Skywarp [Galaxy Version 01 Roll Out]

Skywarp is a Seeker I've always had a bit of an affinity for. Mostly because of the colors, but I also like his teleportation powers. His bios always depict him as a little dumb, little sneaky, and likes to pull pranks. That's often played up more in bios and fandom than takes place in media, though it does happen. Aside from his special ability, he's not too different from Thundercracker a lot of the time. Guess it depends on who's writing. Like Thundercracker, his original toy mold comes from Diacalone roots. Though unlike Thundercracker, his colors are original to The Transformers. It's widely believed that Skywarp became Cyclonus in the 1986 movie, though it's never very clear or certain if it was him or an Insecticon. Back in the day I stood by the 3H BotCon/OTFCC comics as it was an official stance.

In those stories, Skywarp had survived and Bombshell was remade into Cyclonus. These days I'm more open to interpretation. Whomever it is in that story is whoever it was in that story. I love this stuff, but it's got all the inconsistencies. Doesn't help that Bombshell and Skywarp continue to appear after Cylonus is created. This Blokees figure is pretty much the same as Thundercracker but with another color deco, which is true to form regarding Seekers. I like it a lot, once again I'm partial to Skywarp's colors and am finding it impossible to dislike a Blokkes Transformers kit.

BIOS: Jolt

Sub-Group - Recon Team

Jolt -- the leader of the team, and the only one able to speak a human language - is a great lover of human culture, addicted to television, music and the Internet. On more than one occasion he has caused difficulty for the Autobots by forgetting he's not a human being. Six-Speed and Reverb, though sometimes frustrated by their leader's tendency to become distracted by cartoons and web-comics, love the excitement of missions with their human partners, working as a fast response strike and rescue team on away missions on the Lost Planets.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 8 Speed: 9 Endurance: 6
Rank: 5.5 Courage: 6 Firepower: 6.5 Skill: 8

Transform Squadron 54- Back in my Day

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This month, what's old is new again! Rob talks about the relaunch of Auto-Update, summer conventions, Gobots back on TV, and even some Code Orange fun!

Phoebe Spengler w/ Bonesy [Fright Features/Frozen Empire]

Rounding out the Fright Features figures from Frozen Empire is Phoebe Spengler, arguably the main character of the new movies. Phoebe is a little older in Frozen Empire and her Fright Feature uses the larger body mold and a new head sculpt instead of reusing her Afterlife figure. She still has the same amount of articulation and Neutrona Wand/Proton pack we're all used to by now. Her ghostly partner to hunt, Bonesy, is a real standout. Bonesy is a Class III. Distinct Human Form, meaning he's a straight up traditional scary ghost. A skeletal ghoul with big bugged out eyes in a very pleasant blue color with the Ecto-Stretch Tech gimmick allowing him to be squished and squeezed all over the place.

He's probably my favorite ghost from this group of Fright Features toys. I really wish the other characters from the movie would get new Fright Features figures as I really do enjoy the line. It's got a solid modern take on the classic Real Ghostbusters figures and everything just hits the right notes. Hopefully the upcoming animated series will be cause for some down the line.

Megatron [AMK Mini Series]

Starting our look at the Transformers AMK model kits by Yolopark is Megatron. He is from the G1 themed Mini Series, which are a more basic kit than their larger offerings. There's no painting or removing parts from sprues (give the nippers a break!) and the parts snap together with relative ease. They don't Transform, but you probably were aware of that going in. Once assembled, Megatron looks pretty nice. He's pretty show accurate and has a nice shiny silver paint job. These kits come with a variety of hands. You get a closed fist that can also hold a weapon, open palms, and a set of pointing fingers. Combined with the surprising amount of articulation and Megatron is one expressive figure. If you would have handed me an assembled one, I'd never have guessed it was originally a model that required assembly.

Weekly Update- 6/24/24

Looks like another week is starting up! Thanks for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! The Mrs and I had a fun weekend full of Code Orange early Halloween shopping! There's still plenty for the stores to put out, but we still managed to get some fun stuff. My local stores are still not stocking toys well, but that's where the internet comes in handy (and why it's taking over). I've got a Animated Optimus Prime on the way as well as a replacement for my Yolopark Mini Soundwave that I accidentally broke (dammit!). Well, I've suddenly gotten some things to do right away while writing this, so this will be a short weekly update. Thanks everyone for reading, I've got a fun week in store for you all. Please don't forget to share the site with your friends!

Thundertron [Legacy United/Voyager Class]

Shimber me timbers and do something with rum, there be pirates attacking and booty afoot. Thundertron, the leader of the Star Seekers has received a glorious update in Legacy United! Not to be outdone, his crew will be making a showing later at Walmart stores. For now, let's take a look at his newest toy. Thundertron is a space pirate who transforms into a lion. If you've noticed that the lion is specifically robotic, that's because he scanned the alt mode while on Planet Zi. You know, the home of Zoids. Thundertron's name is a combination of Thundercats and Voltron, this guy is chock full of homages. Like the original, this is one cool toy.

Thundertron comes with a cutlass and features claws on his fists. His right leg can be converted to a peg leg by removing the foot. Said foot can attach to the cutlass for a more imposing looking sword as well give you a place to store it. I left the foot on in the pics because he kept falling over. That foot is a rear foot for the lion, so try not to lose yours. Speaking of the lion, transformation is fairly easy. There is a few points you'll have to get exactly right... which is just Transformers design these days. Specifically the robot mode arms fold up into the lion's neck and the exact positioning of them isn't immediately obvious. The way the rear legs unfold isn't tricky, but it took me a minute to unfold them correctly. They don't transform from robot legs to lion legs the way my brain told me they would after millions of Cheetors. The sword can store on the lions back pretty well and doesn't stand out. Thundertron's cool pirate coat folds into cool Zoid like armor in beast mode. It's a really cool design touch that I loved. In fact, I loved this whole toy. There's nothing I can find to complain about. Considering a repaint of him will come out during the Star Raiders collection later this year, that's a good thing. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

BIOS: Terragator

Function: Swamp Warrior

Most Transformers find that smelly, mucky environments clog up their circuitry. Not the half-croc, half-turtle Terragator. he prefers it. Terragator is most at home in the swamp lands and sewers. Part of the Predacon elite amphibious warriors, his specialty is land/water assault. In robot mode, he wields an impenetrable shield, and his hand reveals an awesome weapon.

Strength: 6 Intelligence: 6 Speed: 4 Endurance: 5
Rank: 6 Courage: 9 Firepower: 7 Skill: 7

Axel Stone [Streets of Rage]

Regardless if you know him as Axel Stone from Streets of Rage or Akuseru Sutōn in Bare Knuckle, there's no doubt he's one of gaming's biggest badasses. One of the main protagonists from the prior mentioned game series... Axel doesn't get a lot of merchandise. So imagine my surprise when he gets a figure in the excellent Jakks Pacific video game based toy series. I've been a fan of these toys, often buying their Super Mario or Sonic offerings. They're great looking, high quality, and reasonably priced. Axel is 4" with 24 points of articulation. He's also pleasantly solid and feels like a higher priced toy. Included is a flame effect to recreate Axel's various Dragon attacks. It fits snugly over either hand and thanks to the articulation, practically any special move can be recreated. This is a cool figure of an awesome character from a classic game. I was really happy to see it announced and even happier to get one.

Ironhide [Galaxy Version 01 Roll Out]

Ironhide is another original cast member of the Transformers. The 'red van guy' who shares a base mold with Ratchet and was originally released as No. 2 Onebox Cherry Red Vanette in Diaclone and DK-2 in Diakorn. His colors were changed to red from black for The Transformers release, but he was back in black for his role in the live action movie series. That lead to an exclusive black version of the original Ironhide, something I've always found neat. Ironhide is a good ol' boy and an old soldier. These character traits are played more into depending on whomever is writing the adventure and sometimes doesn't seem any older or wiser than the others.

One thing I haven't expressed about Blokees that I like is their proportions. There's an almost Megaman X look to the figures once assembled and I feel it's really evident on Ironhide. It'd be undeniable in blue. Like other Blokees, Ironhide is very articulated and has closed and open hand options. A neat extra touch is an included blast effect that can be attached to his gun or other characters guns. It's a fun little extra. Ironhide is a simpler looking robot which results in a more basic looking toy. Thankfully the combination of red and black make for an interesting color scheme. It's hard not to like such a simple, yet fun little figure. Blokees are generally pleasant and these little AMK figures are fun to assemble with the Transformers channel on in the background.

Weekly Update- 6/17/24

Looks like it's another Monday and the beginning of a new week here on Planet Zone! I had a pretty great weekend and hope you did too! The Mrs and the cats got me some Yolopark Transformers AMK models for Fathers Day and the Mrs made taco nachos for dinner! I do love tacos. Code Orange is in full effect as early Halloween stuff is filling stores. My local places haven't started stocking yet, but they've told me they'll start stocking this week! It's just a month and a half until Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem! 

Aside from that I spent all weekend playing Star Wars Hunters and watching Halloween cartoons. It was a great time. I didn't buy much else as my local stores are a little barren at the moment. I do have an Evercade cartridge coming soon for my Super Pocket though. That'll be fun. Speaking of fun, I've got some cool posts coming your way this week. I hope you all enjoy them. Thanks everyone for reading, please don't forget to share the site with your friends.

Concept Art Sunstreaker (Studio Series/Deluxe Class)

I've got a soft spot in my heart for Sunstreaker. He's one of the original cast of Transformers whose Diaclone toy roots as No.1 Countach LP500S/Diakron DK-1 were the first numbered of the Car Robots series. These are the toy molds that make up a good number of the initial Transformers toy line. It's just neat that Suntreaker's original toy was the first of it's series. I've always liked his design and found it pretty striking and unfortunate that he's not updated as often as other classic characters. This newer figure of Sunstreaker is one of the really cool Concept Art based figures in Studio Series. While not appearing in the Bumblebee movie, there was designs for him in that initial opening scene that we all love.

I personally think Sunstreaker looks awesome in this toy and think it would pair really well with the Siege Sideswipe. It kinda feels like a lost Siege design more so than an unused movie design. Considering the Bumblebee movie and Siege were probably being worked on around the same time, that's probably not super coincidental. He comes with two blasters. They can be held or one can he stored on his back. The blasters can be combined which looks great in alt mode, though they can be placed on the car individually as well. The blasters are a double barrelled design that matches his Cybertronian look well. Sunstreaker is fairly articulated, but his large shoulder pads can get in the way. Fortunately they can be adjusted some.

Transformation to car mode was fairly easy for me. I understand there's a common mis-assembly on the hood pieces that I didn't notice on mine. Either I lucked out or just didn't notice. Alt mode is a Cybertronian car similar to Sunstreaker's Lamborghini Countach. It's a very neat car and I really appreciate the trademark yellow colors. There's a late 80's to mid 90's anime vibe to this design I can't quite put my finger on. I feel like I've seen artwork of him printed in black and white in a game manual or magazine somewhere. It's probably just me, but I like those vibes. Sunstreaker is a cool figure that I like quite a bit. These Concept Art Studio Series releases are really neat and the idea is a lot of fun.

BIOS: Buster

Function: Space Aviator 

While not as cool and extreme of character as his older brother Hydra, Buster is far more gentle. He loves birds and owns some, and can even convey his thoughts to them.

Strength: 8 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 6 Endurance: 10
Rank: 5 Courage: 9 Firepower: 6 Skill: 7

Replay: In the Tunnel

Summer is a Spooky Season.

Bluestreak (Galaxy Version 01 Roll Out)

It's pretty obvious that despite his name, Bluestreak isn't blue, he's silver. It's no secret that the original batch of Transformers toys were made from mostly Diaclone and Microman toy molds. When Bob Budiansky was coming up with the names for all these new characters, it's very likely he had a specific Diaclone version of the toy to go by. Which was mostly blue. The original Diaclone version of this particular version of the Fairlady Z Car Robot toy was available in the colors we just talked about as well as a silver and black version. The blue toy was used for various pictures used in packaging and other photography, the silver and black became his animation model. The actual toy? An all silver figure with a deco original to the Transformers release.

What a mess huh? The name? Well, trademarking is a weirdly complicated thing and it was too late to change it by that point, so Bob Budiansky included the talks a 'Bluestreak' into his bio to cover up the oddness. It makes me groan too.

Since then, there's been several toys of Bluestreak in those blue colors and in the show accurate silver and black that have pretty much became his default colors. However, for a while in the early 2000's his toys were named Silverstreak due to trademark issues. Once again, we're all groaning. This Blokees version of Bluestreak fortunately is in his cartoon colors and looks great. He features the solid articulation you expect from a Blokee figure once assembled. There's a bunch of cool extras as well. Bluestreak doesn't transform, but features the car modes door wings. He'd look weird without them. The Fairlady Z Car Robot based characters all have those signature wings and rocket launchers are included with the kit. Like other Blokees, Bluestreak has a set of open and closed hands. His Beam Rifle can be held snugly in a closed hand while the other can be more expressive. This was a really fun kit to put together. Simple and fun despite the characters convoluted history.

Weekly Update- 6/10/24

It's Monday yet again and the start of a new week here on Planet Zone! Thanks for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure. I hope you all had a good weekend, mine was pretty great. The Mrs and I checked out local At Home for any Halloween stuff coming in... and not yet. Ours takes a little longer than others, but we've been seeing plenty of Summerween popping up at others online. Just got to be patient, which is really hard during these Code Orange months of summer. I didn't really get out for much shopping, but did order some more Yolopark Transformers that'll be coming in this week. I also played a good bit of video games. The Nintendo Switch Online service added the Gameboy Megaman games and I had quite a bit of fun with those Saturday night in between monster movies and homemade flatbread pizza dinner.

There's a new season of Transformers EarthSpark and I've been slowly catching up with it in between sessions of Star Wars Hunters. I REALLY like the new Chaos Terrans, they're a lot of fun. Speaking of Star Wars Hunters, I'd been eyeing it in various social network ads and downloaded it to my Switch. Totally a good time. Well, it's time to get some housework done and some more toy pics for future posts taken. That and today's daily exercise... which I'm totally looking forward to... yeah. Well, I've got a great week of posts ahead. We've got some and scares ahead of us Zone Base readers! Thank you for reading and please share the site with your friends. Mutual High Fives everyone!

Gamer Edition Sideswipe (Studio Series/Deluxe Class)

Sideswipe is one of those Transformers characters I always look forward to a new figure of. One of the classic cast whose toy molds often get reused for several different characters. Not only is a new toy of him exciting for another Sideswipe, but also potentially means more similar and cool toys on the way. I like Sideswipe and generally all the reworks, so it's generally a positive thing. This toy of Sideswipe is based on his appearance in the War for Cybertron video game. Another of the 'Gamer Edition' figures being recently released, Sideswipe is a screen accurate representation. I'm actually of a mixed mind when it comes to the Gamer Edition figures. I was a big fan of the 'Fall of Cybertron' figures when they were released and still think of them fondly. So an 'improvement' like this Sideswipe to the original is something I'm going to side eye a bit.

Thankfully they did a pretty good job with this figure and made what feels more like a premium offering. While being the same size class as that original toy, I can't help but to feel like this one is bigger. I think it's the implied bulkiness of his design more than actual mass. That's not a bad thing considering the continually shrinking of size Transformers has been going through over the past few years. Ironically, it was that original Fall of Cybertron line when the figures first noticeably got smaller and received a price hike. From 10-12 dollars for a deluxe. Man, if only that was the cost today. Like other Gamer Edition figures, Sideswipe is able to swap out his arm for a 'gun arm' like the weapons mostly appeared in the game. I'm still on the fence if I like this feature or not. Allegedly the weapon arm can be held like a traditional arm, but I didn't notice the possibility of this while playing with him. The unused arm can store on his back which is useful. I didn't notice if this was possible with others using this gimmick. It's definitely appreciated.

As a robot, Sideswipe has a decent level of articulation as is sure to please most in that department. Transformation isn't hard, though a little fiddly in some spots. There's parts that have to line up just right and it can be a trick to get them into position correctly. Tight transformations have been a recent complaint of mine are certainly an issue with Studio Series. I guess all that screen accuracy doesn't allow for much wiggle room. Vehicle mode is a Cybertronian car of some sort. It's neat looking and looks different from the Siege Sideswipe's Cybertronian car design. The weapon arm can attach to the roof of the car which looks sharp. Sideswipe is a very nice figure of a cool design. Like other Studio Series figures, he feels more premium than your standard fare Transformer. It's a nice toy. I anticipate/hope other characters will be made from this mold. While I generally like Sideswipe toys, this is a nice toy.

BIOS: Rescue Patrol

"True victory can only lie in the ability to locate and mend the injured."

Function: Search & Rescue

This fearless foursome braves the heaviest combat fire on land and sea to perform their assigned tasks. Fully equipped to administer emergency aid under the most adverse conditions: Seawatch has over-the-horizon radar and towing capability; Stakeout has a state-of-the-air communications dashboard; Fixit is outfitted with repair bay and life-function monitors; Red Hot contains fire-retardant chemical foam.

Teamwork: 9 Cooperation: 9 Strength: 4 Endurance: 6
Speed: 4 Intelligence: 8 Courage: 9 Skill: 8

Star Soldier 1986

Hudson Soft, 1986

Thundercracker (Galaxy Version 01 Roll Out)

It's been far too long that i haven't been covering Blokees here. Blokees Figures are a cool line of blind packed models that are easy to build and amazingly charming. I'm particularly fond of the proportions and high amount of articulation. There's a lot of character in these little figures and they're a lot of fun to build. I built Thundercracker while watching the Transformers channel, it was a good time. Thundercracker is the blue jet guy from the initial Seeker Trio. A little snobbish towards others who cannot fly and maybe a little sympathetic for the humans of Earth. He's a little doubtful of the Decepticon cause, something that occasionally gets in the way. His special ability is to create controlled sonic booms that can be heard for 200 miles.

This figure is really neat. Blokees are models, but not overly complex kits. More along the lines of an action figure that you have to assemble. Pieces just snap together and are already painted. There's no glue or tools required, though as pair of nippers might come in handy for the parts on mold sprues. Thundercracker came with two sets of hands. A set of closed fists and a pair of expressive open fingers. There's also a handy little stand and some Autobot/Decepticon insignias you can place in open holes on the stand if you choose. The finished figure doesn't transform, but is a great representation of the character. These feel like a natural progression of the SCF figurines I've professed my love for here before. That being said, I'm hooked. I'd love to see a big variety of different Transformers characters from the past 40 years get the Blokees treatment. Hope you're all ready for regular coverage of them here on Zone Base.

Weekly Update- 6/3/24

It's Monday again Zone Base readers and time to start another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I had a great weekend full of paranormal videos, kaiju movies, and robot cartoons! Summer is starting and that means Code Orange is go! Early Halloween stuff is starting to show up at Joanne's and At Home stores with various sneak peaks coming left and right! We didn't check our local stores as they tend to take a little longer getting the spooky stuff. Though next weekend a little Code Orange fun is planned. Work on this year's Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem is in full effect and we're looking to have the best Zone Base Halloween yet!

As far as toys bought this weekend, I got some great stuff! I found Turtles of Greyskull Merman and the Jakks Pacific Axel from Streets of Rage figures. No new Transformers at my local stores, so I ordered some Yolopark Transformers AMK models. Got the feeling I'm going to be ordering toys for a while. It's clear my stores are going to be clearing out some older stock until Transformers One toys start arriving. Speaking of, I'm super excited for those and the Star Raiders collection from Walmart. I plan to finally get some Missing Link figures soon as well. Really looking forward to that. 

Well, it's time to get the week started. I have to take my mother to the doctor and bring a mini refrigerator to my wife's office before doing my daily exercises. Five miles on the exercise bike and pumping iron with the resistance bands! But first, I need to finish breakfast. There's a fun week of content coming your way this week. Please don't forget to share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!