Voice Input Child Identicant, or better known as Vicki, is the Lawson family's little secret. She's actually a robot created by Ted Lawson. Ted brought her home under the guise as an adopted daughter and and they're all one big happy family. Well, cue one scary family movie night and an electrical accident involving the robot child... before you know it the house is haunted! Being a man of science, Ted's first reaction is to call in a team of paranormal investigators. Obviously.
A lot more years later than if feels like, Override got an update as a new Voyager scale figure that improves on the original toy perfectly while still capturing that way cool design. Ironically, this figure was pretty hard me to find at first. After weeks of never finding her, thankfully I was gifted her and Cosmos (also hard to find) by my good friend Shawn. Being a Walmart exclusive, I don't think Kohl's would have came through again. A few weeks later she became more abundant and I ended up with another copy thanks to my Mom's habit of shopping the clearance aisles. I definitely don't mind having another one to keep in box as I love this figure. Those formally stubby arms and weirdly too large upper body are now perfectly portioned in a figure that I have nothing bad to say about.
Override transforms very easily, yet still has a great deal of articulation. Her Mach 5 inspired race car mode is pleasing to the eyes and the entire toy looks like the character just walked off my TV screen. This is the figure I wanted in 2005. Her blaster is still made from the cars engine and transforms from engine to gun simply, this time without the aid of a Cyber Planet Key. I've been told this toy is still compatible with one. That's neat. Personally, I was always a mixed bag about those. I thought they were cool looking, but was often annoyed with them generally in the way most of the time when plugged in. While I liked Cybertron, there was some issues that thankfully updates like Override eliminate. Override is a cool toy. I've always liked the design and colors. Now they're on a toy that's much better than the original. Awesome.
It's the Halloween season on Zone Base and a good time to look at some monster robot toys! Come for Draculus and Frankentron, stay for Nightprowler and Skywasp. It's spooky fun at the haunted house full of scary robots!
There's something hypnotic about Halloween Safety tips. It doesn't matter how many times you hear the same ones, you'll listen intently... and straight up ignore them. Another hallmark of the Halloween season is local news segments on where to get a costume or fun spooky things to do. Of course it's only natural for the local news to give some safety tips. The real take away from this Channel 8 clip from 1980 is the showcase of some really cool old costumes. Ben Cooper, Collegeville, make-up kits... KISS.
Function: Anarchist Road Warrior
"Fear is my ally."
Vehicle to vehicle combat is something all Transformers are skilled in, but with Oil Slick, it's a particular specialty. He knows more about how to disable and destroy a vehicle than almost anyone else in the galaxy. He knows that if he can break down the robot inside, the vehicle will come screeching to a halt. Canisters attached to his sides dump special chemicals that unlock the deepest fears of any robot exposed to them, while at the same time rotting wheels and burning through axles. Once the vehicle mode is destroyed, Oil Slick moves in close to finish off with his chain weapon.
* Talented chemist and mechanic
* Trained in Circuit-Su with Prowl
* Immune to chemical attacks
I've talked about that college job at Office Max here before. I took advantage of the copy center to make an enlarged diagram of all the special moves in Mortal Kombat Trilogy. It came in handy.
When I was a kid, I'd get my costume at Kmart. As an adult, I get my costume at a Spirit Halloween... that's in that old Kmart. Sometimes it can be hard to remember when Spirit Halloween was a more low key operation. They're such a force to reckon with now... they've even got a movie.That's hard to believe when you think back to those older stores and their seemingly grassroots vibes. I guess that's just the passage of time for you. Something I reflected upon in this posts opening joke. Did it make you feel old? Know what else will make you feel old? This commercial is from 2008, a kid born that Halloween just started the 10th grade. Somewhere there's a picture of me getting younger.
Wheeljack of course transforms automatically, however does so with the "butterfly knife" transformation so many 1 Step Transformers use. It's been almost 10 years of this and I've yet to tire of this simple transformation. Wheeljack, like the other Flip Changers doesn't have any articulation (boo), is pretty pleasant regardless. He's just a likable little toy. I will say some more colors would be great as the little bit looks nice on the mostly all white toy... but also the mostly all white could use some more. I understand that these are inexpensive toys and there's some budgetary trimming... but that's bullshit. Core Class costs the same and are fully functional and colored. These should be cheaper. Aside from that, Wheeljack is a very pleasant little robot. I see that a recolor of this mold as Breakdown is on the way and... while it doesn't look like Breakdown, I do find it pleasant looking. Maybe a Major Mo version could come along just to make me happy.
Oh crap, it's Monday. Thanks for coming back for another week here on Planet Zone. I had a pretty great weekend that I wish would have lasted longer. Saturday was a busy day that pretty much saw me get no rest, a lot done, and even family dinner at Olive Garden. While the Mrs's car was at the garage for some minor work, we went to Barnes and Nobles and Spirit Halloween. I got a cool book on Japanese folklore and black magic. It has a great guide on yokai and even a directory of spells and rituals. Spirit was fun, but disappointing. Our local one for the past 2 years has been opening up later in smaller locations with less stock. I miss the grander stores with impressive displays and mini walk throughs. The Mrs did pick me up a cool vintage style vampire mask from a visit to the store earlier in the week. I love those.
I picked up Trashmaster and a Micro Galaxy Squadron blind box from Target. Haven't gotten all the Junkions yet unfortunately, but happy for the ones I find. Later a trip to Walmart resulted in the last two Toxitron Collection Transformers I needed! The set is complete!!! Now to focus on the remaining Beast Alliance toys that may be harder to find as the movie line winds down. I hope to pick up Studio Series Ultra Magnus soon. I don't have a Paetron, so one didn't get pre-ordered. Not to be outdone, my Mom suprised me with a MOTU Origins Snout Spout! It was a good weekend for toys!
I spent a lot of time watching Universal Monsters movies Sunday and playing F-Zero 99. Playing F-Zero 99, not winning. That game is pure chaos. Earlier Sunday, I took the Mrs to Five Below for a Squishmallow event. This time it was new Halloween themed ones. The first store we went to hadn't had their stock, which was disappointing. That store usually goes fully into the events and even has their own meet and greets. So we went to the next one that had their crap together! She got her plushes and I finally found the Authentics Optimus Primal!
Oddly enough there was a cosplayer dessed as Alucard from Hellsing walking around. She was with another anime fan type, so I'm assuming there was a nearby event. The past week Ive seen a few of the leather jacket and sunglasses while wearing those fast food uniform black pants type of anime fan. Those seem to be an evergreen type of fan here in the states... am I the only one who's notices? Feels like a lifetime of seeing them grazing in the wild.
I had extended to watch the new TMNT movie this weekend, but didn't work it in. After this months Transform Squadron gets recorded today, I might. Thanks to each and every one of you for reading Zone Base. The number of you keeps rising and I really appreciate it. If you like what I'm doing, thanks! If you could, would you mind sharing with your friends? I don't ask for anything, but I'd love for anyone who'd like to read Zone Base to have the chance. I've got a fun week planned, let's get it started!
The newest iteration of Transformers Legacy, United, is slated to debut early next year and by the looks of it, will be great. I've been loving Legacy's updates to various Transformers characters from the history of the brand. In United, there's updates to Animated, Beast Era, Armada, Unicron Trilogy, and Prime. It looks great. But like the Junkions of Evolution and other type figures from series before, there is a new C.O.M.B.A.T System style set of figures. This is where we get the all new Armorizers and the most excited I've been in a long time.
Now when I say that, some folks will roll their eyes. I know, I get excited over a lot of things. I love Transformers, it's going to happen. However THESE have me absolutely ecstatic. I'm foaming at the mouth, wriggling in my seat, doing a little happy dance. THESE are wonderful. While they're not exactly Rock Lords, they're Rock Lord inspired. Armorizers are a mixture of Rock Lords, Mutores, and the rock-people of Daira. Personally, I also see some Monster Gobots in the designs. They're something new made from several old things. It's great. I love it.
To talk about the toys specifically, they don't outright turn into rocks. Like traditional Transformers, they turn into various vehicles. HOWEVER, they're not made from various metals and may not even be specifically robots. They're made of various space rocks, minerals, and stones. They specifically don't have a spark, they're some form of creature. That's neat. During Beast Machines, I was particularly interested in Beast Changer (Savage/Noble) because he wasn't a robot. That's a similar mindset going into these. There's a certain neatness to the concept for me that I can't quite put my finger on. It's just a cool idea.
Not to mention, they mentally remind me of Monster Gobots. That's probably a coincidence, but it's a good one. Then there's the He-Man comparisons that Rock Lords always had. With these and the imagery and characters United is providing... there's strong He-Man vibes here. I'm all for it, this feels like it was made specifically for me. The Armorizers can become armor or weapons for other robots and probably have a secret combiner form. Part of me wishes they'd just do complete lines of toys like this as it's fun. This has been a long post and I can probably say a million more things about these new toys... and probably will in the future. I don't own an Armorizer yet, but can already rave this much about them. I'm warning you now Zone Base readers, eventually I'm getting my hands on these.
Beast Weaponizers are my favorites from Beast Alliance with the individual Beast battle Masters coming in second. I love a good partner figure and love one even better when they turn into a weapon. I was really looking forward to Scorponok with Sandspear ever since the set was announced. Currently, as I don't own the Arcee or Wheeljack Beast Weaponizers yet. It's my 2nd favorite after Optimus Primal. Scorponok just has one glaring problem that I'm going to focus on now before I spend the rest of the post talking about everything I like about it.
His upper body is ridiculously hollow. I expect some hollowness in my Transformers. That's a reality of the line. Either from engineering or keeping the toy on budget, it's just something to expect. Sometimes it can be ignored or is hidden... not with Scorponok. His upper body is literally just the front, there's no back. One can be argued that this is due to the transformation... it feels cheap here and seems like it could of been done better.
With that out of the way... this is a great toy. Scorponok and Sandspear are both scorpions as seen in Rise of the Beasts. Sandspear turns onto a bladed melee weapon that works oddly well. In addition to Sandspear, Scorponok's tail can be wielded as a sword. Clearly he's a melee fighter. The weapons look cool and give an air of menace. Both toys are primarily brown with some accent colors. Scorponok features some green giving him a Rocks Bugs & and Things vibe. If I'm comparing to other toys though and to be honest, this looks like a Gobot. Scorponok's robot head and overall look make me wish Scorponok was a Monster Gobot... because he looks like one. This design feels more like a Bandai toy than a Takara toy.
I really wish a version of this toy in Scorp or Creepy's colors would be released. Sandspear could be one of the alternate colors... or hey McDonald's Scorponok. Whoa. Either way... this is a spiritual Monster Gobot or Devil Invader in my opinion. Scorponok is well articulated and is a really pleasant figure (outside of that back issue) that transforms into a gnarly looking scorpion with some viscous claws. It's a simple toy... but a really cool one. I do hope for some future recolors. It just such a cool set that I want to buy it over and over again in various decoes. I really like it... as you can probably tell. Scorponok with Sandspear is released as part of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. That adds to it's uniqueness I think... I don't know how to end this. I just keep wishing he was a Monster Gobot.
I used to work in local haunted houses for awhile. It was a lot of fun, but one thing that drove me nuts was when some of the other folks would go on and on about bigger name haunts. It'd make you want to quit... and part of the reason I did. Not that big name haunts are bad by any means, it's just these local ones have so much character... and those folks tended to be unbearable. Popes Haunted Farm Hayride looks like a great time. I look at this commercial from 2012 and can see myself cherishing memories of scaring folks. Wish I could have worked there. Hopefully the folks at Popes appreciate that sort of thing as much as I do.
"A warrior is only as good as his weapons."
A hyperactive, overheated sky jockey. Talks constantly. Patrols Autobot headquarter perimeters with lightning speed, searching for Decepticon infiltrators. Only stops long enough to refuel and check his weapons. Armed with automatic 35mm machine guns, air-to-air missiles, and a searing thermal cannon. Also equipped with mid-flight refueling capabilities and cloaking device that makes him invisible. Transforms to supersonic dragster, equipped with high-speed turbo boosters and electro-jammers that disrupt enemy circuitry. Outer shell chopper equipped with metal-eating roto-blades. Combines with dragster to form ultra-sonic helicopter equipped with front-mounted magneto-ray that magnetizes on impact.
Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 5 Endurance: 6
Rank: 6 Courage: 9 Firepower: 8 Skill: 9
It's easy to forget Wendy's has kid's meals. However, when they bring the noise this hard, it's impossible to ignore. Play-Doh Fingles were a pretty basic idea. Finger puppets made with molds. Simple... yet when paired with Halloween? Absolutely majestic. It's hard to look at those glorious Fingles in action and not be jealous of those lucky kids. I am.
Mascots are fun, so it was only natural that Blockbuster Video would have a crew for their kids section. All those family friendly movies and episodes of old cartoons just hit different with a gang of animated children to represent it. In all reality, the much lauded kids section wasn't much different than other video stores (aside from huge selection) and a little table with some coloring pages. I guess it was a great way to keep the little ones busy while parents perused the giant wall of new and not so new releases.
I'm a fan of local news Halloween segments, and that's what makes this one unique. When I think of the sunny beaches of Hawaii, autumn is the last thing that comes to mind. They do get down with the spooky season as well and this clip really shows it. A local haunted house, costume contest, and even pumpkins from 1991 are all on display. Big Island TV didn't hold back either and really got in there showcasing the scary shindig and...dude check out that Shredder costume!
I need the Lords of Light to help me get through another Monday. If you've got a good eye, you probably noticed some Micronaut toy molds getting reused. Those things really got around. I'm sitting in my chair, eating some microwave pancakes with a cup of decaff coffee watching Beast Machines. Life is good, even if I'm specifically groggy right now. Speaking of Beast Machines, it premiered 24 years ago today. I see you all have been enjoying the Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem here on the site. As hard as it is to believe that we've halfway through it already, I'm hard at work for the especially spooky October posts. Zone Base is a big place. There's one area that none of the Micromasters go on purpose. A street without lights ending in at a spooky old house near a cemetery.
Speaking of Monday, this was a good weekend. I got lots of cool things. The Mrs took Friday off and picked me up Legacy Armada Megatron, a Micro Galaxy Squadron blind box, a TMNT mystery ooze, and a skeleton butterfly figure. I love the weird skeleton animal figures stores stock for Halloween and this one is a champion! Saturday I picked up Studio Series 86 Brawn and Game Edition Cliffjumper. I aslo picked up another Micro Galaxy Squadron blind box and a 12 inch Godzilla. It's the 1954 version by Playmates. They've really come along way from those rough early figures. This looks and feels like a premium toy. Those last two Toxitron collection Transformers figures continue to ellude me, but I won't give up.
Speaking of Halloween, man this season is going to be a good one. All the neon and rustic designs are amazing. I really like the variety of costumes this year. My local Walmart has Transformers, Power Rangers, Star Wars, Godzilla, Demon Slayer, TMNT, Creepypasta creatures, and more! It's awesome! Well, I've got some household chores to do and some more toy pictures to take. October is right around the corner and I've got a schedule to keep!
Thanks to each and every one of your support. It means so very much to me. I don't have any ads or do any begging, I just crank out the content because I love this stuff! We're all enjoying our hobbies together and all I ask is that you share the posts with your friends. That's it, no patreon or locked behind pay wall content. Too many greedy people out there and I refuse to be one. However, I'd love for everyone who'd want to see what I have to say to find the site. So if you're sharing my posts, I appreciate it a whole lot. I appreciate all of you reading. Thank you so much. Let's try to have a great week. I've got some fun stuff planned for the week... have you guys heard of that spooky house down that street. The Micromasters say Zodiac Energy doesn't reach there. I've heard it's a portal to the Bloody Zone...
I know it's hard to beleive, but there was a time when Shia LaBeouf was likeable. Back in the early 2000's, he starred in a Disney show named Even Stevens that I used to really like. Louis and Ren are an Odd Couple style pair of siblings with a rivalry. It's Halloween and the school is ripe with spooky shit... and vision testing. Kid's are lining up to get their eyes tested to score a sweet free milk. However somethings going on and Louis is trying to figure out exaclty what's happening to everybodies eyes. Halloween is happening Louis.
There's nothing more scary than the housing market. The subject is so cursed that the beginning of Dracula revolves around him buying a new home. Bridge City Realty realizes just how scary it can be, that's why for Halloween, they hired Dracula to be their spokesperson! Did it make the process any less terrifying? No, but hey kids...look...Dracula!
"Skill and experience lead to congruity."
Function: Munitions Expert
Her whole life, Dia has known nothing but the Diaclone project. Born in 1982, the same year that the program began and the reason her parents named her as they did, every moment of Dia's upbringing was dedicated to one day enlisting and training to become a mech pilot. Her ambitions eventually became reality and she was partnered with the Burn Out mech.
Although trending towards the smaller side of the mech spectrum, Burn Out has an impressive array of weaponry in humanoid mode. When in full battle status, Burn Out bristles with armaments from pulse rifles to destructive concussion levelers. As with the other Diaclone mechs, targeting of these weapons while maintaining balance and maneuverability is coordinated through aid of an artificial intelligence equipped in the mech's central computer. The AI from Burn Out is a copy of Dia's own personality and every bit as determined and stoic as its pilot. It is also just as stubborn, often leading Dia to disable the voice command function lest she start arguing with something that is essentially herself. A woman of very few words, she finds the verbal exertion more exhausting than the strenuous physical activity needed to pilot the suit without computer assistance.
Strength: 6 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 7 Endurance: 8
Rank: 5 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 9 Skill: 7
When I was in elementary school, we were allowed to bring a 'healthy' snack for a scheduled snack time. Guess what constituted a 'healthy' snack accouring to the teacher? Fruit snacks and granola bars. While there definitely are some heahtly ones availible, a lot of the times they're just outright candy. Granola Dipps for example... that's a freaking candy bar. It's covered in chocaolate and full of caramel, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate chips. They could sell it next to Snickers and nobody would complain. Hell, they might sell more. It's only natural that they'd sell them as a potential treat to hand out at Halloween. Kids love them... they're really good. Not to mention 'healthy', as that box of candy alternatives in the trick or treat candy ailse at target would lead you too believe.
Man, it was only 3 years ago that Covid shut everything down. Feels like forever ago huh? In fall of 2020 many businesses were gearing up their Halloween sales as a means to get back on track after months of lost sales from the world closing down. It was such a weird time. Now that things are seemingly back to normal, it's almost all but forgotten. I generally post a good bit of local news at the local costume shop bits this time of year... but this one really seems specifically ancient. Weird considering it's probably one of the most recent.
I made a point to get this toy as I like the colors quite a bit. Skywarp has always been one of my favorite seekers, partially due to that. Skywarp has her traditional colors in the cartoon, however they got a little creative with this new toy. The black and purple is swapped out for a metallic blue and black. It's very pretty looking and kinda reminds me of old Diaclone art. Aside from that, Skywarp is the same toy I've talked about here a before. I like it, but wish for some leg articulation. Skywarp easily converts to jet mode and features a spinning waste gimmick that I'm sure is entertaining for the children it was intended for. I bought Skywarp for the colors and general like of the character. I guess there's just something to a fresh coat of paint. Skywarp can hold most 5mm weapons and accessories, I can imagine some BattleMasters would liven up the toy quite a lot.
The evil Monday has reared it's head once again, forcing the good people of weekend to retreat into their caves. Fortunately the forces of Zone Base are here to help you until the end of this dreaded work week. I didn't do much this weekend and really don't mind that at all. Plenty of rest was had and dang that was great. While the weekly trips to Target and Walmart didn't provide any new Toxitron collection Transformers or any new Transformers in general, I did score 2 Micro Galaxy Squadron blind boxes from series 3. Really happy to see the line continuing as I thought it was dying out. I hardly see anything after the initial toys here. Hooray for Inch Men!
Sunday was spent with much playing of The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages on my Nintendo Switch and some healthy napping. It was a good day. Later on, Mom came over for Sunday dinner. She brought a salad and some fruit while the Mrs cooked a Chef Boyardee pizza. It's such a good meal when prepared right and the Mrs always does. Well, September is starting and we're firmly into the Halloween season. I can see that you're all enjoying the Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem here on the site. There's two more months of madness and I'm practically falling over myself with love for the spooky stuff making its way onto store shelves. Code Orange is ending as the proper Spooky Season begins and its so much fun to see Walmart, Target, and the other stores stock up with masks and make up kits.
It's Monday. I suppose it's time to finish my tube of Glo-Gurt and get the week started. Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base. I'm very appreciative of all the new readers that have been coming since summer. It's just a podunk little fan blog, but it's nice to see all of you enjoying it. If you could, please share it with your friends and let's all try to have a great week.
Growing up is hard, especially in those early teenage years in that limbo of leaving childhood and becoming an adult. I was the youngest of my siblings, so there never was that little brother or sister still doing those things I was now 'too old' for. Big Pete, well, he has Little Pete to deal with. You try resisting him. Little Pete wants to set a new world record for most houses visited for trick or treat. Sounds awesome right? Well it is, but he needs help... and the only one who can do it is Big Pete... whose now 'too old'. Good thing he can wear a mask to hide his embarrassment right? Well... Halloween is a dangerous holiday sometimes. One such danger is older kids who like to bully Halloweenies.
Arcee turns into her ROTB motorcycle alt mode as to be expected. Like I said above and is the case with all the Beast Changers toys so far, she's a fairly simple toy. In Arcee's case, it works as she has a fairly generic robot body. I could see customizers turn this toy into just about anyone. Transformation is simple and combination is done the same was as other Beast Changers. Silverfang slips over he shoulders and select bits can become a gun or melee weapon and a bit of armor/shield. I think that simple robot toy makes it work well in this case as Arcee practically becomes a new robot in this mode. A better looking robot, the wolf armor is cool and that new super mode head are great. So far this is one of the better looking super modes in the Beast Combiner assortment IMO.
Silverfang is a pretty large wolf as is the case with these Combiner partners. Simple like the others as well with unfortunately no articulation. Part of me wishes they would have more features for a more impressive toy, however I'd rather not pay the price that'd come with that. As fun as these are, the lower cost is an incentive and as they are aimed more towards children... I think it'd be pretty detrimental. Not to mention, the old school robot fan in me appreciates the simple figures with a combining gimmick. There's quite a few more Beast Alliance figures still to go and two more Beast Combiners I've yet to acquire as of this writing (Optimus Prime and Scourge). I don't expect the sub line to go on after Rise of the Beasts dies down... but I'd love it too. It'd be super cool to utilize this gimmick with more traditional designs. I could see it working well in the Authentics line.
No matter how old you get, childhood memories of Halloween will always be cherished. While a lot of folks claim it's mainly a kids holiday... and a good part of it is centered on them... we sure do enjoy it at any age. But it's those childhood memories that really form what the season means to you. For me, all that lead up of Halloween TV is as important as the big night. Little local TV spots like this are just as part of the holiday as candy corn. Sure, they're mainly on your local stations Facebook page now, but it's still the same sentiment. Happy Mother Fucking Halloween.
Function: Aerial Captain
Powered up in all respects, Dirgegun specializes in attacks that drive computers crazy. He weilds a Needle Launcher, which injects powerful computer viruses into his enemies. His Needle Shot, with its incredible rate of rapid fire, launches spears which paralyze his enemies. And his "Blaster Leader" is a sonic attack that yields tremendous results. Dirgegun has sworn loyalty to Gigastorm who rebuilt him.
Strength: 7 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 9 Endurance: 7
Rank: 5 Courage: 3 Firepower: 7 Skill: 7
I may love Halloween, but your local party supply store loves it even more. It's one of the few times a year they'll have a full house and they're not letting it go to waste. I'm joking of course, it's just super fun to swing by a party store during the spooky season. Costumes, masks, and all the cool oddball items are fun to look at. If you lived in Milwaukee in the 80's, Bartz's Party Store had you covered for some scary fun all Halloween long.
This is displaying of little arrogance is something a teenage ninja would obviously have. His weapons, like Raphael, come cast in a silver plastic. I don't know if it was a conscious decision to make the more serious of the team share a set of colors, or just a group molding coincidence. Of course Leo has his trademark twin katana and a baby turtle. His weapon rack has a throwing star, slice of pizza (absolutely love this), and a canister of ooze. To fit his personality better, there's also some dirks and a familiar looking dagger. I'm quite happy with this set of turtles even though I've yet to see the new movie (waiting for streaming). They're surprisingly quality action figures with lots of articulation, lots of accessories, and tons of character. For $10 each... that's pretty radical.
Count Creepy Head is one of the few times Play Doh REALLY attempted to cross the line. Usually the scariest they ever got with their sets was a Scooby-Doo monster. However this mofo is borderline upsetting. Just like other horror toys, he's not specifically a Halloween thing... but dude's totally pumpkin spiced season appropriate.
I enjoyed the first wave of Tacticons so much, that the surprise of seeing Wave 2 at Target a little while back was a very welcome one. Honestly, I wasn't aware that they'd be happening as I couldn't remember anybody saying anything. Of course not being from the more popular size classes that's to be expected. Wave 2 features Arcee, Hashtag, and a repeat of Bumblebee. Of course I already have Bumblebee, so I snatched up the two new figures. Like the ones before, these are simple and small 1 step transforming figures that can fit on your finger tip like a finger puppet. As silly as the premise sounds (and is) they're really satisfying little toys. If you're a fan of smaller Transformers like I am, these mentally fall into the category that Micromasters, Mini-Cons, World's Smallest, and Botbots fall into. They're not articulated unfortunately... but it's ok. They just are what they are.
Of the two, Hashtag is my favorite. I don't know how well it shows up in the amazing cell phone photography I do, but there's a great glitter sparkle in her purple colors. It looks really nice in person and I like her communication truck alt mode. Arcee turns into a 50's type car in EarthSpark and I do like it, but for some reason this toy makes me think of Galaxy High (for some reason) and I like that better. It's a neat alt mode. Thanks to their size and Arcee's silver helmet, I'm reminded of Diaclone drivers a little. They're a little bigger than a Micro Machine, but could work well in one of those play sets. You could make a neat little scene and post the picture to your Instagram. I'm sure it'd get plenty of likes. Hopefully there's more of these Tiny TF's on the way. They're just right to stick in a hoodie pocket and carry around with all day. Not everything needs a million points of articulation or a specific shelf to be displayed on. I keep my smaller ones in a plastic shoe box.
It's Labor Day and you know what that means? It means a 3 day weekend and after the past week at work, I need the break. Dang! Don't worry, regular posts will resume tomorrow. Honestly, this just takes the place of the 'What I did this weekend' posts I do on Monday. I plan on cooking out. It's going to be great! Thanks so much for continuing to support Zone Base. I really appreciate each and every one of you who read my site. Please share with your friends and hey... Happy Labor Day!
Alien Nation was a science fiction/crime drama hybrid that delt with lots of social themes. It was also pretty dang good. Of course we're here for Halloween and hey, this pretty good show had a Halloween episode! It's the spooky season as as the Newcomers are adapting to life on earth they're of course learning about our cultures and holidays. Halloween is pretty weird for people that don't celebrate it as is, but imagine being from another planet. It's a pretty big culture shock, not to mention dealing with jerks. Emily is looking forward to her first Halloween, but some of the kids are of course not to friendly towards somebody different. Did I mention the social themes? Yeah, they go pretty hard. The Francisco's are having an interesting spooky season.
It doesn't help that George is tracking a serial killer. Oh hey, a serial killer at Halloween! This episode hits all the major notes! The killer however is targeting Newcomers in a very specific way. In their old culture, there was Overseers and slaves. Now on Earth, they're all equals... but the former Overseers still think they're better than others... sound familiar? It gets pretty heavy. Well the killer is specifically targeting the former Overseers in the manner of a scary folk legend the Overseers would use to scare the slaves into obedience. Needless to say, this isn't your average show or Halloween special.
Crashbar had two big blasters for weapons. I've been told these are gravity cannons, though I'm sure would double as standard blasters in fiction. One of his motorcycle wheels can also detach and form a saw blade type weapon or shield. Not to mention two exhaust pipes that can be worn or used as melee weapons. I guess he's going to use the gravity guns to hold a Decepticon in place before beating them with the pipes. I really like Crashbar's expressive face. It really conveys that same swarmy charm Wreck-Gar has. That post apocalyptic pirate crew vibe the Junkions have is too cool to ignore. Makes for some cool punk rock types. Crashbar is a little smaller than your average Junkion, but I like it. This is a great figure full of articulation, weapons, and a fun gimmick. Not bad for a guy supposedly made of garbage.
