Bomb-Burst (Legacy Evolution/Core Class)

With a mocking smile, he placed one hand upon my shoulder and, holding me tight, bared my throat with the other, saying as he did so: “First, a little refreshment to reward my exertions. You may as well be quiet; it is not the first time, or the second, that your veins have appeased my thirst!” I was bewildered, and, strangely enough, I did not want to hinder him. I suppose it is a part of the horrible curse that such is, when his touch is on his victim. 

Bomb-Burst is one of the more highly regarded of the classic Decepticon Pretenders due to that awesome bat monster outer shell. This recent Core Class figure of Bomb-Burst was initially released in Legacy, and later re-released early in Legacy Evolution. It's the same figure in updated packaging giving folks another chance to find one. Like other Pretender updates, Bomb-Burst's robot mode is a combination of his Pretender shell and inner robot. Despite being so small, he looks great. That bat monster head just looks so good on the robotic body.

Also paying homage to his original toy is his vehicle mode wings being able to attach to his forearms. They're a combination of wing and gun, so he can either wear them or hold them. There's bio-mechanical bat wing detail molded in adding some extra flair. They really went overboard with Bomb-Burst as the wings can also be worn on his back. When combined with his small melee weapon, they become an axe. Usually a Core Class doesn't get this much use out of a weapon, so I'm impressed. I mentioned his small melee weapon. That too homages the original figure, but it's pretty small. So small, that have him hold it backwards, it looks more like a weapon that way.

Bomb-Burts transforms fairly easily into his VTOL jet mode. This also is a homage to his original toy, but fleshed out forming a more competent looking vehicle. The wing guns form wings and the little melee weapon becomes a nose cone gun. That little gun part was the trickiest part of the transformation for me. It took a minute to get it connected just right. Probably because of it's size and my big fingers. It's a good thing when the only complaint you have isn't even the toys fault. Bomb-Burst is well articulated for a small basic level figure. He looks awesome, it's impossible to not love that bat monster robot mode. Obviously the perfect toy for today.

Happy Halloween Zone Base Readers!

It's Halloween, Happy Halloween! Get out your costumes and make sure you have a glow stick for safety! Me? I'm looking forward to trick or treating the kids and watching some spooky shows. I hope every one has a great holiday. Of course this means the last of the Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem for 2023. As happy as I am to celebrate the holiday with all of you, it is a bit sad to see it come to an end again. However you know the spooky stuff will return next year for Halfway to Halloween in spring, Code Orange fun in summer, and the big party when Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem returns in the fall. In the meantime, the site will return to regular programming... you know the stuff in between all the Halloween stuff? Thank you for celebrating Halloween with me again this year. Thanks for supporting Zone Base, and please share with your friends!

Today's Special, tomorrow's Halloween!

Tomorrow may be the spookiest day of the year, but today is the most evil day of the week. Monday! I hope everyone had a fun Halloweekend, I sure did. We carved pumpkins, had spooky spaghetti, and watched creepy TV including the new Five Nights at Freddy's movie. It's hard to believe the spooky season is almost over, but let's end it with a bang! 

I found some fun stuff while doing our weekly shopping. I went to Ross hoping to luck up on some of the Transformers finds folks have been having. While no Generations were there I needed, there was some Autobots Unite packs! I'd hoped to find these and got Bumblebee, Megatron, and Battletrap. Hopefully I can find the rest. Long time readers know how much fun I had with the Energon Igniters toys from the Bumblebee movie and these are those same molds!

Not to be outdone by returning favorites is another bit of older Zone Base favorites! I got some Botbots! Clearly Ross had some fun in store for me! Hopefully future visits will provide more of that fun. Still no Troop Builder box set at Target, but I did find a One Step Flipchanger Twitch. Now the Flipchanger ranks are complete until a new wave is unleashed upon the world and my wallet. I also grabbed The Bandai Ultimate Legends HD Zenitsu figure. I needed him to complete my set of Demon Slayer figures from that line.

Did everyone enjoy the new episode of Transform Squadron? Monster Gobots seemed like a fun way to round out the spooky season! There's a little more Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem in store before it's all over. Thanks for coming back for another new week and be sure to share with your friends. There's plenty of Zone Base Halloween to go around!

Transform Squadron 49- Devil Invaders Crush

 

LISTEN NOW!

It's the spookiest time of the year! McBoo Buckets, Transformers EarthSpark Expedition, and an a look at the Monster Gobots are on the menu for this year's Halloween edition of Transform Squadron!

Stranger Things x Transformers

Godzilla Fest 4: Operation Jet Jaguar

Halloween almost Wasn't but Dracula saved the World

It's getting close to the big day. That means it's time to share my all time favorite Halloween special. The Halloween that Almost Wasn't or also known as The Night Dracula Saved the World is a special little slice of Halloween that just doesn't get made anymore. It's Halloween and the Witch refuses to fly over the moon unless her demands are met by Dracula. If she doesn't fly over the moon, then no more Halloween! Dracula and the other monsters try to convince her other wise in a charmingly low rent production. It's hard to say anything bad about this special, even it's flaws are endearing... and funny. Check out the Mummy straight up falling more than once. I don't think he can see where he's going...

Skullgrin (Legacy/Deluxe Class)

The thing I hate most about skeletons is you can never tell when they're smiling.

Skullgrin is one of those bots I just like. So far, I've managed to get each one of his toys (that I know of) and plan to continue doing so. It's hard not to like this big skull headed  brute. His newest figure is an update to the original Pretender toy (of course) that's combining the originals shell and robot mode. Most modern Pretender updates do this and they really nailed it with Skullgrin. For whatever reason, his big mechanical body with random skulls just works.

The big old skull head is made of a softer plastic. This is probably for safety concerns and helps move it out of the way during transformation. His sword/gun weapons are also made of a similar plastic. Those can be held as a sword or a gun. Hence the wording. They can be attached to his upper arms as well, giving him arm sword laser things. The tank mode cannons mount either on his back or can be held as guns. If you're covered with skulls, having a lot of firepower is expected. 

A neat callback is the fists carved into those tank cannons. They draw back to the original toy for a cool big of design homage. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed by that little touch. I mentioned a tank, that's what Skullgrin turns into. It's very similar to the original toy tank mode, while being a lot beefier and more tank-y looking. One little neat bit is... Skullgrin's tail. It's silly, sure, but cool for the design. That tail turns into a seat for the tank! I'm pretty sure you could fit an Inchman style figure in there. Try it! I dare you! Those original Pretender alt modes are pretty simple, so fleshing them out more is a good idea. Skullgrin is decently articulated and is just a good toy. Like, I have nothing bad to say about him and that's not just because I have a thing for the character. They did a great job here. Transformation is good and I just can't find anything to complain about.That's awesome, and so is he.

Who Spooked Rodney?

Rodney is a a big old fraidy cat. If there's a superstition, Rodney is scared of it. Which one begs to reason... why does he even go trick or treating? Or even to a haunted house? Does he just relish is pooping his pants or something? And what's up with that one kid while they're in the haunted house? Is he ok?

Bios: Doubledealer

"The price of victory is never too high."

Function: Mercenary

A ruthless, battle-ready robot for rent. A traitorous backstabber. Only loyal to the highest bidder. Valued by all, trusted by none. When binary-bonded to Knok, Doubledealer disguises himself as an Autobot robot. When binary-bonded to the bat creature, Skar, Doubledealer transforms into a Decepticon falcon. Armed with intercontinental ballistic missile that can travel 3,000 miles in 30 minutes. Equipped with enough explosives to flatten a mountain range. Uses solid light blaster in robot Mode.

Garfields Halloween Adventure

It's just not Halloween without Garfield. That's the rules and they're unbreakable. This absolute classic features Garfield and Odie going trick or treating before getting into a spooky ghost adventure. The trick or treating sequence is just so well done as is the pirate ghosts... I'm actually offended this isn't in a museum. Dang, that bat costume Garfield is super rad. I could be a scary vampire, and turn myself into a bat. Flap,flap.

The Silver Shamrock Trio (Toony Terrors)

Halloween 3: Season of the Witch doesn't have Michael Myers in it. It is a 41 year old movie and that still needs to be explained. John Carpenter really didn't want to  make a Halloween 2, let alone a part 3. So by part 3, he decided to make it an anthology series... which didn't exactly go over to well as the prior two movies were a direct series. So from then on, Michael was the main antagonist with the only deviation being Corey in Halloween Ends. That too has more than it's share of hate. Clearly it's Michael Myers only for the series in most peoples eyes (the darkest eyes)... and that's understandable. However, Halloween 3 is freaking awesome. Hokey and silly, sure, but freaking awesome. It's the only Halloween movie where the holiday is the actual focus. It's like a holiday special on steroids and thankfully it's getting it's due in more recent years. More and more folks are appreciating what a select few of us have been regarding highly this entire time. Fortunately that also means more merchandise!

Neca made a great set of of Silver Shamrock masked trick or treaters a while back, last year they introduced the kids in their cool Toony Terrors line. The Mrs and I exchange gifts at Halloween and I was absolutely overjoyed to see that The Great Pumpkin brought me this cool set. Toony Terrors is Neca's take on classic horror characters in an animated style, I like to compare them to Scooby Doo or Fright Features versions. I've got a few and they're great. This set of the kids is really cool and fits the cartoon theme well. The trio appear in Halloween 3 during the epic montage that's the epitome of local Halloween TV programming for a generation. Even if you don't like the movie, you like them. They're so popular they even appeared alongside Michael Myers in the more recent movies. However... they're still kids. With all the spooky and scariness of the holiday, kids going trick or treating is at the very heart of it. And these kids are the perfect poster children (no pun intended...but I like it) for the spooky season.

As Toony Terrors, you've got a solid set of the 3 kids going trick or treating wearing their Silver Shamrock masks. Each one has a bag for collecting candy and wearing a costume made from various items and their masks. Now to be clear, these are not super articulated action figures. They're more along the lines of expressive display pieces. There's a small range of movement in the arms and a small amount in the legs/feet. The witch, for example, can either put her hand on her hip in a sassy manner, or that arm can hold her masks hood open. You can use that arm to hold her bag... but it's not as natural looking. Skeleton kid can hold up his pillow case from the sides or top. You can tell he's excited. The pumpkin headed one is taller and has more of an awkward stance. I like to think he's nearing the end of his trick or treating years and is feeling a bit out of place. He's kinda just slumping there. The pumpkin kid has always been my favorite of the 3 and this figures just adds to that. I could see him getting really into Radiohead and writing bad poetry. Well... assuming he makes it out after the big give away.

A Little bit Spooky

The Little's is one of those old Saturday morning cartoons you either love... or know nothing about. It's a perfect example of the saying 'you had to be there'. For those not in the know, the Little's are a race of tiny rodent like people who live among us in hiding. The Little's the show revolves around often interacts with Henry, a good natured kid whose house they reside in the walls of. Well, it's Halloween and Henry (with a few friends) go on an adventure at the local neighborhood haunted house. Of course his little friends get involved and we get a pretty great cartoon. Sometimes I joke about the things I post about and sometimes I'm just telling you to check out something cool. This is the later.

Tombstone (Rock Lords)

Behind the old house is a cemetery, filled with those whom once lived and their gravestones.

There's nothing quite like Tombstone from Rock Lords. He's this big green rock that sort of looks like a gravestone who transforms into a reptilian robot carrying a weapon called 'The Reaper', that looks like a radiator. I suppose it's supposed to be some sort of laser? On the mini-comic from his packaging, 'The Reaper' is depicted as a sickle. You know, like you'd associate with it's name. In Ganseki Chojin his name is Geigerrock, which is a pretty fitting name for that weird reptilian appearance. I suppose there's some Aliens influence in the design, or at least some similarities. Both Tombstone and Geigerrock are pretty great names. That's one thing I like about Machine Robo, they don't shy away from more harder sounding names and themes for the villains. For someone who enjoys scary things like I do, it's pretty fun.

Tombstone is a big green rock with lighter green robot parts. If you have Geigerrock, those robot parts are red. 'The Reaper' is black for both toys, but in Robo Machine and Machine Men, it's brown. He's still known as Tombstone in Machine Men and Robo Machine and pretty much looks the same. However all the versions aside from the US Rock Lords figure have a pearlescent sheen on the outer green rock bits. I'm not sure why the US skipped it, but they did. The Tombstone pictures here is mine. I got him at Toylanta this past year in great condition, though missing 'The Reaper'. Missing weapons are hardly a surprise when buying loose old toys. I think he was around $15 - $20. A pretty good price for an older toy in great shape. His joints are nice and tight, if not for little specs of dust in odd places... you'd think he was new.

I fortunately don't pay much for Rock Lords when they're found, not sure how much longer that's going to last with Armorizers on the way. Tombstone doesn't have much articulation, not completely surprising considering transforming robot toys of his era generally didn't. Though Rock Lords tend to have a fairly decent amount. It's not a lack of articulation, but a lack of useful articulation. His legs and knees move nicely, but his arms and elbows move inward/outward due to transformation. I guess 'The Reaper' is useful as he can aim it within the limited range of movement. It's not a deal breaker, just something to point out. When buying toys from this era, it's best to understand and accept the limitations. It's going to have them regardless. Aside from the weird arm articulation, Tombstone is a fun little figure. Like all Evil Rock Warriors, he's this weird rock monster robot that's a little hard to describe without getting side eyed looks from others. I guess that's part of the Rock Lord experience. Still a cool toy.

Robo New Week Machine

It's Monday yet again, but Zone Base is here to help you get through another week! My weekend was good and slightly busy. We enjoyed a good bit of spooky stuff, getting in as much Halloween as we can before it's all over. Saturday,  the Mrs made low sodium tacos for me! Sunday, Mom treated us to Olive Garden! We did a little early Christmas shopping as well while doing weekly shopping. I was able to get Beast Weaponizer Wheeljack and Arcee as well as Earthspark Deluxe Grimlock while out. I still haven't found the Buzzworthy Bumblebee Troop Builder box set yet, but I didn't leave empy handed either. 

Thank you for coming back for another week here on Planet Zone. Halloween is slowly coming to a close, but we've got another week of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem! I've got some fun content coming your way and if you're a podcast fan, I'll be recording the newest Transform Squadron today! If you like what I'm doing, please share it with your friends!

Witches come out to Play

It's time to bring this classic out for 2023. While it may not be for everyone, it's one of my favorite Halloween specials. I'll watch it throughout the year whenever I want a little Halloween fun. It's a great story that fits the holiday with a little personality of it's own. Local kids are disappointed that they didn't scare anyone while trick or treating and a witch turns them into real monsters. Meanwhile the adults in town hold a Halloween party in the witches house. All while this is going on, the witch's magic wand gets lost. There's a lot going on and things get weird. The epitome of Halloween.

Skywasp (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

Down the hall is a scary scene, a familiar foe whose familiarity is seldom seen. Déjà vu and a triple threat.

The main event of the Creatures Collide box set is here! Skywasp is one doozy of an homage heavy toy. Skywasp is a Predacon, whose roots go all the way back to the unreleased Halloween Horrorcons I've spoken about in the past. Not just looking back to that sadly unreleased set, he's also a homage to the 2015 BotCon exclusive Waruder figure Parasite. Parasite was also made in these colors as a homage (unreleased toys was a theme that year) and later found life as Skywasp (BotCon toys often represent more than one character). So we're looking at a Predacon OR a Waruder depending on your preferences. Seeing that this toy is officially Skywasp the Predacon on the box... that's what I'm going with. Because seriously, what's with making this so dang confusing? Skywasp, like other insects in this set, comes with his extra mold sprue head (that was used on Buzzsaw). If you're in the mood for making a Waruder from this toy, that's a perfect one to use. I always liked the more robotic head from the original toy because it had those classic G1 looks.

Skywasp is a straight repaint of Legacy Waspinator. I've talked about him here before and 3 different versions of this mold later, I still really like it. It really looks great in these colors and considering the Halloween Horrorcon origins kinda makes for a decent scary fly toy. If anything a Creepy Crawlers or Mad Scientist creation that got co-opted into your families decorations. In robot mode he's decently articulated and carries over some bug kibble from insect mode. That's just a part of some beast era designs that persist even in today's engineering. Alt mode kibble is part of Transformers that you either deal with or don't. It's not too bad on the Waspinator mold in my opinion, just impossible to ignore. Transformation is reasonably easy, though you'll have to get some things just right. I think that's just something that's coming with the current design team. I don't know if the engineering is done with CAD models or sculpted by hand like the old days. Not sure if that accounts for any of that, but it's an observation I've been making for awhile now. Skywasp is pretty great and finishes out a really cool set. Creatures Collide was something I really wanted and bought on site... and waited a year to talk about.

Jackie and Friends want you to be safe

It's not Halloween without everybody and their cousins mother telling you to be safe. While the legitimacy of some Halloween urban legends can be debated... it's a pretty good idea to be a little extra careful when taking candy from strangers. You know, I love these old safety films for various reasons. One is discovering things I've never heard of.  Jackie and Friends Sandwicheria is probably out of business as I get absolutely no results from Google about them. However they clearly were popular enough in 1976 (or 1977, it's not clear) to sponsor an animated short promoting safety for trick or treaters. I'm pretty impressed that they didn't only teach the same old stuff... but also preached some manners to kids. The cartoons pretty great, I really like the Pumpkin Head monster scaring the gang at the end... and did Jackie loose an eye?

Bios: Noise

Function: Forest Investigation

Takes it easy when moving, but his claws and fangs are the strongest of all the cassettes. The most violent of cassettes. While not as strong as Zaur, he has the best kicking power. Respects the Dinobot Grimlock. Carries Fire Blaster.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 2 Speed: 6 Endurance: 6

Rank: 5 Courage: 6 Firepower: 6 Skill: 6

Crown Royale with Bogg

Whenever Paul Frusco's name comes up, most people think about Alf and Willie's rumored massive cocaine addiction. However, he had other projects before all that. Most notably a series of puppet specials that aired on Showtime in the early 80's. That's where today's post comes from. The Crown of Bogg is a Halloween special revolving around King Mildew and his son Milo on an adventure among the human world. Of course it just happens to be Halloween, so the two blend in. The whole thing comes off like a weird blend of Fraggle Rock and a PBS children's show and I don't hate that one bit.

Freddy Krueger (Savage World)

When I was a kid, Freddy Krueger was the most badass thing at the school lunch table. I still recall a kid named Jeremy correcting me that his name was actually "Freddy Cougar" because of his iconic clawed glove. As an adult... Freddy hasn't aged very well. The movies are still fun, but pretty cheesy and definitely a relic of their time. Most of the 80's slasher movies were hair metal flavored, but none quite so much as A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's only appropriate that Funko gave him (and the other 80's slashers) the 'He-Man' treatment in their cool Savage World toy line. Savage World (or Primal Age for DC comics characters) was essentially five point five figures in the vein of Masters of the Universe or other similar type figures of the various licensed properties Funko has.

The designers got a little creative with Freddy. Taking his dream demon powers into account, he has a bit of a different appearance than you'd expect. His brown leather fedora is replaced with a leather hood, while his green and red stripped sweater is a raggedy sash. Combined with his pants and boots and Freddy looks like some weird Dungeons and Dragons villain. It's pretty creative and I love the imaginative design. Not to be outdone with his outfit, Freddy's trademark clawed glove gets the treatment as well. Not much of a reinvention, but more of a stylish re-imagining. Now it's a big gauntlet with some LARGE uneven claws. It's surprising just how well this works. Freddy really came out great in Savage World and blends right in with Skeletor's Evil Warriors. I should point out that I've gotten this far without calling him Fred Savage.

Dabney Coleman Ends

Drexell's Class is kinda forgotten about these days. Probably because it was only lasted a season. However, you'll probably notice some familiar faces among the kids. Speaking of the kids... it's Halloween and Drexell spends the school day with the time honored Halloween sitcom episode tradition of telling spooky stories. man, what was it with early 90's Fox Network shows about disgruntled middle aged men?

Ransack (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

The ravenous sounds of the locust signify wrath and misery. Perhaps it is him who stripped the house of all the life it once held.

I've mentioned my admiration for the Beetras molds here before, as well as my overall fandom for insect based robots in general. The Creatures Collide box set from last year provided me with plenty of really cool new creepy crawler insect bots. Ransack here is another solid bit of coolness from the set. Originally, Ransack was one of the Deluxe Insecticons made from the Beeteras toys while the standard Insecticons were made from Diaclone toys. This new Legacy Ransack, somehow is a repaint of an update of one of those Diaclone Insecticons (Kickback) and delivers a pretty good homage to the old Beetras toy. Surprisingly so as it's literally just a recolor using an alternate head. The toy does come with the Kickback head as well in case you'd prefer it to be one of his clones.

Ransack transforms into a mechanical locust or a grasshopper depending if you assemble his locust abdomen from the energon blades. This was a pretty creative way to get a locust out of the mold without the need for new parts. I've had the Kickback for some time before getting Ransack and never noticed that it could be done. Neat. Ransack has a descent amount of articulation and transforms fairly easily. Considering the mold was originally a "G1 with knees" update to Kickback, it should. Despite being so simple... it feels right, like just the right amount of work is needed to be done. His gun is a straightforward reissue of Kickback's in black plastic. Thanks to the similarity between the two, it makes for a decent version of his High-Intensity Concussion Blaster. A little different looking, but close enough. The energon blades can be held or form a shield. I prefer to place them on his arms for bight robot pokey bits. 

Don't let this week go to Wastor

Another weekend has passed signaling the arrival of Monday. Let us all curse and take a knee. Fortunately for you, there's a lot of fun posts here on Zone Base! I had a great weekend. The Mrs and I exchange gifts at Halloween each year, but we do it mid month as... look, the door slams close on the season November 1st. As much as I love Halloween, you have to respect it's boundaries. The Mrs got me a goodie bag full of candy and neat things. There was the Halloween ReAction Megazord and Mr. Bones. This years Halloween Droid Factory figure and the Halloween Clone Trooper I missed last year! A way cool Halloween Transformers t-shirt, a Dracula Funko, and a spooky Bluetooth speaker (boo tooth). She got me a Kinder Surprise multi pack and I was able to complete this years set! There was a bunch more stuff in the bag, but that's just off the top of my head.

A trip to Walmart resulted in Beast Changer Scourge. Just 3 more to go and I've completed the Beast Alliance toys. It's been a fun time and I'll be sad to see it over. Just the way these things go. While out shopping I also grabbed the rest of the TMNT Jada keychains, kinda wish there was a Shredder.  Transformers Earthspark Expedition came out Friday and a physical copy proved hard to get. The Mrs ordered my copy from Amazon and it came in Sunday while we were at Costco. It's a great little game, a lot better than I expected. Unfortunately the Switch version is very buggy and freezes a lot. Fortunately the developer has already got a fix patch ready, it's just a matter of waiting for it to come down the distribution channel. I'll be looking forward to it as I'm really enjoying the game (when it works). 

There's a few more weeks of Halloween here on the site. I hope everyone is having fun and enjoying our adventures in the haunted house. I've got some errands to run, so I'll be ending this here. I hope everyone has a great week and please, if you could, share Zone Base with your friends!

Hellowe'en

Honestly, what's the Halloween season without Friday the 13th? Not only was the original movie an attempt to cash in on the success of the original Halloween... the movies are airing non-stop during the spooky season. The cheap dollar hockey mask is as much of a Halloween tradition as plastic fangs and pumpkin spice everything. It's only fitting that an episode of the Friday the 13th TV series had a Halloween episode. While not related to the film series other than in name (and recurring actors, producers, and studios), the show is pretty fun in it's own right.

Scorponok (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

Down the hall contained a fright, a once thought dead scorpion who's bark is definitely not worse than it's bite.

Listen, I'm going to give it to you straight. I love Beast Wars Scorponok. So when I saw that his Kingdom toy (that I love) was getting released in the Creatures Collide box set (that I already wanted) in original toy colors... I was sold. I mean, I was already sold... but like extra sold. In addition to the colors, Scorponok also comes with his extra head, you know the one Sandstorm uses. This is a throwback to the Mutant heads of original Beast Wars. So really, this is a pretty great update of that original beast Scorponok. I made my thoughts pretty clear on my Kingdom Scorponok post... I like this toy. I like Beast Wars Scorponok in general. I have Sandstorm too, though I haven't talked bout him here just yet. 

I remember playing the old Beast Wars video game online. There was a PS1 and PC version... I ended up with both somehow. It wasn't the best game ever made, but I had fun playing it. The PC version could be played online in death matches and I'd usually play Scorponok. I almost always got beaten, but had fun. The gaming hub had little chat rooms and for a while it was a pretty decent place to talk Transformers. I usually don't get nostalgic with Transformers, they're something that's never went away for me. An ongoing thing, you know. However, I guess something like this Scorponok toy makes me a little nostalgic for an older, forgotten time. It's funny how Transformers fandom has changed over the years. It's a million light years from what it was in the beast era... but still good.

Watch Halloween this Halloween

It's no surprise that a movie series named Halloween would be popular during Halloween. Though, if you're around my age, you'll remember it being a more forbidden thing. The escaped mental patient that killed kids on Halloween urban legend spread like wildfire during October. At the time, Halloween was a popular movie... but not the institution that it is now. Kids were often more sheltered by their parents from these movies, and Michael Myers was one of the more taboo movie monsters. So of course your local television station commercials had an aura of mystique. I'm glad these old local spots somehow survived and got uploaded. They're firmly a relic of days gone by.

Bios: Stranglehold

Function: Enforcer 

"Rule one is: There are no rules!"

A muscle-bound monster! Willing to do anything to win. Kicks, gouges and sucker punches his way to victory. The reigning Intergalactic Cybertronic Wrestling Federation Champ. A powerhouse of brute strength. All brawn and no brains. Enjoys bench-pressing houses and arm curling cars to stay in shape. Sends his opponents down for the count with his steel-smashing, ultra-suplex or a short-circuiting atomic piledriver. Armed with brawn blaster that drains his enemies' power. Equipped with concussion blaster in robot Mode.

Strength: 9 Intelligence: 3 Speed: 2 Endurance: 9

Rank: 7 Courage: 5 Firepower: 6 Skill: 8

Little Inapproriate Halloween

Little Dracula, or Little D as he's affectionately called (nobody laugh) was a short lived cartoon based off a children's book series. For whatever reason, the cartoon didn't take off (probably because the main character was called Little D). Fortunatley it did have a Halloween episode! Which is super appropriate considering the theme of the show (unlike his nickname). Little D (snicker) goes trick or treating with his pal Werebunny with the rest of the family in tow. Since it's Halloween they all dress as regular humans (sigh) and get into adventures. It's stated that Dracula's clothes came from his victims and it can be assumed so did the rest of the gangs did as well. Including the children... that got dark real quick. Dang.

Graveyard Geekz (series 1&2)

I love monsters, especially older kooky ones. I was pleased to find a dealer selling these wonderful Graveyard Geekz figures at Toylanta this year, . That's one great thing (among a million great things) about Toylanta, the embrace of indie toys. I sure do love them and the chance to find some newly discovered ones is great. Graveyard Geekz is a collaboration between White Elephant Toyz and Bentz Dolz whom both create some awesome figures in the style of Mego and other similar toys. They're super awesome and I really regret not grabbing some more stuff from their table at the show.

The Graveyard Geekz figures is a very cool set of monster mini figures cast in either green or orange. Series 1 is the orange Wolfman and Mummy while series 2 is the green Phantom of the Opera and White Elephant mascot. The Wolfman, Mummy, and Phantom are recreations of Tomland Mini Monsters originally released in the 70's. The White Elephant is a homage. It's really cool to see something like a old rack toy recreated so lovingly, the same guys have also done the dolls amazingly. White Elephant is one of the groups I see at Toylanta selling recreations of classic toy accessories and brand new ones in the same vein. That's really awesome. I've been holding off talking about the groovy ghoulies here since buying them in March. Obviously they're spooky season perfect.

The Whistling Scarecrow

Elf Learning creates educational videos for the classroom and hope for children. My only experience with them is finding their many Halloween cartoons that are freaking short horror movies. The Whistling Scarecrow here... look man, that gently voice used in the narration is a false lead. This could be an episode of Tales from the Darkside. A GOOD episode of Tales from the Darkside. It's a tale of kids trick or treating while scary things are happening. I don't want to spoil or anything but... it gets dark..

Goldbug (Creatures Collide/Deluxe Class)

It was then that Goldbug found himself all alone. The only Autobot in the old house. The only living one, that is.

It's been awhile since I've talked about a Bumblebee toy here and a damn fine time to talk about another one. Or Goldbug, who is another identify Bumblebee has went by over the years. Quite honestly, one that needs more attention. I always like Goldbug. Something about that blue helmet. Goldbug is a repaint of the Earthrise/Netflix Siege Bumblebee mold with a new head. I've got a few different versions of the mold and I've covered at least one of them here before. It's a good toy with plenty of articulation and a great representation of Goldbug.

Goldbug transforms fairly easily into the classic VW Beetle we all know. It's a fairly easy transformation that's just specific enough in some places. You don't have to get everything just right, but they've still got to be right. The trunk of the car can either become a shield in robot mode, or attach to his back for a more classic look. Like all other (I think) instances of this mold, Goldbug comes with 2 blasters that can combine to form a larger rifle. This of course is mostly for the Cliffjumper version of the toy, but I don't see why Goldbug wouldn't have use for a bigger gun on occasion. Considering his adventure in the Creatures Collide 4 pack, a bigger gun would come in handy. This 4 pack was exclusive to Target stores as part of the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line in 2022. A big priority for me to get and an instant pick up. It's really hard for me to say anything bad about this figure and Goldbug so far might just be my favorite version of the toy mold.

It's Monday, send help

It's Monday and you know what that means... misery. I would vastly prefer some more weekend right now. Doesn't help that I'm sleepy and the garbage truck has a new siren that's apparently just on for the sake of it. All that aside, it was a great weekend. The Mrs and I did our weekly shopping which included shopping for our Halloween presents to each other. That'll be next weekend when we exchange them, it'll be fun. We watched the new Haunted Mansion movie which is pretty good, but could have been better. Just didn't seem like the Haunted Mansion... you know? We fixed the lights for our Halloween decorations outside in the yard. Last weekend I put them out, but the lights didn't work right. Well, now that's fixed and it's all good. The Mrs made chilli and a cake that I'm still thinking about. It was pretty dang good. 

The Halloween Optimus Prime in the picture up there? He was released last week and the Mrs helped me order one that came in Friday. In addition to that, she also got me a Beast Wars ReAction Dinobot. I found Core Class Slag Slug, Sludge, and Snarl while we were out. Snarl is my favorite Dinobot and getting a new one at Halloween is great! I need to combine all the Core Class Dinobots now that I have them. I was worried that I'd never find them all and I've grown to love Volcanicus. 

Well, I've got some errands to run and need to swing by the comic shop. I forgot to pick up the new Transformers comic and am going to try to do physical copies instead of digital. Hope everyone is enjoying the Halloween posts. We're in the last month of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem, so let's make the most of it. It's hard to believe it's already almost over, I guess that's the passage of time for you. Thanks to each and every one of you for continuing to support Zone Base. Please share with your friends!

Meego to a Halloween party

If you need somebody to play a fish out of water, Bronson Pinchot is your man. Meego was a short lived sitcom from 1997 about an alien from space living with a family on Earth. Well, isn't that wacky. As every television show should, Meego had an Halloween episode. The kids are having a Halloween party where Harriet the Spy needs to find the identity of her secret admirer. Did I mention aliens and 1997? You bet your ass there's a ton of Men in Black jokes.

Prowl 86 20BB (Buzzworthy Bumblebee)

Prowl was found down the hall. A lone body who's spirit has moved on and now possibly another otherworldly resident of the house.

Coming with Ironhide in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee two pack of dead robots is Prowl whom also was killed in that same scene. There was a few others, so I wonder if there'll be future installments of dead robot toys? I don't know if the release time frame was intentional and there's nothing specifically Halloween-ish on the packaging... but it all works out. Like Ironhide, Prowl is a remold of his Earthrise toy released as a Studio Series figure. I took several Earthrise toys to be Studio Series toys released under another banner... so it works for me. It occurs to me that I haven't spoken of the mold here before. Like other Earthrise toys, the pandemic caused some distribution issues. I did get Bluestreak from the Buzzworhty Bumblebee line (dang, that's one all encompassing little imprint), so I have experienced it before.

Prowl transforms into his classic Fairlady Z police car here in a fairly accurate toy. Like other recent figures, he really looks like the cartoon model come to life. Transformation is pleasant and fairly simple without being too easy. He's packing his trademark Acid Pellet Gun but unfortunately missing the shoulder rocket launchers. The original Earthrise toy was also missing these as they're not a part of his show model. That's fine, I just like them. As part of the dead guy remolds is a wound from the fatal laser fire and a VERY accurate face sculpt of childhood trauma is being enacted on the move screen. All that's missing is the smoke... literally as there's blaster effects to plug in the fully recreate his getting shot to death. This set is ridiculously morbid and I'm all here for it.

Press Paas

I've probably talked more about those wonderful Paas Halloween Make-Up Kits here more than Machine Gun Kelly remembers to floss his teeth. I'm admitting these are a moment in time kind of thing, a 'you had to have been there' instance. Just believe me, they were magic. The pure majesty of the cardboard display at the local grocery store was memorizing. I'd spend countless trips to the store parked in front of it, just looking at the various kits over and over until it was time to go.

Bios: Phantomjaw

Strongarm was startled, since the car approaching with its sirens on was Decepticon Phantom Jaw. Phantom Jaw transformed immediately and attacked Strongarm. As a very competent intelligence officer, Phantom Jaw took the opportunity once he heard there was an opportunity to act solo against a member of the Autobot. However, after she was caught off guard, Strongarm begin fight back when she regained her posture. Having fought together with the first class warrior Bumblebee, she has grown by leaps and bounds. 

credit per translation

The Hat Trick

One Halloween tradition of mine is something I call the Hat Trick. I'll eat at least one box of every Monster Cereal that year. Back before they were seasonal, I ate them regularly. Their return every fall is highly anticipated each year. Part of what makes the Hat Trick so fun is that there's other Halloween cereals. So I make a plan and work in as many as possible... or at least the ones I want to. Unfortunately Fruit Brute isn't returning this year, that's a shame. He's a good one.

Monsters with KAWS

I greatly lament the change from an all year to seasonal that the Monster Cereals underwent some time ago. I love them so. That being said, every year I make a point to eat plenty of the gang as they reappear on stores shelves for a limited time. Each time they do something different and I appreciate that. It's fun. Last year General Mills collaborated with artist KAWS for box art of the gang in his trademark style. Each box also contained a code that could be entered for a chance to win a set of the gang in the vein of old school cereal prizes. Guess who won a set? The classic trio and Fruit Brute are represented here matching their KAWS designs and look great. The only thing that could make this better would be including  Yummy Mummy and the newest Monster Cereal character Carmella Creeper.

What's in your Horror Bags?

I've been jealous of those who got to experience Smith's Horror Bags in the 70's and 80's. I'd love any excuse to indulge in a bag of their delightfully spooky snacks. They might just be flavored and shaped potato crisps, but they're shaped like scary shit and that makes them 100% better! This little commercial for their Bat variety had to be awesome for folks in the UK when it'd air on their TV sets. I'd love to give these out for trick or treat... or just keep them around the house.

Ironhide 86 24BB (Buzzworthy Bumblebee/Deluxe Class)

Nobody knows when it happened or who did it. Ironhide was found laying on his back. Mouth agape with a large wound signaling the arrival of his passing.

Don't look at me, but Hasbro thought to make a set of a dead Ironhide and Prowl in the Buzzworthy Bumblebee line. These are Studio Series 86 figures released under the Target exclusive banner meant to represent them during their deaths at the hands of the Decepticons during Transformers The Movie in 1986. Today we'll be looking at Ironhide... as you've probably figured out by now. Ironhide is a slight remold of the Earthrise Ironhide toy. Now with a uh... dying face and a wounded chest. While I don't have it pictured, the toys also come with blast effects that can be plugged into the wounds to replicate the laser shots that did the killing. Dang Hasbro, you took it to an extreme... and I dig it.

While it's not as great as the Voyager Studio Series Ironhide, this is still a solid figure. To be honest, I just like classic Ironhide. It's hard not to love that bright red on grey and that boxy robot body. They really took the Diaclone toy and improved on it with the Sunbow animation model. Ironhide of course transforms into a van. This time a van that's been shot up. His twin pistols can store on the roof like other of his toys of late. He has a decent amount of articulation and is an all around a good figure. The transformation is pretty easy, but not super simple. I like this toy and had the same opinion with DK-2 Guard whom shares the mold. It's hard not to like Ironhide and even harder to hate a good Ironhide figure. A dying version is unique and the blast effects are a great morbid bit of fun.

The Haunting of Zone Base

Near the back of Zone Base is an old house that the Micromasters don't visit. Within it's halls and rooms await several spirits and certain doom. Perhaps for the month of October you'd dare a exploration or two?