Transformers Cyberworld starts July 12th!

This looks fun!

G2 Universe Breakdown [Legacy United/Deluxe Class]

Generation 2 recolored versions of Generation 1 characters are always fun due to the loud neon colors. Seemingly the Legacy Stunticons are slowly getting a G2 release as a few of them have been released so far in their respective G2 colors. I'm pretty hopeful for a full team as I missed out on completing the full Legacy set and honestly would enjoy a G2 version better. With Breakdown here, I've gotten all that's been released so far. Go me. Of course the original G2 Stunticons were canceled and the few completed sets out there (from various merchandising samples) are extremely rare and expensive.

Newer Stunticon toys have gotten the G2 treatment over time, especially Breakdown. The original G2 Breakdown toy was the very first BotCon exclusive toy as the convention was given stock produced prior to the teams cancellation. Since then, there's been various G2 versions of Breakdown. Usually with some sort of exclusivity along with it. This version is a general retail toy, but released during the tail end of Legacy. So it still might be tricky for some to get. He was among my birthday presents from the Mrs., so mines extra special to me.

Variations of teal tend to be some of my favorite colors, so it's probably to no surprise that I gravitate towards G2 Breakdown over his original self. This version doesn't feature the Trapper Keeper style graphics the original and a few updates have. That's a little disappointing... but at the same time it looks so sharp that I don't really mind. The teal and purple with black and silver just looks so sharp. Outside of those truly majestic colors, is also a pretty good figure. Normally Combiner limbs are often sacrificed a little as they're a unique type of triple changer. The third mode is a body part, and that leads to robot and alt modes that have to be worked into that shape. Astrotain works because his train mode can be configured into a space shuttle, but how do you get a car into an arm? Thankfully these newer combiners side step that as the main body component member forms something of a skeleton and the limbs just sort of connect into place. This works pretty well and looks great. So we have a Breakdown who manages to be a normally functioning Transformer.

Robot mode is pretty good with plentiful articulation. His car mode kibble mostly resides on the backside of robot mode and is hidden pretty well. The hood forms a backpack that can separate enough as to not be a giant brick on his back. I normally like the backpack look, but can appreciate these improvements that don't block articulation. Breakdown has his usual laser pistol, but the car's spoiler can be held as a weapon too. Frankly it's king of a dumb weapon as he doesn't hold it like a sword... just kind of awkwardly. What the hell is he supposed to do with it? I stuck it on the back of his leg in the picture above as there wasn't much of a place to store it anywhere else. It feels like a design oversight more than an intentional choice. Maybe if it could attach to his forearm it'd be better... how do you even swing that effectively?

Transformation is pretty easy, and like many other car mode Transformers, you can pretty much figure out to do by looking at him. Despite all the folding pieces from the hood, there's not much panel forming and it all just goes into place easily. The pistol stores underneath the car and that spoiler works well as it's intended element. Honestly, it should have been a molded in part that split in half. I'm not ragging on the design, just everything about this toy is pretty great... except that. It just doesn't make sense to me. Remember how much I liked the colors? Well, they continue to look great in car mode. Just look at that damn thing! That's one cool looking car. The black hood and G2 Decepticon symbol on the hood look super sleek making what would normally be considered gaudy colors look very nice. Overall, Breakdown is a pretty solid toy that looks amazing. I'd be happy with him as a stand alone figure, let alone a member of a combiner team. 

D-16 [Galaxy Version 05-One]

This Blokee of D-16 represents him shortly after getting a Cog, getting his worldview shattered, and bordering on his eventually heel turn into the Megatron we all know. Kinda heavy for a blind boxed model kit, but hey... pretty awesome too. Once again, the Blokees style really fits Transformers One and D-16 looks great. The newer construction style I've been talking about with this series is present and I'm assuming is the new standard going forward.

I can't help but to bring it up so often as it really improves what was already a positive experience. It's always a good time assembling these little bots despite the fingertip pain. No matter how many smaller modular toys you assemble, it'll always hurt. Thankfully this new design negates a little of that pain now that the joints come pre-assembled. It's also super satisfying when the parts click into place. What was always fun now feels a little therapeutic. Put on a little lofi and enjoy yourself.

Once assembled you have a very well done D-16. These little kits don't transform, so there's always that one mouth breather who'll make an Action Master joke. As if Action Masters are a bad thing... and to be frank, these newer designed Blokees really feel like upgraded Action Masters. Many make that comparison with the ReAction Transformers figures, but these feel like they could be sold under the banner. Updated for the modern age with better articulation. All that's missing is an O-Ring, and modern articulation removes the need for those anyway. Galaxy Version is a cool name, but could you imagine if these were called Action Masters? I clearly have.

D-16 looks great, as I said. He's got his fusion cannon and that secondary gun his One design sports. Not Megatron yet, so the details aren't quite as hard. When he swaps out his Cog for Megatronus's though, the look get a little more severe. D-16 is still a good guy here, even if he's on the edge. A nice detail is the carved in Megatronus (he hasn't dubbed them Decepticons yet) symbol on his chest. That little bit of violence inflicted upon him by Sentinel Prime was a good bit of story telling in the movie and I like it's inclusion here. Of course he has the set of open/closed hands and display stand. Though I think D-16 is clearly in a closed first sort of mood at this point. I don't think I've ever had a negative experience with a Blokees and that's the case still with this guy. Great looking, fun build, and overall awesome. What's not to like about that?

Devastation Optimus Prime [Studio Series/Deluxe Class]

Transformers: Devastation was a pretty fun game and now that video game depictions are included in Studio Series, I'm glad to see it included. Admittedly I'm mostly glad to see it included for the character designs than the game itself. They had an almost Studio Ox look to them that I loved and feel like a counter part to the Studio Series 86 series I've been enjoying greatly. I am curious as to why the Devastation figures aren't given the 'Gamer Edition' title like the War for Cyberetron ones were, but I guess this is an easy way to keep them separated.

After all, there's multiple versions of the same character as a gamer edition in Studio Series is obviously going to be confusing. I've been critical of the naming in Transformers, so an attempt to stay simple it is appreciated. Once again, Devastation was a fun game, and the designs make for some nice looking figures. Especially with the cell shaded look from the game being carried over. I love cell shading, it's so pretty.

This Optimus has the unfortunate luck of coming out not long after the more higher end Commander Class Studio Series Optimus Prime, Missing Link Optimus Prime, and even the same price class Legacy Deluxe G1 Optimus Prime. After those toys meant to celebrate the 40th Anniversary, a regular figure is going to get some unfair comparison. Fortunately enough time has passed since those toys that I can look at it with some fresh eyes and appreciate it on it's own merits. Of course when it was announced, I was originally excited for it as I think it resembles a cab mode Ginrai/Powermaster Optimus Prime. That combined with that Studio Ox resemblance and I was sold right off the bat. In robot mode, this is a pretty great toy.

Lot's of articulation and the design just looks great. I appreciate that he has full smoke stacks. Toy safety laws usually have lead to the shortening of the stacks in the past 20 or so years. Obviously if it makes things safer for a child, I'm not taking any issue with it, but it is nice to see a full set. They are removable and look to be the right size to be safe if swallowed. Optimus also has a removable Matrix of Leadership in his chest. I'll never get tired of this gimmick no matter how many times its done. It's unpainted and the same color as the smoke stacks, so I assume they're molded from the same sprue. The Matrix cannot be held unfortunately, that's probably going to be an issue for someone I'm sure. While Optimus doesn't have his trademark Ion Blaster, he does have his Energy Axe. It has a molded in swoosh effect to resemble being swung in the game. It's a neat weapon. 

Transformation is pretty easy and... pretty much the same as other deluxe sized Optimus's. I guess there's no reason to overly complicate it. The truck is fine, though there's no ignoring the cab portion looking a little small compared to the rest of the truck. If there was a trailer, it'd probably look more proportionate. It doesn't bother me, but I'm sure that it gets under the skin of others.

Admittedly I mainly wanted the toy for the robot mode, so there's that. The energy axe can store on the area of the truck the trailer would fit over. I have no clue what that's called. Overall this is a pretty decent Optimus Prime toy. I was happy to see it in my Easter Basket from the Mrs. and have enjoyed it thoroughly. It's a good toy and it looks great. Once again, I really like it's overall visual. I also like Optimus Prime toys, he's a cool looking robot. Here's looking forward to the other Devatration figures.

Monday! Change to Memorial Day! Holiday is Go!

It's Memorial Day, meaning I'm enjoying the holiday with my family. Of course normal posting will resume tomorrow as usual. In the meantime, I'm enjoying some much needed downtime and cooking out! I hope everyone has a great holiday and I'll be back later with more robots, monsters, and misadventure!

Death Tracker [Galaxy Version 05-One]

One of the Blokees kits I was most looking forward to in this series was Death Tracker. Trackers are Sentinel Primes personal guard, with the Death Trackers as the members that work with Airachnid. The Trackers look a lot like the version of Vehicons from Transformers Prime, whom were a very popular bunch of generic soldiers in the Transformers fan community at the time. I honestly thought these generics in Transformers One were Vehicons until learning of their names. Death Trackers, as I said above, are Airachnid's group.

In the movie they're darker colored (to match her, I presume), As a Blokees, they're mostly a dark blue color. It's pretty sharp. Using the new base engineering, the Death Tracker is one solid figure once built. Everything snaps into place and feels pretty solid. The Tracker's wings are included and can be articulated a little for dramatic poses. Death Trackers have some red stripes markings on their shoulder pad... that I now realize was put on the wrong shoulder... whoops. It stands out nicely on the dark blue body and chromed face.  The kit comes with the standard set of hand options, forearm guns, and base as well as the laser rifle seen often in the movie. I like these generic guns, it makes sense... you know? Thankfully Death Tracker features plenty of articulation so that the gun can be used in cool poses. I hope the other color variations show up in future series as it's such a cool looking solder.

Double Punch [Studio Series/Deluxe Class]

The Predacon army of scorpion bots in Rise of the Beasts was a lot of fun, so it's a pleasure to get another arachnid soldier in the form of Double Punch. Double Punch is a straight repaint of Scorponok that looks great. Swapping out the purple for a blood red and a different shade of chrome grey. I really like the colors as they give him a viscous look. He could almost be a new version of Gobots Scorp, something I keep in mind while mentally cataloging Double Punch as an honorary Monster Gobot.

Double Punch being a standard retail toy is pretty neat. The original Double Punch was exclusive to the UK, with the following two being BotCon exclusives. I wonder if this ones harder to come by? I don't think I've seen it in too many sightings posts. This one was a gift from the Mrs. in the pile of birthday presents she got me. So it's special for my own reasons. It's funny, I didn't notice the flame like detailing on Scorponok, but see it a mile away on Double Punch. I really like it as I really liked the scorpions from Rise of the Beasts in general. Just a cool group of gnarly bots. This is a good toy of one of them.

Fugitive Waspinator [Age of the Primes/Deluxe Class]

When Transformers Animated worked in Waspinator from Beast Wars into a more traditional Transformers setting, I never expected to like it as much as I did. It sounded cool, but was very surprised by how much I enjoyed this version of him. His misadventures as Wasp (prior to beast mode) were fun and made for a great villain in Animated setting. While beast mode Waspinator got a toy, pre-beast Wasp's figure got canceled. Fortunately in Age of the Primes, that's no longer the case. Fugitive Waspinator is a pre-beast mode version of Wasp who is based on the Legacy: United Animated Bumblebee toy.

The originally planned Wasp toy back in Animated was a straight redeco of that lines Bumblebee as they share a body type, however now he's got a show accurate new head that one didn't have. Outside of colors and new head, it's the same toy as the Bumblebee it's based on. A good toy by all means, so that's no problem. The size might sting a little at the Deluxe price point and there's no way to sugar coat that.

I'm accepting it as is, because I wanted the toy and just winced at the $25 that it cost. Especially when thinking how the one that wasn't released in Animated would have been $9 (and bigger). Times have changed, but at least there's finally a figure that fans were denied in it's original time. Overall it's an excellent figure, though I do wish the stinger guns had yellow stripes instead of purple, to match beast mode Waspinator's better. The purple looks great, so I guess it's not a big deal. A headache in your whole body however...

Take Monday with You

It's Monday, dammit. Thankfully you've found yourself on Zone Base to get you through the week. My weekend was pretty good, even if short lived. Thankfully Memorial Day weekend is approaching for a much needed break. The Mrs and I enjoyed some weekend shopping and good food. I ate plenty of Sushi on Saturday as the Mrs and I watched the newest episode of 1000lbs Sisters and rented The Minecraft Movie on Amazon. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. While I haven't played Minecraft in a while, but I've always enjoyed it. The movie, however, was hilarious and felt more like a Tenacious D episode than a video game adaptation. 

I intended to buy the new Doom game this weekend, but decided to hold off for a little while. I'm still playing though the 2016 Doom game I recently bought on sale. I really want the new game, but think I'll get it a little later. I found Turtles of Grayskull Mechaneck and ordered ZombieTrack from Amazon. Surprisingly, ZombieTrack came in within hours. I've been wanting him since announcement, but waiting for 52toys to stock him in the US Amazon shop. I generally get my BeastBox toys there or in person and have had great success. I think there's a fun monster robot week in Zone Base's future. Speaking of fun, Cyberworld toys are starting to materialize and I can't wait to cover them here on the site. They feel like the successor to the Beast Alliance figures that I loved so much and were so fun to blog about. Please look forward to upcoming posts about them as they become available to me. I spent Sunday evening playing Doom and building Blokees. Such a fun way to spend an evening. 

Speaking of fun, that's the kind of week I've got coming your way Zone Base readers. Thank you all for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone enjoys the content and hope you all share it with your friends! 

Wheeljack [Galaxy Version 05-One]

Wheeljack may have been one of the background characters in Transformers One, but like several of the greater Transformers cast of characters... he's there. That's a good thing as not only does it give us a large cast of with cool designs, but provides toy companies with all sorts of characters to make toys of! Blokees seem like the perfect choice for TF One characters as both styles meet in fabulous ways. Wheeljack is the first kit I assembled from my case and damn looks great!

I've always been a fan of Wheeljack and have always thought he looked cool, but this is a new level of appreciation. I mentioned in my B-127 post how these kits seem like characters out of Megaman X and Wheeljack has me mentally imagining it. Being the mad scientist of the Autobots, he'd would totally be the character that would tell you about all the great upgrades you've gotten between levels!

Wheeljack features that new sturdier design that's seemingly been introduced in this One series. If he had an 'O' ring, you could easily mistake him for a newer Action Master with improved articulation. He's got the two hands that are standard with most Blokees kits and the same laser B-127 has. It's a solid generic gun, so I don't mind. This version of Wheeljack is a miner and doesn't have a Transformation Cog yet, so he doesn't have the wings you normally associate with him. That's perfectly ok, because we're talking about storytelling and TF One told a great ... one. I really like how this kit came out, he just looks so good! The white and gray colors really pop as well. Dang, Blokees just makes good things.

Cheetor and Tigatron [Swapticons]

When Swapticons were first to be shown off, it was today's subject that I was most interested in initially. Being a Beast Wars fan, I'm an easy sell for anything related. This set features Cheetor and Tigatron combining to form one long kitty boo boo.

Originally in Beast Wars, Tigatron was a repaint of Cheetor's toy. That bit of trivia stays on my mind with this set. Even if it's redundant right now, it's funny with the two paired up. They're a pretty neat little bots, and their wacky Swapticon faces make them look more cute than silly. They kind of remind me of Sacred Beast Legend Bioroid figures a little because of their shape. Not a lot, just a little. Obviously these are sillier toys that super serious collectors would scoff at... but there's something about them that's hard to resist. Of the four sets in the first wave, this is my favorite as you probably would guess. Of course I don't have the Walmart exclusive 5 pack yet, so I can't rule those out. It's all beast warriors, so you know I'll love it. Until then, this is the last of the Swapticons posts on the site until more are made available. Hopefully there is more, these little shits are pretty fun.

B-127 [Galaxy Version 05-One]

It's time to look at another series of Blokees here on Zone Base. Specifically Galaxy Version 05- One, which by the name should clue you in that we're talking a series based on Transformers One. TF One was very popular among the Transformers fan base and so are Blokees. This is a match made in heaven! I was very thankful to find the case on Easter Morning as a gift from the Mrs. She had put each kit inside a large egg and hid them through the house! Not only was it fun finding the eggs, but it was a big surprise to see what was inside! We're going to begin out exploration of this new case with B-127, which of course is Bumbelee's name prior to his arrival to Earth in newer fictional settings. This kit features B (or Badassatron) without his Cog, which had a really strong resemblance to Megaman X the more I look at it. Maybe I'll get an extra and do a custom one day.

As cool as B-127 looks, he's also a good starting point for this series as he's as good example of the newer construction this series has. This series seems to be the start of a new design for the Galaxy Version that results in a sturdier finished product. As much as I've loved what came before, this feels like a much more solid figure after the kit had been built. Not to mention two specific points I've never enjoyed. In prior sets, the connector joints had to be assembled, while they've already come assembled here. It was never a gripe of mine, but man they'd kill my fingertips pushing them together. The other is the shoulder pads fit much better. I've popped off others very easily, while these snap on and stay put. I guess they've adjusted the connections. The upper body of the figures frame has some adjustments too. Now the ball joint for the heads is molded in and there's some additional peg holes in the body that the armor bits have additional pegs to insert into. I've never complained about the fit before, but it feels much more solid now. B-127 is like an action figure I bought already assembled from the factory as opposed to a small model kit.

Of course he has the standard open and closed hands you expect and a laser pistol to hold with them. The base is present, though the additional Autobot and Decepticon symbols are gone. Oh well. B-127 looks great. I've always liked yellow and black colors together. They really pop on the cool sculpting that's unmistakably Bumblebee before coming to Earth. While Bumblebee has always been a cute character, this figure is downright adorable. The signature Blokees visual just blends so well with the TF One aesthetic. This just might be a perfect meeting of the two styles. I mentioned Megaman X up above... but yeah, they feel a little out of that universe. B-127 is a completely pleasurable kit that I was happy to build and being the general admiration for Bumblebee around the site... the perfect starting point for another case of Blokees posts.

Evil Monday Empire

Holy crap it's Monday again. I hope everyone had a good weekend, mine was pretty great. It was Mother's Day and I spent time showing the Mrs and my Mom my appreciation for all that they do. I also spent a lot of time playing Doom and Old Towers. Lots of fun to be had! I didn't buy any toys this weekend, it be that way sometimes. Aside from some good food and things for the Mrs and my Mom... I didn't really buy much. Well, I did luck up on a soft shell jacket for $8, hooray for clearance deals!

The weekend began with Takara showing off their newest Microman toys and I'm excited! Between Super7's Micronauts and these... I'm in heaven! I do need to order some Transformers Wild King toys as well while I keep my eyes peeled for the Godzilla Transformers to become available. I know they're up for pre-order, but my jadedness for pre-orders these days is at a high. Blokees has been showing off a new Soundwave kit that I'll definitely be trying to get. I've mainly focused on their blind boxes, but do get the occasional full sized model too. With all the cool toys coming out, I've got a lot to keep up with! Well, speaking of things to keep up with, I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thank you for reading Zone Base, please don't forget to share with your friends!

Red Alert [Age of the Primes/Voyager Class]

In Transformers Armada, fans got introduced to a new character named Red Alert whom was much different than the G1 original. This Red Alert was a different character who served as the teams medic. If you're noticing the similarities to Ratchet, you're not alone. That was his name in Japan. Red Alert was styled after Robocop and Power Rangers. I strongly remember the conversations about how much he looked like Robocop before it was confirmed. At BotCon 2002, there was some design art inside the convention booklet.

A few images of Red Alert were there, this lead to my friends and I talking again how much he looked like Robocop. Later after the convention and getting home, my job had screwed up my scheduled time off and I had to go in just a few hours after getting in from the long road trip. Later that evening, a very tired me stopped by Walmart on the way home for some food and they had the newly released Red Alert in stock. After talking about how much he looked like Robocop the days before... I bought him on the spot. Initially I wasn't very interested in him, but at that point had to have him. He looks like Robocop, ever notice?

Opening my new toy while eating my frozen pizza... I quickly became a fan and have been ever since. He was great! Though I initially thought he should have been a smaller toy, something that the Deluxe Class Cybertron figure would be a few years later. Still, there's nothing better than a big chonky robot toy. So thankfully this new figure is a Voyager Class, but it's a little smaller than that original despite being a comparable price class (Voyager Class wasn't the term until Cybertron, they were called Max-Con during Armada). Times have chance in the 23 years since that original... and so has the price.

This new Red Alert still is a very good update of that toy bringing it to the year 2025 with current engineering. He looks pretty much the same but there's a lot more articulation (and sadly no Mini-Con gimmicks). The left hand retains the swappable gimmick with two different weapons that can be plugged in. Whichever is not in use can store in the alt mode kibble on his legs. Since there's no Mini-Con gimmicks (and you get less toy for the money), the kibble doesn't fold down into a repair bay. His gun still attaches to the vehicle roof and can unfold into a shoulder mounted cannon from there, or be removed to be held traditionally. It still has that claw missile, but doesn't fire anymore. I don't mind that honestly.  Since we're talking about that vehicle mode, transformation is pretty easy and could probably done by veteran TF fans by muscle memory as it's similar to several other toys. The only real challenge is some of the joints are pretty stiff.

Red Alert's cool Rescue SUV looks just as great as ever. It's super satisfying and all around pleasant. There's no electronics, so you'll have to just say "RED ALERT WOO WOO WOO" on your own... and I assume many of you are doing that anyway. As someone who enjoyed the original upon it's release, this is a real treat... even if it's a stark reminder of how much $20 got me then, vs what $35 gets me now and it's kinda a bummer. I do wish there was Mini-Cons... but they're just not in use currently. There is some ports throughout his body where at Battlemaster could probably fill the roll. Regardless, it's an excellent toy that I'm very happy with. Yes, he's got some long legs. It's a thing.

Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus [Swapticons]

You'd be hard pressed to get a Transformers line without an Optimus Prime figure and since this is Swapticons we're talking about, you know he's paired with Ultra Magnus. Being silly little toys, they have some wacky faces with Optimus giving the people's eyebrow while Ultra Magnus makes an attempt to be like Optimus. The two link up to form a version of Optimus's truck and trailer mode that's pretty similar to some of it's newer depictions.

Slightly armored, a little sporty. I think someone in the design team must be really insistent on this look. It's not on every toy... but sure pops up every so often. It does look cool, so no problem. I can't help but to see Ultra Magnus as Gears though. It's the colors. A lot longer than I should remember, I had a dream where I found an Ultra Magnus made from a Gears toy. So now sometimes I'm reminded about that dream when I see an occasional Ultra Magnus toy. You haven't dreamt about your hobbies? What's that like?

Prima Prime [Age of the Primes/Voyager Class]

Signaling the end of Legacy and beginning of a new Generations series is Transformers Age of the Primes. Like other Transformers Generations series before, it brings us updates of the different incarnations of various Transformers characters with a central theme. Age of the Primes is based around the original 13 Primes from Transformers lore. We'll be starting our look at AOTP here on Zone Base with the first Prime figure released in the series, Prima Prime.

Prima Prime has appeared throughout the years in various media, but you'd probably recognize him best from Rodimus Prime's Matrix Vision in the multipart episode 'Five Faces of Darkness'. That's the depiction this toy's mostly based on. I've always thought it looked cool, so no problem... though I've never been super fond of the name. Sounds like a pizza place.

Ever since the Aligned Continuity, the 13 Primes served a specific purpose. Prima is the very first Transformer made by Primus and is the Warrior of Light. He carries the Star Saber sword which you may notice has the Matrix of Leadership in it's hilt. Prima lead the other Primes in the fight against Unicron. He's kind of a big deal. Before we go any further, Star Saber is a character. The Star Saber sword is an item first appearing in Armada and various swords ever since have been randomly named it ever since.

One of my only complaints with Transformers is sometimes the names can get confusing, but I guess Power Sword was already taken. The Matrix can be removed and stored in Prima's chest when not needed, but it does look cool on the sword. He's decently articulated with some nicely stiff joints. You can pose him in all sorts of sword fighting poses, even holding it with both hands in front of himself stoically. Neat!

Transformation to vehicle mode isn't too hard, though there's some odd places that you'll have to get just right or it's not fitting together in the upper body that becomes the vehicles front end. I'm pretty sure I got something wrong when transforming mine, but cannot tell what. One front wheel seems to rub against the fender while the other rolls freely. No clue. Alt mode is a lunar truck that looks pretty neat and the wheels can be arranged to give it a hover mode! It's pretty cool looking and so are the colors. Actually, I really like Prima Primes colors all together. There's been some complaints that he needs more... but I really like the white and grays.

He looks like an ancient statue and the colors transfer well over to the sci fi vehicle making it look like something you'd see in space. I really like the blue used in detailing. If there was any more color added, I'd like it to be a little more of that as it contrasts nicely against the white and gray. The Star Saber sword (not the guy) can store pretty easily in alt mode forming a nicely compact vehicle. I really like this guy and enjoy the somewhat mystical theme of the Primes. Transformers has needed a little fresh air and dipping into the more fantasy elements of it's lore is a pretty good idea. With the Cybertron anniversary series at Walmart later this year and Micronauts being in stores again... it's nice to see some of the more space opera elements come back to the forefront.

It's Monday, weird.

It's time to start another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! Thank you all for coming back to Zone Base on this Monday morning. I hope you all enjoyed the Halfway to Halloween fun last week. We've got a little while until the spooky season starts, but who doesn't like a little pumpkin spiced mayhem in the spring? Of course the Code Orange fun will be starting soon enough in June. At Home stores, the biggest signal alarm during summertime Code Orange fun, has some Halfway to Halloween suprises at certain store locations if you're feeling a little spooky. We plan to stop by ours this weekend hoping to get a sneak peak. In addition, Spirit Halloween has shown off a new NES game they'll be selling in stores this year. I'm definitely interested! 

I've had a cold the past few days, so this weekend meant a lot of downtime for me. I did make a trip to the local Walmart for some more Coricidin and while there found some new toys! I picked up Transformers Solus Prime, Air Raid, Scrapper, and Gamer Edition Ironhide! I feel guilty as to not do more toy room organizing, but being under the weather I just wasn't up to it. The Mrs and I enjoyed watching Longlegs, Wolfman, and the newest episode of 1000lbs Sisters while enjoying some good food and getting some rest. Well, I've got to get my week started. Time to take some toy pictures for the site, do some household chores, and... I dunno... take a nap? Sounds good! Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I've got a fun week in store for you all, so don't forget to share with your friends! 

Moonsafari BB-69 [BeastBox]

[Dual Shape of Mecha Moonsafari and Cube] Transform Moonsafari from cube mode to mecha model and back again in minutes! The whole body of it has fully adjustable joints, allowing to display in a variety of poses.

BeastBox really cranks out some fun ideas. Moonsafari is a cool robotic giraffe that of course, turns into a box. How? Magic... I'm convinced those designers are magicians.

There's been a few transforming giraffe toys, but there's a big difference between going from an animal to robot vs animal to box. Well, those magicians at 52Toys pulled it off with one pretty amazing toy. Moonsafari is a very well articulated robot giraffe that stands pretty tall at 8.66" according to 52Toys. His (assuming) mouth can open and ears can move in addition to all the cool leg and neck articulation allowing for a very expressive toy that's pretty darn cute. Don't let that adorableness fool you though, because this is a serious robot ready to fight!

I've mentioned my appreciation to the similarities BeastBox toys often share with Zoids and that comes into effect here giving Moonsafari a visual edge. Adding to that is an additional accessory set that I was made aware of just recently. With the add on set, Moonsafari gains twin weapon pods manned by pilots. I'll be sure to stay on the look out for these when they become available to me separately from the bonus edition version Moonsafari. Remember the mentioning of the magic? It's performed during transformation as somehow he just went into box mode pretty easily. I say pretty easily and not very easily as I struggled with his back hips quite a bit initially.

There's a joint inside the hip that folds into itself uniquely and I didn't understand the instructions at this step. I got pretty frustrated after trying for too long to get those back legs properly into place, put him down, and watched a transformation Reel while riding my exercise bike. Turns out it was actually pretty simple and I originally didn't understand. Once that was understood, everything just went into place. 52Toys has a great Instagram presence and those Reels can be a life saver. I'm pretty amazed by the neck wrapping around itself so fluidly to finish everything up. It's weird, normally I'm hardly concerned with the actual transformation with a toy. BeastBox though... I'm thoroughly amazed by the process. See, it's magic.

Halfway 2 Halloween~Watch Halloween this Halloween

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

Originally Posted: 10/12/2023