Weekly Update: 7/20/2026

Another week has begun here on Planet Zone, and with it comes more robots, monsters, and mayhem!

Now that we're settling into the new posting routine, I guess it's time to make these Weekly Update posts about more than just telling you where I ate and what I picked up at Walmart. I mean, I'm still going to tell you about eating at Olive Garden and what I found at Walmart... but, you know... other stuff too.

Since I'm gathering my thoughts throughout the week now, I'll probably write the final part of these updates Monday morning from my living room while poking away at my phone just before I hit "Publish." Everything else? Well, those are just random thoughts that popped into my head during the week.

Transformers Cyberworld

I'm excited that the new Cyberworld toys are finally starting to hit store shelves. It's been way too long between new releases, and I'm practically salivating over the new Energon Surge figures.

Hopefully they'll be a little easier to find than last year's assortment. While toy hunting can certainly be fun, I'm nowhere near as patient about it as I used to be. Honestly, with just about everything available at my fingertips these days, it's always a little surprising when something winds up being genuinely difficult to track down.

I also got a chuckle out of seeing several Cyberworld fans practically will the Transformers Wiki into adding each character's biome to their entries. It reminds me a little of the Transformers Cybertron days when fans became absolutely obsessed with maps of the various planets and collecting keys.

Now I'm wondering...

Will Hasbro eventually release an official guide to all of the Cyberworld biomes?

If not, that sounds like a pretty fun fan project.

I'm particularly fond of the upcoming Ultra Magnus toy. I love how his robot mode resembles his appearance in Transformers Prime, although I still wish that toy line had paid a little more tribute to his original toy from the line.

At first, I couldn't quite tell what his alternate mode was from the early pictures. Was he some kind of Dustbuster? Thankfully, once better images surfaced, I realized he transforms into a jet that reminds me a lot of Wingsaber from Transformers Energon. That's always been a design I've liked (yes, even with the limited articulation), so the resemblance is a welcome one. Like the Cyber Battalion and Authentics Shockwave figures, he transforms into a ship that looks like it flew straight out of a 16-bit shooter. I'm half expecting someone to discover it's secretly paying tribute to some obscure PC-98 game.

He's also an Ultimate Cyber Changer, which means the standard Cyber Changers can interact with him. We've already seen that one can ride him in his jet mode, and I'm curious to see what other interactions they've built into the toy.

He just looks incredibly cool, and once again Cyberworld has me slipping into pure fan-mode giddiness.

I absolutely love it.

The new Lockdown Cyber Changer also looks like a lot of fun. I really appreciate that they chose to have him transform into one of his wolfves from Age of Extinction instead of simply giving him another sports car mode.

I've seen a lot of people comparing his robot mode to Wildwheel from Transformers Cyberverse, but honestly, my first thought was Cad Bane from Star Wars. Whether that resemblance was intentional or not, I couldn't tell you, but I definitely see it.

Blokees

Now that the move has settled down, picking up Blokees Wheels Series 3 and that new Shattered Glass Optimus Prime truck and trailer set has become a pretty high priority for me.

I still haven't assembled any of my Series 2 kits, but that's mostly because every weekend has been spent getting the new house organized. Once things finally calm down a bit, you can bet I'll be snapping together a lot more Blokees and other kits.

Blokees have also begun showing off another one of their original IPs called Astral Rally, and I absolutely love what I'm seeing so far. They'll be releasing kits in the Defender Class (which, as you know, is my favorite), and I'm already excited to jump into these. Astral Rally looks like it's going to be a wonderful mix of science fiction and fantasy, and a really fun new robot series to follow! 

Sandbox Mainline?

Recent comments from Hasbro's designers have revealed that future Transformers lines are going to be more of a sandbox made up of different fictional settings. That's actually something I've been hoping they'd do with Generations (or Legacy, as they called it. Honestly, I was hoping they'd just rebrand the whole Generations line as Legacy) for a while now.

When you think about it, Generations already works this way. Studio Series falls under the Generations umbrella, and that line itself now includes characters from the live-action movies, video games, and soon various cartoons and comic books. Whatever the current Generations line happens to be called—*Siege*, *Legacy*, *Age of the Primes*, or whatever comes next—it's really just a big hodgepodge of characters from across Transformers history held together by a loose framing device.

And don't even get me started on the crossover figures.

Meanwhile, the kid-focused toys have quietly become much easier to understand. They're all packaged in those white boxes with a small logo telling you whether it's Cyberworld, Prime Changers, or one of the general-purpose Optimus Prime and Bumblebee toys that aren't tied to a specific series.

Basically, they're saying:

"This is G1 Powerglide."

"This is Cyberworld Optimus Prime."

"This is just Bumblebee."

I actually like that approach. It clears up some of the naming confusion while making it easier for both kids and collectors to figure out exactly what they're looking at.

Generations.

Mainline.

I'm in.

It also makes me wonder if they're designing all of this with FAST channels in mind. With those channels constantly cycling through one Transformers cartoon or movie after another, organizing the toy line this way makes a lot of sense.

Speaking of FAST channels...

It looks like the dedicated Transformers Channel is slowly being replaced by the Hasbro Legends Channel. While I enjoy the new channel, I have to admit I'm going to miss having Transformers running 24 hours a day.

It was like carrying the old 3H-era BotCon video room around in your pocket.

I can't tell you how many times I'd doze off with it playing in the background. Kind of like those folks who'd spend half the convention sleeping in the BotCon video room before wandering off to borrow a shower from a friend.

...Wait.

Did anyone wake Hellbat up before the voice actor panel?

Uh oh. 

Kamen Rider Zeztz, Myth, and Ultraman Teo

Kamen Rider Zeztz is quickly coming to an end, with Kamen Rider Myth taking its place this fall. I've really been enjoying Zeztz, so I'm honestly a little heartbroken to see it end. Myth certainly looks like it'll be a lot of fun, and I hope it manages to keep the momentum going after just how good Zeztz has been.

Ultraman Teo is also getting a synchronized launch, airing in both Japan and America on the very same day. That's fantastic news, and I really hope more series start following the lead of Kamen Rider and Ultraman.

So far, Teo has been a lot of fun. It's a little sillier than Zeztz, and I'm really enjoying that. Of course, since I've been watching each new episode right after Zeztz every week, the tonal whiplash can be pretty amusing.

Godziburst and Godzilla Scramble

Bandai will soon be releasing the Godziburst figures here in America, and I couldn't be more excited. I've been watching these from afar for about a year now, just waiting for my chance to pick some up.

Multi-colored Toho kaiju figures with customizable weapons and armor?

Yes, please.

I'm also practically salivating over *Godzilla Scramble*. It's a blind-box series built around the Godzilla Egg Monsters I've talked about here before. The first assortment includes several wonderfully bizarre versions of Godzilla...

...including a hamburger Godzilla.

I don't think I have to explain how badly I want one.

Power Rangers

Playmates is following up its combinable Dino Megazord with a Thunder Megazord at the same scale. I really enjoyed the first set, so you know I'm looking forward to another Shogun Warrior-sized gattai.

I've always loved the Thunderzords, so this one's definitely a treat. There's even a White Tigerzord included!

Of course, this also highlights the absence of the Dragonzord from the original Dino Megazord set, which was something I had been hoping they'd eventually address.

Well... they have.

Playmates has announced a Kickstarter campaign for a Dragonzord designed to go with that very set.

I'm a little conflicted.

I definitely want a Dragonzord... but I'd also really just like to buy one at regular retail. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the Kickstarter pricing looks like before I decide what to do.

Star Fox

I've been having a blast with the new *Star Fox* on my Switch 2. Even though it's technically a remake of Star Fox 64, it really feels like an entirely new game.

I've also been trying my hand at the online mode.

I'm terrible.

Absolutely terrible.

But it's still a ton of fun playing against people from all over the world. Hopefully, with a little practice, I'll start getting better. 

The Weekend and What I got

The weekend went well. The Mrs and I spent time at the pool and organizing our new home some. Weekend shopping included a trip to Burlington, Five Below, Aldi, and Target for some needed items. I got a fun blind box at Five Below that was Japanese take out. You'd get a tiny toy of the food from a restaurant and a delivery box. I got shrimp tempura! Target didn't have anything I was looking for, but ordered Cyberworld Energon Surge Armored Cyber Changers Ratchet and Bumblebee Sunday morning. Sunday meant more time at the pool and organizing the new place. I took the Mrs jewelry to the store for their 6 month inspection and got us donuts from Donut Worry while out. So good! Probably not my most exciting weekend, but a very relaxing one. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please share the site with your friends and be excellent to each other!

  

Monday RX- Requiem

Good morning Zone Base readers, it's Monday and time again to start another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! This weekend wasn't a very busy one. The Mrs and I did a little shopping at Five Below and Walmart, but mostly did some cleaning around the house. That included getting back to work on organizing my toy room, which is a much delayed project. The Mrs had gotten Pokopia, so I didn't play any Resident Evil Requiem so she could enjoy it on our Switch 2. That gave me a chance to get back into my campaign on Doom the Dark Ages, which I've been meaning to do. I've been on a level that I don't enjoy and making myself work through it begrudgingly. She made an excellent Chicken Alfredo dinner Sunday and I finally got started building the Zoids Command Wolf model I got a few weeks ago. These Realize Models are fairly involved, so I think it'll get finished next weekend.

For toys, I didn't get many. My birthday and Toylanta are around the corner, so I've been holding off a little on purchases for myself. I did get a bunch of Madballs at Five Below. Finding a Mutant Monster Ball I've been hunting for as well as apparently Five Below is selling mini Madballs for $1 each now. I picked up one of each they had available happily. Walmart thankfully is stocking Blokees Transformers Galaxy Version 08 in their Easter Basket toy displays. I picked up two and got the chase Optimus Prime (yay!) and Insecticon Shrapnel! Great pulls on two kits I'm very excited for. Shrapnel will join the Kickback from a prior series I got last year, now just to get Bombshell! These Galaxy Version Insecticons come with a mini insect mode Insecticon as well... I'm looking forward to Bombshell and one hell of a post here afterwards!

Well, it's time to get this week started. As usual I've got some stuff to do around the house and pictures to take for the site. We've got another fun week in store full of robots, monsters,and misadventure coming for your eyeballs. Thank you for reading and supporting the site. Please share it with your friends and be excellent to each other. 

Defeat Monday (please)

Good morning Zone Base readers! Another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure is starting full of fun for your eyeballs. Tomorrow is Setsubun, and while we don't celebrate it here in the states, I think it's really neat! I hope everyone had a good weekend, mine was pretty good! Another weekend of winter weather kept the Mrs and I home while roads got icy. We had a small amount of snow, but nothing major despite local news reports predicting a winter wonderland.  So obviously we didn't get out, but still had tons of fun at home. I spent some time playing Shadow Labrinth. I've actually gotten so many games at Christmas that I have a hard time picking one to play at a time. Shadow Labyrinth is a really neat game that got my attention when released and I was delighted to see under the tree as a gift from the Mrs. It's a really cool Metroidvania style game set in something of a Namco expanded universe. I really like it. I also finally got in some episodes of the new Kamen Rider Zezt. it premired last year and while I inteded to watch it weekly... those plans feel though. Fortunately it's easy enough to watch the show in it's entirety thanks to Tokushoutsu. I'm glad I did finally watch it, it's awesome!

Upcoming toy news from the weekend was certainty exciting. There were looks at upcoming Transformers from the Age of the Primes lines. Smokescreen from Transformers Prime is getting a new figure I'm really looking forward to. His original toy from the Prime line was a nightmare to transform and wasn't exactly screen accurate, so it'll be nice to have a hopefully better incarnation as I enjoyed the character on the show. Of course it'll be the Generations style Prime toy that's more traditional looking... but I kinda like that to be honest. Prime has a specific asthetic that looked great, but I do like the style unification in Generations. Also shown was Nexus Prime and Liege Maximo. Like Jhiaxhus, Liege Maximo is a must get as a G2 comic fan. Nexus Prime is a new take on the character that strongly resembles Courageous from Gobots. It apparently will form a combiner with the new Combaticons, so I'm pretty interested. The original Nexus Prime was a TFCC exclusive combiner whose members were membership exclusives. It took me 5 years to build that one, and frankly is still pretty high on a pedestal in my mind. However, this one looks like a lot of fun! I'm actually pretty far behind on Age of the Primes toys, so here's hoping I can catch up soon.

Also news of upcoming Cyberworld toys came this weekend. There has been leaks of upcoming toys in the line, but a picture of a new large scale Bumblebee and listings of upcoming Cyber Changers were unleashed this weekend. The prior leaks are from a reliable source, but theseare a little more concrete for the time being. The larger scale Bumblebee looks fun from what I can tell. Like Scorponok, it looks to be a bit of a playset... and I get Shogun Warrior vibes from both... and that's a good thing. According to the listings, the Cyber Changers (the real meat of the line) are an Optimus Primal truck and an Arachnid that looks to be an Armored Cyber Changer figure. The Arachnid doesn't seem to have many details ther than a hammer weapon. I hope she's a spider... but will gladly take a helicopter or drone as she's been used as. The Optimus Primal truck may be a reuse of the Offroad Optimus Prime toy, which was a figure I really liked. It did specifically say gorilla truck, so I wonder if it'll be a beast mode with wheels type alt mode like Sky-Byte. Either way, I'm super excited. I had so much fun with the prior Cyberworld toys, I can't wait to get my hands on more!

There was also news of new Masters of the Universe toys that tie into the upcoming movie. I haven't covered a MOTU figure in a while here despite still getting a fair amount this whole time. I actually don't cover every toy I get here, but try to make posts on ones that'd make for good material. The random Wednesdays just might be getting more He-Man this year as these new movie figures look great! There's the new Chronicles line that looks to be taking over Masterverse in the higher end 6 inch action figure area, while a more simple and less exspensive movie tie in line that looks like a lot of fun. Right now I plan to cherry pick figures from boths movie based series, but to be honest, I'm really looking forward to the Evil Warriors from that more simple line. They look like a fun little series to collect and talk about here. What is it about the more simplier figures that makes for good blogging material?

As for purchases, I finally ordered the Blokees Wheels series 1 box. I'd been wanting it for a bit now and finally took the plunge. It should be here this week and I'm excitied! I also ordered the Blokees Defender Version Bruticus kit. Defender Version 06 came in last week with the last few Combaticons members. Be sure to look out for an upcoming post about that team. I've been building models my entire life, but for the past few years Transformers models kits have been commanding a larger portion of my attention than the regular toys. It's a bit of a struggle giving models and toys a decent amount of site time. Models are a lot of fun to write about and I can tell by the views they seem to be more popular with you readers, but I don't want to give figures the shaft either. We'll, I guess we'll just see what I talk about each week! I also got some of the new McDonald's Changeables! You all know how much I love the classic ones and this new series is excellent! I've been trying to watch what I eat, so it's a tricky balance of working Happy Meals in with a balanced diet. Fortunatley the Mrs and my Mom are willing to help. So far I've gotten 2 CapCaps, FR-135, and Torrus. I hope to get more and am hoping to find the ones I miss on the aftermarket for reasonable prices. It's actually a pretty popular promotion, so that might be quite a challenge. I also ordered a new SD card reader as I still can't locate my old one. Good thing they're cheap! I can't wait to load the card I built last weekend onto my Atari Gamestation Go.

Well, it's Monday, so that means it's time to get to works taking toy pics and doing some household chores. Of course I also need to get my daily exercise in. Five miles on the exersize bike as well as some included exercises only takes around 30 minutes a day... but man... sometimes is hard to make myself do. Oh well, it's for the better. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. You'd never know from social media, but several thousand of you show up to read daily and I really appreciate it. It's super flattering. I've got a fun week in store for you all with some fun posts headed your way. You could say this week is leading the way... you know that sounded better in my mind than typed out. I guess that's what happens when you try to be clever with toy based tag lines.  Please don't forget to share the site with your friends and be excellent to each other!

Monday Burst

It's the start of an new week of robots, monsters, and misadventure here on Zone Base. I hope you all had a great weekend, mine was pretty good... and went by way too fast. The Mrs and I did our weekend shopping and even checked out some early Halloween stock in our local At Home and Cracker Barrel. We got some great spooky stuff and had a lot of fun. 

Ealier in the week my Godzilla Megatron came in and I didn't expect my happiness to be that high. I knew I had it on the way and that it was real. But actually holding it in my hand... wow. I'm not sure when the MechaGodzilla Optimus Prime will ship, I guess it's coming later as it doesn't look like anyone has gotten theirs yet either. Speaking of Godzilla, the Mrs picked me up some fun Godzilla stuff while on a shopping trip with her friend. She got me a bag full of Godzilla blind boxes and bags along with some Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Stranger Things, and Shin-Chan stuff. That was super nice of her while they were in Popmart heaven.

My local stores are still pretty barren. I've still not gotten the rest of the Turtles of Grayskull figures and that's causing me some distress. I really want to complete the line and feel so close to my goal. Not to mention,  not a single new Transformer in some time. I haven't gotten the Studio Series B-127 yet... and that's all they seem to have other than leftover TF One stock. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't anticipating Cyberworld so much. I really can't wait to get my hands on those! Considering the show is premiering July 12th, I'm hoping they'll be on shelves soon. I did order a case of Blokees. I sure do love them... I just wish they were easier to get!

July the 4th is Friday and I'm gearing up for the holiday weekend. It's going to be a short work week and probably a hard one too. I'm looking forward to the break though and getting some rest. Well, we've got a fun holiday week in store for you all. Thank you for reading Zone Base. I really appreciate your support and just ask that you share the site with your friends. Mutual High Fives everyone, let's get this Monday started!

Transform Squadron 44- Sacred Legend Family Dollar

LISTEN NOW!

This month, Rob talks about Shin Universe Robo, Beast Alliance toys, and Sacred Beast Legend Bioroid! In that order!

Shin Universe Robo

THIS IS AMAZING.

Don't let this week be a Shocker

Another weekend has passed heralding the arrival of a new week here on Planet Zone! I had a great weekend. My birthday was last week, so Saturday the Mrs showered me with gifts and we enjoyed pizza with ice cream and cake. It was a good time. I got plenty of Transformers and BeastBox toys. Not only that but some Super Mario, Masters of the Universe, and even Dungeons and Dragons toys to boot! I would list them all here, but that's a little tacky. I don't ask for money and that immediately follows such a thing. Though I'm sure a picture will be posted on my social meadia soon enough.

I watched Halloween cartoons all night before enjoying Sunday morning doing some shopping. We went to Five Below for a Squishmallow event. Which was a bust as the big drop didn't go as planned to the disappointment of those in attendance. We decided to visit another store for greater success. Next weekend is Easter and the Mrs has an Easter egg hunt planned for me. That sounds fun, I wonder how that's going to go. I've got to put together her basket soon. Though we'll do a little last minute shopping Saturday, so I'm sure I'll add to hers then as well. That's next weekend though, so we should get this week started off! I have some fun posts for you all. Thank you for reading Zone Base. If you like what I do, please share posts with your friends. I'd hope they'd enjoy it too!

Weekly Update 11/7/22

It's a new week in what feels like a new world here on Planet Zone! I know it's weird now that Halloween is over, but don't you worry, every day is Halloween on Zone Base! There's our weekly spooky Wednesday posts and random frights throughout the year keeping things scary even when Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem is over. I spent my weekend taking down all the decorations here at the homestead and preparing for Christmas. Good thing I like that holiday too. 

As far as toys go, I didn't buy a lot. It's getting close to the Christmas season and I tend to taper off my spending as it's not the time to think of myself. I did pick up Playmates Godzilla Ultima from the Singular Point cartoon. I was honestly surprised to find him as I wasn't aware that version was getting a new toy. It's a neat figure to own though, that's for sure. 

My mother randomly got me the Lanard Aliens Xenomorph Drone figure. There's been some new Predator figures by Lanard and I've been seeing the Aliens restocked as well. Cool, low cost action figures will be showing up more often at stores for the Christmas shopping season. Don't turn your nose at these there are some really good things among them.

I've got a fun week planned for you all. Thanks for continuing to read Zone Base. I am planning to stretch out my social networking for the site as the landscape looks to be shifting around. I'm still mulling around possibilities and kinda just waiting to see how things work out as well. However, it'll still be the same old place about robots and monsters. If you like what I do here, please share with your friends. It's all I ask!

TokuSHOUTsu Starts Now!

It's midnight here in Georgia as I'm posting this, I'm not sure about where you're at, but work with me here. Shout Factory and Pluto TV's brand new all Tokusatsu channel (681) launches at 12am Tuesday March 17th! Following up on Shout Factory making Kamen Rider available for streaming on Tubi (after last weeks early launch), now fans can enjoy crazy monsters and super heroes fight it out as easy as looking at their phones to pass the time. It's pretty awesome. I hope to see more crazy cool shows and movies join the line up in the future, but for now, I'm pretty happy with the launch line up.

Kamen Rider Amazons intro (first version)

The candle has been burning at both ends lately, but I still found a little time to finally watch Kamen Rider Amazons or Amazon Riders (I'd do a tomato/tomato analogy for however you want to say it, but it's lost when not spoken). Man I wish I had done so sooner. What a wonderful show. Just wonderful. Hoping to find time to watch more of it sooner than later. It's a busy time of the year for me, so maybe before the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

King Walder commercial

As I've noted earlier this week, that Halloween love has sprouted right back out of me. Which makes me laugh at myself, because the Halloween Hootenanny I do on Zone Base isn't too much different than the years regular content (maybe just a little more emphasis on horror). The scary monsters and horror themes are pretty rampant on the subjects I cover here, which makes me wonder if I'm into horror because of robots, or am I into robots because of horror? I try not to question it too much though because I don't feel I need to define myself and really, I'm pretty comfortable with myself (as much as possible anyway, everyone has self esteem issues occasionally). So all presentation silliness aside, is this Henshin Cyborg commercial crazy or what? I love the animation created for the ad and the plain scariness of it. It's like an old metal album cover come to life.