Ultra Magnus [Galaxy Version 03 The Autobot Run]

I've always really liked Ultra Magnus in cab mode. I've always liked Ultra Magnus in general, but that white cab mode is so pretty. Originally, Ultra Magnus was made from the Diaclone Powered Convoy toy, which was an upgraded version of Battle Convoy. The toy that Optimus Prime was made from. I've heard a few different times that originally Ultra Magnus was intended to be an upgraded Optimus Prime before they settled on making him an all new character. Considering I can't currently find a source for that, maybe it's best to chalk that up as an unconfirmed trivial fact.

In most media, Ultra Magnus was shown only combined with his trailer. Obviously to cut down confusion, but as a result, it isn't common knowledge to everyone that Ultra Magnus has a cab mode and that the cab mode is basically a white Optimus Prime. It's to no surprise that a cab mode Ultra Magnus is one of the standby repaints you can expect to see when a new Optimus Prime toy is released. That's the story when we're talking about today's toy. Cab Mode Ultra Magnus as a Blokees, is mostly a straight repaint of their Optimus Prime kit that as you can expect is very sharp looking.

I say mostly a straight repaint as he has a different axe weapon included, a blue variation of the axe Optimus tends to use in Cybertronian depictions. Also, to my understanding, his inner head has some retooled pegs which hold his inner face parts in place better during assembly. I didn't notice it when I was putting him together, but now remember being frustrated with Optimus's head. So that's an improvement. Aside from that, he's pretty much a straight repaint of the Optimus Prime Blokees I talked about earlier that comes with all the same accessories and parts (except that alternative axe... damn, alternative axe sounds rad). However now, it's extra pretty.. you know. Because of that white cab mode.

Wild King Appears!

Weekend HENSHIN! Cyborg Monday

Hello Zone Base readers! Welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was pretty good itself. I can't say I did a lot, but enjoyed it all the same. The Mrs and I made a point to do our weekly shopping early Saturday morning to be home in time for the severe weather awaiting us that night. Like last weekend, I didn't buy myself anything toy related as my birthday and Toylanta are in 2 weeks. But did finally find a can of BBQ Doritos Minis. I vastly prefer the mini Doritos and really love the BBQ flavor. Now that they're available in the smaller size, I can indulge without worrying about eating too much. I love them, but still need to watch what I eat!

Saturday evening as the storms came in, I enjoyed some sushi the Mrs had ordered while I was sleeping. I had a wonderful meal of spicy yellow tail roll, sweet potato roll, and of course a cucumber roll. I normally get a spicy tuna roll, but think I'll be getting that yellow tail more often! It was so pleasant and this was my first time with a sweet potato roll. I'll definitely be getting it more. It had some tempura inside and went perfectly with the spicy yellow tail. Of course I enjoyed my cucumber roll, it's a favorite. I love cucumbers and you all know I love my spooky stuff. Nothing like a kappamaki roll to polish off a great meal! I had some rainbow sherbert for dessert and an overall wonder meal. The weather was not so great as spring is settling in and that means lots of storms in the American South. There was severe weather all evening including tornadoes. We made it out ok, but unfortunately others didn't. I wish the best for them and their families. After dinner, I rode out the storm with various ghost and robot videos in between playing Shredder's Revenge. That might just be my favorite TMNT game ever! 

Sunday, the weather was much better and I went to the local Kroger to renew my license tag for the year at the Tag Renewal vending machine. Afterwards, I decided to check out the Pokémon machine to see if they had anything cool. Normally there's a line, but the store staff had blocked the machine with online order pick-up carts. Jerks! I'm always annoyed when staff are inconsiderate to customers. Thinking how many people are usually in line at that machine, I know there was several unhappy people that morning. I worked retail and fast food when I was younger and remember how these sort of things were often because of incompetence more than anything. That's a large portion of my annoyance towards these types of situations. I still remember getting in trouble for things like this by the manager whose idea it was in the first place! Oh well, hopefully others got to use the machine later.

I organized my toys some more (I've got quite a mess to get under control) and enjoyed a wonderful dinner the Mrs cooked. Mom came over and we enjoyed Sunday dinner while watching the first half of The Electric State. I look forward to finishing it as it's really good! We had salad, spaghetti, and some awesome lemon cupcakes! After Mom left, we watched some Leemax and other companies Halloween offerings preview videos. It was a great weekend and hopefully this will be a great week! Being Monday, of course I have some household chores to do and some toys to picture for upcoming posts. It's finally happening, I'll be finishing our look at Beast Alliance Transformers. Of course I'm 2 weeks ahead as usual, so please look forward to it shortly after Toylanta. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I really do appreciate it! Don't forget to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives!

Optimus Prime [Legacy United/Deluxe Class]

Considering the amount of Optimus Prime toys released a year, you'd imagine it'd be hard to get excited over just one. Well, that's not the case today Zone Base readers, because we'll be looking at the Deluxe Class Optimus Prime from Transformers Legacy United. Similar to Takara's Missing Link Convoy, this Optimus is meant to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Transformers by making a figure that looks like the original, but updated with modern engineering. Think of it as the Transformers version of Masters of the Universe Origins. With this figure we get a toy that looks directly out of 1984 with a lot more articulation.

In all fairness, the original Optimus Prime was fairly possible for a toy of his era. This one, however, is a definite step up. It's fairly identical as well... with some obvious differences. It's a new sculpt... not a 100% match, but really close. Optimus is also a little smaller than the original toy funnily enough. I couldn't tell initially, but it became obvious when compared side by side. Being a standard retail toy, he's all plastic... but does have rubber tires. That's something I didn't expect at all. It's been a while since Hasbro has graced a main line Transformers toy with rubber times and I'm all here for it. It's a superficial touch... but I like it! Neatly enough, the tires are branded CYBERTRON RADIAL 275/80 R22. Cybertron Radials are the brand of tires used on Transformers Alternators. Neat, huh?

Optimus comes with his iconic laser blaster, in fact he comes with two. During the original run, a running change created two versions of the classic gun. Originally a fatter design, later versions got thinner (ozempic works on plastic?) as time went. My original had the fatter gun, but some reissues came with the skinny one. This initially confused me as I wasn't aware that there was a variation. There I was with a reissue and hey... the gun looked different. These days I've got quite a few reissues and there's been some variation in those guns over the years. That's why I'm glad he comes with both. That way whichever one came with yours, he cane use. One can store on his back as well, which looks pretty cool. His smoke stacks can also be held as guns, which is a fun little touch.

Speaking of pretty cool, Optimus has that energy axe he's become known for using since More Than Meets the Eye episode 2. This axe is specifically based on the version that was packed with The Transformers Collection Convoy reissue. He's also got a Autobot Matrix of Leadership that can be stored in his chest (but not held) that's specifically modeled after the Matrix that came with the 2002 New Years Special reissue. I love how this toy homages so many things from prior toys without being completely obvious about it.

Optimus is very well articulated, something that isn't obvious at first glance. He looks so much like the original toy that I wouldn't be surprised if he was mistaken for it. He almost transforms like the original as well. Most noticeably, the hands fold inside of his forearms instead of being removed and probably lost under the couch. Guns and axe easily store in vehicle mode and everything is nice and compact. It's pretty obvious that there's no included trailer. I'm hoping a future edition will be released with one. That'd be perfect. He is compatible with the Earthrise and Original Optimus Prime trailers. Potentially with others, but those are the ones I know for certain work. The Earthrise works best as his slightly smaller size makes the G1 trailer comically huge. Overall, this is a very neat toy that I'm very happy to own. I look forward to buying every ridiculous reuses of it in the future. 

It's Gotta Be Halloween... sooner or later

"It's Gotta Be Halloween"~ Chuck E. Cheese

(it's a banger)

Slag (robot mode) [Galaxy Version 03 The Autobot Run]

In robot mode, Slag is one fancy looking Blokees figure. He's got quite a bit of custom parts to stand out among the other Galaxy Version AMK kits. Considering how rebellious Slag is, it's kinda appropriate. He's got a bad attitude and likes to fight a little too much. You know, it's be fun if they made a Horn Geist based on this kit. I've always enjoyed the Space Pirate Geisters and considering all the reworks of modern Transformers toys these days, it's surprising some of the Brave characters haven't been explored.

Not to mention... I think it'd look great in the signature Blokees style. Slag of course comes with the typical robot mode parts you'd expect in a Blokees Galaxy Version kit. The two sets of hands, a base and symbols. However, he's also got some really great custom parts that just make this kit stand out. Most notably is is dino mode head kibble. This is of course all part of Slag's look, but it makes him look so extra here. The parts are the same from the dino mode kit, but that doesn't diminish their visual impact whatsoever. In fact it creates a great synergy between the two kits that I appreciate. Topping everything off nicely is his Energo Sword. Super robots with swords just look cool and that's the same case with Slag. Just great.