We're nearing the end of our Friday Night Frights exploration of the Crestwood House Monsters books before diving head first into the Zone Base Halloween season. While there's still plenty more books to cover, these last two weeks need to go out with a Friday Night Fright bang! So it's time to pull out the big guns and the heavy hitters to bring the show home. Who better than Frankenstein to do so with?
One of the main Universal Monsters and certainly most relatable, Frankenstein's Monster is an icon of horror. I've loved the big guy ever since getting a Remco doll of him at an extremely impressionable age (I was a freaking toddler). It glowed in the dark and would give you a hug. The hug was a play feature intended as him grabbing a victim, but homeboy just needed a hug. Who doesn't? I got him and my brother got The Mummy. Years later upon moving into a new house, my father acquired a rather large model yacht in which he proudly put on display in the living room. For that yachts lifetime in our home, it bore two passengers. Frankenstein and the Mummy. Who were out for a lovely day at sea.
The book is presented above in it's entirety or can be downloaded from the link under it. Know what, the monster got twomore books in the series. I suggest you give them a look too!
A super hero in reverse. Daring and defiant when
inside outer vehicle, but shy and insecure when out on his own.
Armored outer vehicle equipped with armored wheels and hydraulic
lifters for all-terrain combat capabilities. Gunrunner transforms
from robot mode to hypersonic jet with a maximum speed of Mach 5.
Equipped with twin, turreted 8mm electro-static cannons with a range
of over 60 miles. Also armed with two armor-piercing, energy-plasma
missiles. Armor plating equipped with thermal generators that "burn"
through solid rock.
Summer is a Spooky Season ....and hot as crap. Depending on where you live, sometimes the floor literally is lava. Where I live it's around 100 degrees this time of year, and that's not adding in the humidity. Know what's scary? Chaffing. One way everybody likes to stay cool is a pop sickle, ice cold and delicious. There's no better way to beat the heat. But man... it's a Spooky Season, right?
Monster Pops and Vampire's Secret served up the summer chills back in the day. Monster themed frozen treats don't haunt the freezer section at Kroger anymore, but when they did, it was awesome. While Monster Pops came flavored orange, cherry, and grape in a variety of monster shapes! Though there was a disproportionate amount of grape as opposed to the other flavors in each box. It wasn't much of a surprise to find a freezer burnt grape misshapen vampire behind the tombstones in my family freezer.
Vampire's Secret wasn't just awesomely themed, it was a fucking delicacy. A black cherry pop sickle filled with this amazingly delicious cherry sauce. When it comes to frozen novelties, it was the creme of the crop and a box generally lasted only minutes. It's surprising that the flavor isn't still around. They could re-theme it into anything else and it'd still be the best tasting thing in the store. But... they should keep Dracula on the box.
Transformers the movie came out in 1986 and with it childhood trauma. The intention of replacing the older toys with the newer toys was carried out with inappropriate violence and onscreen death for what was intended to be a children's cartoon. Prowl didn't get shot and fall over dead. Prowl got shot and we watched his face in agony as life exited his body. Some scenes were originally planned to be even more violent. Which is kinda crazy.
It was awesome.
Probably the most traumatic part of the movie for children, however, was the death of Optimus Prime. In his epic fight to the end with Megatron, Optimus received some fatal wounds. This leads to Hot Rod later becoming Rodimus Prime and many crying children (that didn't give three shits about anybody else who died). So much that their parents complained to Hasbro about the cruel loss of their kid's hero. That's kinda remarkable as the guy had only been around for two years at this point and had that kind of an impact.
So of course Hasbro brought him back. Then killed him and brought him back. Then killed him and brought him back. You no, it's no wonder Optimus is so ready for self sacrifice. He even knows he'll be back. Fuck those other guys though. Except Brawn.
Over the years there's been a few toys that represented Optimus as he lay dead in that pivotal scene. Most recently the Generations Selects exclusive version of the excellent Earthrise Leader Class Optimus Prime toy. It's officially titled 'Alternate Universe Optimus Prime'. Which is a nice way of saying 'he in robot heaven'. It's a wonderfully gray scale interpretation of the toy complete with a new beat up head sculpt.
I'm fortunate to have the great friend in Shawn that I have as today I got one of these awesome toys by way of housewarming gift from him. He said it's the perfect mascot for Zone Base and he's not wrong. Somewhere between all my sneaking Halloween in throughout the year and giant robot talk... a Zombie Optimus Prime kinda fits. Prime spooky shit.
Nothing says an awesome way to close out the summer like a pizza party! As July comes to an end, even though August is generally the hottest month of summer, kids start heading back to school (normally) and you kind of just stop thinking it's summer. The next few weeks are for getting those last road trips in and cook outs out because after Labor Day, it's all over! While nothing beats a birthday party during the school year, we've all been to at least one amazing summer party at Showbiz Pizza or Chuck E Cheese!
And no matter how old you are, you were unnerved by the animatronics. Staring at you with their cold dead eyes that watched you the entire time you ate. Making you wish you never came.
He has a personality as repellent as his looks --
been kicked out of the Autobots many times for insubordination only
to be asked back since he's always willing to undertake missions
too low-down and dirty for anyone else to consider. In robot mode,
carries venom laser that slows cerebro impulses and paralyzes on
impact. In creature mode, has infra-red and X-ray vision; can emit
colors and stroboscopic effect with eyes. Claws contain chemical,
electromagnetic and audio sensors; can rip through almost any substance.
This weekend was a pretty laid back weekend. Not a super lot to report on, but felt like a lot was accomplished. One big thing on our to do list after moving in was to get an air conditioner for upstairs. A month and a half after moving in, we finally crossed that off. After I came in from work Saturday morning we headed out and got one after a little shopping around. Thankfully our upstairs now is a lot cooler than it has been. We live in a pretty hot state and there's about two more months of heat until things cool down.
Walmart came up empty handed on toys I was hoping to find. I need Winston and Stanz to complete my Real Ghostbusters vintage line and despite having them plentifully in stock for the past few weeks, not so much when I came calling. They had plenty of the Plasma series which I plan to complete once I finish the vintage line. Which if they don't restock anymore soon, might be sooner than I planned.
They were sold out of G.I.JOE, which I was happy to see. I still haven't gotten any, but I will. No Master of the Universe in sight. Neither Origins or WWE. Origins is new, so I understand, but the WWE line is frustrating. I've only seen the first wave ever and the rest just never show up and sell out instantly online. I'd be more patient if I didn't see folks posting their hauls of everything the store had posts in MOTU groups.
There was plenty of Siege Transformers. I still need to get Megatron and Sideswipe, but considering the mountain... I'm going to play clearance lottery. The Ultra Magnus magically went to clearance after I bought one, so I'm gonna play the odds here. They did have candy corn though! Got a bag of mellowcreme pumpkins to eventually eat. Also some Super Mario figurines I haven't seen yet were grabbed. After some Culver's and sleep I stayed up all night assembling my wife's new vanity which got Fed Ex'd during the week. I watched Headless Horseman, Mr. Boogedy, and Bride of Mr. Boogedy during the course of this. Disney Plus rules.
Sunday after waking from my all night furniture jam coma, I took the wife's jewelry to the jewelers for their warranty inspection. We stopped by Dollar Tree and Target on the way home. Dollar Tree had begun putting out there Halloween stuff! Not a ton, but a pretty good bit for late July. Target usually has a great Halloween selection, but it's still a little early for them.
They did however have that Repugnus Cyberverse set I spoke of last week and a few Tiny Turbo Changers. I was able to pick out Jazz and Sideswipe from the repeats of wave 1. They also had the new Star Wars Mission Fleet figures. I literally just learned about these the night before while checking Instagram and was surprised to find them already. I'll post about them here later this week but grabbed Boba Fett while there. I plan to get them all, but after buying an air conditioner the day before... I kinda didn't feel like spending much more. This is where I'd type lol in a text.
For those not in the know, Mission Fleet is a new Star Wars line with mini figures of characters which attachable back packs based on their related vehicles. Boba Fett, for example, has a jet pack based on the Slave-1. The figures are a bit stylized which adds to their charm. They have accesories and give me strong Microman/Micronaut vibes. Dig it.
The rest of Sunday was spent doing some room organizing and eating a BBQ dinner that we smelt all day cooking in the crock pot. Another weekend or two and my room might finally be serviceable for my purposes and not just some boxes that I took out of the garage. I normally don't mention Mondays here on these posts, but our order from a decor distributor came with some Halloween blow molds we missed last year. In it was a combiner number robots set the wife added in with the order and I already love them. I look forward to building the somewhat amazing looking combiner with them soon!
Likes to watch things explode. Especially enjoys
firing his helicopter's sonic cannon at anything associated with
the Autobots. Transforms the copter into a battle base to use its
powerful molecular disrupter gun to alter the Autobot's circuitry.
Other Decepticons suspect all the explosions have rattled his brain
circuits once to often!
Things are getting hairy around the base, and that's because it's Friday Night Frights time! We're coming around the corner of the end of Spooky Summer and into the Halloween season. Mid August is when the pumpkin spiced mayhem goes into effect and with it, Friday Night Frights will go into hiatus until November. So I figured a good wrap up of the Crestwood House Monsters exploration we've been doing would be with the heavy hitters! Not that I'm out of these classic books, just it's time to spice things up a bit, and given that spice will be of the pumpkin variety... I think you get my point. Spooky shit.
The Wolfman is one the more layered stories from the Universal Monsters gang. Larry is convinced he has become a werewolf and is the one responsible for the recent murders in town. Everyone thinks he's loosing his mind while looking for the source of the killings while the guilt is tearing Larry apart. I'd like to point out the cover of the book though, that's not The Wolfman. That's the Werewolf of London which Universal released six years prior to The Wolfman. Frankly, I've always found it's story to be better than Larry's adventure.
Wilfred is a scientist who travels to Tibet in search of a rare plant. While there, he's attacked by a werewolf. Back in London we see that Wilfred's wife is bored of him being locked away in his lab and not paying attention to her. Wilfred is now a werewolf and is murdering locals at night. Afraid of what he might do, he locks himself away in hopes of keeping his wife safe. His wife, all the while getting increasingly more and more fed up with him ignoring her and locked away in the lab. In case the situation wasn't complex enough, an old flame comes calling.
Several of the Universal Monsters tend to make the viewer feel sympathy for them. In the werewolf movies that theme is really driven home. They're sad movies under all that fur and fangs. The book is in it's entirety in the above preview or available to download for free from the link underneath it.
A few things been popping up today on my robot meter, and they happen to be things I like! Jada, makers of the Nano Metal Figs that I'm pretty fond of has their newest batch of tiny cars coming soon and in the assortment is the sweet G1 Transformers assortment. The movie set came last year and finally getting this to go along with it is a treat. The little cars (and jet) just look so neat and I love the G1 box art on the package. It's a nice looking little set that won't cost much at Walmart when they show up. There's a G.I.JOE set in this assortment I want as well.
A lucky person found the newest wave of Tiny Turbo Changers at Target recently. This is that person's picture btw. I'm jealous of that person btw. I hope I'll find these dudes at Target, but most likely will find them at Kroger like the last few batches of Tiny Turbo Changers. Aside from that last movie series that apparently got shipped to the Bermuda Triangle that is. Which is fine as Kroger's holiday section is the bomb ya'll.
Last year they had so many great blind toys in neat displays. This wave unfortunately is mostly reissues of wave one aside from a few new bots. That's ok, at least I only have to dig for a few bots instead of all of them. No matter how used to I am of looking at codes on my phone, there's always that one person staring at me like I'm crazy. Which if they're worried about my sanity, shouldn't they move along just in case I do something crazy?
'The hotter things get, the better I like it!' is
Inferno's motto, and he's not just talking about fires. Would rather
fight Decepticons than fires, but his strength and ceramic-plated
armored skin, able to withstand temperatures as high as 14,000 degrees
Fahrenheit, make him ideally suited for his job. His Hydro-Pack
converts to a high-pressure cannon that can shoot any liquid substance
from water to corrosive acid.
It's no secret around here that I love Halloween. I sneak it in all year under various guises, because I wish everyday was Halloween. I would do a straight up Halloween blog, but like I've said before, I want to talk about other things I like too. I could have multiple blogs, but dude... keeping them all separated and operating them would be a nightmare. I figured the robots/monsters/misadventure description would make it clear, does it? I do this for fun, so ideally doing it this way works best for me.
Initially the first Halloween on this site was just spooky Transformers bios. Because that was in the first few months of the site when I was still mentally working out how I wanted the site to run. I followed Hasbro's lead and just talked about Transformers initially as I literally never run out of Transformers talk and since I've been podcasting about them forever... I figured it would be what people would come here for.
It was just a little after that first Halloween that I started working in the rest of the sites material. I started the site halfway through 2016 and it honestly really took off towards the end of the year. Admittedly I spent a good bit of that time wondering if I got myself into something I couldn't manage. Self doubts a mofo sometimes.
Really 2017 is when Halloween as I wanted to do on the site as you know it really started. Same with the spooky shit in summer, though I admittedly didn't give it a name until last year. It's a blog about Transformers, Godzilla, Halloween, and all sorts of other shit I like. It's a weird site. I'm weird, but I'd rather be myself than try to be somebody else. That's what high school was for.
I make myself chill out over Thanksgiving and Christmas. Partially out of respect for other holidays I really like, and also just to make myself take a break. But believe me, I'm missing those pumpkins. Soon as January rolls around, I'm watching old Halloween stuff on YouTube. Like, my favorite thing to watch is old Halloween commercials. I've never seen Titanic, but I've seen that damn Halloween is Coming at Hallmark commercial a billion times. Never get tired of it.
Last year, it was harder to say goodby to Halloween in November. To be fair, I was pretty enabled. I'm used to little peaks of spooky shit sneaking in at the end of July and slowly getting stocked through August, firmly in place by Labor Day. Something happened last year and stores like At Home (and others) started in June. I noticed normal people saying they were ready for Halloween in summer. Wait... what? Not just me now?
So, it was pretty much Halloween half the year... even during July 4th. When it comes to the site, my rule is to wait until I see Halloween stock mainly on shelves to swap over. Once I made myself wait until September. Once. Last year I officially made it the middle of August and specifically pointed out Spooky Summer. It's my site right? I'm just practicing a little restraint. Judging by the numbers, you guys clearly like the scary stuff. I didn't say spooky shit that time, see restraint.
So officially Halloween on the site starts mid August. I've been planning it since last year. I've went through a million different logos, Shawn's woken up to more 'how about this' IM's than he signed up for when he accepted my friend request. I've had the finalized version ready for a few weeks... if I don't change it again. I cheated and already did some of the background work and oddball html stuff. You probably don't notice yet, it'll all just slide together when I click save. It's a neon theme this year.
I made a playlist, it's 4 hours long exactly. I'd add more, but... my ADD is firmly happy with that even 4 hours. Friday Night Frights, which has been focusing on books the past few weeks will go on pause from then until November. Not that the Halloween programming will be THAT different, but it seems redundant to have a specifically spooky themed thing when the entire site is specifically spooky for a few months.
When it comes to oddball commercials and such, I'll probably double dip (million dip) sometimes. I could probably share the same Pass Make Up Kits ad every day and be happy. But for the sake of you guys and variety... maybe just a few times a week. Gnaw meen brah?
Sometime last night a siren rang out the most wonderful news, a song of new Cyberverse box sets. Not long ago I talked about the newer Warrior Class Starscream that seemingly transformed into the Vic Viper. As I said then and have said since, I'm not a seeker completist. Somewhere during the SCF/Heroes of Cybertron and Classics run... I had my fill. Though also like I said, this mold in multiple colors would change my mind. I'm very glad they're not 100% traditional in their colors.
Variety is the spice of life and man look at those seasoned space jets! I think Thrust and Skywarp are my favorite so far. They just pop. Thundercraker and Starscream ain't too shabby themselves. I kind of wish they were all new characters since the colors on the mold make them look like new characters. It's not a major gripe though. I'm just going to post that Gradius commercial again for good measure.
I am so bad at that game, but I love playing it.
Another bit of wonderful news from yesterday, is the sightings of a Repugnus box set. From the episodes with the swarm of Repugnus bugs on Cybertron is this set of various members of that swarm. That beautiful green Repugnus is a recolor of the Turbo Changer I raved about not long ago and man is is sharp looking! The other members of the swarm (Pesticons!) are tiny new molds, not unlike the Sharkticons from the prior Hot Rod set. They may be from Tiny Turbo Changer origins, but the Sharkticons were a hard plastic and not rubbery. These look a little bigger as well, so I'm not sure. Maybe.
Regardless of mold origin, the multiple colors are absolutely wonderful. I love the Cyberverse rendition of Repugnus and am looking forward to adding more of him to the shelf my current one will eventually sit on. I just moved last month, I'm getting there. Since this one is so similar to the Hot Rod, I'm assuming it'll cost around $20. The seeker pack... that was an ebay leak, so who knows? I kinda imagine it's a Christmas item and wagering around $40-$50. Hoping they're easy to get as I must own these.
Appointed by Optimus Primal for northern polar sector
reconnaissance. Roams the frozen tundra in animal form, but quickly
converts to robot mode for battle, removing its titanium tail and
converting it to a powerful quasar cannon to vaporize Predacons.
Powerful and considered fearless, Tigatron is also equipped with
a toxic fluid blaster that stops enemies cold, rendering their bodies
useless!
I've posted a few 'ghosts in the road' videos this spooky summer, and for good reason. They're scary! We've all driven down a dark road at night and been a slight bit uneasy. One time in particular, I had a somewhat scary situation on a dark road such as this in the video. When I was in high school, I worked at McDonald's. Usually I was there until pretty late in the night, usually not leaving until midnight when closing the store. Home wasn't terribly far away, but still a 20 minute drive down two somewhat country roads. Add in the lack of street lights and the twists and turns through wooded areas... and you can probably see how it wasn't always a great time.
So one Saturday night, after the store closed, a friend and I went to the nearby Waffle House to hang out and chat for a while. I left out for home and drove through the empty town square in the rain. Which wasn't too bad, but my worn out Ford Escort had problems running in the best weather. This before everyone had cell phones. In hind sight, staying out late wasn't the best idea, but good ideas hardly make for stories. Teenagers often don't have them either.
I'd leave the town square, drive down the main road. Well lit, various store fronts and neon signs. But when I'd turn off, no lights, covered in trees, and literally nothing but woods and houses with enormous yards for as far as I could see. Driving a little slow as deer tended to jump out of these woods at night, my brights were on and what was normal rainfall suddenly turned nasty as an ocean of water seemingly was falling from the sky. As I crossed the bridge over the river, lighting struck out of nowhere with a giant boom of thunder. It was a dark and stormy night. Awesome.
Suddenly out of the woods, this person came running out screaming at the top of his lungs. He threw a stick at my car and just kept yelling. Instinctively I floored it. Rain be damned, it was time to get off that road fast. I soon was at my turn, and when I hit my brakes to slow down. In the red lit up road from my brake lights, I could see him still running after me. I must have been closer to my turn than I thought when I hit the gas. You could still hear him hollering.
I turned and drove as fast as I could down the next dark somewhat country road until I passed a newly built subdivision some friends from school lived at. I pulled in quickly as it was well lit and assumed somebody would hear this man and call the cops. The rain had let up by this point, so I rolled down my window a little to try and hear him.
Nothing.
It was little bit until I felt brave enough to try and leave the sub division (and it's lights), he was nowhere to be found as I pulled out back onto the somewhat country road. Taken this as a sign, somehow my little Escort ran like a dream and ran faster than it ever did getting me home. Despite looking in the rear view mirror the entire way, I got home safely. The next morning my parents told me he was either high or drunk. Maybe playing a prank on passing cars. Maybe. Regardless, I went a much longer and well lit way home from then on.
After getting home from work Saturday morning, the wife and I paid At Home a visit to see where they were on Halloween stock after putting away the grocery delivery. They've added a new display and more stock since our last visit and I was glad to see the return of the skeleton octopus. I wanted one last year and never bought it. We grabbed some candles that were very similar to older Halloween candles from both out childhoods. Not the exact same molds, but pretty dang similar. Aparently Tuesday Morning has begun stocking their Halloween wares, so I see a visit to our local one is in order soon.
After that was a trip to Home Depot for a few more yard things and a visit to Walmart for the handful of things we needed outside of our grocery order. I dig the convenience of having groceries delivered, but I like to pick out my own Ready-Pac salads. I grabbed The Real Ghostbusters Egon while there. Eventually I'll get Netflix Sideswipe and Megatron, but considering the hundreds of them there, No rush.
Picked up some Panda Express and headed home. After a nap I assembled our new patio furniture outside on said patio while listening to the crickets and the radio. It was pretty nice outside of the nearly 100 degree weather. Summer in Georgia, it's just as hot at night. Hooray baby powder!
I organized my new room for a few hours and consolidated a few boxes for better storage. While organizing some DVD's and Godzilla toys on a shelf I listed to Unsolved Mysteries. The old one on Pluto, I've still got to watch the new one. Seeing as I finally just started Tiger King... it might be a minute.
Sunday we cooked out and my mom came over. Though it was so hot, I probably didn't need to use any charcoal to cook the food. After mom left I initially planned to work on my room some more, but ended up playing some of my At Home Blasts in the living room while the wife played her Switch. Oddly enough about the Blast consoles, the audio doesn't always work depending on TV model.
Our living room TV, nope. I played some NES Star Wars and a bunch of Atari games. Secret Quest is still a lot better than you think it would be. Seaquest is still super fun. NES Star Wars is a lot harder than I remember, fun, but not a casual game. We ended the weekend watching ghost videos before the sandman entered. Brought dreams or something. Weekends are pretty great, sleep is awesome.
Earlier today was the newest Fans First Friday from Hasbro. I say today as I'm writing it on Friday, though it's going to post after midnight which will technically be Saturday. It's a big un, so bear with me. As usual, Rogers & Cowan sent the press releases out. I'm pretty stocked to see the amount of new Netflix figures that'll be exclusive to Walmart. I've seen a lot of complaints over this and I guess I'm fortunate for this not to be an issue for me. I've got two pretty well maintained Walmarts within 20 minutes of me. Not to mention, like I've said, I like going to Walmart. I really want the Bumblebee. Everything's after the break... or for mobile users... under this.
Continuing our Friday Night Frights excursion into the legendary Crestwood House Monsters books, I thought Godzilla would be super appropriate as Kaiju Con.Line was last weekend. Admittedly last weekend probably would have been a better time, but I was in a Blob mood. Gnaw meen brah? I was already a fast fan of Godzilla when I stumbled onto this entry into the Crestwood House Monsters books. Between movie showings on cable and various toys at our house, I loved every bit of it.
Information wasn't as readily available as it is now back then, especially when you were in the 3rd grade. That's part of why I loved these books so much. They proved a great resource for my young mind to learn more about those cool movies Grandpa Munster would show on TBS. You can read the entire book above for free or download it to your tablet from the link in the viewer.
The big unconfirmed rumor for a while now in Transformers is that the third part of the War for Cybertron trilogy would be Beast Wars themed. Which of course would make me ever so happy, but no matter how much the beast era was beloved by myself and it's other fans... it was a few years in a very long run of cars and jets. So I've never really expected anything more than a homage figure here and there. Then this image popped up today on the internet. Which makes some recent developments make a little sense.
The upcoming cues that Studio Series would shift to the 1986 movie were a welcome one for me. I've made it very clear that I have no problems with the live action movies. I even like them, but a specific toy line aimed directly at one of my favorite bits of G1? I'm sold. With Earthrise and the Generations lines before it... even with my enthusiasm I wondered what would the point be.
Unless there was specifically contracts needed to fill with the Studio Series line before a potential retiring of it. It's not unprecedented for Hasbro to put Generations figures in movie line packaging already, so I thought maybe it was part of a winding down for Studio Series. Makes sense, right?
Of course those beast era rumors never left my brain and I thought "I need to buy some Pepsi". After that it occurred to me that a beast era heavy line would be super risky in today's Transformers environment. So what if they shifted traditional Transformers to the side a little while doing the beast stuff? It'd add some variety to the shelves while also staying true to what people usually come to expect.
Let's look at that picture again, I made it a little bigger so we can make some things out. The TV cast of Beast Wars is represented with some G1 series regulars. In Robot Masters and other settings, they've had more traditional characters interact with the beast guys by various ways other than the 'Next Generation' setting. They could very well do that again here.
Maybe they're sticking some core characters into the line and on the posters for the sake of familiarity. Why's Optimus a monkey? Well, he's a there, that's another guy with a similar name. Makes sense. Maybe the story would be similar to the early Beast Wars story line as a new evolution of the Transformers. I've always kinda wanted to see how that would have played out.
Nothing is concrete about this yet. Maybe in a few days it'll be confirmed in some official way or come to light that it was just a concept that never got followed up on. Or just an elaborate hoax. Either way, having a new beast era is something I'd really be up for. I really want to see this kingdom come.
EDIT: I scheduled this post for midnight not knowing Netflix posted an answer while I was writing this post. I'm a happy fan!
Did you crack the code? We're excited to reveal the title for the third chapter: KINGDOM. 🦍 Get ready to go ape and get your claws out for KINGDOM! 🦖 Till then, the war continues. pic.twitter.com/dcQLik11qp
Nothing says summer like a cook out. Maybe your Aunt and Uncle from out of town came over one weekend to visit. You played badminton with your cousin while Mom and Auntie Farts When She Walks made home made ice cream. Dad and Uncle Skeeter No Teeth stood by the grill drinking beer. Everybody ate to much and the dog stole a hot dog. As night time rolled around, it was time for the more creepy parts of summer to work their way in. Wanna watch Friday The 13th? Maybe your cousin isn't allowed to watch scary movies, but wants to play a video game instead.
This is where The Action Max game console by Worlds of Wonder came in... if you had one. Honestly, if not for the display at Richway, I'd probably have never played it. The console attached to a VCR, and the games were on video cassette. No really. They were light gun games in which targets would appear over a short movie. No matter how good or bad you did, the movie just played right along with your score displayed at the end. It was pretty neat, if not limited in scope.
If your family had an Action Max, you could have popped in The Rescue of Pops Ghostly for some spooky shit. Spooky shit being requisite for those summer nights staying up all night with your cousin who might be traumatized by the terrifying ghosts on screen... and I mean terrifying. The game is a comedy, but even the 'good guy' ghosts are nightmare fuel. Performed with frightening puppets floating around a pretty well done haunted house setting. You know what? Our parents have went to sleep, let's just watch Friday the 13th instead. Jason ain't got shit on Pops Ghostly.
Sideways is a conscientious, ninja-like warrior
who races to battle. Disguised as a sports bike he exceeds speeds
of 250mph. Mysterious and silent, he reveals little about himself
except a fierce drive to confront the enemy and quickly return to
Cybertron. On Earth, he undergoes a personality change that gives
him both a good and a bad side based on Mini-con influence. This
split makes him highly unpredictable. It's hard to predict which
half of his split personality will win in the end - the good side
or the evil side!
Godzilla is a giant fire breathing monster that will destroy your city. Even if he's the good guy in the scenario, he's going to destroy the city. What I'm saying is, he's a giant threat. That's why they killed him with the Oxygen Destroyer. Thing is, he's not the only Godzilla. Depending on the continuity represented, there's been maybe two or three of the giant monsters.
That's where Ghost Godzilla comes in. For a time, Toho planned on bringing back the original Godzilla as a ghost to fight the then current Godzilla. To end the Heisei series, Toho planned on the two Godzilla monsters to fight it out. One of the ideas for this was to have the ghost of the original Godzilla posses Little Godzilla, and grow into a frightening giant new Godzilla (see the above picture). Ultimately the idea was dropped as the past two movies had alternate versions of Godzilla starring (Mechagodzilla, Space Godzilla). Though I don't think the idea went away.
In 2001, Toho released Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (GMK). What does this have to do with Ghost Godzilla? Look at the picture above of the GMK Godzilla, which is not your average Godzilla. GMK Godzilla is the result of those who died in the Pacific Theater during World War II taking revenge on Japan for forgetting it's past. In so many ways, he's a giant hell spawn brought into existence by the souls of the dead. Lot's of Ghosts Godzilla.
Hey, think that's all the spooky shit Toho did with Godzilla? In 2002 Toho revealed the coolest incarnation of Mechagodzilla- Kiryu! What's so spooky about a robot Godzilla? Remember that whole 'original Godzilla' from 1954 I was talking about? In this movies continuity where that Godzilla died and the current Godzilla terrorized Japan so much that they used the skeleton of the original Godzilla to create Kiryu. A skeleton? You know the almost universal symbol of spookiness? Yes, The original Godzilla's skeleton is inside this thing leading to it being possessed by it's ghost.
So basically Mechagodzilla is Ghost Godzilla finally realized. Which isn't too bad as Kiryu rights his former life's wrongs and becomes a hero. That's the opposite of the original intent of Ghost Godzilla, but still pretty creepy to think inside that is a skeleton in possesion of it. I'd love a ghost story of one of JXSDF inside the mech haunted by Godzilla's ghost. A giant haunted house robot. To add to his inert yurei nature, those red lines running down from his eyes? They light up red and are intended to simulate bloody tears. Damn Toho, that's dark!
I normally do a weekend report post on Mondays, but seeing as I did a virtual convention this weekend... I thought I'd just do a con report. Though some of what I did will be peppered throughout the report as... it's a weekend report post in a way.
To explain Kaiju Con.Line, it was a free virtual kaiju convention organized by Kyle of Kaijucast. There was no G-Fest this year because of covid-19, so Kyle organized a bunch of live streaming panels, and other online activities under the banner of Kaiju Con.Line to give fans of rubber suited monsters something to do this weekend in place of the annual gathering.
It was pretty nuts as there was not only the various live stream panels, there was watch parties all over the place. Either affiliated or other groups running their own thing. Not to mention Tsuburaya ran an Ultraman stream and Shout Factory ran a Kamen Rider stream all weekend. There were a million discord chats and various online vendor rooms to buy from dealers in name of the weekend. I've got a t-shirt for the event on the way from the official store, because I needed to support this. It's great when fans come together to do something positive.
As I've said a million times before, traveling to conventions is getting harder for me to pull off. A state or two over is one thing, across the country... dude. So I've been wanting something like this for awhile. That way I can participate while still handling my home and work life. This literally was a breeze. I've mentioned before that I work at night. Because I do. So when I got off work Saturday morning, I had some things to do. While shopping at these stores I would pop in and check in on con stuff. I've went to stores during a con before, but I've never bought mulch while at a con before.
During these errands I picked up some of the Bandai Godzilla 65th anniversary sofubi boxed figures I've been needing. I just need Anguirus and Hedorah to complete the set! Target and Walmart had no new Earthrise sadly, but in time I assume. I did score some face mask adjusters at Staples though. I've got a big old head and in the new normal of wearing these things, sometimes they are just a touch too small. It's nice to not have sore ears. I need to pick up the Playmates Space Godzilla. I've got all of the Playmates Godzilla figures except him and I might as well complete the set. I mean, duh.
I spent the rest of Saturday with the cons panels playing while I did various things. Eating pizza? Right in front of a panel. Putting together newly bought furniture? Right in front of a panel. I'd pop in and out of panels and watch parties also. That was something really cool. In my living room, I'd just watch the panels on TV. Up in my room, I had it running on my tablet fully taking advantage of picture in picture video screens. Muting subtitled videos to listen to the audio from live streams. That was neat.
Later on in the night, I'd watch the replays from panels I missed while running errands and when I took a nap. Finally around 3am I went to sleep as dude... tired. Sunday we worked on our yard, same thing. Break time, pop in on phone. When we got done, same thing. Either watch a missed panel or a stream. Though I only did one at a time. I was a little worn out from putting mulch out in the hot sun.
I need to go back and watch the rest of that Western monsters in Japanese fiction panel, it was pretty interesting. Unfortunately I wasn't able to pay the stream as much attention as I wanted to. Fortunately, it's available to view. I can dig this kind of convenience, it's easier to dig than some of those old branches out from under those bushes were.
Some of my favorite content was the show was in the opening ceremonies panel. There was a good 15 minutes of pre-recorded video messages from various actors and directors from various Godzilla, Ultraman, and other productions. They were generally messages of encouragement regarding the pandemic and pretty cool to watch. That western monsters panel I mentioned earlier and the Yokai War panel from Saturday I'd like to go back and watch in their entirety. Which I will.
The Kaijucast Reunion stream was pretty great as it pretty much went from kaiju discussion into trivia to musicians performing classic monster themes. Really neat. Daikaiju TV had a steady stream of watch parties going all weekend that was super fun to pop into and out of. If I was a better discord user, there were plenty of related chats going, but sadly I'm pretty bad at Discord. Though between the live streams and watch parties, I had plenty of live chat available.
In all, my first virtual con experience was a good one. There's others going on this summer and I'm pretty interested in doing more. While nothing beats the in person aspect of a con with other fans, this wasn't bad! I could see myself playing one of my micro consoles with my tablet nearby with a stream going. It was great to indulge myself in Godzilla and company with other fans in the company of my own home. Totally would do again.
PAWTUCKET, RI – July 13, 2020 – Feel the need… the need for speed!
Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) and Paramount Pictures today revealed the
first-ever TRANSFORMERS-Top Gun collaboration, starring the all
new character MAVERICK.
Not to be confused with Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, this new
TRANSFORMERS robot makes an ideal wingman, taking form as the iconic
Northrop
Grumman F-14 Tomcat® jet from the original Top Gun
film. This nostalgic Top Gun mash-up MAVERICK robot marks a celebratory moment ahead of the
highly anticipated sequel to the iconic original film,
Top Gun: Maverick, releasing December 23, 2020.
After more than thirty years of service as
one of the Navy’s top aviators, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is
where he belongs, pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and
dodging the advancement
in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a
detachment of Top Gun graduates for a specialized mission the likes of
which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley
Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son
of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick
Bradshaw, aka “Goose.”
Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his
past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest
fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from
those who will be chosen to fly it.
TRANSFORMERS Autobot MAVERICK stands at 7
inches in robot mode and can convert from robot to classic Northrop
Grumman F-14 Tomcat® jet mode in 25 steps (The
F-14 Tomcat is a registered trademark of Northrop Grumman, and is used under license).
He includes a screen-inspired miniature motorcycle accessory and 2
alternate hands that can hold the included volleyball accessory. This
bot is always ready to go vertical in jet mode or dominate a slow-mo
volleyball montage in robot mode. This MAVERICK robot figure also
features folding jet wings, movie-inspired details, including a helmet
design inspired by the 2020
Top Gun: Maverick film, and includes 4 missile accessories that
can be mounted on figure’s arms in robot mode and under wings in jet
mode. Even the packaging is inspired by the aircraft carrier!
TRANSFORMERS robots have always been more than meets the eye, but
now, through the TRANSFORMERS Collaborative, fans can experience these
larger than life characters as they team-up, mash-up, and meet up with
other characters,
teams and people who share this same special quality. It is a world of
constant change where things are not what they seem.
The MAVERICK figure is available now for pre-order at
HasbroPulse.com, while supplies last
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NASDAQ: HAS) is a global play and entertainment company committed to
Creating the World's Best Play and Entertainment Experiences.
From toys, games and consumer products to television, movies, digital
gaming, live action, music, and virtual reality experiences, Hasbro
connects to global audiences by bringing to life great
innovations, stories and brands across established and inventive
platforms. Hasbro’s iconic brands include NERF, MAGIC: THE GATHERING,
MY LITTLE PONY, TRANSFORMERS, PLAY-DOH, MONOPOLY, BABY ALIVE, POWER
RANGERS, PEPPA PIG and PJ MASKS, as well as premier
partner brands. Through its global entertainment studio, eOne, Hasbro
is building its brands globally through great storytelling and content
on all screens. Hasbro is committed to making the world a better place
for all children and all families through corporate
social responsibility and philanthropy. Hasbro ranked among the 2020
100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media and has been named one of the
World’s Most Ethical Companies® by Ethisphere Institute for the past
nine years. We routinely share important business
and brand updates on our
Investor Relations website,
Newsroom and social channels (@Hasbro on Twitter and Instagram.)
About ViacomCBS Consumer Products:
ViacomCBS Consumer Products (VCP)
oversees all licensing and merchandising for ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq:
VIACA, VIAC), a leading global media and entertainment company that
creates premium content and experiences for audiences
worldwide. Driven by iconic consumer brands, VCP’s portfolio includes a
diverse slate of brands and content from BET, CBS (including CBS
Television Studios and CBS Television Distribution), Comedy Central,
MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Showtime.
With properties spanning animation, live-action, preschool, youth and
adult, VCP is committed to creating the highest quality product for some
of the world’s most beloved, iconic franchises. Additionally, VCP
oversees the online direct-to-consumer business
for CBS and Showtime programming merchandise, as well as standalone
branded ecommerce websites for Star Trek, SpongeBob, South Park, and
MTV.
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global
producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of
ViacomCBS (NASDAQ: VIAC; VIACA), a leading content company with
prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment
brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful
brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount
Animation, Paramount Television, and Paramount Players. PPC operations
also include Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount
Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio
Group.
Thanks to Rogers & Cowan for providing Zone Base readers with this news!
Hot Shot is a young, heroic fighter who rushes into
danger without regard to his own safety. He courageously charges
into the middle of the fight to aid his friends in battle. He has
taken charge in several battles, showing great leadership potential.
But he needs the guidance of his elders before he can hope to lead
the Autobots. Will he learn to be a leader who strives for good,
or will his reckless nature ruin his promising future?
Friday Nights mean Frights here on the base! Continuing on our excursion into the Crestwood House Monsters books, I thought another fitting for the summer season story would be The Blob. Honestly it's because I associate the 80's remake with summer more than anything, but hey... work with me a little here. Between seeing the various commercials on TV one summer, and then the following summer regularly seeing the cardboard standee at the local video store, it's just a summer time movie in my head.
The Blob is the story of a weird slime from space consuming every person in it's way. The blob gets bigger the more people it eats and before you know it, things get really out of hand. Even with the classic movie represented above in it's Crestwood House form, all I can think of is the standee at the video store. I was a horror fan from a very early age, but usually was instructed to pick from the kids section on our visits. While picking out a collection of cartoon episodes of Centurions or Peanuts, I'd eye the boxes of the horror stuff that was literally in the same aisle.
I don't know if the shop staff were being jerks, or it just somehow worked out that way, but I can still see other kids bawling their eyes out at the various cardboard standees of Freddy Kruger and company staring at them. Me, I liked looking over the boxes as much as I could. I still miss the horror section of the video store. Preferably in the VHS era when those boxes had so much character. Ironically I don't know if the remake Blob still exists. The movie is probably in a discount bin at Walmart somewhere. But the blob substance used in the original movie, it never dried out and is still kept in a bucket. Weird.
The preview above shows the full book, but if you want to download it to a tablet or phone, you can do so for free by following it's links.
Hey Rob, are you going to make another comparison to He-Man's villains and Halloween decorations/satanic panic? Yes. Since Skeletor was inspired by a skeleton in a haunted house that scared a Mattel toy designer when he was a kid, it's only natural that he would live in a haunted house. Rivaling Castle Grayskull as the headquarters of the evil warriors on Eternia, is the freaky Snake Mountain. Once again as an adult, I kinda see where some of those parental groups were coming from. That talking mountain face you saw in the commercial above? It's literally a demon. It's one of the toys selling features on the box.
Just look at that thing. A scary bridge to cross in front of terrible monster faces, evil lurks behind every corner. Somebody chained Man-At-Arms up by his arms. Or by his At-Arms. Does he have legs or At-Legs? Look at the front door on top of the mountain. Big bat adorned gate with a wolfs head door and guarded by a giant snake. Classic spooky shit. Like I said, Skeletor was inspired by a prop at a haunted house, so he naturally lives in one. Makes me wonder what that haunted house the designer was at looked like. Because if it's anything like this, I kinda want to go.
In the cartoon, Snake Mountain was basically just that. A mountain with a snake on it. I don't know if that's due to designs not being finalized at the time of production or somebody at Filmation got the creeps. Thinking about it, the toy line and it's assorted artwork is a lot more scary looking than the cartoon. As if somebody thought to sanitize it out before putting on TV. For example, let's look at Skeletor. Below is a head shot of his toy, a story book, and the cartoon.
see what I mean?
I've always wondered, ... is Snake Mountain alive? When my cousin would come over and we'd play He-Man, who got to be Snake Mountain was a regular subject. For those who are either not in the know, or couldn't tell in the commercial. The wolf head was a microphone that you could speak into and a speaker would amplify it in a 'scary' voice. The mountain was covered in heads, a wolf head, a demon face, a few other faces, and the giant snake.
Now the snake was probably alive as it could move around to attack heroic warriors. Or solicitors. The demon face's mouth can move, which would make you think the scary voice is coming from it. I guess. I wonder if the demon uses the wolf head as a conduit for possession. I mean, just look at the kid using it in the commercial. Forever cursed. Forever dammed. Forever the voice of Snake Mountain. Giant asshole.
Impatient, short-tempered inventor. Always in a hurry.
Constantly devising new formulas and developing new ways to defeat
the Decepticons. Somewhat absent-minded. Too busy starting new projects
to see his old experiments through to the end. Teamed with the mercurial
Nebulan, Ricochet, who transforms into a sub-machine gun and the
bombastic Boomer, who turns into a sonic pulse cannon. In vehicle
mode, reaches maximum speed of 150 mph.
Kaiju Con.Line is this weekend and boy am I excited. I've always wanted to go to G-Fest, but for various reasons haven't been able too. Unfortunately for those who could go, Covid-19 ruined yet another thing people were looking forward to and she show got canceled. Fortunately in the wake of this, a free online kaiju con was made! Streaming panels, online dealers and conversation, watch parties. Sounds like a fun time!
Honestly, I've been interested in this sort of thing for a long time now. With the pandemic forcing a lot of changes this year, a few cons have been dipping their toes into this and man I'm there. Actually going to cons is becoming a harder to do thing as I get older and have more responsibilities. But I can stream literally anywhere at anytime. The future is awesome.
I can't say just how much I'll be able to take in while balancing household and work related responsibilities. I'm going to take in as much as I can, definitely planning on having it going while I work on the new Zone Base headquarters Saturday night. DKU-TV is doing a huge marathon for the con and Saturday is all Ultraman!
