The Sliming Skull

I've spoken before about my love for The Slime Pit. Simply put, one of the coolest play sets ever made. At first glance, it just looks like a stone wall with a dragon's skull on top. Is it some sort of altar for magic rituals? However, you might find yourself lead there, a captive of The Evil horde! Hordak commands Modulok and Leech to put you in the device as a skeletal claw holds you tight. The skull tips forward as slime pours down coating every inch of your body. Your mind is no longer your own as you become a Slime Pit Zombie!

Mega Construx has finally gotten around to releasing a Slime Pit set for their brand of mini figures I so enjoy. It took awhile to get one, so imagine my surprise to find it in the pile of gifts from my wife Christmas morning. The Slime Pit is a Skeletor skull style set, normally restricted to recreating the accessories from classic MOTU. As the original play set was pretty small... it works pretty well. Included is enough blocks to recreate the Slime Pit within the inside of the color matching skull (including simulated slime!) and a translucent green He-Man as it's victim.

The included He-Man figure is along the same idea as the the Micro Action Figure I talked about last week. However, as a Mega Contrux mini figure, it's a much nicer toy. Heavily articulated and larger... it's kinda amazing just how nice these mini figures are. I've honestly have always been a little amazed by that. He-Man has his Power Sword here which can be stored on his armor. This armor originally gave him a force field... that doesn't seem to have helped. It's a really cool figure that's just a simple color swap... but effective. The set itself is pretty simple, but extremely awesome overall. It's hard not to like slime, yet alone a mind controlled slime zombie. The idea kinda sells itself.

Weekly Update- 1/30/23

Unfortunately the weekend has ended, but that just means a new week here on Planet Zone! I spent this weekend mostly at home aside from some shopping. I had intended to get some put off housework done, but that didn't happen. I did manage to pick up some fun stuff. Two Micro Galaxy Squadron blind boxes, two of the new way cool Dungeons and Dragons Dicelings (way cool D&D monsters that transform into dice), Studio Series Core class Laserbeak, a copy of Yokaiden book 2 (Five Below has good deals on manga), and Terror Claws Skeletor from MOTU Origins (random luck at Big Lots). It's the beginning of the year. Stock can be low, but I found some good stuff.

I also ordered a carrying case for my Digimon. The Mrs got me a 20th anniversary unit for Christmas and it's been fun to play again after all these years. I intend to get one of the Digimon X units later. I always liked lcd gadgets and had fun with virtual pets back in the day. This is just a great portable RPG. Now I can carry it around without getting it dirty. I watched some good TV. Lots of paranormal TV and the new episode of 1000lbs Sisters (it's surprisingly addictive, ok). Also finally watched My Amityville Horror. It's a documentary about the oldest Lutz child including various interviews with news personalities that handled the case and therapists. It doesn't try to convince you if it really happened or didn't. Just sort of a look at this persons life and everything that happened because of it. Pretty interesting. I also worked in a viewing of Garfield's Halloween Adventure... look, you know how this works.

I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thank you so much for reading Zone Base. If you like what I'm doing, please share posts with your friends. I've got some chores to do and this Digimon has sone fighting to do! Have a great week!

G.H.O.S.T. Megatron in Deluxe Missions

It's not often that I like a Megatron enough to actively pursue a figure of him (outside of beast era). It's not that I dislike him, it's just that I vastly prefer other Decepticon leaders. That being said, I really enjoy the Earth Spark version of Megatron. The bad guy turned good gimmick has been used before, but I kinda like it this time. After all, most bad guys don't think they're doing bad. Earth Spark seemingly follows the G1 cartoon (thematically, it's not a super definitive relation) with Optimus Prime and a reformed Megatron (he's changed his ways... but it's still him) working with the Earth military organization named G.H.O.S.T. (whose symbol I REALLY like).

This is the deluxe class toy of Earth Spark Megatron and a pretty decent representation of his on screen character. I very much like the mixture of classic Megatron with a decidedly more heroic look. Clearly the same guy, but those hard lines are softened. It's a good look. In this version, Megatron transforms into a tiltrotor/osprey type vehicle. It's an oddly fitting alt mode for a flying vehicular form. As a weapon, Megatron is carrying a variation of his trademark Fusion Cannon. It can be held in hand or arm mounted traditionally. The cannon splits in half to be part of the tiltrotor's wings. It's pretty impressive how everything comes together uniformly.

The toy transforms pretty easily, though I did get stuck in a few places. Nothing major, just getting it right types of mistakes. Robot mode is pleasantly articulated, though some of the alt mode kibble will need to be adjusted at times. Like Cyberverse deluxe toys, Megatron comes with a build-a-figure piece. Specifically Mandroid in this case and Mandroid's left arm with this toy. I'm not sure if I'll complete this figure as my focus with Earth Spark toys will likely be warrior class and turbo changers. In case it's not obvious... I like this toy. He's perfectly satisfactory on all fronts. I'm sure others may take issues with things and that's fine. For me... he just works. This is a good toy of Megatron with a slightly different take than you expect coming in.

Bios: Ransack

"No obstacle is too great!"

They are a unique team of Mini-Cons with the ability to combine forces and battle on any terrain. Sand, ice, and mud are no match for this rugged team, and not even the most dangerous weather can hold it back. They are the first line of defense in difficult battle conditions, and the Autobots will fight to the end to keep them out of the hands of Megatron.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 5 Speed: 6 Endurance: 8

Rank: 5 Courage: 6 Firepower: 4 Skill: 7

Weekly Halloween~ The Haunted Castle

I love classic horror. There's charm and emotion that's missing in modern horror. When it comes to really old, like super old silent movies... I'm absolutely enthralled. There's a layer of weirdness that cannot be replicated. It's in part to the techniques used at the time, the weird frame rates of early cameras, and well... the cursed nature of the films. Am I watching honest entertainment, or something from the dark web that'll unleash a demon into my house?

Aw hell, Atari

It's pretty safe to say Atari hasn't always made the best decisions when it comes to their game consoles. Sure, they had success with Pong and the VCS/2600 and their home computers were definitely popular. However, when it came to following up the 2600... they just never got it together. There was solid and not so solid attempts, but clearly someone was not connecting the dots. Admittedly the general ignorance about computers at the time didn't help. When Atari released the 5200, the 2600 was still pretty popular. What was the difference? Well, it's more powerful. Oh yeah? Yeah, here's the same games you already have for your 2600. See the disconnect?

Weekly Update- 1/23/23

A new week has arrived on Planet Zone! I could have used more of the weekend, but such is life. It was the Mrs's birthday, so I spent it taking her shopping and generally spoiling her. I also got in the new episode of 1000lbs Sisters and some Junji Ito Maniac on Netflix watched. Speaking of, the new season of Demon Slayer is finally on Netflix and I've been patiently for it. Sure it's been on other services, but I'm not paying for another streaming app. I did manage to get a few things for myself even though I wasn'tplanning on it. I picked up EarthSpark Deluxe Megatron, two Micro Galaxy Squadron blind boxes, and Nova Pegatrix from Bakugan Legends. I was pleasantly gifed a DK-2 Guard, the Transformers Generations Selects toy from my mother. Woo-hoo surprise Diaclone! I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thanks for supporting Zone Base. If you like what I do here, please spread the word! Sharing posts is easy and free! I absolutely make no money off this, I'd just like folks to read it.

Shockwave Plugin Needed

Shockwave has gotten two really good Core Class figures last year. His Studio Series release from the Bumblebee movie was a really good figure that I didn't talk about here (and I may still do so in the future). The latest is this great Legacy figure the Mrs stuck in the pile of presents she gave me this Christmas. The "G1" Shockwave toys have followed the same formula lately with this one doing the same. Very traditional robot mode that turns into a spaceship resembling his classic ray gun alt mode. Like the Legend Class toy from Combiner Wars, this figure has a handle to allow bigger bots to hold the space ship and use it as a ray gun. Shockwave often flew in ray gun mode, so it works well.

Simply put, this is a new toy of a design that's been done a few times already at a smaller size. That's not a bad thing, Shockwave is an Evergreen character that's going to get regular new releases. They're seemingly putting the classic cast into Core Class as a secret lower cost sub-line. Considering they're size compatible with the smaller Authentics figures, it's clearly a thing Hasbro is doing. I can realistically see smaller figures with Deluxe and Voyager sized bigger bots in the future. As someone who's been on the cusp on focusing mainly on smaller Transformers toys many times, I'd be ok with that.

Shockwave pleasantly turns into the aforementioned spaceship. I've generally liked this spaceship as it's got a great classic super robot or shooter game vibe to it. As a Core Class figure, Shockwave is a little smaller than the former Commander/Legend class and a little simpler. It's a general design that's been used regularly, but feels different as a Core. I like it. I like Core Class in general, with Shockwave there's a Convertors or even Gobots energy going on. Obviously I love that. However, Core Class offers more modern engineering perks like better articulation.

Shockwave has a radar dish that mounts on the spaceship and can be held as a weapon. I like to think of it as some kind of scanner. Maybe like that thing Evil Lynn used in the MOTU movie. I vastly prefer the classic cartoon version of Shockwave and can see it as a mobile version of his detection equipment on Cybertron. Just case Megatron calls him while out checking on things. For such a simple toy mean to represent an emotionless bore... it has a lot of personality.

Bios: Firebot

"When the battle is over, our job begins."

The well-prepared Emergency Mini-Con Team specializes in search and rescue. They are the first on the scene following any major disaster or military conflict. Their ability to provide a fast emergency response has saved many Transformers from the scrap heap. It is this dedication to protecting and serving their community that has caused them to be so highly regarded by their associates. They seek neither praise nor rewards, but merely the pleasure of seeing a job done well.

Strength:8  Intelligence: 10 Speed:8 Endurance:10

Rank:7 Courage:10 Firepower:6 Skill:9

Transform Squadron 40- Space Warrior

LISTEN NOW!

Happy New Year! This month, Rob talks Transformers fun he's looking forward to. How to make a french bread pizza, did you know? Now you do! Then, the bootleg Robotech models from gumball machines are discussed. It maybe a new year, but... what's even going on with this show?

Weekly Halloween~ What's the cat looking at?

Every think you saw something? We all have, and that's the basis for a lot of ghost stories. We either write it off as the lights from a car or a demon straight from hell in the living room. When it comes to animals acting strange though, that's another matter. If they're staring at the floor intently... there's something there. Maybe a bug got in or a piece of fuzz floated by... or that demon is actually in the living room. That's the creepy thing when your pet stares at seemingly nothing. They're looking at something, or someone.

A little Green with Evil

When I initially started talking about Micro Action Figures here, I intended to do group posts on various series. A Transformers post, a Masters of the Universe post, etc, ... and I totally failed to do that. So in attempt to talk about these cool little figures I like quite a bit, instead I'm just gonna talk about one at a time. Just to keep it simple. Today, we're going to talk about Slime Pit He-Man.

Slime Pit He-Man is a basic repaint of the already released He-Man figure. However, it's a pretty interesting one. Obliviously He-Man is representing himself recently slimed via Slime Pit (it's in the name) and is now a mindless zombie under Hordak's control. To emphasize his slime coated physique, He-Man is cast in translucent green plastic. I don't know why being covered in mind controlling evil sludge would turn you translucent... but it looks awesome. Meanwhile He-Man's clothing and axe are opaque. The mixture of can see through and can't see through looks fantastic.

The pictures probably don't convey that this figure is TINY. At just around an inch tall, He-man had movable arms and waist with an axe that can be held. The original use of this mold had more accessories, but I guess inflation affected that as the cost is still around the same. They still come with a stand. I really like these little toys, but finding them can be a pain. Thankfully, the Mrs found me this one. Slime Pit He-Man is from the newest series of Master of the Universe micro figures and represents a deeper dive into the series than the expected characters. I do hope to find more as I like these little guys quite a bit. There's even a micro Castle Grayskull now. Slime Pit He-Man is a great example of a well done repaint. Just changing some simple colors turns something completely recognizable to something really novel.

Weekly Update- 1/16/23

Another week has begun here on Planet Zone! I hope everyone had a good weekend, personally I'm a little bummed mines over. I had intended to do some more housework... but somehow just played with a Digimon between reading manga and opening toys from the backlog. Speaking of toys, I picked up some cool stuff this weekend. Walmart had the new 1986 movie version of G1 Starscream. I've got a few different versions of the classic mold, including an anime version released about 20 years ago. However this one is much better matched to his cartoon appearance. I'm looking forward to the others like this. 

I also picked up Neo Trox from the new Bakugan Evolutions line. The Mrs. got me a bunch of those for Christmas and I'm still working them into my Bakugan case. I definitely need a new one as mine is running out of room. A stop by Target lead to Turbochangers Bumblebee from Earth Spark. They had a few more, but I'll grab those next week. I try to keep my toy purchases around 50$ each week. It's easy to spend too much real fast when it comes to toys. With inflation as bad as it is right now... dang.

My Mom stopped by Sunday for a little while and dropped off some clearance finds she grabbed for me. Battle Armor He-Man from the newer Netflix show and Override from the Velocitron Speedia collection. Shawn had already sent me one a while back, so I'll either have another or find a use for this one. Hopefully Crasher and the Drag Strip repaint show up soon. I've got Galaxy Shuttle and I'd love to complete the series. Hopefully there's a release of Motormaster too. I never found one of him and I'd love to complete the Stunticons. 

In just a few minutes, I'll be recording this months episode of Transform Squadron. I hope it gets published soon, but more importantly, I hope listeners like it. Speaking of this week, I've got a fun week in mind for you all. Thanks for continuing to support Zone Base. I know this isn't some big fan site chock full of ads, but it's my weirdo thing. If you like what I'm doing, please share my posts with your friends. I don't make any money off this site, but I'd appreciate folks reading anyway!

An OldOne on this Friday the 13th

Horror of the deep, 52TOYS BeastBox Series OLDONE BB-44！Slumbering deep under the ocean, no one will believe a box as ancient as the OLDONE exists. Once awaken, his CPU programming will unleash tentacles upon unsuspecting ships and drag them all to a watery grave...

No better time than Friday the 13th to take a look at OldOne. OldOne is a BeastBox figure by 52Toys. Really cool designer toys that turn from beast mode to box mode (there is some some modes as well). It's really satisfying to see something like a robotic dinosaur convert into a pleasant little box as well as a return to the old school transforming robot toy shapes.

OldOne is a really well done robotic Kraken with a Lovecraft name. Nothing like a legendary sea monster that could possibly be from beyond our scope of reality. The robotic design add some really cool looks as well. Despite the 'beast' in the name, don't think Beast Wars. Think Zoids. They're very similar to Zoids in visual presentation and frankly they just look fucking awesome. A squid is probably the last thing you'd think of when the idea of transforming into a box... and OldOne is a little tricky getting there. All those tentacles fold up exactly right and mostly fit into his head while doing so. Thankfully, they're heartily articulated. They can bend all over the place in a million different ways. It's super satisfying to do so. I've said satisfying twice, because that's the best word for it.

I had been eyeing these Beastbox toys by 52Toys for awhile now and have no reason or excuse for why I haven't bought one before. I thought they were neat but just didn't get any. My wife bought me Oldone after discovering them on Amazon and asked me about them. I was instantly hooked and used some Amazon gift cards to buy a few... and I'll be getting more in the future. These are great. Apparently, there's a bonus brain module for OldOne that sometimes comes with the toy. I'm not sure what the occasion for getting one is, mine didn't include it. It looks like one can be acquired separately. I'm really happy with Beastbox and can foresee a lot more of them in my future.

Bios: Clench

Clench is the Mini-Con partner for Galvatron, the reformatted and powered-up version of Megatron. After Megatron was reformatted, he decided to 'trade-up' his Mini-Con partner. Searching the globe over, Galvatron finally found the perfect Mini-Con partner in Clench, Leader-1's brother. Although Leader-1 and Clench share nearly identical transformations, Clench is ten times faster, stronger, and more powerful than Leader-1.

Weekly Halloween~ The Enchanted World

No matter how much modern paranormal TV I watch, they can never match the vibes these old productions would give off. Something as simple as a commercial for one of these awesome Time Life Books series made them seem downright forbidden as a kid. You just knew some serious shit was inside and reading them could possibly spell out certain doom. Between these and Mysteries of the Unknown, Time Life Books really had their finger on the pule of the occult... or so it seemed. I can't tell you how many times I've read through these in a waiting room or borrowed from a library. One day I'd like to get a complete set.

Pain in the Tail

Ever try to put a Boglins tail on? It's super hard, but it's even harder getting the dang little monster out of it's crate the first time. You see, the tail is a separate piece. There's a plug that goes inside it and connects to the main body. That plug is used to hold the Boglin in place inside it's crate. It is a damn act of nature to pull that plug out. That is the most stuck in place thing ever stuck in place in the history of things stuck in place. When you finally get that plug out, you put it through the tail and back into it's socket. Then the Boglin is assembled. Sounds easy huh?

IT'S NOT.

Weekly Update- 1/9/22

A new week has begun on Planet Zone! I enjoyed my weekend, but wished it would have lasted longer. I spent it doing some much needed housework. That'll be taking up the next few weekends, but it's just the thing to do in winter I suppose. The holidays are over, so things will be getting back to normal around here for awhile. I did pick up the Beast Wars reissue Wolfang and Retrax this weekend. Man, the price went up on those things. I've got a fun week in store for you readers. Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base. If you could, I hope you share posts with your friends.

Petit Beast Era

With the upcoming Rise of the Beasts movie bringing a much more mainstream attention to my beloved beast warriors, extra love for them has been out in force to reintroduce them to the world. I love it. Something I wasn't expecting was the characters featured in the preschool stuff. But here we are, and here is Optimus Primal as a toddler toy released in 2022 (yes it's 2023 now, but I wrote this in advance). There's another BW toy in the Classic Transformers Heroes Team line for smaller children of Alligator Megatron. I've always had a lot of love for that initial BW 2 pack. I hope to find it soon.

It probably goes without saying that Optimus here is a very simple toy. Meant for small, much younger children and not middle aged robot nerds (but here we are). Transformation is a simple pulling the toy into robot to beast modes and vice versa. There's no articulation as it's basically a larger, more simplified Turbo Changer. The transformation is the toy more than the figure itself. Like Turbo Changers, it makes a good figit toy, perfect for little ones to play with. The simple, cute sculpt makes Primal friendly and approachable. He's hard not to like, unless you're an asshole.

I really wanted this toy because as big fan of Beast Wars, and also tend to like oddball things like this. It also reminds me a bit of the Real Figure Transmetals Optimus Primal toy from 1999. That was something I wanted a whole lot back then and was super happy to get. Little weird things like that were a little harder to get back then. This toy is a lot simpler than that one, and bigger. Really, it's not that similar. But it does remind me of that figure for some reason. Sometimes things just stroke the heart in a certain way. I don't know if that's a good thing, but here we are.

Bios: Sparkplug

"We must all learn to live in peace!"

Sparkplug is the Mini-Con partner of the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime. Sparkplug converts into a superfast sports car and helps Optimus Prime on reconnaissance missions. He also combined with Optimus Prime in battles to increase the Autobot leader's strength.

Strength:9 Intelligence: 9 Speed: 9 Endurance: 9 

Rank:5 Courage: 10 Firepower: 9 Skill: 9

Weekly Halloween~ Won't you take me to Spooky Town?

Real ones know Halloween doesn't end. Oh, sure, the actual holiday comes to an end... but everything that goes into it never stops. November 1st is the clock resseting for next year. January is when many companies start soliciting their wares for the upcoming season. Octobers maybe 10 months away, but it takes alot of early planning to get all that scary stuff in stores by then. It's a lot of fun for somebody like me who loves and breathes the holiday all year... and I'm assuming you reading this as the spooky stuff gets the most site hits.

Leemax has recently unveiled their 2023 Spooky Town lineup. Spooky Town is a Halloween tradion for most that is part of the early seasonal kick off that starts showing up late summer during Code Orange mania. This year looks to be a banner year for the town where all things are spooky.

I'm particuallry intersted in the 'Trick or Treat, if you dare' house. It's a wonderful suburban house decorated for Halloween with a home haunt in the garage. Simple, but perfectly represents the holiday. The 'Full Moon Diner' is a resturant staffed by werewolves. It's a silly take on those greasy all night joints straight out of an episode of Goosebumps. 'Skeleton Cottage' is a simple shack, like the ones you might find on the side of a rural road. However excellently themed with pumpkins and constructed partially with bones. It's a pretty artistic design is impressivley well done. There's a lot to see on the site and I'm sure more will be unveiled as the year goes by. I'm pretty fond of the smaller figure sets meant to populate your own Spooky Town with scary civilians. It's just the beginning of the year as I'm writing this, but Halloween is already off to a great start.

Genghis in Space

I've been revisiting Gyruss is recent days. It's a classic space shooter game made by Konami released in 1983 as an arcade game. Since then it's been on pretty much every system since. Despite it's age and the many versions on various hardware, there's never been a sequel. That's really weird in gaming, perhaps Gradius and other Konami's shooters fill that role. Still, I wouldn't mind a follow up. The only thing else is a bootleg game called Venus. You know I'm talking about an old arcade game when the subject of bootleg versions comes up.

Game play is pretty standard shooter fair. Though instead of your ship residing in the foreground, it can rotate around the entire screen similar to Tempest. This style of game is called a tube shooter, though it feels more like a hybrid of styles to me in Gyruss. Enemies come in waves as do obstacles with a boss at the end of the levels. Plot is light, you're flying through the solar system ridding the universe of evil along the way. Depending on the version you're playing, Genghis Khan is the main villain behind the forces you're fighting. Don't ask me how Genghis Khan came back as a galactic threat, or where he got all those eyeball space ships... but I dig it.