ToyLanta 2025!

It's that time of year again for the great toy show, ToyLanta! I've been looking forward to this all year! This years convention will be a new experience. New management and a partnership with Power-Con creating the Power-Up! area at the convention. The annual Transformers Panel will be returning this year hosted by Dusty and myself. As usual, I'll be updating the site daily with my adventures at the con and posting pics to my Instagram. Thank you all for reading and please don't forget to share with your friends!

Friday: After getting a late start and being stuck in traffic for too long, I arrived at the convention around 7pm. Found Shawn and went to get my badge. Registration had been going on for a little while, so luckily no one was in line ahead of me to pick up my passes. I got to meet the new management and Shawn gifted me with a 'There Goes My Money' tote bag he had made PBS style. I stuck it in my con bag knowing it's going to come in handy over the weekend.

We poked our heads inside the dealer space briefly before heading to the Power-Up! section to check out everything. I've always wanted to go to a Power-Con, so it was neat. While there we spoke with guys from various toy companies. I spent a good bit of time at the Man or Monster? booth talking Glyos with the guy behind Warlords of Wor. He had a great set up with plenty of great stuff on display and for sale. I'm definitely buying some stuff from him this weekend.

I was planning on waiting until Saturday to buy anything and just take in the sights Friday night until I saw a bin with MOTU Origins vehicles for $10 each. It was mostly Talon Fighters, which I already have. But then I saw a Road Ripper with Mechaneck, a set I missed out on at retail... so I bought it. The same dealer had a loose 3P Hubcap for $15, which I may grab later. Maybe.

We found another dealer with a great table full of Transformers, Gobots, Micronauts, and other similar toys. We ended up talking with him a bit before the show started closing down and we had to leave. I'm definitely buying from him this weekend, he had some great stuff. Around this time we ran into Jerry, who's always awesome. The convention is being held this year in a convention center instead of a hotel, so there was a different vibe all around. Feels like an expo, think I like that. However, as it was closing down, everyone had to leave. So we did. Shawn headed back to his hotel and I back home. The Mrs hasn't been feeling good had been busy wrapping presents for my birthday Sunday and ordered us some food. I last ate a Publix salad around 2:30pm and it's almost 11pm as I'm writing this... I'm freaking hungry. It's Steak 'n Shake, I love Steak 'n Shake.

Saturday: Traffic was much better and I arrived at the convention around 10am. I decided to buy that 3P (I think it's an Ocular Max) Hubcap and found Shawn. We roamed the main dealer room. I went back and forth on a few toys, but didn't buy much. I'll make a point to grab a few more Sunday. I did get a Zybot Bulldozer whose name escapes me. A lot of the toy companies had elaborate displays that we took in. They had some really cool prototypes out for show. One dealer had projections of their characters on a clear disk, which made them look like holograms in the middle of the air. There was several high end dealers with a lot of cool stuff. It's neat to look at. One had 4 vintage Fortress Maximus sealed in boxes. Wow. 

We ate lunch at the con center resturant, which served a variety of foods. I got a hamburger and fruit cup. The burger was ok, but really wish I'd gotten something else. While eating we got into a conversation with a fellow at a nearby table and chatted for awhile. Always great to make a new friend! Afterwards we headed back to the Power-Up area, ran across Jerry again (hi Jerry!), was given Star Wars posters, and took in some unofficial GIJOE figures. Brian showed up around this time which lead to Shawn giving us his custom toy show exclusive. A Beast Battlemaster of... me. He painted a Battlemaster Optimus Primal into me. I see the resemblance, it's getting paired with the custom Springer of me he made for sure.

We all roamed around, I introduced Brian to Glyos at the Warlords of Wor table. While there I bought a Bognar Monster with an additional accessory set that converts him into a serpentine sea monster. So awesome. Think I'll grab another kit from them Sunday. We then found some chairs and chatted for a while before Brian headed back to his hotel. Shawn and I went back into the main dealer hall where I found a dealer whom had 2 Blokees Galactic Defender kits. So I got those. Shortly before the room closed for the day, I picked up a Muffin from Bluey magnet for the Mrs. She loves her.

Shortly after Shawn left for his hotel room and I headed home. The Mrs had dinner from Longhorn Steakhouse waiting for me. A fruit and walnut salad, something I often get from there. It was just what I needed. That and some rest as I discovered just how tired I was after we got up from those chairs and that chat. I am beat. Tomorrow's the last day of this years show. I'm hoping to score some Sunday deals and hopefully have a good panel. ToyLanta has always been an awesome con, but it's become a very big deal and very large convention since last year. The new management have turned the little show into a large prestigious convention. It's wilds to see with my own eyes. It's time to get some rest, Sunday is a double feature day. It's both the last day of the show and my birthday. I'm going to be busy.

Sunday: Sunday was a lot of fun. Being my birthday, the Mrs made me breakfast and gave me a ton of presents. Transformers, BeastBox, Micronauts, Godzilla, and a new Galaxy Watch (with some accessories) was an amazing start to the day before arriving around 12pm. I remembered a dealer who had a SDCC ReAction Unicron for cheap and decided to drop by to hopefully still find it. Well, it was gone (more on that later) but I saw a ReAction Skeletor with Panthor set for $10. Ok, awesome, purchased. I found Shawn and showed him, took him back to the dealer, also found the He-Man and Battle Cat version for $10 and a box of Super7 MOTU keshi for $5. Amazing deals! 

We then found Mountain Town toys whom I look forward to seeing every year. Mountain Town gifted me one of his sasquatch keshi that they make while Shawn picked up some Micronauts. We walked around a while taking in the con and looking for Sunday deals. I almost bought a Microman Batman and a Micronauts Time Traveler, but decided against it. The Batman was from 2004, so I knew if had several broken parts already (that series was snake bit, I have a ton) so it wasn't worth his price. The Time Traveler was too expensive considering all of it's chrome was completely gone and the clear plastic was smokers house brown. 

I was actually bummed to not find and Rock Lords or Gobots this year as those are my Toylanta staples. I came close several times to buy some Missing Link Transformers, but decided to wait as they're readily available online. Shawn went to take a break and a panel while I browsed a little. I found my way back to that dealer whom had the ReAction Unicorn... and it was there! Somehow it had both Mandela Effected itself in and out of reality! I spoke with the dealer, whom was a cool dude before running into Craig. We talked for a bit and I took in one last walk around before finding a seat to take a break. That last look around was magic.

A booth that Shawn and I visited a million times over the weekend... I just popped in. They mostly had old west toys that was neat to look at, but not something I'd like to buy. I was looking and... hey... what's that? Behind a cowboy, shoved to the back... a robot head looked back at me. I looked between the toys and... there as a Gobots Grungy just standing there. Where was he all weekend? I asked for a price and he was only... $30. I think I caused a sonic boom whipping the cash out of my pocket and now am the owner of a mostly complete Grungy. He's only missing two small parts that I'll eventually replace through junkers and is in overall amazing shape. My last purchase was an amazing deal and an overall awesome find. It was then time for a break, so I found a seat by the con room and enjoyed some Cheeze-its. Around this time Dusty found me. We chatted a bit, he went to the nearby Starbucks and I resumed my snack. 

The Transformers panel was the last of the weekend and a nice end to an overall awesome convention. Considering the time frame, I was pleased to have a half full room. Folks came and gone, but by the end there was a few folks talking Transformers with Dusty and I. Unfortunately all good things must end and the show was over. I said my goodbyes to Dusty and Shawn before heading home to an amazing birthday dinner. The Mrs got me pizza, wings, and 3 different birthday cakes. I don't know what I ever done to deserve such an awesome wife. Having my favorite convention on my birthday weekend was a unique and incredible experience. I'm very fortunate to have a great life full of amazing people and experiences. I've got a perfect partner, the best friends and family a person could wish for, and get to have amazing experiences like ToyLanta where I can indulge in my hobbies and somehow each year be a completely different awesome story. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I'm very fortunate to have such a great readership and appreciate you all very much.

Transform Squadron 60- Get your own Future

LISTEN NOW!

Wild King and Cyberworld are on Rob’s mind as he prepares for ToyLanta. The news of upcoming new M.A.S.K toys have brought up memories of other toy lines similar to M.A.S.K… and that sounds like a great idea for a topic on this month's episode of Transform Squadron.

Boulder [Rock Lords]

Boulder, the 'Leader of the Good Superhuman Rocks' seemed like a great toy to look at today as we head into ToyLanta weekend. I got this one at last years show in great condition for $25. Not bad! For whatever reason, I tend to focus on Rock Lords and Gobots at the convention and have the best time finding them. Boulder is the leader of the good guy Rock Lords and pretty cool looking too. This one is in pretty nice shape, though came missing his Power Sword... which is actually a laser gun. From what I gather, there was some mix-up in the early stages of the line and various weapons got mixed up.

So you get mismatched names on packaging with what the toy actually has. Sort of like Magmar's 'Ax-Rifle' that's really just a club. It's worth pointing out that the 'Power Sword' is called the 'Justice Laser Gun' in the Japanese release. Boulder comes with a Power Sword here, but BattleRock is using his Justice Laser Gun there. Damn, I love the Japanese names.

Boulder turns into a rock, of course. Specifically Tungsten, while is Japanese counterpart Kimberlite. Both Rock Lords and Armorizers make a point to define what type of stone the characters turn into and I love that. The whole thing is ridiculous as is, but that fact that they're that specific is just *chef's kiss*. In robot mode (are they specifically robots?), Boulder is pleasantly articulated for a toy of his era. Arms move at the shoulder and elbow and there's knee movement. The head looks like it swivels, but I've never tried it. Transformation is a simple folding up up the parts resulting in a specifically shiny rock. It's a pretty color that I'd love to see more often. Rock Lords are really neat and Boulder is very cool. He's definitely meant to be the hero of the crew with his looks and styling. That's a rock fact.

7 days

Torque [Zybots]

Zybots (or Bibots depending on your geographical location) is a fun oddball robot line by Remco that was on shelves for a brief time in the 80's. They were mocked up using Gobots parts during their design phase leading to some very similar looking toys. They're rather neat little robots for the most part and as my desire to cover more vintage toys here on the site, Torque seemed like a good choice. I picked up Torque at ToyLanta last year from a booth I look forward to, but don't always see.

A nice hipster couple who doesn't have a table every year, but I'm always to happy to see when they do. Not only are they nice folks, but they have great stuff at great prices. Torque was just $4, but discounted as I bought a bunch of stuff. Not bad! He's in great condition too with tight joints and everything in pretty good shape. Just a little knick on one of the stickers and rust on the wheel pins. Which is an acceptable bit of wear and tear for a 40 year old figure.

Torque turns into an approximation of an 80's era Porsche, but looks like a Mazda RX-7 to me. It's a nice little car mode and looks pretty sharp. I like the blue. Transformation isn't difficult and about what you'd expect for a toy from his era. Fold up the knees and push those arms in. Both modes are pleasant with decent articulation in robot. Shoulders and knees move thanks to transformation. He looks tall thanks to those long thighs, but is about the same height as a regular Gobot. I actually thought he was a Gobot when first picking him up and later was pleasantly surprised when trying to figure out who I got.

I'd been meaning to get more Zybots and did completely so by accident! Like I said earlier, Zybots used Gobot parts during mock-up and it's very obvious here. It's super cool regardless and Torque looks great. Zybots are fun little line of robots that look like a certain group of toys and Torque is a great example of the bunch.

Consume Monday

Monday has somehow returned. But fear not Zone Base readers, this isn't just any ordinary week, it's Toylanta Week! I'm gearing up for the great toy show and looking forward to having a great time! This weekend isn't just Toylanta, but my birthday as well! I'm looking forward to having some fun and celebrating getting older! This past weekend was pretty good, though I admittedly didn't feel very well. The Mrs and I did a little weakly shopping, but for the most part I kinda just rested. The extra business of the past few weeks cumulated in my crashing out Saturday. I was pretty tired and had all around body aches. So some much needed R&R took place. I intended to organize some toys... but got plenty of rest instead. 

As in the past few weeks, I didn't buy myself anything toy related, but did finally find something new. Walmart had Swapticons! These are a new lower priced Transformers series consisting of smaller robots that combine with a partner to form an alt mode. They're fairly silly and feel like a spiritual successor to Botbots. Of course I love them and I think the birthday fairy took notice. If this were a Facebook post, that would have been followed up with a winking emoji. I intended to play some Double Dragon this weekend, but was literally feeling too poopy for my beloved Switch. The Mrs and I took in a lot of Halloween cartoons and Mom came over for a very filling Sunday Olive Garden dinner. They deliver now, so I forsee lots of marinara flavored foods in my future. There's also a recently opened Fazoli's near, so clearly Italian food is on my menu. 

I've got a fun week in store for you all. This week is a con week and the first special event on the site of the year. The regular posting schedule will be off, but it's going to be pretty busy over the weekend. Please check back daily during the weekend for daily updates. Thank you all for reading. Please share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!

BB-02HD Helldiver w/ BB-EXO45HD Helldiver Heavy Armor [BeastBox]

It's been far too long since I've talked about a BeastBox toy here on the site, so it seems today is the perfect time to talk about Helldiver and add on partner kit Helldiver Heavy Armor. The Mrs. got me this awesome little guy for Christmas and I just love his little fiery details. Helldiver is a fire themed variation of Ghostdog, whom is an armored up variation of Beastboxes lovable Dio. Adding to the fun is the Helldiver Heavy Armor. This is an additional add on piece that gives Helldiver some extra equipment and serves a cool scorpion-like partner drone when not attached. Helldiver is a charming little dinosaur covered in armor. I don't know if you can see or not, but he has some tiny little arms that look like wrenches. I love those. The fire deco looks great with translucent orange bits against two different greys used for various parts. The lighter grey has a little sparkle which looks great in person, but didn't show up in my pictures. There's a cool small laser weapon that can be attached to his back or added at the end of his tail.

Heavy Armor can be disassembled and added onto Helldiver giving him night vision goggles, a radar assembly with LARGE guns, and two BIG arms with a hook and chainsaw. This gives our little terror quite the upgrade and practically turns him into a whole new bot. It's really hard to express just how much it really ads to his overall visual. Helldiver's mouth opens, and all I can see is his excitement about how badass the armor looks. Transformation to box mode is pretty easy. If anything, getting his head just right can be a touch fiddly. Heavy Armor can join onto the box for easy storage and makes the mode bigger. It looks like it would all fit inside a Box Charger easily... but he didn't come with one. I should have gotten one and tried it out, but these are not things that occurred to me at that moment. Last month when I was at the 52Toys store last month, I should have picked up a nice orange one to match Helldiver's flames. This is a great BeastBox toy. Dio is a lot of fun normally, and upgraded he's even better. I love the translucent orange and his big feet. The addition of Heavy Armor adds to the package greatly and makes everything better.

Godzilla 1968 [ReAction/Godzilla Monster Island]

When I was a kid, classic Godzilla movies would play regularly on TV. This was before the Heisei era came in and the older shows were all I had. I'm not complaining mind you, it was great! Thanks to these older films regularly playing in the background, I grew to have a fondness for some of the 'goofier' looks the monsters have had. These were often done to make them appeal more to kids and be less scary than other depictions. By the time the Godzilla '68 costume was in use, he was a full blown superhero and generally considered for kids.

The scary monster from 1954 was long gone and in it's place was a friendly giant who dances while saving the Earth from various attacks. The SoshingekiGoji/AllKaijuGoji/HedoGoji/GiganGoji or in this case Godzilla '68 suit was used in films from 1968- 1972. This ReAction figure captures it's look very well. It was a definite happy moment when I opened the blind box after a trip to Walmart with the Mrs. There's a pleasant heft to the toy despite it's small size. He features the head/shoulders/legs at waist articulation you expect from one of these figures and just feels solid thanks to his broad design. Super7's has a great product.

Ultra Magnus [Galaxy Version 03 The Autobot Run]

I've always really liked Ultra Magnus in cab mode. I've always liked Ultra Magnus in general, but that white cab mode is so pretty. Originally, Ultra Magnus was made from the Diaclone Powered Convoy toy, which was an upgraded version of Battle Convoy. The toy that Optimus Prime was made from. I've heard a few different times that originally Ultra Magnus was intended to be an upgraded Optimus Prime before they settled on making him an all new character. Considering I can't currently find a source for that, maybe it's best to chalk that up as an unconfirmed trivial fact.

In most media, Ultra Magnus was shown only combined with his trailer. Obviously to cut down confusion, but as a result, it isn't common knowledge to everyone that Ultra Magnus has a cab mode and that the cab mode is basically a white Optimus Prime. It's to no surprise that a cab mode Ultra Magnus is one of the standby repaints you can expect to see when a new Optimus Prime toy is released. That's the story when we're talking about today's toy. Cab Mode Ultra Magnus as a Blokees, is mostly a straight repaint of their Optimus Prime kit that as you can expect is very sharp looking.

I say mostly a straight repaint as he has a different axe weapon included, a blue variation of the axe Optimus tends to use in Cybertronian depictions. Also, to my understanding, his inner head has some retooled pegs which hold his inner face parts in place better during assembly. I didn't notice it when I was putting him together, but now remember being frustrated with Optimus's head. So that's an improvement. Aside from that, he's pretty much a straight repaint of the Optimus Prime Blokees I talked about earlier that comes with all the same accessories and parts (except that alternative axe... damn, alternative axe sounds rad). However now, it's extra pretty.. you know. Because of that white cab mode.

Wild King Appears!

Weekend HENSHIN! Cyborg Monday

Hello Zone Base readers! Welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was pretty good itself. I can't say I did a lot, but enjoyed it all the same. The Mrs and I made a point to do our weekly shopping early Saturday morning to be home in time for the severe weather awaiting us that night. Like last weekend, I didn't buy myself anything toy related as my birthday and Toylanta are in 2 weeks. But did finally find a can of BBQ Doritos Minis. I vastly prefer the mini Doritos and really love the BBQ flavor. Now that they're available in the smaller size, I can indulge without worrying about eating too much. I love them, but still need to watch what I eat!

Saturday evening as the storms came in, I enjoyed some sushi the Mrs had ordered while I was sleeping. I had a wonderful meal of spicy yellow tail roll, sweet potato roll, and of course a cucumber roll. I normally get a spicy tuna roll, but think I'll be getting that yellow tail more often! It was so pleasant and this was my first time with a sweet potato roll. I'll definitely be getting it more. It had some tempura inside and went perfectly with the spicy yellow tail. Of course I enjoyed my cucumber roll, it's a favorite. I love cucumbers and you all know I love my spooky stuff. Nothing like a kappamaki roll to polish off a great meal! I had some rainbow sherbert for dessert and an overall wonder meal. The weather was not so great as spring is settling in and that means lots of storms in the American South. There was severe weather all evening including tornadoes. We made it out ok, but unfortunately others didn't. I wish the best for them and their families. After dinner, I rode out the storm with various ghost and robot videos in between playing Shredder's Revenge. That might just be my favorite TMNT game ever! 

Sunday, the weather was much better and I went to the local Kroger to renew my license tag for the year at the Tag Renewal vending machine. Afterwards, I decided to check out the Pokémon machine to see if they had anything cool. Normally there's a line, but the store staff had blocked the machine with online order pick-up carts. Jerks! I'm always annoyed when staff are inconsiderate to customers. Thinking how many people are usually in line at that machine, I know there was several unhappy people that morning. I worked retail and fast food when I was younger and remember how these sort of things were often because of incompetence more than anything. That's a large portion of my annoyance towards these types of situations. I still remember getting in trouble for things like this by the manager whose idea it was in the first place! Oh well, hopefully others got to use the machine later.

I organized my toys some more (I've got quite a mess to get under control) and enjoyed a wonderful dinner the Mrs cooked. Mom came over and we enjoyed Sunday dinner while watching the first half of The Electric State. I look forward to finishing it as it's really good! We had salad, spaghetti, and some awesome lemon cupcakes! After Mom left, we watched some Leemax and other companies Halloween offerings preview videos. It was a great weekend and hopefully this will be a great week! Being Monday, of course I have some household chores to do and some toys to picture for upcoming posts. It's finally happening, I'll be finishing our look at Beast Alliance Transformers. Of course I'm 2 weeks ahead as usual, so please look forward to it shortly after Toylanta. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I really do appreciate it! Don't forget to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives!

Optimus Prime [Legacy United/Deluxe Class]

Considering the amount of Optimus Prime toys released a year, you'd imagine it'd be hard to get excited over just one. Well, that's not the case today Zone Base readers, because we'll be looking at the Deluxe Class Optimus Prime from Transformers Legacy United. Similar to Takara's Missing Link Convoy, this Optimus is meant to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Transformers by making a figure that looks like the original, but updated with modern engineering. Think of it as the Transformers version of Masters of the Universe Origins. With this figure we get a toy that looks directly out of 1984 with a lot more articulation.

In all fairness, the original Optimus Prime was fairly possible for a toy of his era. This one, however, is a definite step up. It's fairly identical as well... with some obvious differences. It's a new sculpt... not a 100% match, but really close. Optimus is also a little smaller than the original toy funnily enough. I couldn't tell initially, but it became obvious when compared side by side. Being a standard retail toy, he's all plastic... but does have rubber tires. That's something I didn't expect at all. It's been a while since Hasbro has graced a main line Transformers toy with rubber times and I'm all here for it. It's a superficial touch... but I like it! Neatly enough, the tires are branded CYBERTRON RADIAL 275/80 R22. Cybertron Radials are the brand of tires used on Transformers Alternators. Neat, huh?

Optimus comes with his iconic laser blaster, in fact he comes with two. During the original run, a running change created two versions of the classic gun. Originally a fatter design, later versions got thinner (ozempic works on plastic?) as time went. My original had the fatter gun, but some reissues came with the skinny one. This initially confused me as I wasn't aware that there was a variation. There I was with a reissue and hey... the gun looked different. These days I've got quite a few reissues and there's been some variation in those guns over the years. That's why I'm glad he comes with both. That way whichever one came with yours, he cane use. One can store on his back as well, which looks pretty cool. His smoke stacks can also be held as guns, which is a fun little touch.

Speaking of pretty cool, Optimus has that energy axe he's become known for using since More Than Meets the Eye episode 2. This axe is specifically based on the version that was packed with The Transformers Collection Convoy reissue. He's also got a Autobot Matrix of Leadership that can be stored in his chest (but not held) that's specifically modeled after the Matrix that came with the 2002 New Years Special reissue. I love how this toy homages so many things from prior toys without being completely obvious about it.

Optimus is very well articulated, something that isn't obvious at first glance. He looks so much like the original toy that I wouldn't be surprised if he was mistaken for it. He almost transforms like the original as well. Most noticeably, the hands fold inside of his forearms instead of being removed and probably lost under the couch. Guns and axe easily store in vehicle mode and everything is nice and compact. It's pretty obvious that there's no included trailer. I'm hoping a future edition will be released with one. That'd be perfect. He is compatible with the Earthrise and Original Optimus Prime trailers. Potentially with others, but those are the ones I know for certain work. The Earthrise works best as his slightly smaller size makes the G1 trailer comically huge. Overall, this is a very neat toy that I'm very happy to own. I look forward to buying every ridiculous reuses of it in the future. 

It's Gotta Be Halloween... sooner or later

"It's Gotta Be Halloween"~ Chuck E. Cheese

(it's a banger)

Slag (robot mode) [Galaxy Version 03 The Autobot Run]

In robot mode, Slag is one fancy looking Blokees figure. He's got quite a bit of custom parts to stand out among the other Galaxy Version AMK kits. Considering how rebellious Slag is, it's kinda appropriate. He's got a bad attitude and likes to fight a little too much. You know, it's be fun if they made a Horn Geist based on this kit. I've always enjoyed the Space Pirate Geisters and considering all the reworks of modern Transformers toys these days, it's surprising some of the Brave characters haven't been explored.

Not to mention... I think it'd look great in the signature Blokees style. Slag of course comes with the typical robot mode parts you'd expect in a Blokees Galaxy Version kit. The two sets of hands, a base and symbols. However, he's also got some really great custom parts that just make this kit stand out. Most notably is is dino mode head kibble. This is of course all part of Slag's look, but it makes him look so extra here. The parts are the same from the dino mode kit, but that doesn't diminish their visual impact whatsoever. In fact it creates a great synergy between the two kits that I appreciate. Topping everything off nicely is his Energo Sword. Super robots with swords just look cool and that's the same case with Slag. Just great.

It's Monday Worldwide

Hello Zone Base readers and thank you for returning for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope you all had a great weekend... mine was over much too fast! Thanks for nothing Daylight Savings Time. We have to adjust our schedules and loose an hour to save electricity all while the lights are on in our workplace regardless! I enjoyed weekly shopping with the Mrs where we made plans for various things to purchase for the house. Sunday was a rainy day filled with cleaning and laundry in between cursing daylight savings time (I seriously hate it). 

I played some video games and watched a lot of paranormal tv and Mystery Science Theater 3000. Speaking of video games, the new Evercade update includes a neat game of the month feature. Each month they'll highlight a game from one of their releases that's free to play for the month without needing the cartridge. That's pretty great, the first is Midnight Resistance! It's the Genesis version, which is great as it's much more playable on a console that emulation of the arcade version. I actually have the arcade version on a micro console. The original arcade game usues a rotating joy stick to aim which just doesn't translate well. You either push one button or another to rotate your aim all while getting slaughtered by enemies. The console version resolves this issue with an auto fire that can be locked in a direction. That works so much better!

As for toys, well I didn't get much this weekend. Stores are still a little barren around here and with my birthday and Toylanta around the corner. I just didn't feel like buying anything. I picked up another Hot Wheel Transformer, this one obviously intended to be a dune buggy variation of Bumblebee and the Voltron Bitty Bop. It comes with a cool Shiro Bitty Pop to pilot it. Such a neat little gimmick. There's a Hulkbuster one out that I'm not interested in, so I may be done with them for the time being. I think there's a Baymax out, that's a must get.

You know something Zone Base readers, I'm watching the 2007 Transformers movie while writing this. It's randomly on the Miramax Channel on Prime Video and... dang. It's pretty fun. I know the live action movies (especially the Michael Bay ones) get a lot of derision... but they were huge and changed everything ever since. I still remember attending the BotCon 2007 early showing and watching it for the first time with some friends. While my opinions vary with the various sequels,  I still like the movie universe setting. One thing that's sticking out in my mind is all the criticism that there's hardly any Transformers in the movie, yet here I am watching it and they're all over this thing. It's a lot of fun. 

Well, I've got a busy week ahead of me. I'm enjoying a brief break between the medical procedures I've been driving My Mom to the past few weeks. Hopefully I'll be able to get a new Transform Squadron recorded and out soon. In the meantime I've got some toys to take pictures of for upcoming posts. I plan on getting back to the Beast Alliance Transformers from Rise of the Beasts and finishing my look at that series. The upcoming Transformers Wild King has my interest and it feels like the perfect time to finish those toys on the site. I also want to cover more BeastBox and vintage Gobots. There's a good 2 week lead time on posts, so stay tuned to see what's next. Thank you all for reading. Zone Base is just some small silly site, but seeing all of you come out each week is really amazing. Thank you all. Please share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!

Wheeljack [Legacy United/ Deluxe Class]

Transformers is a funny line. Now in it's 41st year, it's been reinvented countless times while still revisiting older settings quite often. As a life long fan whose been around since it launched, there's a clear split down the middle of before the 2007 movie and after. Before that movie, there was tons of reinvention with some revisiting. Ever since the movie, there's been tons of revisiting with some reinvention. I say that as today we'll be looking at the Legacy United update of Wheeljack... the one from Transformers Armada.

Beast Machines was fundamentally the end of the mainstream G1 timeline (excluding prose, comics, etc). Robots in Disguise (2001) served as a filler while Hasbro changed directions behind the scenes. Originally, Beast Machines was to be followed up with Transtech. Transtech would have continued the story with a combination of classic and beast era characters. However, as Beast Machines wasn't as successful as Beast Wars before it and things were getting pretty convoluted for what was meant to be a kids show... it was time to refresh.

Transformers Armada kicked off what was called The Unicron Trilogy with cartoons,comics,video games, merchandise, and of course toys. Armada reintroduced the Autobots and Decepticons on a new adventure chasing after Mini-Cons and ending with a big showdown with Unicron. There was a mixture of new and old characters with a lot of name reuses... which sometimes lead to a lot of confusion. That's where Wheeljack comes in. Some of you might have noticed he's definitely not the classic Wheeljack you're familiar with. This Wheeljack used to be a young Autobot warrior, who was believed to have died in battle. However, Wheeljack survived and believed he had been abandoned. The understandably angry bot joined the Decepticons and became quite the adversary for Hot Shot, whom he had blamed for the abandonment. That's the reason for the cool scratched out Autobot symbol and admittedly hard to see in the picture (it got a little lost in the black) Deceptcion emblem underneath.

Now you might have thought he looks more like Sideswipe and that the name Sideswipe would fit the character better. Well... it would have, but there was another Autobot named Side Swipe... who didn't look anything like traditional Sideswipe. Somehow, a lot of names got thrown around leading to this kind of madness and for whatever reason it just stuck. Don't ask me, I had nothing to do with it. Even more confusing was that a year later In Energon, there was a PERFECT new Wheeljack figure... that was named Downshift. Because there was already a recent Wheeljack. Pass the Tylenol. For what it's worth, his name is Rampage in Japan... which I like. In Hungry his name is Volán Jack. That translates to 'Steering-Wheel Jack'... and I kinda love it.

I've spent a lot of time talking about the time Wheeljack originally came out and his confusing name, but not a lot about his newest toy that we're looking at today. As many of you can tell, he's based on the Siege Sideswipe toy mold that's been heavily reused in Transformers Generations. It's a great toy, but I've covered the details before a few times. I've gotten most of the molds uses and really like it. Wheeljack does have a new head sculpt that resembles his original toy and show model quite a bit.

While there isn't any Mini-Con unlock-able gimmicks as in the original, he does have those clubs weapons. They were firing missiles from the Mini-Con gimmick that could hold as melee weapons. In the cartoon, lasers would fire from them... it never was very clear what they were exactly... admittedly they were a bit of strangeness in a very cool toy. The clubs serve as running boards in car mode and they look pretty neat. The car mode has a new front fascia and doors to make it resemble the original more. He does include Sideswipes missile launcher which can be held as a gun. I love those classic shoulder launchers, they look great on anyone.

Wheeljack is colored to match his show model, which matched his Japanese toy deco. The Hasbro version featured yellow stripes in place of the blue ones and a more grayish car mode. It was never quite clear as to why the difference. Often the toy designers answer to someone in marketing, so they could have been given an order based on... anything. It still looked great and there was a future recolor of the mold as Drench in Transformers Universe planned at the time. That toy never came to be, but a similar design was used for the BotCon exclusive Shattered Glass Sideswipe that used the Armada Wheeljack toy mold.

This Sideswipe always felt like the toy Wheeljack was meant to be and has always been popular. It's popped up in Blokees and even inspired a character in SSSS. Gridman, which I've talked about here before. Wheeljack and SG Sideswipe have a great look and it's not surprising to see it get homaged. I've always felt like the blue stripes on the black resemble Nightracer and Shadow Striker. That's neat. Both the Hasbro and Takara versions looked great, but I'm glad this version is show accurate. Wheeljack is a cool character with a great toy regardless of his confusing name. To me he's a solid representation of the time shortly before the launch of the 2007 live action Transformers movie. I don't think that was what the Hasbro designers had in mind when they decided to update him, but that's what they did... and I'm glad.

Godzilla 2023 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

I happily found this Minus One version of Godzilla from the awesome Godzilla Monster Series 5" line by Bandai at a Miniso while shopping with the Mrs. I haven't gotten any toy of Godzilla as he appeared in Minus One yet, so I was ecstatic. Godzilla is like the other figures in this range, a smaller sofubi. One thing about his appearance in the movie that I've always liked was the extra pointy design.

That detail is carried over well here as is painted on scar tissue. I find his chonky sculpt extremely pleasant and the overall toy very satisfying. Godzilla 2023 has less articulation than the other figures in this range. Only his arms and tail move. I'm not entirely sure of the reason for this, but can speculate his larger body probably ate at the toys design budget. Each joint is a separate piece and you can probably see the seam in his wait where the figure is assembled. With figures like this, the articulation isn't a focal point, so I wasn't bothered. It's nice to finally have a toy of what feels like Godzillas proudest moment in the theaters. Minus One is probably the one Godzilla movie not hailed as a silly monster movie by snooty critics and I can't help but to be proud of that.

Slag (dino mode) [Galaxy Version 03 The Autobot Run]

You know, I've gotten pretty used to the standard Blokees body formula. Then this newest batch I've received throws me a curve ball. An alt mode. Blokees are non-transforming AMK model kits and the Transformers characters are usually in robot mode. Well, starting in series 2 (which I don't have any of yet), they started putting out characters in alt mode. That's neat.

They don't transform, but when you have a character like Slag who spends a great deal of screen time in alt mode... it feels absolutely necessary. This also keeps things fresh as after working my way through a case, aside from unique parts... everything pretty much assembles the same. So a little variety is fun. Sometimes the way something is made or works can be very interesting. Slag, despite being a triceratops, uses some robot mode parts. At the core of his body is the main torso section from a standard Blokees kit. The body and head connect much how the custom chest parts for a character would. There's a different waist piece, which allows the rear legs to plug in as the front connect much like arms. It's pretty clever!

A few of the pieces are also used in the robot mode Slag figure that we'll be looking at a little later. I almost thought mine was missing a horn initially. Make sure you check inside the folds of the bags inside your blind box. Smaller parts can get stuck in them. Once assembled, Slag is very expressive and full of fun. His limbs and tail articulate as does his head and jaw. I'm so used to smaller beast modes being mostly static that the overall thing was pretty impressive. Blokees are really fun as is, but in instances like Slag, they can be extra surprising.

Super Monday Action

Hello Zone Base readers and welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was very restful. I've got another hectic week ahead of me, so it was much appreciated. Saturday was a day of shopping and a family dinner. Sunday was spent watching TV and napping. I should have worked on organizing my toy room, but decided to take it easy in anticipation of the busy week. My local Walmart was disappointing again with their toy selection, unfortunately. I did grab a Transformers Hot Wheel though. They don't have names on them, but are cars with the characters paint decos. I think I got Stinger (y'all know I love him), but who knows? If anything it's a neat red car. My Walmart actually has a neat new resturant I'd love to try. It only serves food from various ghost kitchen restaurants. Say what you will about Mr. Beast, but those burgers looks tasty. I was full from the family dinner, so I'll have to try it sometime later.

I didn't just make it out of the weekend with just a Hot Wheel that I think is Stinger (maybe?). I finally ordered Mechabeast PsychoTrain by 52toys! I've been wanting to get one and since my local 52toys store didn't have one... I ordered one. That sentance was a mess. Mechabeast is a cool offshoot of BeastBox that's loads of fun. I look forward to getting ZombieTrack when he's available to buy here in the states as well. Speaking of cool stuff I'm looking forward too, Toyfair was this weekend and many cool things were shown off. Transformers, MOTU, M.A.S.K, and more! I'm super excited for how this year is shaping out. Well, I'm writing this in a hospital waiting room while my mother is going through surgery 2 of this months trilogy of medical terror. Despite my crazy schedule the past few weeks, I've got some fun content coming your way. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!