Rodan's Right Wing

I've mentioned before that Shogun Warriors was something of a foundational toy line for me. While I was far too young to fully appreciate the toys at the time, I absolutely loved the ones I had. I had no clue who Dragun or Poseidon were, but those little Shogun Warriors figures went on more adventures than I could ever count.

Towering over them all, however, were Shogun Warriors Godzilla and Rodan. These enormous toys seemed practically to scale with my other action figures, and to a little kid they felt absolutely gigantic.

Admittedly, this is one of those memories that pops into my head several times a year and probably means a lot more to me than it would to most people.

Most people know that the Shogun Warriors toys were based on molds originally produced by Bandai/Popy in Japan. Godzilla and Rodan were released under the "World's Greatest Monsters" sub-line as an expansion of the series. Godzilla was a modified version of an existing Japanese release, but Rodan was an original creation made specifically for the American line. Between that and the toy's rather fragile construction, an original Rodan commands a small fortune today.

Back then, though...

He was just my giant Rodan.

Rodan stood about 13½ inches tall with an incredible 38-inch wingspan.

Yes...

His wingspan was roughly my height.

His big play feature was those massive flapping wings. You'd grip him by the holes in his back—almost like holding a bowling ball—and shake him up and down to make his wings flap.

I'm sure that was a very pleasant breeze for everyone else in the house during summer vacation.

Unfortunately, that wing mechanism relied on rubber bands inside the body that were known to break over time. Even worse, those huge rigid plastic wings had a tendency to crack under their own weight.

Mine did.

Rodan's right wing developed a crack that ran about three-quarters of the way down from the base.

I refused to give up on him.

Rodan received the finest medical care a small child with very little understanding of engineering—and parents who believed in do-it-yourself repairs whether they were good at them or not—could possibly provide.

Electrical tape.

Duct tape.

Super glue.

Lots of super glue.

Did the repairs hold?

Not for long...

...but they held long enough.

DAMMIT, RODAN! I'M NOT GIVING UP ON YOU!

Unfortunately...

My parents did.

During our move from Statesboro, Georgia, to Jonesboro, Georgia...

Rodan disappeared.

Where does a giant bird toy go?

Into the trash while the kid isn't looking.

In the chaos of moving, the mighty Rodan was ultimately defeated by two exhausted parents trying to pack a house.

Time, of course, moved on.

I accumulated other Rodan toys over the years, but I never forgot that one.

Then, around 2019, while walking around Toylanta taking pictures of various toys for the site, I spotted one.

A dealer had a complete Shogun Warriors Rodan still in the box, laid out so you could see every piece.

I just stood there for a while.

It felt like visiting an old friend.

Naturally, pictures of it ended up on my social media.

Not long afterward, my mom called.

She asked if I still had "that Rodan toy."

I reminded her that they had thrown it away.

Naturally, she immediately threw my dad under the bus before asking why I hadn't just bought the one I'd photographed.

I told her it was around $1,500.

She thought I'd said $15.

After a few rounds of what basically became Who's on First?, she finally realized what I'd actually said.

The noise she made sounded like a cross between Scooby-Doo and the brakes on a worn-out 1987 Ford Taurus.

Later that year, Godzilla: King of the Monsters hit theaters, along with a whole assortment of new kaiju toys.

She ended up getting me the large Rodan figure for Christmas.

These days, an original Shogun Warriors Rodan is even more expensive than it was back then. Thankfully, Super7 released a wonderful reproduction as part of their ReAction line, which the Mrs. got me for Christmas one year.

That Rodan now sits alongside the matching Shogun Warriors Godzilla reproduction in a special place in my heart.

No duct tape required.

You might be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you bowl with the reaper

Wow, we've come a long way, haven't we? These days, AIDS is thankfully a treatable disease... however, it wasn't always that way.

While I'm absolutely not making light of it, this PSA is absolutely ridiculous and, frankly, pretty insensitive.

It's also hilarious? I mean, the Grim Reaper is bowling with humans as pins. Okay, we've seen that metaphor before...

HOLY SHIT, DID YOU SEE THAT BABY SPIN IN THE AIR?

Who's the One Having Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem?

~The red moon has appeared in the skies of Planet Zone as it has since named Planet Micro. With it, the Bloody Zone opens and its foulest contents pour out. Till all are none.~

It's the first week of August, and that means it's time to set the pumpkins out. Hang a cardboard skeleton on your door. Light a candle and watch leaves blow in the wind with that quiet sound only fall can bring.

It's time for the world to get spooky.

It's Halloween.

Okay... it's still summer.

I know, I don't care.

Like every year, Halloween starts in August and runs for three months on Zone Base. Is that excessive? Yes. Look at it this way: there's been Halloween stuff filtering into stores since June, August is Ghost Month in several Asian countries, and besides, it's fun as hell.

If this is your first Halloween season on Zone Base, you're in for a treat. All the normal content still goes on as usual, with a little something sinister mixed in and spooky season bonus posts in between.

We're going trick-or-treating for the next three months, Zone Base readers. Put on a mask and grab your pillowcase.

It's time for Zone Base Halloween.

Black cats and goblins and broomsticks and ghosts,
Covens of witches with all of their hosts.
You may think they scare me, you're probably right.
Black cats and goblins on Halloween night...

Trick or treat!

Leo Prime/Lio Convoy (Robot and Beast) [Defender Version 07 – Power of the Beast]

@robfromzonebase Leo Prime/Lio Convoy (robot and beast) [Transformers Blokees Defender Version 07- Power of the Beast] #zonebase #transformers #blokees #blokeestransformers #beastwars ♬ Volcano Girls - Veruca Salt

I was extremely excited to see Lio Convoy (or Leo Prime, as Hasbro now him) included in the Blokees Transformers Defender Version 07: Power of the Beast assortment when it was first revealed.

Extremely.

Sure, I get excited for every Defender Version assortment, but this one was a particularly big deal for me.

During the Beast era, Lio Convoy was one of the coolest-looking Transformers on the planet. College-aged me (who was perpetually broke) couldn't afford one, so for the longest time he existed only as JPEGs I'd printed on my old HP inkjet printer and thumbtacked to the wall next to Coal Chamber posters.

Remember that terrible OfficeMax job I've mentioned before? While working in the copy center, I printed one of the Beast Wars II movie promotional images of Lio Convoy battling Galvatron as a poster.

It proudly hung on my wall for years. In fact, I still have that wonderfully pixelated poster folded up inside a tote in the garage. It spent years hanging on whatever refrigerator I happened to have.

Come to think of it...

Maybe I should turn that image into a refrigerator magnet for the current one.

At BotCon 2001, I finally picked up a pair of sofubi figures of Lio Convoy and Galvatron. Between those, a few PVC figures, and some little keshi, they were my stand-ins until I eventually tracked down the real toys.

These days you can hardly throw a rock without hitting a new toy of one of the Japanese Beast Wars leaders, but there was a time when they felt incredibly special.

Honestly...

They still do.

In this assortment, Lio Convoy is available in three different forms: his beast mode, his robot mode, and a Special Armor Type version of the robot. I'm thrilled to have the standard robot mode, but I'd really like to add the Special Armor version someday. It features chrome detailing, Energon Tonfas, a blast effect for his jet pack, and the Convoy Council cape from his later appearances.

Now that I think about it, Flame Toys even produced a Furai Model version with the cape.

I really should pick that up.

There have been all sorts of alternate color versions of Lio Convoy over the years, but part of me wishes Blokees would surprise us with an Alpha Trion version. During the old 3H era of BotCon, there were plans for an Alpha Trion toy based on Beast Machines Snarl. When Alpha Trion first appeared in that story, though, he was illustrated using Lio Convoy's silhouette instead.

That's one of those wonderful "what if?" moments that would make for an incredibly fun special edition.

Today we're looking at both the standard robot mode and beast mode kits. Like the other Defender Version releases, Blokees treats each mode as its own separate model instead of trying to engineer a transformation between them.

Personally, I love that approach.

A transforming toy always has to make compromises. By separating the two modes, both end up looking as good as they possibly can.

The lion assembles very easily. The body begins with two large halves connected by an internal frame that acts as the skeleton for the rest of the kit. The legs and feet go together quickly, while the head gets a little extra attention. The lower jaw is assembled separately before attaching to the face, which then connects to the mane. Additional mane pieces can fold upward to recreate the Lion Typhoon attack.

Once complete, the lion has a modest amount of articulation. The jaw opens, and the mane pieces can be displayed raised or lowered.

The robot builds much like a standard Defender Version kit, although it has a few fun gimmicks. The lion claw sections can be displayed forward for his claw attack or folded back to resemble the mane pieces seen on his forearms. The lion head that normally sits on his shoulder can also be swapped with the full beast-mode head, allowing you to display the Lion Typhoon in robot mode. It's a little oversized, but it looks fantastic.

Like a few of the Beast Wars Defender Version kits, the extra armor around the forearms slightly limits articulation. Personally, I don't mind, although I'm sure it probably drives somebody on the internet absolutely crazy.

Lio Convoy also includes a yellow blaster using the same mold that's been included with several Defender Version kits. I tend to think of it as this line's equivalent of the classic Optimus Prime rifle. Part of me wishes Lio Convoy had received a yellow version of that weapon instead, but this one still looks great in his hands.

Once assembled, this is an incredibly sharp-looking mini figure.

Like Cheetor before him, I can't help but compare him to the sprites from Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Warriors' Strongest Decisive Battle on the Game Boy Color. The proportions are surprisingly similar, and now I've got myself wishing Blokees would release a line of Defender Version kits painted to match those pixel-art colors.

Now that I've said it...

I want that even more.

Lio Convoy has always been a special character to me, and Blokees absolutely nailed him. This is one of those rare instances where I honestly don't have a single complaint.

I'm just ridiculously, blissfully happy with it.

I wish everything did that.