Leo X Godzilla [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Godzilla]

Rounding out the first wave of figures in the awesome TMNT X Godzilla line from Playmates is Leo X Godzilla. Pairing the Turtles’ leader (regardless of what Raphael says) with the King of the Monsters, and utilizing Leonardo’s signature blue alongside Godzilla’s atomic breath, just feels natural.

The blue flames on his katana combine the two characters’ signature weapon/attack perfectly, and it just looks fantastic.

I’ve made the comparison before, but I really feel the need to make it again — these feel more like designer toys than action figures you can just pick up at Target.

After this year, Mattel will be taking over mainline TMNT action figures, and thanks to Turtles of Grayskull, I know they’ll be in good hands. This crossover feels like an excellent finale to Playmates Toys TMNT for me, as I’ve been buying them since I was a kid in the late ’80s.

Once again, the figure has excellent articulation and sculpted detail. It’s pretty amazing just how well the melding of Godzilla with the TMNT aesthetic works. I really like the way his tail and back plates integrate with the turtle shell.

Part of me wishes they’d do a Gamera. Now that I’ve said that, I really want one.

Unfortunately, this is the last TMNT X Godzilla figure we’ll be looking at for a while, as wave 2 isn’t due out until this fall.

Michelangelo [Turtles of Grayskull]

Mikey may be a party dude with pizza on his mind, but he has a new purpose: be the Most Powerful Turtle in the Universe. He grabs a blonde wig and begins emulating Eternia’s greatest warrior, He-Man.

I've probably mentioned it before here on the site, but Michelangelo is my favorite of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I've also mentioned before that the late 80's/early 90's incarnation of TMNT is my favorite. That being said, my specifically favorite version of Michelangelo is perfect for an adventure on Eternia. Not because I particularly prefer him... he just fits. Perfectly.

After meeting the MOTU gang, Michelangelo decided he wanted to be just like He-Man. So here he is dressed just like him, yellow wig and all. Neatly enough, he kinda resembles Flying Fists He-Man in this armor (the colors are off, but the idea is there) and his nunchucks could be considered similar to the spinning weapons that version of He-Man used. Michelangelo's turtle shell can become a shield like all the other turtles, but I wish it had some sort of spinner on it as well. Just to play into that some more. There was the Rock 'N Roll Michelangelo figure from the original turtle line that had a spinning hand. Of course his nunchucks were the ideal weapon for that gimmick, but he also had a shield that worked well with it. That's where my mind is going with this guy. Of course the similarity might not have been intentional. Regardless, this is another excellent figure in an awesome line. The wig is removable in case that's too silly... but that's why I like it there.

Krang [Turtles of Grayskull]

A mad science experiment gone wrong, Krang has crossed the dimensions and found himself in Eternia in a faster, stronger Megatroid android body, seeking to obtain the Power of Grayskull!

It's time we look at the larger deluxe figures from Turtles of Grayskull and no better character to do so that Krang! That evil alien from Dimension X has invaded Eternia and has teamed up with Megator to serve as his robot body! This is a really cool and unique figure. I've been praising this line non-stop for it's creativity and Krang really is an example of why. TMNT characters in Turtles of Grayskull are given a nice MOTU flavoring, in Krang's case it's his android body. Megator, the Evil Warriors giant has been given cybernetic improvements turning him into Megatroid!

Megatroid serves both as a stand alone figure and a body for Krang. Taking advantage of MOTU Origin's use of modular joints, an extra mid-section can be added to Megatroid which houses Krang! This gives Krang's traditional android body a complete MOTU make over in a cool and imaginative way. Not just cosmetic, but fully combining him with another character! Megatroid comes with an axe and morning star weapons that replace his hands which further melds him with the android body visually. Like other MOTU Origins toys, this figure is VERY articulated. Origins figures are pretty solid, but this is one hefty figure. It's size and weight in hand is incredibly satisfying. I've been saying that these feel like designer toys and I mean it. Krang doesn't feel like a toy I bought at Walmart (and is exclusive to Walmart as I understand) and more like something I'd find in a fancy glass case for way more than his relatively low retail price ($24.86). This may be the most impressive Turtles of Grayskull figure yet!

Leonardo (Mutant Mayhem)

We're at the end of our look at the new TMNT team from the Mutant Mayhem toy line. Since the past few posts used stock imagery, I figured I'd go out using it again. Go figure Michelangelo would be the uncouth one. Leonardo is the most disciplined of the bunch, which is why he's the leader and at odds with Raphael the majority of the time. While he's not as fun as Michelangelo (my favorite), I often find myself playing Leonardo in various TMNT video games. There's no denying his abilities when it comes to kicking shell and who doesn't like a good sword fighter? Like the three before him, Leonardo is very well articulated and full of character. He has a Charlie Brown-ish sly smile sculpted into his face.

This is displaying of little arrogance is something a teenage ninja would obviously have. His weapons, like Raphael, come cast in a silver plastic. I don't know if it was a conscious decision to make the more serious of the team share a set of colors, or just a group molding coincidence. Of course Leo has his trademark twin katana and a baby turtle. His weapon rack has a throwing star, slice of pizza (absolutely love this), and a canister of ooze. To fit his personality better, there's also some dirks and a familiar looking dagger. I'm quite happy with this set of turtles even though I've yet to see the new movie (waiting for streaming). They're surprisingly quality action figures with lots of articulation, lots of accessories, and tons of character. For $10 each... that's pretty radical.

Raphael (Mutant Mayhem)

My newest TMNT figure from the Mutant Mayhem line is Raphael. I've always loved his always angry character. Normally the group is recognized for being goofballs when the focal point is often between Raphael and Leonardo bumping heads. Like the two before him, Raphael is well articulated and full of character. His trademark grimace is topped of with his mask worn more like a bandanna as it often is. 

As you'd expect, he comes with his trademark pair of sai. Also included is his the weapon rack like the others and a baby turtle. This rack comes cast in silver plastic for some nice variety. There's a can of ooze, throwing stars, and a slice of pizza as in the other racks. There's also a pair of hook swords and a dirk to give Raphael something extra in a fight. I like the contrast between the sillier turtles and the more serious ones that starts here with Raphael. I didn't have time to get a regular picture of him either, but I doubt you mind the stock imagery. We just have Leonardo to go and I'm looking forward to completing the set.

Donatello (Mutant Mayhem)

Getting back on my look at Mutant Mayhem toys is Donatello. Before I go any further, I'm using stock photography. I wasn't happy with my normal picture for this post and haven't had time to take a new one. Donatello is my wife's favorite of the TMNT... and seemingly everyone else's. I get it, he's the smart one that comes up with all their neat gadgets. With a group of 4 fighters, an additionally smart guy is very appreciated. Donatello has a similar base body as Michelangelo did, however with a few differences. His glasses and sling bag with smart phone hanging out is a great touch. Once again, he's a teenager and the smart guy. There's a set of headphones so he can listen to some beats on that smart phone. I love these little extra touches in this line. Of course Donatello has his bo staff, but the additional tree of weapons includes a spear and 3 sectional staff which are great variations of a bo staff that I could see him using in a fight. Then there's the throwing star, can of ooze, baby turtle, and slice of pizza (love) that seems to be standard with this team. I really appreciate the solid action figure with plentiful articulation and characterful design coming with so many accessories for a low price ($10). Donatello doesn't disappoint and has me looking forward to my next toy in this set.

Michelangelo (Mutant Mayhem)

 

It's been too long since I've taken a look at the TMNT here on the site. My fandom of such is mainly focused on the 80's/90's incarnations, so these new toys from the Mutant Mayhem movie are strongly resounding with my senses. So far I've been having fun with the various frozen pizzas, breakfast cereal, and oddball candies available from the movie. However I couldn't resist these cool new figures from Playmates. My plan of buying one a week has started with my favorite of the turtles, Michelangelo.

Michelangelo is hard not to like. Pleasantly articulated and that big goofy grin brings him to life. I admittedly like Mutant Mayhem's attempt at making the turtles look like kids. Always have felt like they looked like adults, despite being teenagers. This is clearly a 15 year old getting himself into an adventure. Like the turtle toys of old, Michelangelo comes with a bit of extra weapons in addition to his trademark nunchuks. I especially like the slice of pizza, it feels more important than the throwing stars. Cutely enough, the figures come with normal turtle toys of themselves prior to mutation. That's a fun touch. One toy in, I'm loving this new set.

Bootleg TMNT Halloween Costumes On Prime Time News

I couldn't even come up with a jokey title for today's post. The subject alone man... Lets go back 30 years ago to a world where the first TMNT movie had came out recently and every kid wanted to be Raphael for Halloween. What's a costume shop owner to do? Order some name brand costumes like Walmart has? Nah, put a bandanna on a generic turtle mask and sell it with some green sweat pants. $20 kid, we got all dem turtles. Who ya wanna be? Donald, Lionel?

Bootleg costumes aren't anything new, but when they make the evening news... that's kind of awesome. I miss when local news did stuff like this. 1990 was my first year not going trick or treating. I wore some random make up and weird sheet robe thing my Mom forced upon me to school. Then it was Pizza Hut and staying up all night. The kids at my school were big enough jerks about my non-Pump Reeboks, I can only imagine showing up in one of those turtle outfits. Fast forward to adulthood and I'd win best costume.

Teenage Dollar Store Turtles

I sure do enjoy me some TMNT, but it can be a complicated thing to enjoy. Multiple versions, things change, I change. I've admittedly went back and forth between which version of the turtles I prefer at the moment. I generally hover between the original cartoon, the original comic, and the original movies. I do like the newer cartoons/movies, just not as much as the ones I listed first. It's just a preference.

I don't have to explain to regular readers my love of mini figures or discount stores, but if you're new, I love them. For some time I was eyeing a set of TMNT mini figures at Family Dollar for around $6. That'd get you a turtle and another character toy. The turtle was a pretty good approximation of the original Playmates figures and I wanted them pretty bad. However the other figure were based on newer figures and frankly the sculpts didn't do it for me. Not that they were terrible, it was just jarring enough for me to not want to spend the $24 for all 4 turtles when half the package I had no urge to own. Recently they've been refreshing the sets with newer figures based on the Nickelodeon cgi series.

The cgi series isn't bad and tends to homage itself more on the original cartoon. So these new mini figures from it make for a good set of turtles I'd like, but once again, they come with those other figures. The Dollar Tree, tends to feed my blind bag toy and mini figure hunger on frequent visits and for not a lot of money. I'd like to take a second to explain I just misspelled 'and' and my efforts to correct it resulted in many more misspellings. Fuck you 'and'.

The Dollar Tree had the newer figures individually packaged for a dollar each (it's kinda their gimmick) and talk about an easy sell. I really wish the set I was speaking about earlier was available for the same, but I'll gladly take these little guys. They're simple little figurines of the turtles with basic paint jobs in 'action' poses. Kinda look like something I would have gotten in a box of cereal and now I wish I would have. Because that would have completed the set going in blind. Achievements would have been unlocked.

If the boxes in the background didn't serve as a clue in addition to my multiple mentions, I'm moving. My current plan for these little guys is sticking them next to my micro consoles in the new Zone Base headquarters. Or maybe next to the little keyboard tablet set up that'll go in that room somewhere. They're just the right little thing for such a set up. Cowabunga indeed.

Lame Club

When I was in middle school, a few friends and I had a LCD handheld gaming circle going on. Before I go any further, I'll remind you of just how cool I am. That would be not at all, you've read this site before right? While they were far cheaper than a Gameboy (which we'd all get later), the little things were still just pricey enough to not get a new one often. Swapping them with each other over a weekend worked out pretty well.

I'll let you borrow my TMNT 2 this weekend if I can borrow your Double Dragon. Hey, I got Terminator if you wanna play it and I can play your Sonic. That sort of thing. Nobody wanted to play anybody else's Radio Shack games.

Of course as I noted just above, we all eventually got Gameboys and left LCD games behind. Lately I've been watching old commercials for these games. A little nostalgia kicking in mixed with appreciating the things that made them fun I guess. Ever have those moments when the world works in tandem with exactly what you were thinking? Weird huh? Hasbro announced plans to reissue several Tiger Handhelds soon. That's pretty dang cool. I'll definitely get the Transformers one. I don't think I ever saw it at any stores when it was initially out. I might get some of the others. Admittedly I'll be doing this for the novelty of getting them again more than anything else. I've certainly moved past the game play style they offered, but not past appreciating them.

New Years Day with Godzilla... and Michelangelo

Happy New Year! I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday and if your like me, taking in a little bit of the king today! Though I really wish I was watching this marathon! I mean... Michelangelo? Why the hell not, let's have some pizza and bring in 2020! Here in the south, it's considered good luck to eat some kind of greens on New Years Day. The green symbolizes money and accordingly eating greens on New Years Day will result in having money throughout the year! Godzilla and Michelangelo are green and we're ingesting them with our eyes. So hey, good times ahead right? Well, at least while the marathon is on.

Machine Robo Battle Armor 5 is my band name

I've posted this before, but as is the nature of sharing video clips from the internet, sometimes they disappear leaving a post with a grey box where a video should be. Shit happens I guess, but it gives me another chance to share this really cool long form animated commercial for Battle Armor 5. Battle Armor 5 is what GoBots fans know as Courageous and Grungy. Or as Zone Base readers know as Our Friend Power 5.

Creepy Bug Freaks

I've made mention before of my fondness for insect based toys. I have no clue why I like them as much as I do, but I do. Maybe it's the way the insect parts resemble armor or work out in the design. Who knows? If I think too hard about it, I'll still get nowhere but bore everybody who'd rather me just get to the point. So for clarification, bug based toy/characters are good. Bugs in real life, I'm probably going to pummel with a flip flop while yelling to the heavens. Looking at the newest series of Kabuto Mushi toys has gotten me thinking about the creepy crawlies and that's a fun thing.

 

The Insecticons always come to mind when thinking about bug folks, and while I've focused on their Diaclone and Beetras roots, the various insect Transformers that came since were pretty damn great also. Beast Wars had some great bug bots (particularly fond of Transmetal 2 Scarem). Insecticon from Energon was also a really good bug bot. It's hard not to like an insect robot from space.

Earlier I was thinking about Baxter Stockman from TMNT. Despite the weird changes they made to his appearance at the time, the 80's/90's cartoon version remains my favorite. That mad scientist changed into a fly monster is awesome. It's classic horror in a cartoon, good design for a toy, and solid boss character in a game.

Insects just work in sci fi and fantasy. There's not really denying that. They can be gross or high tech. In a swarm or as an individual. Bugs are great... unless one is on my car. Then I'll have to buy another one.

Toylanta 2019

It's time again for the greatest toy show in the world, Toylanta! I'll be attending all weekend and will be updating this post each night, so be sure to check back throughout the weekend! Also, be sure to check out my Instagram as I'll be updating it more frequently throughout the weekend from the show!

Friday Report

After the wife got home from work, we ate Publix subs and went to the show.  Traffic was pretty bad and we got there a little later than wanted. Early dealer room sales was wrapping up as we got in and got badges. Met up with Shawn in the lobby whom giffted me a New Age Toys Bugbite! We looked around some of the dioramas  and the lobby swap before the State of the Hobby panel. During so I grabbed a Gobots Tanks figure for $5.

The dioramas included an epic World War Z scene, an SS Flagg decked out with Night Force vehicles, and a large recreation of the Death Star trench run. The Death Star was seemingly made with all sorts of containers and random things like WD-40 lids and egg cartons. Really neat.

After the panel more talking was had in the lobby before the wife and I departed for the night. We stopped by Walmart for a few things and I grabbed a Gears for Shawn who hasn't been able to find one. Friday night at the shown is mainly a social night and it sure is fun to take it in.

Saturday Report

After a good nights sleep and a great breakfast, we got to the show around 10am. The line was still insane even by 10. Fortunately, I already had my badge and we went in. Man, the dealer selection this year is great. A giant variety of different things. Lots of indie toy guys, which I love. I buy toys all year long, so when I go to a con I prefer to find the more oddball stuff that won't be at Walmart. Nothing like a glow in the dark Storm Trooper with a cat head to sell that point!

One of the indie toy groups had a vending machine full of their own merchandise. I sunk about 2$ into it and got one of his Chewie Rolos (a plastic Rolo with a Kenner Chewbacca face) and a bunch of his pins. Another dealer has a free bin and I walked away with a Whispering Willie and a 2$ Ultraman figure. One guy who always has a good booth had a Waduros. I'm still debating on pulling the trigger on it. It's not complete, but so hard to ignore.

A dealer who had some Battle Beasts informed Shawn that he'd be setting up more for Sunday. So needless to say the heat is on! Fun was had and the wife and I got lunch at the hotel restaurant. Holy crap they had amazing food. The absolute best salmon burger I've ever had.

Afterwards we went to the panel room for the Kenner Designer panel. That was amazing. Apparently the Kenner designer created the Jurassic Park logo while coming up with stickers for the lines vehicles. During the product pitch Spielberg loved the sticker so much he made it the logo for the movie. Not long after that wrapped up was Dusty and me for the Transformers panel. We had a good crowd that made for a fun panel.

As our panel ended, the dealers room was closing. We found our way to the lobby for the parachute drop, which was as crazy as ever. Someone had begun throwing a toy plane from the balconies which became a slighty dangerous situation every so often. We talked ghosts a little before checking out a few room sales parties. Pretty fun, but the last one we went to had the best selection of stuff and stunk heavily of poots.

The wife and I headed after a fun day of the show for some rest. Toylanta is a great con and this year is going down in the top years.

Sunday Report

Aftet hibernating all night and a great breakfast, I got to the show around 10:30am (the wife stayed home) after a stop for a can of Java Monster (was momentarily confused that I gave the casheir too much money, fortunately was wrong ). I lucked up and got a front row parking spot (a first) and went right on in and right to the guy who was bringing more Battle Beasts and he didn't. Dammit. Spent some quarters in another indie toy guys vending machine and came out great! Got a tiny Gameboy cartridge, a tiny NES controller, amd a glow in the dark little bear. I bought a great Necronomicon as well. Found Shawn and we worked our way through dealers.

Sunday is the day for deals as everyone is packing up. Scored a non-transforming Galaxy Megazord I'd been eyeing all weekend for 7$. I don't have any real attachment to that Megazord, but it was such a nice looking robot that there was no resistance. One dealer that always has stickers and  buttons at the shows booth is a tradition of mine and I made a point to stop by.

Shawn and I sat down and chatted for a while before deciding to take one more walk around the dealers room. I hoped to get a better price on that Wauduros, but no luck. It was just too incomplete for the price sadly. Battle Beast selection was slim with most dealers having a handful a little over priced, which was a shame, but there's always later opportunities for better luck.

Didn't buy any Transformers, which was ok as I buy them all year long. Fortunately there was ample amounts of them there for those who were looking for a particular toy. One dealer had a great display of a few prototypes though. A Fall of Cybertron Kickback and Starscream was in that case for viewing.  I had a hard time pulling the trigger on some Rocklords. They were in great condition, I just think I'll be able to find some later cheaper. Problem with so many dealers is you have so many options that it can be overwhelming. No the worst problem to have at a con ;)

We struck up a Zoids conversation with some dealers that went longer than I realized (and somebody didn't adjust his watch for DST) and before long it was time to go (we had our grocery pickup scheduled for 4pm). Said my goodbyes to Shawn and said goodbye to Toylanta for another year. Next year will be at a different location, so it's kinda a bittersweet ending to a great con this year (I like the location). Though a roomier dealer space would be nice.

This years show was a great time and just what I've been needing after a few hard weeks at work (even had an earache all weekend, thank God for ear drops). While some of the things I hoped to find didn't happen (my favorite dealer didn't have  anything I wanted in his infinite baskets of neatness... a first), I still got some great things and just had a great time. Which is exactly what I wanted.

Haul:
New Age Toys Critter gifted by Shawn
Tank Gobot
Whispering Willie Corps! figure (free!)
Large Ultraman sofubi
Stool Sample (3D printed stools in a biohazard baggie give  to me by an indie toy guy)
1 'Chewie' Rolo and assorted  buttons from one indie toy guys capsule machine
Gameboy cartridge, NES controller, and glow in the dark bear from another indie toy guys capsule machine.
'Summer reading club' Necronomicon from same indie toy guy as the video game toys and stool sample
Galaxy Megazord figure
Two translucent Godzilla minifigures in red and blue
A Soundwave holding Blaster ala 'Say Anything' sticker
Sheet of Toyhax symbol stickers gifted by Dusty,

Our Friend Power 5 (1989)

I've been a lot busier in the past few days than I'd like to be. Times like these call for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles piloting Courageous the Gobot in another Korean movie of dubious legalities.

TMNT Deck The Halls

Mutant Turtles: Choujin Densetsu-hen intro

I love TMNT, but admittedly I love it in my own way. I love what's refereed to as the 80's cartoon (the casual naming of this gets in my crawl a bit as it was more of a early 90's thing that started in the late 80's, but whatever). I love the older video games by Konami. I love the older movies. Love the Mirage comics, still have my copy of the old RPG book. The newer stuff, sure, it's ok. I don't hate it, just I like TMNT my way. Fair enough right? When I buy newer TMNT toys, it's usually mini fig type deals and frankly, I'm happy. Sure I bought a ton of the older toys back then, but that was back then.

One thing I've always enjoyed ever since learning about it in college was this awesome OVA for Japanese audiences where the Turtles go a sentai route. Sure, it's crazy to us Americans who are used to our more traditional TMNT, but there's no denying it's charm. Specially if you have tastes like myself. When I mentioned the older Playmates toys, I wasn't kidding. I had a ton (there still in my mom's garage). I always particularly loved the crazy variations of all the turtles. So when I learned of this, first I was amazed. Second I was jealous that I never got the toys. Third... man, I wish this would have happened here. I mean, sure, it probably wouldn't have went over so well... but honestly... I'm only considering my own enjoyment here. I would have loved that.

What the heck did I do this weekend?

 

Honestly, not a whole lot. Though it did seem like quite a bit. Perspective is everything I assume, and I was tired when I got home so I say a lot. After sleeping off my work night, the wife and I went out for a bit of shopping Saturday. Normally we order our groceries and schedule a pick up time, but this week we decided to physically shop for them. We do this occasionally just to see what all new might be in the store. We also wanted to get out for awhile to look for new Halloween stock and with the short week from labor Day, we didn't feel like doing our normal order list throughout the week.

Friday, the wife stopped at Kroger and found the remaining Mega Construx Heroes series 3 figures I had been needing. So far I had only found the T-1000 and was starting to feel a bit hopeless on it. I know that's some strong working, but I really didn't want to order figures that I should be easily able to find. Partially because the price gets jacked up and second the availability isn't always there. So if you're like me (and you're reading this, so presumably so) it's a bummer to miss out on stuff sometimes. I've been really enjoying this series, not buying everything... but close to it. Series 4 (post regarding it coming soon) has some good looking options in it, so I'm hoping it's easier to find.

Saturday when we went out to see what all Halloween stuff might be out and do that grocery thing I talked about above, we stopped by Target and they had restocked the Cyberverse toys so I snapped up the Scout Starscream and Megatron. I'm enjoying these Scout class dudes (as I've said before and before and maybe again before) and they're easy enough to collect. Though, it is a hard pill to swallow them being $8 considering a Legend was $10. Though, the toy economy is always changing and as I always say, you gotta pay if you want to play. I'm looking forward to the crazy recolors in the future. That's the kind of thing that really makes these smaller toys fun.

I had mentioned Zombot Friday night and found one right off the bat in the Hot Wheel section at the same Target. He was so under my nose this entire time that he was just right there on the hook as I walked up. Weird. I got the blue one, looked as hard as I could for the red version, but that wasn't in the cards (he's a chase item). I also grabbed this rad x-ray truck, it just looked too cool to pass up. We bought more Halloween candy than we should and a stop by Kroger to peruse their Halloween merch left to a new blow mold to go with out others and then a disappointing trip to Home Goods. Starting to think that store sucks.

This left us with a quick lunch and a few hours at Walmart for groceries and their awesome Halloween section where we once again bought too much (and made of list to get next weekend) stuff. Walmart had the Evil Red Ranger figure I've been looking for the past few weeks and for that I was happy. Aside from hoping to get the Bullrider Megazord sooner or later, that's probably it from Ninja Steel for me. Just one more stepping stone towards Beast Morphers! The Evil Red Ranger was pretty cool to me as I thought the Ranger clone army from the 25th special was really neat. Not to mention, I'm mainly a fan of MMPR first, so a evil version of the Tyranno Ranger is right in my wheelhouse. Right in it. Nothing but net.

I won't bore you with what we got for groceries (ok fine, we got bacon for Sunday breakfast) but we pretty much did that before going home. We tend to spend our Saturday nights at home watching spooky stuff and try our best to relax on Sundays. Just to get that recharge in before the work week. Oh, and Sunday night the first episode of Transform Squadron went up. That's the new podcast of Zone Base. Yep, that's it. I plan to have one at least once a month. Hopefully you all like it!

Save the date!

Giving the Islands a new Adventure

It's another Rob imagines Universal Studios stuff post

As my readers know, I love me some Universal Studios Orlando. I'm regularly dreaming up fantasy situations for the park and while I've been having a ball doing it, I feel quite bad that I've ignored Islands of Adventure, the other park on the resort that's really awesome in it's own right. Islands has the awesome Hogsmeade from Harry Potter, a great Jurassic Park area, and that extremely rad new Skull Island. While I certainly love the other areas, the subject of how to reinvigorate them comes up often in various circle and I've put my noggin to use figuring out how to work with some of the other Islands. But, keeping with my sense of economy, I tried to figure out how to do it without sacrificing too much of the great stuff that's already there.

Just picture it

Everyone speculates that the Lost Continent is on the chopping block. Personally, I think the area (what's left of it post Harry Potter) is a really pretty landscape that just could use some sprucing up. With the new Super Nintendo Land coming to Universal Studios, it would be a good use of that license to adapt The Legend of Zelda to the land. Some costume changes here, some decoration changes there. Maybe something extra over there, and it pretty much does itself. Poseidon's Fury could get retrofitted with a new show inside with some of the facade redone to sell the show as a temple or dungeon experience. Mythos just could use a few touches. People complain about the Sinbad show, welp, let's do a new Zelda show in the theater. I honestly think just a little fine tuning, a little re-theming, and a little new bits and bobs and this area could be given a new life that would probably be a hit.

They've already got park history

Folks regularly say Toon Lagoon is also on the chopping block. While I dig the Newspaper comic pages characters, I could see where it could be lost on another person. How about Nickelodeon characters? The water rides could be re-themed to Sponge Bob (he already has a store at Studios!) and I could easily see the stores be re-fronted as newer Nickelodeon characters. Maybe work that boat ride into a multi character ride.

This would be awesome

I think Marvel Island is completely awesome. I'm a big fan of the overall 90's comic vibe and think the Spider-Man ride is amazing. That being said, Disney own's Marvel and it's created a weird situation that many wonder will eventually result in Marvel Island getting removed sooner or later. Going with that trail of thought and working with the fact that Marvel Island already kinda bleeds into Toon Lagoon, what if it became a TMNT/Power Rangers section? TMNT is already owned by Nickolodeon and Power Rangers has been airing on the channel for about 7 years now. That great city facade would lend itself into both quite well. I could see Spider-Man's ride system redone as a new TMNT ride. The Hulk repainted into a Power Rangers coaster (the roar could be the Dragonzord). Doctor Doom and Storm Force is a free fall and tea cups ride respectively that also could be realistically re-themed to the characters.

I know I'm just shooting from the hip as an arm chair quarterback. I have no real knowledge of how these things work past a fans general knowledge. But I see opportunities and things I'd think would be really fun. Not to mention, I kinda really like that park.

Don't look at me like that.