Mikey X King Ghidorah [TMNT X Godzilla]

When I first learned about the TMNT X Godzilla crossover line, I about crapped my pants. Something so right, just sitting there at Target. The Mrs. picked up on that instantly and grabbed me the first wave of figures for Christmas, and we’re about to spend the next few Wednesdays taking a look at them.

It’s also been far too long since I’ve talked about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles here on the site, so this whole thing is prime subject matter. We’re going to start things off with my favorite of the turtles, Michelangelo.

I’m assuming Michelangelo was chosen to represent King Ghidorah because of his orange colors. There is a tie-in comic, which I haven’t read, but I assume it provides an in-universe reason. Either way, it looks fantastic. Mikey is almost completely colored in Ghidorah’s trademark gold, and it works incredibly well. His head sculpt blends the traditional TMNT design with elements of Ghidorah’s dragon head. Ghidorah’s other two heads can be worn as shoulder armor or held to recreate the signature three-headed dragon look we all know.

Of course, being Michelangelo, he’s got his twin nunchucks. Instead of the usual wooden ones, these are translucent energy nunchucks patterned after Ghidorah’s Gravity Beams. There are also two giant wings and Ghidorah’s twin tails to attach, completing the whole package. It’s crazy how good this thing looks — more like a designer toy than a standard action figure. This has absolutely no right to look as good as it does, and yet it somehow pulls it off anyway.

King Ghidorah [Monster Egg Series Godzilla]

Look gang, it's known that I love some transforming egg toys. It's also been far too long since I've talked about them on this site. The Mrs., understanding my love for kaiju and knowing I'd find them neat, got me the new entire set of Bandai Godzilla Monster Egg Series that was available at Target for Christmas. These four monster eggs were exciting to find inside my stocking and absolutely something I'd talk about here on Zone Base. We're starting at zero, Monster Zero that is, King Ghidorah! Ghidorah looks straight out of the classic era (though could represent his 90's appearances) in his trademark gold colors. Transforming to an egg makes for some visual distinction that wouldn't be in a regular toy. His body is more round, wings are smaller and shell shaped.

It's to be expected with these egg toys, but probably a good idea to explain. Ghidorah's legs, tail, wings, and neck can articulate thanks to the transformation. There's additional swivels in each neck so heads can look in separate directions. Speaking of, each head has a slightly different sculpt. Egg toys tend to be simplistic, so the extra detail is appreciated. Transformation is easy. A chest panel opens up to allow the heads/neck to be folded away, the legs rotate up into position while everything else basically just closes. Egg mode is a simple egg shape that can neatly stand on it's own. The monsters details are visible and make for a strangely ornate egg. It's been way to long since I spent time with transforming eggs and the joy and excitement that comes with these new toys is exfiltrating. The Mrs. really got me something great and Bandai is the best at this sort of thing. Totally eggcellent.

Giant MechaGodzilla (Godzilla vs Kong)

 

I feel like I've been championing the Playmates Godzilla toys since they've been released. To be fair, I was initially critical like others. Some of those early photos weren't promising. I acknowledged the lines faults and have watched it improve as time went along. That's how toy lines work, the initial figures are usually a little rough and things get smoother out as the team finds it's groove. This is the Giant sized MechaGodzilla from their Godzilla vs Kong line. It was one of the Christmas gifts from the Mrs. and I'm quite fond of it.

While Kiryu is my favorite version of MechaGodzilla, this newer Monsterverse version sure is neat. I like how it looks like a robot skeleton. Kiryu is made from skeletal remains of the original Godzilla who's ghost is in there, while this Mechagodzilla is initially controlled by the skull of Ghidorah before being possessed by Ghidorah's consciousness. Mechagodzilla's can be pretty spooky. Good.

This is the giant version of Mechagodzilla. It stands 11" tall, while the standard one is 6". I wished I would have measured it from nose to tail, because that seems a little longer. Like most kaiju toys, he doesn't have a lot of articulation. Head, shoulders, legs, hands, feet, and some tail swivel. Most is pretty standard stuff for a sofubi or these sofubi inspired action figures. The hands though are pretty neat, they swivel at the wrists as well as open and close. This allows him to pick up a bus and throw it back down as well.

What's New Kaiju?

I've made no secret of my love for the Playmates Godzilla line. It's a fun series of relatively cheap kaiju figures found easily at my local big box stores (formerly exclusive to Walmart, but now available at others). The figures are sometimes re-releases of Bandai figures, or brand new toys that admittedly can be hit or miss. Though they've been mostly hit after the initial batches. Pretty good, actually.

Recently new listings of upcoming toys have been making their way through various kaiju groups. This is pure joy as the new toys are fan favorites and like I said, never Playmates figures have been pretty good. From the list of figures, I'm sure the Jet Jaguar is a re-release of the one from earlier this year. However the rest are all brand new and I'm freaking stoked. Rodan, Mecha King Ghidorah, and original King Kong are the ones I'm most excited for. Though the others aren't too shabby either.

I'd gladly credit whomever found the listing once I find out myself.

Magmax Beyond Thunderdome

Magmax looked awesome on a video rental shelf. That cool robot fighting what looked to be Mecha King Ghidorah in space was hard to deny. It was rented and brought home for a weekend of space robot adventure fueled by Ecto Cooler and some pizza. The game I brought home was not the game I had thought I rented. Thanks to the pictures on the back of the box, I had assumed you played the robot the entire time. Not so much. 

Instead you start out as a small space ship flying and shooting your way through a horizontal playing field. As you go, parts of the robot are collected slowly building the full robot. Of course every hit looses a piece of that robot. The game never ended, just went on a continues loop until running out of lives. Occasionally you'd face the big bad boss Babylon, the Mecha King Ghidorah look alike I mentioned earlier.

Magmax wasn't what I expected going in, but still was a lot of fun. I'm mostly familiar with the NES version though it's on a variety of other systems. Originally starting it's life in the arcades, which explains the endless nature of the game. Just keep shooting until you run out of quarters. The game isn't completely forgotten by time, but doesn't come up a lot either. I do see occasional fan art which is nice. I'm not saying it deserves a much better legacy, but it would be nice if more people knew what I was talking about more often. Which is at least a quarter of this site's content.

Let's Survive Another Week

It's Monday and you know what that means? GHIDORAH IS ATTACKING THE CITY! It's a new week here on Planet Zone where everyday is an adventure! Speaking of adventure, hope everyone enjoyed the Tales from the Beast Hunters. It finally wrapped up Friday with chapter 24, but don't worry, I've got another Transformers story on the way with daily updates! There's a new Not As Brightly Lit for some Halloween fun in summer ready for your ear buds! Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base, I've got a fun week in mind! As always, please share with your friends!

From Planet X With Love

I don't know what it is about my birthday that makes me focus on Ghidorah so much. But it's a few days away from it and guess who's on my mind yet again. It's funny though. I strongly recall as a child not caring for Ghidorah at all. Whenever Grandpa Munster would show a Godzilla movie on Super Scary Saturdays, I'd be absolutely ecstatic (as you could imagine). But if Ghidorah was on it... yeah I'd watch it, but man I was so unimpressed with ole' Monster Zero.

At some point my opinion changed completely and now I get so damn excited to see him. Last year, my mother spent the weekend with us and my wife took me to Fun Spot for my birthday. It was a fun day. Before we left, the Mrs. had me open my presents and in my Mom's grand fashion, she gave me money in a gift card. Though this time, good ole' Ghidorah was holding the card. She don't even know his name, just that gold dragon I like.

Earlier today I finally began playing with my new Godbeast Monster 0 DX set (it's been a hard week). While I initially assembled the various members, I started working on the combined Monster 0 (Ghidorah homage) and just the memories came to me. Getting Starfox for my SNES in 9th grade and only stopping playing to watch Invasion of Astro-Monster. Badly drawing Ghidorah fighting Optimus Prime while waiting for school to be over so I could get treated to Pizza Hut.

I sure do put a lot of extra focus on Ghidorah this time of year... and I have no clue why. Of course how could I not think about a giant golden dragon from space that breathes lightening bolts? That's all year thinking right there.

Friday The 13th Kabuto Mushi DX Sets Now On Sale

SHOP NOW

My main man The Godbeast has some really awesome sets available for a great Friday the 13th surprise! Super DX Monster 0 is a cool bunch of figures and parts for a combining Ghidorah homage! Super DX Ray Mushi takes Kabuto Mushi and adds tons of parts making one sweet Shogun Warrior homage!

Generations of The King

It's a damn shame the Dreamcast had such a short life.

Godzilla King of the Monsters

As usual, due to my work schedule and honest time preference these days, my early tickets had been purchased for a peaceful Sunday morning showing. I won't mince words and I'm not going to spoil anything either. This was a love letter to Godzilla fans. An outright big budget kaiju throwdown by Hollywood that managed to be so authentic and fan serving that I'm almost concerned that I'm still asleep and won't be at the movie until later.

A straight shot of pure adrenaline is the bloodline in a movie full of monster madness with Monarch going full G-Force trying to keep up with all the madness. You had bad guys vs good guys and holy crap Ghidorah in his most threatening appearance maybe ever.

The monsters were on point with little things that went with each one making them more like living beings than special effects. Rodan felt so pure with his burning wings and slightly self serving behavior. Mothra is a giant breathe of wholesome and goodness. Godzilla seems like an old soldier who's going to keep fighting until there's nothing left to give. Ghidorah was a force of nature and omg each head had it's own personality. God(zilla), I loved that.

I want to send the movie crew a thank you letter for this movie. I loved it so very much and have been on cloud 9 since leaving the theater. Looking forward to Kong vs Godzilla next year, but getting a copy of this movie feels even further away. Pure exhilaration.

Godzilla Store Invasion!

2019 Toho x Kinokuniya
GODZILLA STORE INVASION
A Godzilla Pop Up Shop

With the highly anticipated release of GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS on May 31^st, several Kinokuniya stores across the nation have come together to bring the Godzilla Store to you to provide you the best in Godzilla merchandise! At Godzilla Store Pop Up Shops, you can find an abundance of unique visual books, a whopping 12 of the Godzilla “B SIDE LABEL” stickers, various Godzilla T-shirts including the coveted TOMODACHI shirt featuring Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, a Second-Form Shin Godzilla Cable Bite, several Godzilla straps, and so much more! These unique and one-of-a-kind items can be found nowhere else outside of Japan’s Godzilla Store in Tokyo. GODZILLA STORE INVASION will be available at these Kinokuniya locations starting from May 18^th to June 30^th.

New Jersey

New Jersey

Mitsuwa Marketplace
595 River Road
Edgewater, NJ 07020

Illinois

Chicago
Mitsuwa Marketplace
100 E. Algonquin Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Washington

Seattle
Uwajimaya Village
525 South Weller Street
Seattle, WA 98104

California

San Francisco
Japan Center
1281 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA 94115

Los Angeles
Little Tokyo
123 Astronaut E. S. Onizuka Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Texas

Austin
6929 Airport Blvd.
Suite 121
Austin, TX 78752

Carrollton
Carrollton Town Center
2540 Old Denton Road
Suite 114
Carrollton, TX 75006

*Thanks to Rogers & Cowan for providing Zone Base with this news*

Godzilla Destroys the Internet!

Godzilla Destroys the Internet!

King of Monsters Roars onto the Web to Establish Global Dominance with First Official Website Godzilla.com

Enter the Only Godzilla Portal for Official Exclusive News, Events, Complete Filmography, Rare Videos, New Merchandise and First Official Monsterpedia

May 14, 2019 (Los Angeles) – Feel the rumble as one of the most iconic monsters stomps its way online with the global launch of the first-ever official Godzilla website from Japanese entertainment studio Toho Co., in time for the highly anticipated film, Godzilla: King of the Monsters releasing on May 31.

Commemorating the 65th anniversary of its screen debut in 1954, Toho is connecting Godzilla fans around the world of all ages through exciting content from more than 30 films, comics, art, apparel, toys, encompassing the entire Godzilla universe.

“We’re thrilled to unleash a world of content around our most beloved Godzilla,” said Keiji Ota, CGO (Chief Godzilla Officer) at Toho.  “Fans have been longing for a universe that celebrates the all-mighty king of monsters and Godzilla.com delivers the most exciting news and stories about upcoming events, new merchandise and special releases as we commemorate the 65th anniversary of Godzilla.”

One of the most exciting features is the first official Godzilla Monsterpedia, unveiling everything fans have ever wanted to know about monsters (or kaiju) in the Godzilla Universe!  Monsters such as King Ghidorah, the three-headed monster and Godzilla’s biggest rival; Mothra, the guardian god of its maternal island; and MechaGodzilla, the giant battle robot modeled on Godzilla are featured. The battles among them and with humans are one of the highlights of the Godzilla movies. The more fans get to know about the kaiju, the more they can enjoy the exciting world of Godzilla.

Godzilla.com will be continuously updated as a source of news for upcoming Godzilla films including movie trailers and key art, events, fan content, new product news, and all future announcements.  It will also be a resource for Godzilla’s complete filmography including rare videos, wallpaper and much more destructive content including updates on epic Godzilla toys, apparel and lifestyle products.

Godzilla first appeared in Toho’s “Godzilla” (1954), a classic monster movie widely regarded as a masterpiece. The work launched a monster franchise that expanded over 64 years with more than 30 films. Over time, the franchise itself has evolved, as Godzilla and other creatures appearing in Godzilla films have become a metaphor for social commentary in the real world. The characters are no longer mere entertainment icons but embody emotions and social problems of the times. Godzilla has become a globally recognized icon, finding its way into worldwide pop culture and influencing many creative minds.

About Toho:

Toho Company, Limited, is a Japanese entertainment studio focused on the development, production, exhibition, and distribution of powerful content for motion pictures, television and theater. Founded in 1932, it remains a prominent force in bringing brands and original storytelling with versatile talents to audiences worldwide. Its subsidiaries include Toho Cinemas, the highest grossing exhibition company in Japan


*special thanks to Rogers & Cowan for providing Zone Base with this news*

Godzilla: King of Monsters new trailer

Dang, this looks wonderful.

King Ghidorah, 3 heads are better than 1

It's hard to see the hype for the upcoming Godzilla: King of Monsters without getting excited, though the past few days my focus has been mostly on Ghidorah. There's badass and then there's King Ghidorah level badass. Depending on the movie, Ghidorah's orgin's change, though I'm mostly fond of his space alien roots from the Showa era. There's something special to a monster from outer space who's based on a hybrid of the Hydra and Orochi who's purpose is to destroy.

Godzilla: The Planet Eater

I finally got a chance to view the third and last installment of the Godzilla anime trilogy this weekend. The Godzilla anime series hasn't had the most kind critical response, and the first two installments I did enjoy. I'm not making any apologies. They were slow, weird, and the monsters involvement was disappointing. You had an outright cartoon Godzilla movie and Godzilla was hardly more than occasional background scenery. That being said, I did enjoy those two. I found them entertaining despite the prior complaints. This one, not so much. I found this one to be extremely long winded, too weird (there's a point where weirdness stops being acceptable and just doesn't make sense), and the monsters were completely misused. I usually try to balance the line on spoilers. I feel there's a time where it's considerate of others and a time where others need to get off the pot. I'm going to try to be considerate as I can, but give those who haven't seen it yet fair warning.

run away

I try not to get this way about things like movies. It's not important and really doesn't affect a real life. Though when you pay good money for something (life a Netflix subscription, it aint free ya'll) you don't have to accept everything and have every right to be unhappy. You can be a fan of something and be critical at the same time. Of course there's a line between being critical and being a whiny nerd. I'll try my best to stay in the first category for my own sense of self.

This movie is bullshit.

In a movie where the monsters could have had the most amazing fight possible due to being 100% animated, they're hardly featured and are practically a gif. The plot is complete nonsense that doesn't even try to make sense. The plot of the first two was reaching, but I could still enjoy what they were trying to tell me. I honestly was just waiting for this to be over. Fortunately, the movie wasn't too long as though the creators wanted to get it over also. I was utterly disappointed in this movie and even though the last two were hardly amazing, felt like this would be ok at least. Fortunately Godzilla 2 is coming soon to hopefully wash the bad taste of this out of my mouth.

Godzilla 2 King of Monsters new trailer

MMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Godzilla vs Gigan trailer (1972)

Godzilla: King of Monsters trailer

Robots in Disguise Twinferno (warrior class)

Despite having the legion version of Twinferno for some time now, I've been chomping at the bit to get the larger warrior class toy. RID has featured some really great figures and Twinferno is one of the more imaginative Transformers to come along in some time. Twinferno is the newer trademarked name for the G1 character Doublecross, and while his Titans Return figure was a direct homage to the G1 toy, this is a new twist on the bot.

Instead of a double headed dragon, Twinferno changes into a spaceship with dragon headed pontoons. The ship is very similar to Samus Aran's ship from the Metroid game series, which lends to it's cool factor. Though with the two dragon heads, it's almost like some neat cyborg kaiju. Seeing as he's not used in any fiction, and his bio alludes to the two heads have two different minds, it's not much of a stretch to imagine him as some sort of cyborg space dragon. Is it realistic? Well, no, but considering it's 100% an imaginary creation, realism is out the window already.

Twinferno comes with two fire ... thingies that can be held in the robots dragon heads to simulate them breathing fire as a projectile or maybe even some sort of flaming sword. Which is neat. In vehicle/beast mode, the flame things can either be used as flames coming from the engine or in the dragon mouths as fire breath. This goes along with the cyborg kaiju idea a little more and come to think of it, he's kinda like a cross between the ship from Metroid, Ghidorah, and Gamera in his flying form. I don't know what the hell is going on here, but I like it. It's that crazy that just works hard for the money.

So you better treat it right.

Twinferno is a great toy whom has a name that causes more red underlines when I type it than I think is allowed (I rebel in the face of proper grammar). But, just as there's a ton of red underlines as I write this, his palette is so freaking red. Just as the toy in a whole manages to homage the original Doublecross and reinvent at the same time, the colors do as well. It draws from the originals colors and mixes them around making Twinferno look like a Technobot. Which really works for the design as a whole. He could have another name and just be somebody else, while still being that guy. It's a super cool toy that both makes me sad for the end of the awesome Robots In Disguise (2015) line and look forward to Cyberverse as I can see some of the bleed over from the idea pool going in there.

Kong: Skull Island

The movie Toho would have made.

I don't think I'm spoiling in this post, but just incase I am, this post may contain spoilers. So there, I gave you more warning than Wikipedia.

I had been anticipating Kong: Skull Island for awhile now and with Toylanta being held on opening weekend, I had to wait a week to watch it. So last night the wife and I saw it and OMG it was great. The movie is part of Legendary Pictures Monsterverse, which so far is just Kong and Godzilla (the Legendary Pictures version), though Pacific Rim would fit right on it. It's a Legendary Pictures film series, and as I'll get to in a few sentences, fits pretty well into the ongoing story. For the record, I wish Legendary made the Transformers and Power Rangers movie.

As a long time kaiju fan, this is the King Kong movie I've wanted for a long time. I would say the King Kong movie I've always wanted, but the Toho Kong movies (King Kong vs Godzilla, and King Kong Escapes) are in the same vein. So I'll say the movie I've wanted for a very long time, because Kong as a super hero doesn't get explored often. Though, Legendary is doing it's part to contribute to that cause.

The movie is wonderful. Taking place as Vietnam is wrapping up, we see a military group of helicopter pilots provide escort for a Monarch expedition into the largely known Skull Island for testing. The testing (which includes explosions) upsets the wildlife and drives Kong out to defend his land. The surviving military and Monarch  members find their way to the pick up point for rescue and along the way discover the giant (and dangerous) wildlife Skull Island has to offer. Separated into two crews, one discovers a long lost fighter pilot and villagers were they learn about Kong and the dangerous monsters living in Skull Islands hollow core. The other crew, hellbent on revenge for the loss of their comrades get into various skirmishes with that not so friendly wildlife.

The movie establishes Kong as one of the guardians of Earth, like Godzilla. It's beautifully filmed, paying homage to Apocalypse Now, and featuring some extremely gorgeous visuals. The scenes of the villagers place of worship and Kong in the sunset are particularly impressive. It's only weak points are easy to ignore for the most part. Some of the scenes are edited in a way that seems a little clip show like. This is a common complaint I've had with a lot of recent movies, so I think it may be the result of a newer editing trend that may just not working so great with me.

While several newer movies this editing style doesn't gel so well for me, making movies seem like a series of scenes or clips and not so much like a flowing narrative. Fortunately Kong's moments like that are much fewer than other recent movies that I've found moments like this few and not so distracting. Other complaints could be found in some of the human characters seemed two dimensional. Which, in all honesty is a common complaint in most big budget movies as well as pretty common in kaiju movies. So the movies lesser parts were easy to overlook in greater sum of awesomeness.

I said above Pacific Rim would fit easily into Monsterverse, and this movie opens that door even more. The Pan Pacific Defense Corps was created in response to the 2014 kaiju attack that took the military weeks to stop. The M.U.T.O attack, which took a long time to end was in Godzilla 2014. The resulting kaiju attacks came from a portal in the Pacific Ocean. Skull Island, which is home to many giant monsters (I'm not spoiling the entirety of it) and even is hollow, providing monsters in the center of the earth a way to come to the surface. Skull Island just happens to be in the Pacific Ocean.

So, OMG IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME IF GYPSY DANGER TEAMED UP WITH KONG AND GODZILLA AND....wait...

Hey, what if we got a Legendary Pictures version of Jet Jaguar?