The Slime Pit

Slime is great. It's like a giant booger that you willingly buy and when used by Hordak a torture device that creates mindless zombies! I buy a lot of slime. Little dollar cans here and there in weird colors. For my wife, even more. Random types in random varieties with all sorts of stuff mixed in them. We have a slime loving household and we're damn well proud to call it home. This weekend while she looked at expensive slime (there's a boutique market) online I pondered about making a new version of the classic Slime Pit for my newer Master of the Universe mini figures.

It couldn't be too hard I recon (famous last words) and something I'd love to have. Though I want to make a smallish castle for my fantasy figures to display on. An included Slime Pit would be perfect and probably make for something great. Dang, now I have to find the appropriate Halloween decorations to craft this from.

Transformers More thans Meets the Eye 35th Anniversary Celebration

HASBRO REVEALS ‘MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE’ CAMPAIGN IN CELEBRATION OF TRANSFORMERS 35^TH ANNIVERSARY

Ultraman Taiga promo video

Starting July 6th 2019!

Axer

No prey is too large, no fee is too small.

Axer learned his craft hunting down microchip smugglers in the slag swamps of Cybertron. His custom-designed all-terrain Turbo Cycle is equipped with heat-seeking proton missile batteries, quadrophonic sonic blasters and magnetic-lock targeting destabilizer rifle; and converts to a dual photon cannon battle station.

Beast Morpher Gold Ranger revealed

Thanks to the official preview of this weeks Beast Morphers, not only do we find out the Gold Ranger will be making his first appearance on the show, but who it is.

*edit* The ongoing drama surrounding the new Gold Ranger that's been going on is something I find ridiculous and unacceptably toxic. I won't support any of the negativity nor will I purposely give it any attention. I thought Abraham Rodriguez has done great on Beast Morphers so far and will enjoy him as the Gold Ranger.

Captain America and the Avengers attract mode

Like many of you I'm excited for Avengers Endgame this weekend (tickets for Sunday morning woo!), which has me thinking back to the old Data East Captain America and the Avengers arcade game. I still remember the first time I played it. It was Halloween night in 1991. I was in the eight grade (same day as the Terminator 2 make up kit with horror robe *sigh*) and that night Mom took my brother and I to Pizza Hut and Fun Putt.

Fun Putt was a local amusement type place (the fun) with mini golf (that would be the putt), go-carts, batting cages, and an excellent arcade. It was there that I discovered the game and sunk a ton of quarters into it. Later the arcade at my local mall (my beloved Gold Mine Arcade... I'll morn ya till I jorn ya) got a machine which I put many quarters into as well. Later the home version came out and the local Blockbuster was all too happy to provide a copy for one great weekend. I hope it's on one of the upcoming Marvel Blast consoles from At Games, that'd be freaking amazing.

Action Masters mofo

I don't care what anyone says, I love Action Masters. It's hard not to they're great toys. Of course some folks have a hard time accepting Transformers that don't transform. That's fair. Me, well, between the partners and vehicles transforming (not to mention the Action Master Elites) the idea of conversion is retained. Not to mention one critical point.

I don't care. I just don't care.

It doesn't faze me at all. The toys are just great looking representations of classic characters as well as introduced new characters as really good action figures. The commercials really sell it too, I love that original animation. The Optimus Prime Armored Convoy vehicle was reused in Microman, which worked perfectly. Part of me wishes there was some sort of return to the idea. Super 7 has ReAction figures of Transformers coming. That's pretty close. Ideally, I'd like figures that match the sculpting style of the originals along with reissues sold in blond boxes. Not only because I'm crazy for blind packed toys, but I'd think that'd be pretty great. And it's my damn site, so what I think is pretty much what goes on here.

R-Type on Master System

Strider (Famicom version)

I was always a bigger fan of the arcade and Genesis versions of Strider more than the NES version. Though admittedly I've played those more. I really should put some time into the NES version sometime.

Trypticon

Total victory requires total destruction.

Doesn't stop blasting until he's hip-deep in smoking rubble. Completely without mercy. The most lethal fighting machine devised by the Decepticons. In dinosaur Mode, jumps 20 miles with rocket backpack. Shoots heat-seeking plasma bombs from mouth and mind-controlling hypno-beam from optical sensor. As city, has landing and repair bays, communications center and rotating scanners. In mobile station Mode, has laser cannon, rotating blasters, destructo-beams and dual photon launchers.

Godzilla: King of Monsters new trailer

Dang, this looks wonderful.

Grossery Gang

This past Sunday I lucked up on Grossery Gang blind packs on sale at my local Kroger while out with the wife. I've noticed the line for a while now, which is a spinoff of the Trash Pack a parody line of Shopkins. Between being a fan of blind bags, mini figures, and helping my wife buy Shopkins on occasion... there was only so much time before I checked these guys out.

I bought one pack in the 'Flush and Fizz' packaging for my first experience with these little guys. The 'Flush and Fizz' packaging is a fun play on the fizzy based blind packaging. The toys are inside a plastic toilet, with a funnel (part of the packaging) you pour water in the back tank until the fizz bubbles (it looks like pee) away and reveals your toys. There's other types of packaging available for the toys like standard blind bags, multi-packs, and such... buy the toilet was hard not to love. Not to mention, the figures themselves are great little rubber weirdos.

Being a recent purchase, the pack I bought was part of the 'Time Wars' series. Which is the fifth and allegedly final series of the line. I don't know if they plan on a new line in the same vein or what. Either way, Grossery Gang is fairly plentiful so buying a few more shouldn't be any trouble before they disappear. I kind of regret not buying more in the past as I'm pretty happy with the pack I got. With such a popular series of figures, I can only imagine something is slated to follow. Though I've noticed they are made by Moose, the same company that makes Treasure X (I've talked about this neat series on Transform Squadron). Treasure X has been increasing their product range, so maybe between that and the range of more gross blind bag toys on the shelves is the reasoning being Grossery Gang stopping (for now anyway).

Gameboy is a middle aged Gameman

The Gameboy is officially 30 years old. Kinda hoping some sort of special anniversary thing is made by Nintendo this year in commemoration, that would be great. Despite it's green/gray screen (inb4 whatever 'that's just cuz' excuses bed wetters will make) that so many made a big deal about back in the day, it outsold it's completion and with several upgrades was on shelves a long time.

I've always been a big fan of it and even though these days I've got my Switch and Genesis portable (not to mention phone) pulling portable gaming duties, the Gameboy is the machine that made me such a fan of portable gaming. Before it, I was chugging around little handheld LCD units that were fun, but super limited in ability (some were really good). When the Gameboy arrived under the Christmas tree, all bets were off and now I had a console system I could carry with me everywhere. And did.

Sandstorm (Machine Wars)

There's a bad storm, brewing, and I'm it!

Sandstorm has adapted a new battle copter configuration... but can still scream across the desert wastelands like a turbo-charged fireball! Dual turbine engines make speed his greatest asset, and they also double as powerful laser cannons that fire air-to-ground laser bursts which explode upon impact. Watch out, Decepticons!

The Other World was out of this World

Are you sure that's not a Halloween decoration?

When I was talking Shogun Warriors I mentioned discount stores and Arco toys. Arco Toys was a toy company (in case the name wasn't obvious enough) based in Hong Kong that made a lot of (guess what) toys that were generally in discount stores and other non-traditional places like drug and grocery stores. Hasbro didn't make Authentics back then, so maybe you'd find some close out older name brand toy... but more often it'd be one of these off brand lines. But that's not a dig, there's gold in those weird brands.

The Other World was such gold, a weird fantasy line when fantasy was all the rage thanks to He-Man and Star Wars. With packaging that looked like a heavy metal album and toys that looked like Halloween decorations mixed with just enough neat factor... The Other World was pretty great.

If you noticed from the picture of Castle Zendo, the figures are all standing with their arms outstretched. That's because they literally had no articulation as you traditionally know it. They were rubber bendy figures, the kind with a wire skeleton. Which of course resulted in eventual wire snaps creating arms in permanent 'gimme a hug' poses. A small inconvenience then the lizard man figure came with hell yeah awesome glow in the dark accessories. My love of glow in the dark stuff knows no bounds and in fact could be other worldly no damn pun intended. I lied, I totally intended it.

Figures came in a variety of ways. Solo figures with two of those little rubber weirdos. Extra weapon packs with rubber weirdos. Double figure packs with maybe one rubber weirdo. Monsters with a rubber weirdo. Big gift sets full of figures and monsters with rubber weirdos. No matter how you bought it, you were getting those little rubber weirdos and damn well like it. The orange weirdos are Jipps, basically little good guys to give your heroes support. The purple weirdos are Mogs, little jerks that work for the bad guys.

The Other World was a weird and wonderful toy line that didn't cost much. That's a recipe for sucess that doesn't come around as often as it should. The next time you're at that odd discount store picking up some random thing you need check out the toys. Sometimes there's a little rubber Halloween decoration trying to pass itself off as an action figure. How can you possibly ignore that?

Shogun Warriors are pretty metal

Earlier when talking about the Shogun Warriors kaiju, I mentioned the smaller die cast figures. Those are the Shogun Warriors toys I had as a kid. Sure the moment for the line had past, but being from those working class roots meant I often got toys from a discount store. These days discount stores usually have a specific version of mainline toys made particularly for that market with a little peppering of off brand goods. Then, however, you had a ton of off brand goods and a smattering of close out buys. So here I was in that preschool (I initially misspelled that and the spelling suggestion was pee school) age at some random shopping trip in between holidays and birthdays either going home with something made by Arco or one fateful day... Shogun Warriors.

I had no clue who Dragun or Poseidon was, but dude they were neat! They soon joined the forces of Darth Vader who now had whoopass robots to fight Luke Skywalker and The Hulk in battle. Super 7 has a cool line of Shogun Warriors in their ReAction series. I should get some of those.

Shogun Warriors Godzilla

Shogun Warriors were just before my time, though not for my older brother. While I had a few of the small die cast figures that had found their way to discount stores, my brother had a few of the awesome big ass Shogun Warriors. Godzilla and Rodan were part of that and I doubt I need to tell you the impact they had on me. Rodan stayed with me for years after my brother moved onto other things like boom boxes and recording songs off the radio. Literally the same Debbie Gibson song like fifty times...

Siege: The World Warrior

Hasbro Taiwan produced this neat stop motion Siege video in the style of a fighting game. I've been describing Siege box art as great Sega Genesis packaging... because it looks like Sega Genesis box art. I could see it programmed by Probe and presented by Acclaim.

it works for other consoles as well.

Star Wars Cup Noodle

Megatron's Neutro-Fusion Tank

Conquest of the universe rests upon the immediate termination of all Autobots!

Cybertron and Earth are not enough for this power-hungry Decepticon! Now he wants the whole galaxy! More ferocious and powerful than ever, this living engine of evil seeks the worlds throughout the cosmos and utterly crushes all those who dare defy him, especially the Autobots. In pursuit of these grisly goals, he drives the Neutro-Fusion Tank, a high-impact battle tank armed with fusion cannon, corrosive smoke shells, anti-aircraft photon machine guns, and heat-seeking mechano-sensors. The tank converts into a ground-to-air, wire-guided missile launcher, and search and destroy jet throne.

Jurassic Park Cup Noodle

Basically, you could win a T-Shirt and everyone will want your new t-shirt. 

I think.

Micro Morphers in a plastic shoebox

Simply put, Micro Morphers are driving me crazy. Because not only are they type of thing I go crazy over, but also because I haven't found any yet. It's hard not to want these things. Blind bag toys, check. Blind bag toys of something I like, check. Neat looking blind bag toys of something I like, check. It's not helping that Target hasn't restocked the blind bag Jurassic World Dino Rivals in a minute, but man when they do... oh man. Freaking check.

I'm anticipating getting multiple extras as it's obvious that the molds are getting heavily reused. Hoping for available codes, preparing for a million extras. You get two figures per pack, which is pretty good. In the Zords packs you get 2 figures and a Megazord. I'm mainly worried about getting too many extra Megazords as they look like they'll take up more space. A bunch of the regular figures, no problem, I plan on just putting them in one of those plastic Sterilite shoe boxes anyway. One of those boxes are $1 and stack. No problem. But those Megazords might require they're own box.

I have hopes and plans of some weekend hitting Target/Walmart to buy a ton of Micro Morphers and Dino Rival blind bags. Then maybe get pizza on the way home and have a helluva good time opening them. That would be a busy time on my Instagram. I know how to party.

Generations Selects Smokecreen

Thanks to Hasbro and Rogers and Cowan
for providing Zone Base with this news

The new Generations Selects Smokecreen is up for pre-order at most online retailers now, so go out and get one! I don't have any affiliate links, so don't worry which one benefits Zone Base, just hope readers enjoy the site!

That's pretty sharp looking, hope I can get one myself.

Depth Charge

A magnificent giant soars through the oceans in regal silence. Depth Charge was commissioned by Optimus Primal to act as a first line of defense against Predacon undersea aggressors. Though he would rather study military strategies than execute them, Depth Charge is a dedicated fighter and inspired leader. Nuclear cybershark drone conducts recon missions, doubles as reinforcement in battle, and fires dual proton torpedoes. Intermediate space-cruiser mode can achieve planetary orbit or withstand the deepest oceanic pressures. As a robot, he fires shrapnel grenades from his chest and can maintain a force field for five mega cycles. With unshakable nerves and Energon-cutlass in hand, Depth Charge leads his brave platoon into battle.

Star Wars episode IX sneak peak excitement

Celebration is happening this weekend. Best thing about these mega cons for those who don't attend is the flux of news that comes from them. That means the first trailer for Star Wars IX : The Rise of Skywalker. Which of course means I've been an emotional tornado since waking up today. Joy, excitement, happiness, pure bliss. Star Wars is the reason I'm into the things I'm into and something I purely love. But enough about my feels and more onto my thoughts. Thoughts other than fist pumping and making noises that make the dogs bark. I don't have dogs, but that's what's wrong with yours.

I've been a huge fan of The First Order since they were revealed and that opening shot of the Tie Fighter heading right into Rey is awesome. The First Order to me is just so menacing. Like, ok, The Empire was of course the big bad. But The Empire fell and the follow up HAS to be a force to reclaim what they had. The First Order doesn't pull punches and is genuinely scary. They are the space military equivalent of a slasher movie killer. Not to mention, the imagery is awesome. I love the black and red combinations. Love the Storm Troopers. Love Kylo Ren's look, and seeing him putting his helmet back together makes me oh so happy.

My love for licensed merchandise is no secret and that's another fault of Star Wars. The prospect of all that fun stuff coming tied into this movie has me literally salivating in anticipation. Force Friday is October 4th this year, and I'll be directly at my local Walmart after getting off work that morning to check out the goods. I'm a fan of Hasbro's standard 5 point 3 1/4 line and can't wait to dig into the goods. I hope At Games Star Wars consoles will be out by then, I figured they'd have the Marvel ones out in time for Avengers 4, but guess not. I wonder if they'll start pumping out the Disney ones by Christmas, maybe even as Disney Plus launches.

Warduke is everything

I'm not a Dungeons and Dragons guy. I've tried to play it, it seems awesome, I'm just not a role player. I've certainly enjoyed D&D in other forms. The cartoon (which was awesome), the old toy line, various books and the occasional video game. You know, stuff. The stuff is great. One character that I've always loved and held in high regard is Warduke. Warduke is good stuff.

I was first introduced to Mr. Duke by getting his action figure, then he'd pop up on the cartoon and other outlets (odd children's book via weekly reader and other stuff). Just pure bad ass. One day I'm going to replace my old action figure of him (his parts lay in memorial at my Mom's house). Though despite only getting that one action figure, I've kinda gotten him in other forms. It's a stretch, but work with me here, I'm going somewhere with this. Somewhere bad ass.

Warduke has a very distinct looking design. Know how you see a skeleton warrior and Skeletor just pops in your mind? A red and blue robot, that's nobody else than Optimus Prime. Warduke has that kind of design for me. Death Adder, Sideways, Powers of Pain... the list could go on, but I've made my point. If not, look I don't know what to tell you. I totally made it, ok? You fucking know I did.

I don't know if Warduke's design is based on an older thing, and really I don't care. Warduke is just my general name for that look. Every gelatin is Jello, every tissue is Kleenex, every kinda mid evil/bat wing head heavy metal looking dude is Warduke. I feel like every air brushed carnival ride has featured Warduke in some way. I know I've seen variations of his design on haunted houses in the shady parking lot carnivals a million times. That's how the old cartoon started, so you might want to be careful riding one of those. You'll either be transported to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, or catch some weird disease. The seats on those things man... what are those stains even from?

Is it poop?

Anti-Aircraft Base

Persistence is the cornerstone of victory.

One of the most powerful Decepticon weapons ever. Commanded by Spaceshot and Blackout that combine to form a B-1 bomber jet. Able to plot a course of attack in the middle of battle, change maneuvers to match the enemy and emerge victorious. Often circles overhead during battle, surveying the battlefield and providing air and ground support when necessary. Tank armed with sophisticated all-terrain and underwater attack capabilities. Also armed with dual 50mm cannons for long range firepower. In battle station Mode, outfitted with 3-stage photon rocket launcher, heat-seeking stun laser and turret that converts to devastating gun emplacement. On-board computer radar guidance systems and automated repair bays provide additional ground support. Self-propelled scout vehicle fully equipped for short range reconnaissance missions, and can reach speeds in excess of Mach 1.

Son of Frankenstein

Without a doubt, Son of Frankenstein is my favorite Frankenstein movie. I've always loved the plot and mood of the overall film. The monster is clearly a villain, shedding his sympathetic plight and working with the murderous Igor. As the movies title suggests, Dr. Frankenstein's son is the one causing all the havoc. Moving to his families castle with his wife and child, he soon discovers the monster and sets out to restore his fathers good name... and pretty much fails when a bunch of people die. The monster looks great here with his fur vest, making him look more barbaric than before. The presentation of the lab's ruins with the family mansion gives the movie a great haunted castle vibe. At any minute Igor is peeking through a window or hidden door causing all sorts of chaos. It's monster mayhem with a great story to boot.

Masters of the Universe is pretty bad ass

Masters of the Universe is often mocked for being silly and campy (because we all know just how gritty He-Man is, right?) though I still love it. Part of me always appreciates how it's more of an adaption of the mini-comics than the cartoon. Sure, the mini-comics eventually caught up with the cartoon, but at first He-Man was just this bad ass warrior. Which I always thought was awesome. Just this bad ass warrior in his heavy metal castle full of magic and laser guns fighting a skeleton guy. There's no way that's not awesome.

Still, I think I die inside a little every time I hear Julie say good journey to Gwildor. 

Good journey Gwildor *barf*.

Transform Squadron 008 - The He-Mandella Effect

Listen Here

In the April 2019 edition of Transform Squadron, Rob talks about his birthday adventure before talking Beast Machines Obsidian.

Animorphs Transformers

I've written about Animorphs Transformers toys here before.

But, you know... it's been awhile.

F-Zero

So, last weekend after we had settled down from my birthday adventure, I played some F-Zero while the wife slept before falling asleep myself. I've always liked F-Zero on the SNES and with our 'mini' consoles in the bedroom, I can play games while the wife sleeps. She usually falls asleep (it took me like 5 times to spell asleep right, that's uncalled for) before I do and there I am just quietly playing F-Zero and farting so loud it wakes her up.

I can't count how many times I've farted while someone was sleeping and they thought it was a ghost. 

It's pretty ridiculous.

I'd like to think I'm good at it (F-Zero), but realistically, I'm probably terrible (much better at farting). I have fun though (both). Thinking this weekend... I should put some time in F-Zero again. Right now my plans include some kind of grape flavored drink and maybe some Pringles. Probably watch some old horror movie at a point. 

I like to play Pico normally, sometimes Captain Falcon. I just misspelled Falcon and it wasn't until I saw the little red line underneath it until I noticed. Falcon is the main guy and has the best car, but Pico seems to handle those crazy turns better and that's where business is done. While everybody is all skidding around those corners, Pico just rolls around them in his car that looks like Cosmos. Just rolls around and keeps going. You gotta be ready to trade some paint in those corners. They say that in racing.

The Monster Squad

Monster Squad is the best movie ever.

A Star [Convoy] is born

Damn, that's sharp!

Images of a new Star Convoy toy were all over the place today as his release as a Generations Select is imminent. Made from the Power of the Primes Optimus Prime, the toy is gorgeous. The POTP Optimus toy was already great looking as is, but with the Star Convoy additions... dang. I'll be trying to get one of these upon it's release as Star Convoy is one of those forever awesome Transformers to me. Forever awesome.

Prime time.

There's a bit of a dual homage going on here. Sure, in evolution mode, that's a super Star Convoy update. Though I noticed the standard robot mode, with the new parts to turn the Orion Pax into a traditional Optimus Prime, they've almost replicated the old Battlestars/Return of Convoy back of box art.

 

See it now?

I'm not sure if that was the intent, but it sure is neat. 

 

Here's hoping it comes with a Micromaster Hot Rod.

Ginrai

Ginrai

A gentle intellectual, he is usually a quiet commander, but when the Destrons start attacking, he becomes a warrior whose bravery is second to none. Well versed in various martial arts, he is willing to lay down his life to defend against destruction and invasion.

Super Ginrai

Godbomber

A new warrior constructed by the Cybertrons on Earth after they receive information from the Cybertron space warrior Grand Maximus. Godbomber performs the "Super-God Combination" with Super Ginrai, becoming God Ginrai. The project to build him is called the Bomber Plan.

God Ginrai

The ultimate Cybertron warrior, born of the "Super-God Combination" of Super Ginrai and Godbomber, whom it took all the power of the Cybertron space warrior Grand Maximus and the Cybertrons on Earth to build.

Netflix's Ultraman early impressions

After waiting for months for Netflix's new Ultraman series to start, I finally got a chance to watch the first few episodes earlier today. With the season consisting of 13 episodes of 22 minutes each, it won't take long to watch it all even on my schedule. The show is based on a manga series starring the son of the original Ultraman in a mature and gritty take on the 50 year old series. It's a sequel to the original Ultraman series, so it's easy to jump in even if you haven't watched much Ultraman.

I really like the show so far. The characters are written well and the plight of our hero is a relatable one. He's growing into his role as a super hero and dealing with all the inner turmoil that goes along with it. The Science Patrol has evolved with the times and is presented how a organization like it should. Visually, the show is striking. Though I will say the human characters are not as detailed as the other characters like aliens or Ultras. I don't know if that's just me though, and it might well just be my perception. Either way, it's not distracting, just noticeable. Earlier I mentioned the show was gritty and mature, and it is. However, so far that doesn't feel forced ala Zack Snyder movies (pouring sand into water to make it 'gritty' and as dark as a 14 year old in a ICP shirt). Rather it feels natural, and more like a serious take on the subject matter.

I've had high hopes for this show and am pleased so far. Really hoping that the rest of the season delivers and the show has more seasons.

Inferno (1985)

Where there's smoke, there's me.

The hotter things get, the better he likes it, and this goes for fires AND fights! Inferno can do anything Earth fire trucks can in vehicular mode, but is often distracted from his job to engage in combat. His great strength is thanks to his ceramic-plated armored skin that can withstand 8000 degrees Celsius. He also has an extinguisher rifle that shoots flame-suppressing foam, an energy dampening beam to counter other beams and forearms that shoot missiles. Unfortunately, he doesn't follow orders well and isn't very mobile as a robot.

King Ghidorah, 3 heads are better than 1

It's hard to see the hype for the upcoming Godzilla: King of Monsters without getting excited, though the past few days my focus has been mostly on Ghidorah. There's badass and then there's King Ghidorah level badass. Depending on the movie, Ghidorah's orgin's change, though I'm mostly fond of his space alien roots from the Showa era. There's something special to a monster from outer space who's based on a hybrid of the Hydra and Orochi who's purpose is to destroy.

Switch Online April 2019 NES games

I can't believe I'm this excited for Star Soldier, but here I am... excited for Star Soldier!

Jetfire and Shockwave

One of my birthday gifts was a Siege Shockwave figure. It's hard not to like Shockwave, just a great sci fi looking robot and a badass villain. So having Shockwave on the mind, I decided to see what old stuff I could find on him and as logic would dictate, his old commercial popped right up. Co-sold here with Jetfire, they really present the two larger toys well. I really like the animated bit, it's not often you got to see Jetfire animated in G1. Usually, thanks to legal issues, you had to take Skyfire and like it. Sure Jetfire's original toy could be see animated on the other channel, but man it just looks great in red.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

I grew up watching The Phantom of the Opera on a VHS tape given to me by my aunt over and over again. I was an early lover of the Universal Monsters and the Phantom was one of the first members of the crew. I like to look back at the movie, because it's just so damned weird. The Phantom is human (spoilers, almost 100 year old movie), but seems like some demonic ghost due to his presentation. It doesn't help that the overall presentation of the movie comes off like some macabre art project, only aided by the quirks created by film making of the time.

Frame rates and low resolution make for unnatural movements performed by ghoulish looking people. The opening title screen of the movie with the ghost floating about over the opera house is scary enough alone. It's funny, this trailer almost seems like a cursed video and not like the advertisement for a big production studio movie. Considering the actual original movie is lost to time and whatever version you can watch now is loosely stitched together from odd clips... it could be a cursed video at this point.

Hallmark 2019 Bumblebee ornament

Hallmark unveiled their 2019 Transformers Christmas tree ornament and I'm happy to see it's Bumblebee! Based on the 2004 Encore version of the mold that was used in the recent Walmart 'vintage series' exclusive, Bumblebee sports a cartoon accurate head sculpt. Which is more recognizable for the casual audience, though I do guess his original versions face mask does look like the movie incarnation. Personally I'm pretty excited for this. I love the Hallmark Christmas TF ornaments. Specially these toy based ones that are almost perfect replicas of the toys. Bumblebee here is just a render, but it looks damn near identical. It looks great. I'll be sure to get it this summer and probably never actually hang it on the tree.