Sweet Biohazard

Summer is a Spooky Season.

Put a Smile On

Summer is a Spooky Season.

Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!

Summer is a Spooky Season

Halfway 2 Halloween~ Why so Glum?

Ultimately, Halloween is all about candy to some folks. Which is a big part of the night I suppose. Our little cowboy here sadly lost his before finding a new friend who offers to share a full sized bounty. But wait a minute... that a ghost! It's hard to make fun of this commercial, literally a perfect taste of Halloween. Since we're halfway there, it's a little of that scary flavor we all savor. With it our Halfway 2 Halloween special event comes to a close. Thanks to everyone that read along for some spooky fun. With code orange alerts to be going off soon in the summer before the Zone Base Halloween goes into full scary swing in August... I don't know what I was going to say. Happy Halfway 2 Halloween!

originally posted on 5/12/2023

Halfway 2 Halloween~ Macbre Marathons

We're Halfway to Halloween as you're aware and with that comes a little spooky fun in the springtime. An easy way to do that is a scary movie night, simple to do with most streaming apps. Many of us have fond memories of the horror marathon on local TV during October. It was such a regular thing that characters are doing it in Halloween 1978 and Halloween 2 1981. Long before AMC was known for it's original programing, the channel just showed old movies. They have their annual Fear Fest to this day, but it's roots were more classic. Halloween night with the Universal Monsters? Heck yeah!

originally posted on 5/5/2023

Halfway 2 Halloween~Must be the Season of the Witch

Halfway to Halloween is a great time to watch some classic horror movies and old Halloween specials. Just a good way for some spooky fun in the spring. One of my favorites to watch at Halloween (or any time) is Halloween 3: Season of the Witch. While it's lack of Michael Myers was pretty divisive in the past, thankfully it's finally getting it's just due in modern times. Halloween 3 is a really fun movie that's basically a feature length Halloween special. Part of the fun of Halfway to Halloween is the traditional Halloween stuff. This movie seemed to play on an endless loop during the season when I was a kid. Commercials like these are almost as much of the holiday as whatever they'll flavor with pumpkin spice come autumn.

originally posted on 5/2/2024

Halfway to Halloween – Signal Check

It’s that time again.

Not quite October, not even close really… but close enough that the signal starts to feel familiar if you’ve been paying attention.

I’ve always liked this stretch of the year for that exact reason. It’s not Halloween yet, but it’s also not not Halloween.

Halfway to Halloween is just a little week of leaning into it. Nothing too heavy. Nothing over the top. Just a few posts that let the season peek through the cracks a little early while everything else is still spring.

Skeleton Action Figures 4 Pack T13 [MMXBGS]

I have no clue why we’re all so scared of skeletons, considering there’s one inside all of us. And yet… I guess our insides are creepy. Despite just being our insides, skeletons are spooky tropes that show up all the time—in games, movies, books, seasonal and personal style décor, and memento mori stuff. They’re just everywhere, and specifically in today’s post… as some really neat 3D-printed action figures.

The Mrs. got these for me at Halloween, and I’m just now getting around to showcasing them here on the site. They’re a rad set of four differently colored skeletons, absolutely chock full of articulation. From all the various 3D-printed action figures I see online, I’m assuming she chose from a wide selection. This particular set is especially neat because she clearly went for the TMNT colors. She knows me.

The set includes four separate skeletons, each with an array of weapons and two sets of hands—one open and one closed. The closed hands can hold the weapons, while the open ones are obviously for more expressive poses. Speaking of expressive poses, these guys are articulated up the wazoo. I didn’t try it, but I’m pretty sure you could roll them up into a ball. Super articulated, and even their skeleton jaws can open. These things are freaking neat.

They’re technically troop builders—meaning identical figures meant to form an army—but thanks to the different colors, they manage to convey a bit of individuality. I can totally see the purple one as more of a magic-wielding skeleton, while the red one just screams bloody dungeon corpse.

The weapons are pretty interesting too. There’s a hatchet and a halberd, both slightly gnarly, with some neat ornamentation on the halberd and bones used throughout. There’s also a skull-headed club that could easily double as some sort of spellcaster’s staff. My favorite, though, is the nunchucks made from bones. A bit silly—but honestly, it makes a lot of sense. I mean, why wouldn’t skeletons use bones lying around for weapons? And even if they don’t know martial arts… it’d still hurt like hell.

Each skeleton comes with the same set of weapons, giving your spooky skeletal troop plenty of options in battle. This is a really neat set of figures the Mrs. surprised me with, and I’ve been enjoying them quite a lot. Of course, the colors make me think of Microman, but also of random dungeon encounters in some old PC game. They’re genuinely cool toys that can interact with other figures you pair them with in a battle.

Really freaking neat.

Happy Halloween 2025!

It's the main event, Halloween is here Zone Base readers! Happy Halloween! Thank you for celebrating my favorite time of year with me again. As much as I love putting up the decorations and handing out the candy, Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem is one of my favorite things to do each year and I'm so happy to have spent it with you all. Speaking of you all, this year we've reached all new highs. A record breaking metric ton of you all showed up to go trick or treating with me this Halloween season.

Thank you all so much for coming and reading Zone Base. I really do appreciate each and every one of you all for supporting my little site. Normal posting will resume next week as we pack away the pumpkins and skeletons for another year. But don't worry, every day is Halloween on Zone Base! There's always monsters creeping out and random scares around every corner! Once again, thank you all for reading and remember to check your candy before you eat it. Mutual Spooky High Fives everyone!

Onyx Prime [Age of the Primes/Leader Class]

Closing out our spooky celebrations for the year is the Lord of the Beasts himself, Onyx Prime! Onyx Prime is the first Transformer with a beast mode and all other beast formed ones are his spiritual descendants. He is in tune with the creature of the natural and world and those in the spirit realm. With the power Primus granted to him with the Triptych Mask, he's able to cast his spirit across vast distance to communicate with the dreams of beings far away. Even the afterlife! Despite his inherent spookiness, Onyx Prime is very friendly and kind hearted. You can't always judge someone by their appearance, it's just that for him everyday is Halloween.

I picked up Onyx Prime a few weeks ago. Happy to see my local stores restocking in the first time in forever. However, not just happy to see something new, but happy as I've been looking forward to this particular toy. You've got to admit, he's got one neat design. In robot mode, Onyx stands tall and beastly. He's got big pointy wings that match pointy armor full of creature flavored details. If you noticed the chest armor looks like hooves, we'll get to that a little later. Speaking of hooves, check out the legs. He outright has big ole hooves with legs similar to an animal that would have hooves. Hooves. Technically that's called digitigrade, but I'll call it backwards knees. Because that's how you'd know what I'm talking about. Robot mode is pretty large and nicely articulated. You might notice his hands open up. That's both due to beast mode and goes along with his accessories.

That Triptych Mask I mentioned earlier combines with a pole to form a big spear... or staff if you so fancy. It's also a rather big arrow for a bow that's formed from his tail. With those articulated hands he can hold these weapons and draw that really big arrow. I wasn't initially aware of the bow and arrow, it just somehow escaped my attention. Remember that chest armor that looks like hooves? I talked about it last paragraph, and said hooves a million times, how could you forget? What if I told you they actually were hooves? THEY ARE! *no shit* Folding those down and some adjustments here and there will reward you with Onyx Primes first alt mode- a winged centaur! This is a pretty cool form that you wouldn't expect normally. It really fits with that bow and big ass arrow!

From here, with a few more twists and folds you'll find the third mode. A winged dragon monster type creature! This beast mode is super gnarly with six legs and those giant wings that have been prominent in every mode. I'm very fond of its head with horns and opening mouth. The colors of Onyx Prime really shine in every mode... but make for one interesting beast mode. A mixture of black, copper, brown, with silver and gold highlights creates a figure seemingly out of some old Dungeons & Dragons source book. This is one cool toy that I had a great time playing around with. His transformations and overall design really brought back memories of older Beast Era toys. Not just because of the beast mode, but the actual transformation schemes and overall design and look of the toy. If not for the newer engineering, I'd almost swear this was an older unused design Hasbro had sitting around in the vaults. He'd have made an excellent Transmythics toy!

I didn't expect to like Onyx Prime as much as I did. He's a very cool toy with a design right out of my dream journal. I've always thought of leader class figures as more nicer size class when it comes to standard retail Transformers. With this toy, that thought process feels proven. Onyx Prime is a big and ornate beastly bot with fantasy looks and modes whom is a pleasure to hold. Looking like something you'd find sculpted at a museum, he's got a mythic air to him. That's freaking neat. His dangerous looks and supernatural powers give way to a friendly robot who paved the path for animalistic Transformers that came after him. Truly one of those toys that just doesn't come around often enough.

Dracula Saved Halloween for You and Me

Here we are again. The Halloween season is slowly coming to a close and that means once again I'm talking about The Halloween that Almost Wasn't/The Night Dracula Saved the World. It's my favorite Halloween special... I've said that each time. I said it because I meant it. When I was a kid, Halloween was this weird patchwork holiday. Spooky, creepy, scary... but also ratchet as hell sometimes. The Disney Channel, for example, a big company with lots of money and slick polish would fill October with tons of old specials like this.

It's got the production value of a school play, almost amateurish things happen on screen like when the Wolfman is standing in view before he's supposed to go through a door. The Mummy just falls on his ass a few times. But... it's funny as hell. Like, legitimately funny. There's a fun script and the actors are obviously having a great time. It's a good thing the special is easily watchable, because none would believe that this thing exists. Despite all that, it's so very Halloween at it's core. Pure Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem. Happy Halloween everybody.

Stripe [Ben Cooper Costume Kids/Neca]

You know, if you're not supposed to feed them after midnight, sending them out for candy at night is a risky scenario. Part of Neca's awesome tribute to the Ben Cooper Halloween costumes of old line is this Stripe from Gremlins. He was a gift from the Mrs. last Christmas and I've been waiting until this very moment to talk about him here on the site. Stripe was the central villain in the original Gremlins movie and an obvious costume for that years Halloween. Named after his trademark mohawk, Stripe is one nasty little critter that leads the Gremlins to overtake Kingston Falls during Christmas 1984. Christmas? I thought we were talking about Halloween? We are readers, for not only is this a toy based on a classic Halloween costume... but... look. Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie and yet it's everywhere all Halloween. We can have a little wiggle room y'all.

These Neca Ben Cooper figures are a great replication of those classic Costume & Mask sets that lined store shelves during my childhood. I did a quick Google to check and the little costume our Trick or Treater is wearing is a great reproduction of the one offered in 1984. That is very impressive as those old costume weren't digital files. Someone had to recreate them. Great job Neca! The figure under the costume is decently articulated and comes with a little Trick or Treat bag to carry up and down the streets. Completing the look is the packaging that replicates the old boxes these would often come in. It's funny, I've had some come on hangers and not in boxes. Of course those were Collegeville Costumes. I think their offerings came in boxes or on hangers. I don't remember any of my Ben Cooper costumes not being in a box.

These figures are available all year round for a dose of the spooky season whenever the mood hits, but obviously are perfect right now. If you've never worn one, I'm sure you've heard the same old worn out comments about them. Jokes about the name on the chest, the rubber band cutting into your skin or breaking. Wearing a jacket or coat over it in more colder areas where it snowed on Halloween. *sigh* Yes, we know Superman doesn't wear a jacket. *we've heard it* However it's impossible not to be flooded with memories of wearing these back then. Of course there's the comments told a million times that I was just being sarcastic about... but the other things. They had a smell that you'll never forget. That costume aisle at K-Mart was filled with it.

I'd always stick my tongue in the little mouth hole, sometimes cutting myself a little. The masks were also super hot. Even if it was freezing cold, the mask had a way of keeping all the heat from your face and breath. You'd regularly take it off for some air in between houses, or wear it more as a hat for a few minutes. The inside of the mask would be coated in sweat and that air felt amazing. Thing is... you still loved wearing it and looked forward to the experience. There's an indescribable feeling that many of us who spent our Halloweens in those outfits have. Despite the worn out jokes and odd complaints, they were pure love. There's a reason these Neca figures are so popular with a certain segment of people. For those of us who worn them, they're a bit of magic that faded away around the same time as we got too old to wear them. It'd be great to see a Ben Cooper Stripe at my door this year, though I'll gladly give the droves of Minecraft kids the same amount of candy.

What should I be?

The opening music to Garfield's Halloween Adventure is burned into my memory they way a channel logo is on your TV. At any random moment, there it is... that flute followed by the screams of Blinky the Clown. I don't know how many times I've seen this special, but it doesn't matter. I'll watch it even more times. It's wonderful. This is another of my annual Halloween posts. It's tradition! The perfect Halloween night as experienced by our favorite lasagna addicted cat. It's all there. Deciding on a costume, carving a pumpkin, trick or treating, and even something scary! Perfection.

Witches Night

Last year I was pretty bummed. Witches Night Out had been bought up by some distributor and disappeared from all my streaming apps. Thankfully, it's now on Tubi, so it's easily watchable again! This is one of my favorite Halloween specials and it's admittedly pretty whacked out. I've posted it here every Halloween... but every season is someone's first. You've got some kids who are disappointed that their costumes didn't scare anyone and they meet a Witch who feels unwanted. Mayhem commences as the grown ups boring Halloween party gets a taste of the spooky shit! One thing that everyone notices is the solid colors the characters are represented in. I think first seeing this on Disney Channel made me make comparisons to Monsters in My Pocket and drew me in. Either way, it's pretty weird... and pretty great.

Halloweek: The Curse of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem

Good morning Zone Base readers, welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! It's that sacred time of year, Halloweek! This year's Halloweek is particularly special as Halloween is on a Friday! That means extra fun without worrying about getting up the next day! One of my favorite Halloweens was on a Friday. It was 1986 and I was in the 3rd grade. That year was a special one. Transformers the movie had came out just as school was starting and it was the Halloween that I was the Wolfman! Yes, that freaking Paas make up kit werewolf costume I've talked about a million times happened that fateful Halloween on a Friday night!

I'll never forget coming home that evening with my cousin, washing off the make up with a McDonald's sponge and watching Teen Wolf! The following day I picked up Masters of the Universe Rio Blast! I don't know what toy luck I'll be having this weekend, but whatever it is will be the last toys I buy for myself untill after Christmas. I've got plenty of stuff to talk about here on the site, but hey... how was your weekend?

Mine was great. The Mrs and I went to Five Below and Target Saturday morning. While there we got the last of our Trick or Treat goodies for the kids Friday night. The Mrs happily spent the weekend making treat bags for handing out to our lucky door knocking ghouls. At around 15lbs, we've got a lot to hand out! Candy, little toys, and lots of fun. Speaking of lots of fun, as tradition, the Mrs and I exchanged our annual Halloween gifts to each other. We like to do it before the actual day to enjoy the spooky season a little more.

The Mrs gave me mine in awesome Lego monster buckets! There was candy, Mad Balls, cool toys, a DVD of Witches Night Out, a new yokai book, and tons of love! As usual she included this years Halloween Star Wars Droid Factory droid. It's a fun little tradition of hers that I always look forward to. There were also some great skeleton figures in the bucket. They're in various colors and really neat with tons of articulation and fantasy weapons. I'll definitely be posting about them in the weeks to come. Afterwards we ordered Taco Bell for dinner and I carved the pumpkin!

Sunday morning meant another annual Halloween tradition of mine. I took a small roadtrip to the nearest Krispy Kreme for this years Halloween donuts! It's about an hour away and was a great time to enjoy the fall weather while listening to the radio. One station that usual has a b-side show on Sunday morning played spooky hits for the holiday. It's been a while since I've heard Echo and the Bunnymens version of People are Strange and a pretty good occasion to play it. The Mrs had breakfast (and she made one amazing dinner later) ready Sunday and I spent the day finishing that Flame Toys Furai Model Rodimus kit I've been working on the past few weekends. Please look forward to an upcoming post on it soon.

I also started a new game of Cave Story as I forgot where my last save left off. I didn't delete the old save though, just incase my memory returns. Yesterday was the start of the Halloween version of the game. Halloween and Christmas are observed in game and it's fun to see the familiar characters get a new seasonal look. Cave Story is a game I really do enjoy, I'm glad I've got it on my Switch. I've had it on multiple consoles, but damn I love the Switch!

Well, aside from the Halloween gifts from the Mrs, I also got some great toys. Target had the Godzilla Monster Series 5" Flaming Godzilla and Destoroyah! As for Transformers, they had Age of the Primes Minimus Prime, Venin/Venom, and Skydive! Target also had a great Circle deal on toys, so I save a little money thankfully. Well, as usual, I've got to do some household chores and take toy pictures for upcoming posts. It's also a nice rainy fall day, so I think one of those donuts with some coffee while enjoying the sounds outside and watching Gobots is in order. Have a great Halloweek Zone Base readers. Just a heads up, next Monday I'll be a little busy, so there won't be one of these Weekly Update posts. But don't worry, normally scheduled content is on the way! I hope everyone has a fun Halloween. Please feel free to check out my Instagram for updates from me. If you like what you see, give me a follow! Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please remember to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!

Who Spooked Rodney?

Rodney is a a big old fraidy cat. If there's a superstition, Rodney is scared of it. Which one begs to reason... why does he even go trick or treating? Or even to a haunted house? Does he just relish is pooping his pants or something? And what's up with that one kid while they're in the haunted house? Is he ok?

originally posted 10/26/23 

Royal Guard with Bogling (Halloween Edition) [Star Wars/The Black Series]

What's Halloween without a ghost or two haunting the holiday? To answer that, we've got one of this years holiday Star Wars items. A Target exclusive Halloween Edition Royal Guard member who was apparently a victim of the second Death Star explosion. As always, I manage to get a few holiday edition Star Wars toys each year. The Mrs usually gets me the Halloween Droid Factory toy in addition to whatever Halloween and Christmas items they have at stores. A few weeks ago, we picked this guy up at our local Target while excitedly checking out all the new spooky season merchandise. I don't think there's ever been a holiday edition Star Wars toy I haven't liked, but this one is particularly cool. The Royal Guard are usually seen standing by Emperor Palpatine in their striking red robes, keeping vigilant watch over the Supreme Leader of the Galactic Empire. This one must being watching over his throne in the wreckage as he's clearly passed on. Cast in white glow in the dark plastic *yay* and draped with a white glow in the dark *omg* cloth cloak is our ghostly guard.

I hadn't noticed before that the guards are wearing armor under those robes... but it makes sense that they would. From what I understand, this mold was originally released in 2017. I wouldn't be able to tell though as he's got all the articulation that I've come to expect from current 6" figures. As for accessories, our ghostly guard has a tiny little pistol and a staff. These are the ones Royal Guards commonly carry, so it makes sense that even in the after life he's got his gear. Did I mention they glow in the dark too? They do and it's wonderful *I'm going to explode*. The pistol stores inside a holster, but mine tended to fall out easily. So be careful not to loose yours. *mines safe* Completing the look is a skull face variation of the Royal Guard visor. Our ghastly guard is all set to haunt the wreckage of the Death Star. Hopefully whatever scavenger who decided to loot and pillage the remnants brought an extra pair of space pants.

Like most Black Series holiday editions there's a partner figure in the form of a little Bogling who has been turned into a goblin! The adorable little scamp is painted in green with red eyes. It may be hard to tell in my *obviously not professional* pics, but he's got a little pair of slightly different colored shorts. Of course with the name, I couldn't help but to think about Boglins... but that's a different little creature all together. Boglings are normally adorable little critters and this one's definitely a goblin up to all sorts of mischief in a galaxy far, far away. This is a great little set and I'm not sure if your Target has any left, but I'd advise you to get one if they do. Not only is it a great Halloween toy, but it's a fun version of a really well made Star Wars toy. The force is definitely with this ghost.

We Need To Talk About Safety AGAIN

I don't know who needs to hear this, but... Halloween is a dangerous holiday. When you've got all sorts of ghosts, and monsters, and demons just roaming around - things are bound to happen. Add in trick or treating and that's just one more thing that's going on. I swear I was going somewhere with that train of thought. Oh well, fuck it. It's a damn fucking dangerous holiday full of danger and fucking devils and all sorts of evil spooky shit and we fucking love it. That being said, to quote Okefenokee Joe, you've got to be swamp smart. Somebody put a needle in your Twix? Sorry to say, things like that are bound to happen. It's best you take in a safety tip or two before the big night. Trick or treat, you're dead meat.

originally posted 9/28/21 

Killing in the name of Milton Bradley

Scary board games are always fun during the spooky season (or any time), especially in the company of good people with a horror marathon going in the background. A particularly fun one is 13 Dead End Drive (or it's follow up, 1313 Dead End Drive). A game where you avoid getting murdered while committing murder. Honestly, it's the game I wanted Clue to be. There's something special about this commercial for the game from 1996. It's got to be hard to sell a game about murder to a family friendly audience. Playing it safe be damned, they outright killed a bunch of puppets on TV. Talk about truth in advertising.

The Boogeyman is coming for your Homeroom Teacher

I discovered this ad for a showing of Halloween 2 on the USA channel while remembering the old urban legends of the 'real' Michael Myers. These days kid call him Stanley Stiers lol, but in my day he was the escaped mental patient that comes out at Halloween to kill people. It may sound silly now, but he was the source of real terror for the kids in my neighborhood. I still remember a commercial for Halloween 4 airing while my brother and I were watching The New Leave it to Beaver.

Immediately after the commercial was over, my brother told me about the real killer attacked his home room teachers friends when he was in school. Yikes! This commercial is fun as it's another airing of Halloween 2 on Halloween Night (2 and 3 usually together) with the same set of clips from the movie. Though USA did something I've always appreciated, they added their own homemade flair. This time in the form of an animated pumpkin. In today's age of streaming fast channel apps, little things like a TV station making low budget commercials from media package clips full of charm feels like a Mandela Effect. But it happened, and it was glorious.