Stranger Things 4!

Can't wait for the best damn show on TV to return!

Spirit Halloween Visit!

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Time for a scary adventure at my local Spirit store! #zonebase #halloween #spirit #spirithalloween #spooky #hauntedhouse

A post shared by Rob Springer (@roborobspringer) on Sep 29, 2019 at 7:32pm PDT

Spooky Songs- Scared by Dangerous Toys

I randomly post music here without ever considering actually making a playlist. So maybe I should just try to help you with yours. Halloween is one of those times that folks like to make an accompanying soundtrack to go along with the season. It's just fun you know, for that Halloween party. For that car ride to a haunted house, or just background music while carving a pumpkin. One song I never seem to hear being brought up oddly enough is Scared by Dangerous Toys. It just seems so obvious.

somebody should really do a recall on those toys right?

Thunder Punch He-Man will beat the shit out of you

It's a crime that I haven't taken the time to talk about my favorite version of He-Man ever. Talking about Thunder Punch He-Man of course, the best Master of the Universe. What makes this particular version so special? Let's start small, look at that fabulous red outfit. It just looks better than his standard outfit. If you noticed he looks a bit beefier in this incarnation, you're not imagining things, Thunder Punch powers makes the most powerful man in the universe even more stronger. More powerful in the form of an explosive right hook. Regular He-Man is strong, Thunder Punch knock your ass out.

That great looking red outfit contains a red backpack that you insert cap-gun caps into. With a twist of the waist and He-Man punches with an explosive pow complete with satisfying gun powder smoke. On Eternia, if you smell gun powder smoke, He-Man just stomped a mud hole in Hordak's ass and walked it dry.

Adding to the overall superiority of this He-Man is his weapons. You've got a bright yellow power sword that just looks so much better in that yellow than it did in silver. Not to mention his cool chrome shield that can also holster said better looking sword holy crap this toy is amazing. With little details like his white rimmed books, Thunder Punch He-Man always felt like a more premium action figure. Of course in my eyes it is a premium action figure, the most master a Master of the Universe could ever be.

This Damn Cursed Cereal Commercial Will Haunt Your Dreams

I don't know exactly what the curse is here. The back story, the complete effects, not much other than it's a 3AM challenge type of thing. So last night I watched it at 3AM and I saw that clown bastard every time I closed my eyes for what felt like an eternity. I've mentioned many times my overnight work hours, what I don't normally mention is that I'm 100% alone for 80% of my work night. I freaking swear I saw him peaking at me from around the corner. It got to a point where I was checking under my desk regularly. Could it have just been my imagination, yeah maybe. Or maybe this damn Bootleg Ass Rice Krispy asshole won't go away! Most sites just ask you for money, not me, no way. I ruin your chances of sleeping. Happy Halloween, here's a fucking cereal clown from hell.

Ronin Mecha on Tubi

I've mentioned on here before my love of Korean rip off robot anime. Hell, I've posted a few. There's just a charm of those dollar bin robot cartoons full of stolen robot designs in adventures that I guess form a plot. Look, I don't think I really need to explain why Diaclone Inferno... I mean... you know what site you're on right?

So I was perusing Tubi earlier and discovered they've begun hosting a ton of them. Now as a series called Ronin Mecha. Like putting them together as a movie series, which makes sense considering some of them are literally made from others re-edited together. It's great to see them constantly add to their collection of Super Robot cartoons on Tubi. For the record I love Tubi and I'm sure if you're a Zone Base reader you're probably a fan too. It's practically the streaming service of Zone Base.

The Cursed Micky Mouse video (trigger warning)

According to urban legend, this is the lost Mickey Mouse cartoon called Suicide Mouse. The story goes that Leonard Maltin found the clip while putting together a Disney DVD compilation. He got disturbed watching the clip and had his assistant finish watching for him, which lead to the assistant stumbling out of the room, saying “Real suffering is not known” seven times before killing himself with the security guards gun. This is one of those cases where I'm putting a warning on the video for you all. If your easily upset I'd avoid watching this. Also trigger warnings for suicide themes and well... the damn things supposedly cursed. So, I'm not telling you you have to watch it or anything... but it's pretty messed up.

Fire, wood, lame dealer

I've had Battle Beast Chariots on my mind today. Instead of asking myself why, instead I chose to bask in the glory of little cat head cars. I could say here again that I wished the line would return again, but you know I do and I'm sure you do as well. Fortunately there's plenty of homages and similar toys to help fill that void. I am instantly reminded of Shawn and I's little Battle Beast adventure at Toylanta this past spring though.

Last year, we both racked up on Beast Saga figures via the awesome dealer who sets up a giant display of baskets with grouped together toys. This past year, they were a little harder to find. As Saturday marched on, Shawn got in a conversation with a dealer who had promised to bring a bunch of Battle Beasts Sunday. He told me that evening and we made plans to hit that table first off and clear that mofo out. Battle Beasts are like the N.W.O, they're for life. Unlike the N.W.O, we don't have to figure out what Stings up to. Sting wasn't being very clear. Wolfpac or not dude. Wolfpac or not.

Sunday morning came and I was running a little late getting to the con thanks to traffic, but Shawn had stayed at the hotel and got to the guy first thing. As I was walking in he found me with the look of cold blooded murder in his eyes. The dealer lied. Not a one. Not a single fire, wood, nor water. It was then and there we shot the guy and fed his asshole to his children. I'm lying, we just sulked a bit and his asshole eating children went hungry,

Kenner Star Wars playsets are dope as fuck

BAD ASS

Freddy can boost store profits!

Unless you're a lot younger than I realize, I don't have to remind many of you of the joys of a video rental store. While I usually stuck around the horror section in those golden VHS days, come Halloween time, that was the most popular location in the store. Everybody wanted something scary to watch Halloween night while eating a Tombstone pizza. It's just an ideal way to spend the evening while trick or treating the kids. Usually people went for the heavy hitters, Michael, Jason, Leatherface, and of course Freddy.

Well, did you know Freddy was a very profitable character? Not just in theaters, but especially on home video? In the case of the video above... well, Freddy is a smash hit money maker who's the talk of the town. You can count on his movies making your store a TON of money... especially at Halloween.

My fish is sick

Our little beta Burt might be just a fish to you, but that's because you've never met him. He's just full of personality that it's hard not to love him. Right now Burt is sick and I've been scared to death that he might not make it. I know fish don't have the longest life spans, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to let him go just yet. I just want to watch my little friend swim around his aquarium and be happy.

Edit 9/27/19: Despite out best efforts, Burt passed away a few days later. I'll miss you buddy.

Chucky's Adventures in Japan

I've been noticing the popularity of Chucky in Universal Studios Japan's Halloween Horror Nights. He practically has a presence every year, haunted mazes, merchandise, he's always there. I like Chucky too. But does he deserve a theme park presence specifically in Japan? He pops up here from time to time, but he's a constant there. So I thought I'd just see what came up for Japanese Child's Play in YouTube and really just a collection or two of commercials. Just foreign language versions of the same movies. Though it's hard to deny how great that kanji looks on that footage, almost at home even. I've admitted I'm a fan of kanji on things, it just looks great, but it really does match up perfectly.

Biocombat on a dark and stormy night

Transmetal Scavenger is a funny toy. He was obviously intended to be Transmetal Inferno at some point, so much so that the Japanese version IS Transmetal Inferno. Considering Inferno was originally meant to be Megatron, Inferno has a habit of intended to be somebody else at some point. Hell, I still remember my Scavenger's receipt saying 'Inferno'... and Rampage's said 'Killer Crab' which would have been a great name. Though on his own, Scavenger is a good looking toy. I'm convinced he's a homage to Warudaros, but that's a return to all the intended to be talk earlier.

ESWAT

Hell yeah Haunted Mansion... not that one

The problem with most haunted attractions is that they look super great until you actually go inside one. Between the cheesy black plastic hung up standing in for walls and the workers annoying you with bad acting, you kind of regret going. Not to mention the only real scares after a certain age are jump scares, and well, I'm pretty sure we've all been startled by the toaster on occasion. Sure the big budget ones like Halloween Horror Nights are amazing, but your local haunt is usually pretty ratchet.

If it's a charity haunt, you're more likely to look past the cheesiness as it's for a good cause. A local for profit... well... I paid 20$ to get in here and the damn cashier from the gas station that wears the same Marilyn Manson shirt every day is apparently a vampire... and still wearing that shirt... just jumped out. It startled me initially and now he's saying really stupid lines. I'm switching gas stations.

Though when you look at pictures or even old commercials for them, like the Haunted Mansion (no relation) commercial above, it's pretty charming. Though age helps. Those older ones have a charm that can't be replicated. Admittedly it's perspective, the witch was the lady who works at the bowling alley and wore the same Dio shirt every day.

Machine Robo Battle Armor 5 is my band name

I've posted this before, but as is the nature of sharing video clips from the internet, sometimes they disappear leaving a post with a grey box where a video should be. Shit happens I guess, but it gives me another chance to share this really cool long form animated commercial for Battle Armor 5. Battle Armor 5 is what GoBots fans know as Courageous and Grungy. Or as Zone Base readers know as Our Friend Power 5.

Kazuo Umezu Haunted House

Kazuo Umezu is a Japanese horror and manga writer who comes up with some pretty messed up stuff. So it's only natural that he'd have his own haunted attraction right? That being said, this commercial from 1995 is pretty far out. There's a plethora of haunted attractions during the Halloween season, but one based on the literary works of an author is pretty cool. You know there's that one dude after everyone left the house and went for pizza who swears it was better in the book. You damn well know he didn't read any book.

Mega Mini

Earlier this morning (yesterday for you) I got my SEGA Genesis Mini. In case you've missed it before, I work over night. As in from around 6:30pm to 7am normally, that's why my today and your today may differ some (I also schedule posts in advance). What that means in this case is, I was off work right as stores were opening. Near my work is both a Walmart and Target. I went to the Walmart first as they're 24 hours.

Now, I could have went around midnight which is usually when I take my lunch, but as I've learned in the past, it's impossible to buy anything at midnight release at this Walmart. They will never have it ready for sale until the morning for any reason. It's not even worth trying and complaints to customer service go nowhere. So, I got there around 7:30am. I walked around the electronics department for a few minutes and couldn't see any Mini's. As I was leaving, I spotted the boxes behind the sections registers. I quickly go over to the nearby worker who's stocking DVD's and ask if I could buy it, and they said sure. Then it wasn't it in the system and I was told it was a recall dammit to hell.

Here's the Walmart curse, somehow when the employees stock, they don't always do whatever it is in the computer that they've done it or something. What then happens is it's not available for sale. You will be able to fly directly from your feet to Mars without any rocket propulsion before the cashier will not assume it's a recall and get mad at you for trying to buy a product on their shelves. I then politely said 'Today's the release date, it's just probably not in there yet, is there a manager?' The cashier then told me that today, the 19th was not the 19th, and that meant it was not to be sold until tonight at midnight. And then got mad when I said that would then be the 20th. Then they told me things don't come out on Thursdays and at that point I told them to never mind and left for Target.

I got to the Target just as they were opening. Went right to the electronics section. They neither had any on shelf, but hey, it was probably behind a counter or something. They did just open after all. After a moment I saw an employee, asked, and they called the electronics employee who was in fact getting them from the back room. I got my Mini, a Mtn Dew, and some cool Halloween cat treats and went home. They call it Target because they're on point, you see.

I got home and unfortunately didn't really have time to play my new console. I ate something and laid down for some sleep. Don't worry, I'm going to play the hell out of it. I did take time to open up the box and admire the console and controllers. It comes with two 3 button controllers made from the original molds. The original Genesis 3 button controller is my all time favorite controller and boy it's awesome to open a brand new set of them. This weekend I plan to buy one of the 6 button controllers available. Hopefully I'll be able to score one of those cool translucent blue ones, it looks awesome. I've seen some wireless ones already that look like Saturn controllers, and that's very tempting.

I really want a Mega Tower Mini set to go with this so bad. I've been looking around and have a pretty good feeling it will end up on that Christmas list my wife wants me to make for her. Sure, it's just a silly toy, but damn it's cool. It's funny, no matter how many newer consoles I buy, I can never leave behind the 8 and 16 bit eras. I honestly never get tired of playing those games and get excited for every new way to play them. Holding a brand new SEGA made Genesis in my hands is pure joy for me.

Season of the Subliminal

I've spoken at lengths about my love for Halloween 3, I think that was the bulk of the Halloween 2017 season here on the site. If you look past the weirdness of being a Halloween without Michael Myers, you'll see that it's basically Halloween TV Special the movie. It basks in the theme of Halloween so much that local TV stations used to use clips of it to advertise their own Halloween programing. It's wonderful... and a little stupid.

So of course I like commercials and trailers. It's a big part of this site, well, watching the original theatrical trailer the other day... I heard something I hadn't noticed before. Mind you, I've seen this same clip a million times, so finding something new (to me) is kinda amazing. I was putting together my Lunchables Uploaded sandwich and heard something faint. What was that? I restarted the video and turned up the volume... There's clearly a voice whispering the name of the movie throughout the trailer.

In my childhood when satanic panic was gripping the suburbs and parents were running their kids records backwards to see if Iron Maiden had subliminal message. Horror movies was another alleged gateway to satanism according to the pamphlets. Here it is all these years later and I finally find a subliminal message. And that message it watch the dang movie currently being advertised.

Evolution Revolution

Today (yesterday for you) was the 20th anniversary of the premiere of Beast machines on Fox Kids. Beast Machines was one of those shows that upset a lot of people who had nothing else to do. Admittedly it took me a while to warm up to it as well, despite being the direct sequel to Beast Wars, it was a pretty big departure. The characters all acted different, they looked different, it was different. Despite change being the central theme of Transformers, it doesn't always go over well. In fairness, when established characters behave completely different the following season, it's jarring. Once I warmed up to the new show though, I found myself liking it quite a lot.

One thing I did enjoy immediately was the fact that the show was based on Cybertron. I like space opera and the post movie seasons of G1 I liked the best. For the record, I'm not concerned with alt modes in how much sense they make. They never do. It's a fun play gimmick that they shoehorned into a plot. To me it's always been a utilitarian type of thing more than a disguise despite how much the concept of disguise has been sold. Just like nobody complained about Laserbeak and Ravage in space, I'm not concerned with a monkey on Cybertron. Smaller more tactical alt forms makes more sense to me in tight fitting corridors and avoiding getting shot by hordes of enemies. Even without Beast Wars leading in, it just makes sense that a small group of survivors would pick forms that would help the evade and hide themselves. Besides, who the hell was Cosmos disguising himself from? Skeptics?

The show had a really mature theme and dark outlook. I'm not sure of the show runners were aware that it was intended for children, it felt way more like something made for the Sci Fi Channel. That's another thing that drew me in, I was 21 and it was 1999. Darker and edgier stuff was my cup of tea and pretty much everything had gone hardcore as well. Then you have the updated designs, the Vehicons look more at home in something like Evangelion or other far out mecha shows. That was definitely the cool thing at the time in robot shows and BM utilized it really well.

A lot of people didn't like Nightscream. That's one thing I never got. I loved him. I thought he looked cool and he was based on John Connor from Terminator 2. That's something I really liked. Everybody has the right to their own opinion of course, but if it's not the popular one good grief. I never lost any sleep over it though. If you're still whining about a cartoon character you didn't like 20 years later, good lord find something to do. There's literally actual important things happening right now and since then.

20 years later, I still enjoy the show. Is it my favorite? No, just one of the shows from the past 35 years that I enjoyed. There is something novel about a 20 year old show that upset everything so much that the franchise did a complete about face. Or as much as I joke about fanboys crying about a 20 year old cartoon they didn't like, there is something to be said that they're still complaining 20 years later. Sometimes a paradigm shift doesn't last, but I can appreciate it non-the-less.

Rangerstop Atlanta 2020 Announced!

Woo! I was just wondering when next years show would be! Looking forward to June already!

Halloween and Drug Stores

I don't know what it is about drug stores, but they're absolutely awesome during Halloween. The rest of the year... not so much. Except for Walgreen's, they've managed to nail down that 'hey, I'd like to shop there aside from when I need a prescription' aesthetic. CVS though? CVS sucks. Unless it's Halloween time and then suddenly I'm ok with buying a Pepsi for a million dollars as long as they've got mellow creme pumpkins. You know they do, that's a drug store staple. Old timey stuff and like the most ratchet Halloween merch available. Back in the day though, drug stores gave bigger stores a run for their money. I've never been to a LaVerdiere's, but if it's one thing I've learned about them is that they were a pretty great place to get your Halloween on.

Insert a generic Transformers post title here

Today (yesterday for you) marked the 35th anniversary of the original Transformers cartoon. I'm just going to take a moment to appreciate a show I've been watching over and over for 35 years. I kinda I have to at this point. My strongest memories of the show was right around when it first started airing and my family had recently moved to a neighborhood in Statesboro GA. Like most kids around my age, I was obsessed with all the various cartoons and toys. For some reason this one stood out. It just did, I am who I am, and I like what I like. I like Transformers.

There's a few moments that are the type of thing that only happen when you're a child (normally). Megatron pulls a swerve and my brother and I looking at each other in surprise and disbelief with our mouths wide open. Or Megatron says something sinister and my cousin standing straight up yelling at the tv "THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK MEGATRON" shortly before my uncle tells him to shut the hell up. You never really get those moments back. If anything, that's what I have nostalgia for.

That Halloween, thanks to my local K-Mart, I was Snarl in my cool Collegeville costume. The kind with the name of the character on the chest so you could point it out to the old lady who asked what you were. Later that old lady went to a closed store, read the store was closed on the sign, then proceeded to beat on the door only to ask the cleaning crew if the store was closed. While the smock has long dissolved to time (my parents probably threw it away), I still have the mask somehow. Somehow. It slowly evaporates year after year. It wasn't meant to last a lifetime and it's eventually just going to fade from existence.

We lived in a neighborhood across the street from a college. Just behind the college was a tiny movie theater that we later saw the 1986 movie at. A kid from the bus who seemingly had his Perceptor with him everyday managed to watch every showing. He was a little older than me and one of my brothers friends. Sometimes I wonder if that kid grew up to be another one of us in what became the Transformers fandom. I was the only kid in my 3rd grade class to see the movie and got to have that cool moment of telling everybody what happened just in time for the new season to start. That kid who cried every morning was pretty upset.

We moved out of Statesboro and into the suburbs of Atlanta by the end of season 3. That following fall The Rebirth aired ending the show (for us in the US anyway) before beginning the reruns of season 5 and G2... or just reruns on odd channels. The comic continued for a while and the toys chugged on, but that cartoon never went away. I'm not being wistful, you can watch it on Tubi. But seriously, here I am 41 and still talking about it just like I was in second grade on the bus. Just a little more sarcastic.

Did I ever imagine I'd still be talking about that show all these years later? No. I don't think it ever occurred to me that I'd grow up. It's a surprise to some people that I spent my spare time with this old cartoon and talking about it online. I guess it isn't normal, though now in the time of social networking talking about old shows is common place. I'm not sure what my life would be like now without that cartoon. I don't mean that in any phony pseudo deeper meaning type of way. I mean that as outside of my wife and co-workers, the people I talk to most are because of that cartoon. I'm not ashamed of that either. I'm happy, I like who I am. So, like I said, I kind of owed it to that old cartoon to take a moment to talk about it a little. It's part of my life and part of me.

Let's go to Woolworth

Look guys, I know it's only mid-September and that means one thing... THE CLOCKS TICKING! We need to get our costumes picked out. We need candy and some of those damn paper people with the long stretchy arms. Get your shoes on, we're going to Woolworth!

Robots and Rangers

This weekend a new episode of Cyberverse premiered on CN as well as Beast Morphers returning from it's mid-season hiatus. Cyberverse continues to be great. I really like how the shorter time of the episodes keeps the story tight without much filler. Sure, filler time can be great when used right. They can expand on characters, do some world building, that kind of thing. But honestly, the bite sized Cyberverse allows for more direct story telling and more punchy action. Which I really like. At this point Transformers doesn't need to be re-established, so the core concept is usually enough to drive the action. Fortunately the first season did enough of the world building to make it work. Cyberverse is essentially core concept Transformers as is, probably more of the reason I like it. There's been too much over convolution and unnecessarily over complicating things in Transformers as is. Thank goodness for simplification.

Beast Morphers is a great Power Rangers show. Really fun and well written (for the most part) show obviously intended for children, but still enjoyable for a middle aged dork. I really enjoy the setting of Grid Battle Force and the overall vibe of the show. Considering the tradition of PR holiday specials, I'm really curious about how their Halloween specials will work out. I really like the action figures being made. While not premium figures, they're still super nice. You have to wonder if Hasbro is making a point to make the toys so nice as it's essentially their first go with the brand. Or maybe they'll just have great Ranger toys.

Dracula doesn't know how to use the M+ button

What's he calculating? Bet he's just making it say asshole.

Battle at Big Rock

The new Jurassic World short 'Battle at Big Rock' is out and it's a pretty fun little adventure. Taking place after the events of Fallen Kingdom, the dinosaurs are now causing trouble on the main land! I personally enjoyed the clips of dinosaur mayhem during the credits. Made me really think of those old Dinosaurs Attack trading cards.

The cool costumes of 1986 and every thang

The crew of WDEF 12 news sure have a problem with kids not dressing as monsters. Children dressing as their favorite cartoon characters are a cause for concern, so much that mask example lady made a point to do an expose on the issue. I guess they weren't concerned with Libya. Though look around that store during the time, even if the employees have some questionable costumes on... looking at you green wig lady. Not cool, but that wall of Madballs is. But we can all agree that the kid at :50 rules.

"They got blood running down their face and every thang"

Combat Optimus Prime and Megatron

Still some of the best Transformers ever made.

Friday on the 13th is some spooky shit

Friday the 13th is like having a mini Halloween randomly during the year. Though when a F13th is during the Halloween season it's extra special! There's all that great spooky stuff on the shelves and those dollar hockey masks everywhere! So when you get some great scary edition snacks sure to make your next bowel movement extra colorful and sit down to watch that horror marathon. Make sure to find whatever channels playing Friday the 13th instead of Wishmaster because seriously FX ... not cool. The hell even.

There's universal rules. You don't spit in the wind, you don't put metal in the microwave, and it's always Friday the 13th part 5 on tv. The listing said part 7 is on now, but it's going to be part 5. It's always part 5. The entire marathon is just part 5. You know, the one with the fake Jason... Roy. Part 5. Now that's not a complete negative, Roy's mask had cool blue stripes and he kills a guy while he's on a porta potty. Part 5.

After Reggie visits his brother Demon, Demon realizes he must visit the euphemism. Like Euchariah, he's on fiya. After an Oscar worthy recreation of your mom after Thanksgiving dinner... I can't even... like his girlfriend and him start singing and... just watch. Yes, that's Juwanna Mann.

The movie is not all about dying whilst pooping, it's also about... so yeah dying on a toilet. Part 5. Oh yeah, it has this awesome song in it! Somebody dies while it plays. Kinda what happens in these movies. Whole lot of murder.

Diaclone Trivers Combat Simulation

I swear every time they make a new Diaclone video it makes me wish for a series. These great little exhibitions of the Diaclone equipment in action is just great. I really enjoy the feel of military equipment in action and the little things like various crew doing their individual parts of the operation. A video game would be great too, though I'm sure it would be some kind of RTS or turn based game. I don't car for those very much, but at least it would be something. It'd be great if modern Diaclone was offered in the US. I'm sure it'd cost a fortune though... not unlike the Takara releases.. but at least more availability.

Beetleborgs Halloween Bash

I don't know if going trick or treating with Flabber would be such a great idea. After 20 minutes of that voice you'd be figuring out how to ditch him somewhere. Though it'd be pretty great to go trick or... Anyone else just want to win the toys? I mean, sure, going trick or treating with the Beetleborgs sounds cool and all... but kinda hoping to win a figure. Of course it's going to take me a few viewings of this commercial to get the address written down.

Robotechno

I intend to put some extra attention towards Robotech in the not too distant future. It's been forever since I've watched more than an episode at a time. I've got a few DVD sets and the whole series is on Netflix, I just need to set aside the time to do so... which is the challenge. For the record, I'm specifically talking about Robotech, not regular Macross or anything. Never been that concerned with the Harmony Gold situation either to be honest. I just want to re-watch Robotech at some point, I like it.

Thinking I want to stock up on some of the Robotech keshi Super 7 has been making. They've done a great job as usual. They've done some ReAction figures as well, but I'd rather just keep it small. I have some older stuff and anything new I buy wouldn't be... Look, I have a mini figure addiction.

The Tomb of Doom

I've often compared fantasy toys to Halloween decorations, have you ever looked at Skeletor? Often these lines are filled with all sorts of creeps from the local haunted house ran by the heavy metal guys from the high school (I heard the sacrifice kids in the woods). Scary snake people, bat armor, full satanic panic. Super Naturals saw that and told Hordak to hold their beer. Using holograms as a means to display the warriors transformations into powerful magical forms and the bad guys from ... corpses to demons...

The Tomb of Doomb.. doom... play set is a freaking crypt so your ghost monsters can hang out and be scary when they're not driving their spike covered 50's hot rods around. It features such amenities as ledges for the figures to stand on and a wall of lost souls. Of course the weapons glow in the dark, so it's a ten.

Blue Leader, do you copy?

For the life of me, I cannot fully explain why I like the blue repaint of Leader-1 as much as I do. That's a lie, I can. It just looks good. In fact I think it looks a billion times better than Leader-1 in his traditional colors. This commercial does a good job of selling Flip-Top as well. In another timeline, GoBots won the war and I'm arguing the merits of the blue Masterpiece Leader-1 somewhere. Somewhere I'm also a big supporter of the GoCon box set recreation of this commercial. Though even in that reality I'm not good enough to be a GoCon fan adviser, even though they totally stole my box set recreation of this commercial idea. Jerks.

Transform Squadron the 13th

Listen Here

This month Rob discusses Mad Lab minis, Cyberverse Deadlock, and shopping at his local stores for Halloween stuff before going into some of the times Transformers crossed paths with Friday the 13th. It’s ki ki ki ma ma ma and it’s the podcast of Zone Base!

Ghost Blasters from Hardee's

The Ghost Blast wasn't much more than a small cheap noise maker toy with a Ghostbusters sticker, but it didn't have to be anything else. Fast food tie ins are usually either kids meal toys or random cups, so a little noise maker was a breathe of fresh air. For the record, my dad hated that damn thing. At the time we lived in a house where a small graveyard was just behind our back yard. You can be sure I employed my Ghost Blaster to battle any of those spooky spooks that might enter my house. Don't think of it as just another toy dad, think of it as protection from all those ghosts! Though I wonder if it could take on Frankenstein Mouth?

Beast Morphers first season recap

The new episodes of Beast Morphers are set to debut this coming weekend and I'm certainly looking forward to them. They've already begun airing in other countries, but as usual, I'm content to wait for them to come on my local channels so I can watch them from my DVR. With Rangerstop Orlando around the corner, I can't help but to hope Rangerstop Atlanta 2020 is announced soon. I sure had fun this past summer and would like to do that again!

The Bat

I've never been to Kings Island, but they sure seemed to enjoy making roller coasters spooky for awhile. The ride had a bit of theming to match the name with the sign and a ride station that looked like Castle Dracula. The commercial is full on selling a vampire bat flying around during a scary full moon night! Despite the commercial airing pretty early in the year to advertise a ride opening in spring, somebody sure wanted to give viewers a bit of Halloween flavor off season. Whomever that person is deserves a medal. A spooky medal. Shaped like a bat.

G.I. JOE Crusader

A few years after the Defiant play set was released, the space shuttle from it were released separately as the Crusader. Not a bad trade off for us who didn't get a Defiant for Christmas (that's another story for a few months away) those few years earlier. The Crusader was technically a vehicle, but was practically a play set all on it's own. With the mini-shuttle 'The Avenger' ready to fly from it's cargo bay and a cool space walk, you could have all sorts of fun. Probably one of my favorite GI JOE vehicles ever. Though in hind sight, I have no clue how Tunnel Rat stayed alive up there in space.

Urbex in a Haunted Graveyard

This Urbex video reminds me of an old story. When I was in college some friends and I would regularly go looking around places we weren't supposed to be. Closed down buildings, graveyards way too late at night, even ran from security at a water reservoir one night. All sorts of stupid stuff we shouldn't have done. We weren't making videos or anything, but if we could have, we probably would have. One night we snuck into a closed cemetery just after midnight. We had parked his car on the street in the nearby neighborhood and just walked through one of the gates that got left open at closing time.

This place was huge. The kind of cemetery you'd drive to the site of your loved ones in. There we were without flashlights walking around completely lost. After what seemed like forever, we found what had to be an attached funeral home. It looked like a plantation house and was all lit up. There were people inside working. Either late night cleaning or possible embalming work. We knew we just couldn't ask someone in there for help, they'd likely call the police on us for trespassing. We also knew that we had to be even more careful as now we could clearly be seen. However, something compelled us to sneak a look through the windows. I mean, what exactly was going on in there?

We snuck around to the back where the lights weren't as bright and there would be more shade to hide in. We found a dark corner near a window and peered in. Not sure what exactly the people were doing, but in literally no time found ourselves face to face with an older lady who just popped into the window and looked us dead in the eyes as she yelled for help.

Sometimes you don't talk, sometimes instinct takes over and a pack mentality forms. That must be what happened because we took off running. We all seemingly found the exact same place to get over a section of fence and into somebodies neighboring yard. Without saying a word we found ourselves hiding behind tool sheds as police cars circled the cemetery with flood lights. Fortunately it was late at night, so nobody was awake to look out a back window and rat us out. Before long they gave up the hunt and there we were laughing in the street. That was close... hey... where the hell did we park?

Cyberverse 24 hour marathon!

Watch Here!

ABOUT TRANSFORMERS: CYBERVERSE

Launched in 2018, TRANSFORMERS: CYBERVERSE follows the ongoing battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons to find the Allspark. It’s Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Windblade and the larger Autobot team as they work to defeat the menacing Megatron and his team of Decepticons.

TRANSFORMERS: CYBERVERSE season two picks-up right where season one left off. The Autobots are closer than ever to finding the Allspark, but completing their quest proves to be tougher than they could have ever imagined – facing new enemies and being challenged by Earth's roughest terrain! During their ongoing mission, the Autobots discover that, when near the Allspark, they are imbued with incredible new powers. Using one of these mysterious new abilities, the Autobots find they can convert Earth vehicles into Spark Armor: the battle-ready gear they need to defeat the Decepticons and continue their mission

Trick or Treat Fever Dream

Submitted without Context.

Cyberverse season 2 Power of the Spark trailer

In Season 2 of Transformers Cyberverse the Autobots are closer than ever to finding the Allspark, but completing their quest will be tougher than they could have imagined. They'll face new enemies and be challenged by Earth's roughest terrain, and along the way they'll discover that, when near the Allspark, they are imbued with incredible new powers. 

I got the press email earlier this morning rather than yesterday like bigger sites. *shrug* I guess this is what I get for blocking spam bots on social media. All jokes aside the new season looks great. I think a few episodes are up in various places, but I'm trying to be patient and wait for the show to start on Cartoon Network so I can watch it off my DVR. As I've talked about here, I've really been enjoying Cyberverse (and not just when Hasbro's looking) and more episodes is a good thing.

SNES Games coming to Switch Online!

20 classic #SNES games, including Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and Stunt Race FX, will be available for #NintendoSwitchOnline members on 9/5! Enjoy a growing catalog of Super NES games with even more titles releasing in the future.https://t.co/BR33g7bJpM pic.twitter.com/RflieF4guc

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 4, 2019

Jaycees Haunted Houses

I spent some years on the charity haunted house scene back in the day. It can be a great way to spend a few nights during the Halloween season. During the Halloween season you'll hear about two kinds of haunted house attractions. The big budget for profit type like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios, or the smaller local haunts usually run for charity. In those circles you'll often hear the name 'Jaycees' as the group is infamous for running these types of haunts generating scares and money for local charities. While there's no comparing the big budget thrills to the solid white make up faces drenched in fake blood. There's no denying that old school charm.

Buster and Hydra Darkwings!

A Three in One villain that's Chillin

I'm going to talk a little about one of the best Transformers toys ever made. Dreadwind from Generation 2. A combination of great articulation, colors, and play value, Dreadwing is just the best. Dreadwing is a set though, combining the Dreadwing toy with his partner Smokescreen (they reused names, get over it) to create the combined vehicle form.

On their own, the two figures are solid. Dreadwing is a big and bulky brute who's a triple changer. He can turn either into a stealth fighter or a tank. The gattling cannon carries over to each mode, allowing for a ton of firepower no matter the situation. Smokesreen is a much smaller toy, turning into a jet and packing two missile launchers that can be utilized in both modes. Both figures weapons use the same missiles. Combining the two is not much more than inserting jet mode Smokescreen into jet mode Dreadwing. Doing so adds to the overall look of the vehicle mode however.

The mold got reused several times as different characters, in fact the first intended reuse in G2 as Megatron and Starscream is one of the most rare Transformers ever. A version of this set came out in Beast Wars 2, but it's not completely the same. I think my favorite version of the mold is the Gigant Bomber and Smokesniper set from Robot Masters. It's just a super pretty version of the set as new characters from Victory!