Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Wow, it's hard to believe it was 20 years ago when I watched this marathon in between bites of turkey. I hope everyone reading has a great day and hey... let's watch some Energon.

Wandering Star BB-63C [BeastBox]

BEASTBOX BB-63A HEATMISER / BB-63B BLOWBACK/ BB-63C WANDERING STAR Meet HEATMISER, an unstoppable monster but also fragile baby; BLOWBACK, on a mission impossible for normalcy; and WANDERING STAR, breaking free with eyes wandering and senses in pure delight. Collect them all!

It's impossible to not love an Axolotl. They're these little, adorable sea creatures that seem like something straight out of a fantasy story. 52Toys recently released a trio of them and today we'll be looking at Wandering Star from the three. They're all the same base mold (as I understand), but each are very distinct from each other as different characters with vivid colors. Wander Star is an absolutely delightful mixture of blues with some accenting purple and silver tech detail. Wandering Star, like the other Axolotls, is a smaller toy. That doesn't limit him in any way as I found him very articulated and expressive. You can put him (not gendering, just using him generically) in a variety of swimming posses. His head can swivel, allowing for some cocked head poses. Like he's looking at you curiously. The tail has quite a bit of pleasant movement as well.

Transformation to box mode is fairly easy, though I kept removing the front legs accidentally. Probably the most involved step is splitting the tail and moving it into place. Really, the best description of transformation is that Wandering Star folds backwards, pokes in his extremities, and folds his tail around himself. He fit's into his Box Charger snuggly... actually let's talk about that Box Charger. Wandering Star (as do the other two) comes with the newer, smaller variation of the Box Charger. This new version is a more compact model that expands into a full size box. The compressed boxes can be stacked together to save room for when not in use. It's a pleasant alternative to the standard Box Charger that normally comes with your BeastBox toy... and kinda fitting for a little guy like Wandering Star. It's probably easy to tell that I like this little toy. The colors are great and an Axolotl is impossible to hate. Wandering Star just looks so happy and full of a joyful existence. I can't look at it without smiling... and that's a pretty solid reason to like a toy.

Neon Genesis Turducken

It's the beginning of a holiday week here on Planet Zone! I'll be on holiday most of the week, but there's still a little content coming your way. It's Thanksgiving, and I'm thankful for each and every one of you that reads the site. Regular posting will resume next week, until then, don't forget to share with your friends and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Motormaster [Legacy United/Voyager Class]

Transformers Animated was a fun series with some really cool toys. The stylized sculpting was a fun alternative to the movie and classics styled toys available at the same time. It was only natural that the BotCon, which was officially affiliated at the time would offer an exclusive set based around the series. The Stunticon Job was a cool way to introduce the Stunticons to the series and make use of the prior existing toy molds as is a necessity when making exclusives. Motormaster is one of those characters folks automatically assume will be made from an Optimus Prime, so it just worked out naturally. Luckily, the Animated Motormaster was really cool.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to that BotCon, nor acquire a set. It always stayed in the back of my mind as a 'someday' type of thing. Flash forward to present day and amazingly enough, things like formerly hard to acquire toys are getting updated in Generations. Giving second chances to get some of these ideas. It may not be the original... but often time it's good enough. That's where Motormaster finds it's way here, as a reworking of the Animated Optimus Prime toy update that was released earlier this year. I really liked that figure, so it's probably to no surprise I liked this one. It doesn't hurt that the happiness of finally getting some version of this Motormaster put a nice cherry on top of everything.

Since I've talked about the mold before, I'm going to focus more on what's different. Most noticeably, the new head. Motormaster famously has a square head. That's replicated here with additional characterization. Long story short, he's Macho Man Randy Savage as a transformer. Specifically, Macho Man as a bad guy. Considering the colors, I like to think N.W.O era Macho Man. Considering Randy Savage is one of my all time favorites, it's probably to no surprise I like this. His colors are mainly black with some purple and green thrown in and it looks fabulous. Both modes look great. Transformation did feel a little looser this time. That could be from mold degradation or just mine in particular. The original Optimus Prime toy was just a good figure all the way around and I feel like this is a total upgrade based on the colors and new head alone.Can you dig it?

Godzilla 1954 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

While I've certainly enjoyed Playmates kaiju offerings, Bandai's sofubi returning to US shelves is reason to celebrate around here. Godzilla Monster Series is a wonderful line of kaiju toys in a form factor that I vastly prefer and the 5" scale is absolutely perfect. These figures can really take up some room (the tails alone... ) and no detail is lost at the slightly smaller size. Not to mention... I like smaller toys. They're priced fairly too, I've been seeing them from $12 to $15 at retail. 

Some online stores are charging more, so choose where you buy these wisely. Of course the older, larger figures were only $10 a few years ago... "sigh". This is classic Godzilla as he appeared in the original 1954 movie. It's 5 inches tall with 5 points of articulation in the shoulders, hips, and tail. The colors are great. I've always loved that darker, muted shade of green. Sculpting is really well done with appreciated attention to detail. It's always great to see a Bandai Godzilla figure on a shelf and I'm elated for their return after a long absence. Nature is healing.

Filch [Star Raiders Collection/Deluxe Class]

One of the great thing about the Walmart exclusive collections is that they provide an outlet for prior unreleased characters/toys to be released under. Filch was a Decepticon from Transformers Robots in Disguise 2015 whom never got a figure outside of a Tiny Titan release. In the Star Raiders Collection, she's making her debut as a Deluxe Class toy. Spoilers, it's a good one. The toy is a remold of Kingdom Airazor. Using that mold as a base, the designers make a solid representation of her. Like with Skywarp, the mold makes for a good skeleton. Filch turns into a corvid. However, unlike Airazor and Skywarp, she's not a beast era style beast warrior with an organic looking alt mode. Her alt mode is more robotic, like traditional Transformers with beast modes are. He remolding is pretty extensive and doesn't have all those feathers.

A neat design change was the wings. Where Airazor and Skywarp have those forearm guns that serve as missiles for their beast modes, Filch's wingtips separate and plug into her forearms. This allows her to resemble her show model better and makes her backpack smaller. She can also hold these wingtips as sort of a sickle weapon. Transformation is easy, literally identical to the other mold uses before aside from connecting the wing tips. Corvid and robot mode are very well articulated. This is just a well designed Transformers all around. I really like Filch's colors and feel like they bring the toy alive in a way the prior uses didn't. They're just so pretty. They did a really good jn making Filch from Airazor and did enough to make her different than just a simple repaint.

Keizer Monday

Bloody hell, it's Monday again. Personally, I was having a great weekend too. Saturday the Mrs and I went Christmas shopping and Sunday we saw the newest Venom movie. Actually, I went Christmas shopping Friday morning too. The season is drawing near, meaning I'm going to have some extra busy days working in the holidays with my work life. I'm sure you will too, but no worries, Zone Base is here to keep you entertained with robots, monsters, and misadventure! This weekend will be extra hectic to prepare myself for next weeks Thanksgiving holiday break. Not just a hard work week, but some weekend work to offset the days off. No so great, but it will definitely make the time off sweeter. 

That being said, next week will have a little interruption in the normal posting schedule. There will be content, just not as much. I'm sure you all understand and hopefully you'll have a great holiday week too! I did get some great new stuff for myself while shopping. The Mrs picked up Studio Series Gamer Edition Ratchet for me last week, and I found Studio Series Gamer Edition Bumblebee and Monster Series Mechagodzilla while out Friday. Saturday was busy, but I did pick up Legacy Quake. 

Actually Saturday was kinda a little personal BotCon for me. I only got a few hours sleep. Bought toys, watched Transformers One and played Transformers Minecraft. I had some frozen pizza and fell asleep watching GIJOE.  Just like the old days! I'm actually planning to watch Gobots all day today and get a few weeks of toy pics for upcoming site posts. The holidays are wild times, and I'm sure to ring them in the only way I know how. By the skin of my teeth and keeping it gonzo as always. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Next week will be a little different, but don't worry, it will return to normal soon after. I've got some fun stuff coming over the upcoming days, please look forward to it! Don't forget to share with your friends!

Bumblebee [Studio Series/Deluxe Class]

We're all Bumblebee fans here on the base and love it when he gets a new toy... which is very often. Today's toy is from Transformers Studio Series 86 and meant to represent him as he appeared in the 1986 animated movie. I've been a fan of the Studio Series 86 toys as they're very screen accurate figures of the original cartoon cast. Bumblebee is a bit of an anomaly in this isn't Volkswagen licensed, so while his robot mode is show accurate. His vehicle mode is a close approximation. That's ok though as the car has the same proportions as the original Microman/G1 toy which was mean to resemble a penny racer. That's really neat!

As I said, BB is very show accurate in robot mode. He's also pretty short, which means he'll be close to scale with other Studio Series 86 and more recent Generations figures. There's plenty of articulation and includes the laser we've seen used in various episodes of the classic series. That laser can mount to the back of his car mode for storage. Kinda like a little gun rack. Transformation isn't what I thought it would be. Sure, the expected car bot steps were there... but there was some unexpected additional folding. Bumblebee compresses down quite a bit creating a surprisingly solid feeling compact little car. Like I said before, it's an approximation of his classic VW Bug this time. That's not too bad as it has the cues you'd expect... just not as round. I do like the penny racer proportions and can see where other Minibots made from this mold will probably come out pretty good. This is a great new Bumblebee figure. I can understand how the vehicle mode might turn off some, but I've really enjoyed him. Guess I just like a good penny racer.

Michelangelo [Turtles of Grayskull]

Mikey may be a party dude with pizza on his mind, but he has a new purpose: be the Most Powerful Turtle in the Universe. He grabs a blonde wig and begins emulating Eternia’s greatest warrior, He-Man.

I've probably mentioned it before here on the site, but Michelangelo is my favorite of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've also mentioned before that the late 80's/early 90's incarnation of TMNT is my favorite. That being said, my specifically favorite version of Michelangelo is perfect for an adventure on Eternia. Not because I particularly prefer him... he just fits. Perfectly.

After meeting the MOTU gang, Michelangelo decided he wanted to be just like He-Man. So here he is dressed just like him, yellow wig and all. Neatly enough, he kinda resembles Flying Fists He-Man in this armor (the colors are off, but the idea is there) and his nunchucks could be considered similar to the spinning weapons that version of He-Man used. Michelangelo's turtle shell can become a shield like all the other turtles, but I wish it had some sort of spinner on it as well. Just to play into that some more. There was the Rock 'N Roll Michelangelo figure from the original turtle line that had a spinning hand. Of course his nunchucks were the ideal weapon for that gimmick, but he also had a shield that worked well with it. That's where my mind is going with this guy. Of course the similarity might not have been intentional. Regardless, this is another excellent figure in an awesome line. The wig is removable in case that's too silly... but that's why I like it there.

Demon Dart BB-32 [BeastBox]

[DEMON DART Legend] Despite being a veteran of the Cavalry Army, Demon Dart is troubled by his rookies face. Although the corp disbanded ages ago, he still keeps some of those old fashioned habit, and never adopt the noise suppressor is one of them.

I do love a beetle. Well, maybe not in real life... but absolutely as a toy. Demon Dart, who we're looking at today, is a really neat robot beetle. Something about the boxiness of a robot toy really works great with bugs. Demon Dart really pulls off the insect robot look really well in his cool red and black colors. It's a simple color set, but just looks so striking on his design and make me think of the EVA-02. BeastBox toys always look cool, but there's something extra special about this one. One really neat feature of Devil Dart is his flight mode. Not only do the wings open up, but a set of jet wings unfold from underneath. After the little nosecone is in place, you've got a cool a flying beetle ready for battle. The flight mode reminds me of the vehicle modes in Beast Wars Transmetals. They weren't much more than a few parts that folded out of the beast mode, but it made for a fun design. I'm reminded of Transmetal Waspinator's vehicle mode in particular.

You'd think going from the beetle to a box would be tricky, but transformation very easy. It's an involved transformation to be sure... but everything just works without any hassle. Devil Dart is a pleasure to change from one mode to another. Box mode is nice and compact. It really does just fold up cleanly without any kibble in any mode. That's some really impressive engineering. Box modes slides easily into the Box Charger without any fuss with plenty of room to store his little missiles. Demon Dart is such a cool toy. He's simple to transform, but not a basic toy. Those six legs articulate in a pretty wide range of movement. You can open the beetle wings without unfolding the jet wings as well if you choose. Despite looking like a nightmare of you found one in your kitchen, this is a pleasant little bug bot. Just a pleasure all around. I love it.

New Week, same old Spin

It's the beginning of another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a pretty great weekend, mine sure was! The Mrs and I did some household stuff and watched The Wild Robot while enjoying some home cooked chilli! The wife is a great cook and that was a great movie! I finally let myself play the final stage in Astro Bot to complete the game. The final stage used Thunder Force V music in an enjoyable shooter stage. The ending was amazing, but I've got a few more things to do in the game. I don't think I'll ever put this game down, truly one of the great ones.

Unfortunately I didn't find any new toys while out shopping. Others are finding Blokees at their Walmarts and I'm literally chomping at the bit. Not to mention new Transformers Legacy figures that haven't shown up here yet either. I ordered a BeastBox toy, so the weekend was still fruitful. With Christmas approaching, I don't want to spend too much on myself. However small surprises are ok. Well, it's time to get this week started. I've got some fun posts for you all this week, please look forward to it! Today is Pocky and Pretz day, make sure to enjoy a box if you can. I've got a Strawberry Pocky box to enjoy at work tonight. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. The site keeps growing and I really appreciate it. Don't forget to share with your friends and hey... have a great day!

Road Pig [Star Raiders Collection/Deluxe Class]

Yarr matey! The Star Raiders continue to plunder the galaxy with a look at Road Pig today. Road Pig is an update to the wonderfully cool Transformers Generation 2 Laser Cycle that frankly just doesn't get enough attention. Road Pig is a repaint of Crashbar with a new head. Using Crashbar's parts means Road Pig can also be taken apart and made into armor or weapons for most other  current Transformers toys.

The exhaust pipes can be attached to his forearms to create a mode faithful to the original toy robot mode. I kept them on his back as I love those big honkin guns he's packing. Like Crashbar, one of his bike wheels can separate and become a blades weapon or shield. Road Pig's deco is very faithful to the original toy. The exhaust pipes mentioned above are in a pinkish red hue that simulates the originals light up feature. Neat!

Transformation is easy and can be done without completely dissembling the figure like earlier Weaponizer figures. I did have a little trouble getting the parts to fit into place a little. Not sure if that's from mold usage and repair or big clumsy hands. It's not a deal breaker either way. Once in motorcycle mode, Road Pig is a pretty solid homage to his original toy again. Just needs his windshield. I've very fond of the Transformers logo and G2 symbols on the motorcycle. Transformers from from late G1 and G2 tended to have logos on the vehicle modes. It's silly, sure, but also looks cool. I've always liked the G2 logo and at times have preferred it. I can't see it without instantly being reminded of older fandom times due to it's regular use back then. Road Pig is a great update of a classic toy and another cool member of the Star Raiders Collection. I really enjoy these Walmart exclusive series from the past few years. The random homages blended with fun themes is awesome.

Suko w/ Titanus Doug [Godzilla x Kong]

Ever since Godzilla vs Kong came out in 2021, Doug has been in the hearts of many a kaiju fan. Don't ask me how this cute little guy who makes the briefest of appearances managed to become so beloved... but I had to have one too. Fortunately the little guy reappeared in the follow up Godzilla x Kong : The New Empire. Playmates released a toy of the lovable little guy in a 2 pack with Suko... that little shit you wanted Kong to punt into lava for 3/4ths of the movie. I've been speaking highly of Playmates kaiju figures and they did a great job with this two pack. Suko is pleasantly articulated for such a little guy and Doug has the movement you'd expect from a toy his shape. For $10 these are a great value. There's even a rock for Suko to throw. I do wish Doug had brighter paint apps... but it's pretty true to form. Playmates has seemingly shifted from GxK to Monsterverse as a whole and I'll be getting into some of those here eventually. With Bandai sofubi making a return to US shelves I don't know if Playmate's kaiju run is over, or if they're strictly Monsterverse now. Either way, what they've been churning out is solid toys. Playmates always makes good stuff and I'm really looking forward to their upcoming Power Rangers figures.

Chinese Dragon MB-14 [MEGABOX]

[CHINESE DRAGON Legend] For thousands of years it has symbolised prosperity, strength, luck and imperial authority. Unfolding into a 29cm long mythical creature, the exquisite MEGABOX MB-14 Chinese Dragon has descended!

2024 isn't just the 40th anniversary of the Transformers or 50th anniversary of Microman and Hello Kitty. It's also the Year of the Wood Dragon! To celebrate, we're taking a look at Megabox Chinese Dragon MB-14. Megabox is a companion line to Beastbox that has featured licensed characters or in this case, characters from East Asian mythology. Chinese Dragon is exactly as his name implies, a traditional Chinese Dragon. I'm saying 'he', but no gender has been implied to my knowledge. Chinese Dragon is a really ornate looking toy. The green and gold colored plastic really compliment each other as does the translucent orange bits. This is a really pretty figure. Chinese Dragon is also very long, with plentiful articulation allowing for cool flying poses. I get the mental picture of Mythical Qi Beast RyuseiOh/Red Dragon Thunderzord flying into action. His legs also are articulated and the mouth can open.

Transformation into box mode is a little involved to say the least. It's pretty hard to imagine Chinese Dragon's serpentine shape forming a square... but it really can. This involves a lot of folding and splitting the tail right down the middle. I'm used to the BeastBox's folding into boxes with obvious corner points forming pretty quickly during the transformation process. With Chinese Dragon, you actually form him at an angle. It took me a second to realize I had made the box after I had formed the corners together. Once finished he fits into his Box Charger for storage. Speaking of, the Box Charger is a nice green color that really pops. This really is a very good looking toy. I've been enjoying BeastBox quite a bit and a part of that is based on the creativity each toy has. It's hard to imagine a shape like Chinese Dragon's turning into a box... let alone something angular. Once you've done it, it takes a moment to let it sink in. That's really cool.

New Week, New Future

Monday has happened again. Of course that means a new week of robots, monsters, and misadventure is starting here on Zone Base! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was busy with lots of house work to be done. Halloween is sadly over, meaning lots of decorations had to be put away. Not to mention a good household cleaning. Some shopping did happen and I brought home some fun stuff. Target had the new Bandai Godzilla Monster Series 5" figures just in time for Godzilla Day this weekend. I picked up the Godzilla 1954 figure and the Skeleton Godzilla 1954 ReAction figure. I felt that was a solid way to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the original movies release. Unfortunately Target didn't have any Transformers I needed, but did have a Turtles of Grayskull April O'Neil. I got her, leaving me just needing Man-at-Arms to have the line complete until the newest wave releases. 

A later trip to Walmart also resulted in no new Transformers. I still need to find the remaining Star Raiders and the new Legacy/Studio Series figures as well. In due time I suppose. I did pick up a Culturefly Meltz Transformer toy and got Shockwave! These are neat little blind bags that are the characters represented as ice cream bars. Neat! I was hoping to find Blokees now that Walmart is carrying them, but no such luck. I guess it just wasn't in the cards this weekend. Of course I also played some Astro Bot (still avoiding completing it) and got some Transformers Minecraft levels completed. It's fun, but it's becoming clear that I need to remap some controls. Speaking of games, the new Nintendo Music app is on mobile and a lot of fun! You need a Switch Online account to use it (which I have), so thankfully there's no ads. It's great digging into various game soundtracks without the same commercials every few songs like on Spotify. Well, time to get my day started. I've got a few chores to do and pictures for upcoming posts to take. Halloween may be over, but Zone Base is still here. Thank you all for reading, please don't forget to share with your friends!

Happy Birthday Godzilla!

70 Years Strong!