effectively close down the Prime Wars ‘event’ which took place under the Generations banner.". So going by the picture up top, that report, and just putting things together, I think everything's going to be fine. Just spread out and maybe a little janky in distribution (there could be another dry patch in between batches). Though I have been wondering if Hurricane Harvey might have caused a brief plastics shortage since it happened. That could have also come into play if it did have any cause and effect.

Of course I don't know for sure, I don't claim to know everything. Just I've been at the TF game for a long time, and I've learned how to anticipate things. Professionally, I've worked a lot in logistics and various contract based businesses that require multiple factors and different hands at parts of the process to complete a product on time. I have seen what issues can and will happen if one of those hands has a problem and boy it can be a mess. Hell, maybe the sky is falling and it's as grim as the gloomy prediction readers see in their java script crystal balls. Who knows for sure? Time will tell, but we just have to wait for time to tell.

Black Shinkalion commercial

I haven't gotten and Shinkalion toys yet (look man, I got bills yo) though I really want some. I think Black Shinkalion is a must have though. I mean, LOOK at that thing. Spooky, scary villain bot and let's address the elephant in the room.

Dragon train mode.

Reminder in all time Zones, not just Pacific

Pacific Rim Uprising Blue Ray/DVD releases Junes 19