Baron Karza [ReAction+/Micronauts]

Following up on yesterdays heroic Micronaut is the evil Baron Karza! Baron Karza is the leader of the Evil Acroyears and general scourge of all that is good. Super7 is using the toy fiction, which makes me happy as I like Acroyears EVIL! As a Reaction+, the Baron is an O-Ring style figure and not held together by magnets like his original. I had the Palisades version with Andromeda for years before giving it to my father in law as those magnets always made me super nervous around my electronics.

That was probably a little too cautious for any rational reason... but a lifetime of being told not to bring magnets around my electronics outweighs any logic. Considering those Palisades ones were notoriously made of brittle plastic, that one's probably a pile of rubble now anyway. With this O-Ring version, I can enjoy my toy without worrying that my computer is going to randomly zap out. Not to mention, I do like him being in comparable size to the other figures. Just feels nice in hand.

Baron Karza was sculpted by Mecha Zone like Biotron was and he really nailed it. That classic head looks fabulous and the body still looks like the Steel Jeeg toy that was reused on the original. While no longer using magnets, he's sculpted and colored to not ignore where they would have been. That's a nice touch. His belly button missile launcher is sculpted in, but obviously doesn't fire anything. I do wish his missile jet pack separated to be used as individual weapons, but understand it not doing so. The look is there, so I'm happy. He's nicely articulated and makes a fine addition to my micro ranks.

Considering the other ReAction ride-able animals, I hope an Andromeda is on the way. As a horse or with a removable head for that sweet centaur action... or both! I also hope a Force Commander is in store as the head swap and recolor should be easy enough. This toy would look so good in white! Knowing Super7, there's likely a bunch of repaints coming. I've got high hopes for alternate color Time Travelers and Acroyears in blind boxes... but would love to see some of those alternate colors for Baron Karza show up. I never could get my hand on those translucent ones Palisades did. The sky's the limit and I'm in for all sorts of variations. I'm so freaking happy that these are getting made!

Biotron [ReAction+/Micronauts]

In January when the new Micronauts toys by Super7 were announced, I didn't think I could be any more ecstatic. The timing of their release around my birthday couldn't have been any as they were the perfect gift from the Mrs. Today we'll be looking at Biotron, or Robotman if you're more into Microman. I've been a fan of Super7's ReAction figures since discovering them in 2014 and their new ReAction+ line is something I've wanted for a very long time.

Much as a standard ReAction takes a character and has them as an 80's Kenner style figure, ReAction+ takes a character and presents them in the style of an O-Ring GI JOE figure.All time favorite figure formats used for a variety of characters? Yes please! Original Micronauts/Microman were O-Ring figures themselves as they were basically downsized Henshin Cyborg figures (which used 12" GIJOE dolls as a base), so this is a perfect format to revisit these characters.

Biotron is a great scaled down incarnation of the original giant toy, or a nice counterpart to the smaller Robotman figure. Biotron and Baron Karza (possibly more, I just know of these two) were sculpted by Mecha Zone (who makes some really good stuff) and they look great! I'm personally blown away by Biotron as he just looks so good! The sculpt is perfect and works great at an O-Ring figure. Certain colors just work perfectly together and the red and blue mix with the white base wonderfully. Of course the chromed head and hands really pop. His tank treads are represented as a removable backpack.

I've seen some conversation that these new Micronauts back ports aren't universally compatible with other similar scaled parts, so whatever else you try to connect there may not work. I'm keeping mine stock though, it looks great. One really nice touch is his chest canopy can be removed to place an Inchman inside. There's been a lot of discourse over exactly which one could fit inside as it's a slightly small size. Dianuats are a little too big, Micro Galaxy Squadron dudes are a little off. I wonder about a Buzz Lightyear Hyperspeed Series? Biotron feels like an award for patiently waiting for a new Micro line all this time. He really feels like a premium toy and knowing Super7, they'll make all sorts of variations. I can't wait.

Hot Rod and Bumblebee [Swapticons]

It's time we look at the newest 'silly' Transformers line from Hasbro called Transformers Swapticons. Swapticons are a new line of smaller, simpler Transformers obviously intended for younger children, yet being enjoyed by a middle aged robot nerd.

These fall in line with other silly, but fun lines like Q Transformers, Kre-O, Bot Shots, and BotBots that I've enjoyed in addition to my 'serious' Transformers. Swapticons are similar to Micromaster Combiners in that an individual figure makes up one half of an alt mode. You combine 2 for a full vehicle or animal. These little bots are chunky little blocky guys with extremely simple transformations. Combination into alt mode is done by interlocking the robot heads together. The fun part is in the variety, you can get creative and stick any 2 Swapticons together. The silliness is played up as the characters have BotBot style silly faces.

Now that we've spent all that time explaining a silly toy, let's take a look at Hot Rod and Bumblebee. The main figures come in 2 packs for not a lot of money. As you can tell by this pack, they tend to be good pairings. I really like Hot Rod, the little blocky body really works well with his traditional looks. It's just a solid little representation. Of course his wacky face give it a bit of goofy characterization... but it works pretty well. Articulation on these guys is basic to put it mildly. They have little simple fold out arms that are just enough to express that they are arms. The toy is in the gimmick more so than the figure.

Bumblebee looks pretty good too, though I admit some of his detail is lost in all the yellow. He's your standard Evergreen Bumblebee. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that Hot Rod looks so much more detailed next to him. They're a solid duo regardless and their combined vehicle mode is pretty cool. Hot Rod forms the rear end with Bumblebee becoming the front. It's a neat looking combination of the two. I'm really having fun with Swapticons so far. Right now I have no complaints... though like with other smaller toys... I wish they came with a sticker. A Bikkuriman style sticker would go perfectly with these little bots. Regardless of my endless fascination with autocollants, these are great.  I look forward to filling a shoe box with these silly little bots.

Shoot... it's Monday

Welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I had a great weekend and hope you did too! It was Easter and a pretty good time! The Mrs and I exchanged Easter Baskets and man did she pull out all the stops! Transformers, TMNT, a squishy Cody Rhodes, and some candy was much appreciated! She even put Blokees in eggs and hid them around the house! I'm now the owner of a case of Transformers One Blokees and look forward to putting them together! We had Easter fun at my Mom's house with my brother's family before enjoying a relaxing Sunday evening at home. The 2016 Doom remake was on sale on the Nintendo e-shop for just 5$, so that was an easy purchase.

Speaking of Blokees, it looks like Walmart is making a solid effort into including them into their normal stock. I've been seeing Reels with folks not only finding Galaxy Version boxes at stores, but the larger kits as well. Hopefully they'll be able to keep them in stock as they are popular. I sure love them! Hopefully my Galaxy Defender case ships soon and didn't get back ordered (I swear I hate pre-orders). Of course there's more than just Blokees as far as new Transformers goes... but it's hard not to just focus on them.

There's other toys as well coming out that I'm loving, it's such a fun time on Zone Base! Speaking of, I've got a fun week in store for you all. It appears that an anomaly has been detected in orbit over the planet thanks to those darn quantum computers. Weirdly enough, Planet Zone has been registering as Planet Micro again on various notes around the base. Weird, wonder what's going on? I'm sure it's small. Regardless of universal streams distorting everything, thank you all for reading Zone Base. Don't forget to share with your friends!

Glittering Ironhide [Galaxy Version Defender/01 Shining Version]

In addition to the neat cab mode Blokees Optimus Prime I got at Toylanta is Glittering Ironhide! Two good pulls from a surprise con find! Glittering Ironhide is a translucent version of the classic Ironhide that just looks great. These new Defender Blokees are smaller than the normal Galaxy Version.

The smaller size combined with the signature Blokees style makes for a great little figure that's not to like. Ironhide is pleasantly articulated and has a laser rifle. You'd think assembling something so small would be frustrating, but I actually got the kit put together easily and in a lot less time than a standard Galaxy Version. Ironhide also came with a Megatron coin, there looked to be some variety in coins in the manual. I'm not sure if it's completely random or assigned for each kit. Certainly a neat little extra regardless. I'm obviously a fan of the Blokees Transformers and really look forward to getting more Defender types soon. These little guys have a lot of charm and character... and somehow feel extremely badass.

Sasquatch [Mountain Town Toys]

I got this little Sasquatch keshi at Toylanta from Mountain Town Toys. When deciding to do this 'smoll toys' week I figured it'd be just the thing. Mountain Town Toys is a cool shop a few hours north of me that not just sells toys, but makes their own. This isn't the first keshi I've gotten from them. In 2022 they gave me a Sasquatch one they made from recycled coffee cups (they also have a coffee shop).

They're from North Georgia, in the mountains. Sasquatch is often sighted there. I do wish the idea to write about this little guy would have came to me sooner. I cropped the picture of him out of a convention haul pic (thus the less than spectacular pic). It's a good little sculpt full of character. That's one of the great things about these independent toys, just full of character.