Sweet Biohazard

Summer is a Spooky Season.

The Wolfman [ReAction/Monsters of the Silver Screen]

I've heard folks say that The Wolfman is the Boba Fett of the Universal Monsters/Dark Universe crew. I'm inclined to agree, though I'd argue it's more like Din Djarin. He's introduced as more of a tragic character. Gets bitten by a werewolf who's attacking his date's friend. Turns into a monster at night and murders innocent people against his will and much to his horror. Tries to tell people, but everyone, including his father, thinks he's crazy. Later is killed by his own father, who now see's his son was telling the truth.

Returns from the grave multiple times. Unable to die thanks to the werewolf curse and in his further adventures with the other monsters is more of an anti-hero role. Ultimately the Wolfman tries to thwart their misdeeds, even though he can't control his own actions. Often old monster movies can be cheesy, but The Wolfman's emotional punch is still there after 84 years. I've probably mentioned the time I was The Wolfman way too many times than anyone cares. So it's probably obvious why I waited until Halloween to talk about this toy.

As a standard Reaction toy, The Wolfman is a 3 3/4" action figure in the style of older toys. Mostly inspired by the Kenner Star Wars series from the 70's -80's, but also like others of the time. The Remco Mini Monsters for example. Those would be the most obvious comparison point here. The Monsters of the Silver Screen blind box series features the toys in black and white colors to match their appearances in those movies. Larry looks really good. His sculpt is out of an old Kenner or Remco design book spiritually.

He features 5 points of articulation in the obvious spots and some fun sculpting. Hands are open to have claws ready to strike and his legs are slightly bent in conjunction with his wolf feet. Mirroring the wolf that he has become. Even with his limited articulation, he's pretty expressive. He can creep up on a victim, howl at the moon, or just stand on your desk next to that little cup where you keep your pens. Super7 has released a bunch of different variations of this figure, but there's a charm to this black and white version.

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

The Mummy [ReAction/Monsters of the Silver Screen]

It was the monster figures that first caught my attention when Super7 started their ReAction figure line a good decade or so ago. I was quickly hooked and have been buying the old school style figures ever since. Their Monsters of the Silver Screen blind box series features Universal Monsters in black and white colors similar to how they appeared in those classic movies. Obviously, I'm a fan. Today we'll be looking at The Mummy. This figure represents Boris Karloff's portrayal of Imhotep, who was also played by Arnold Vosloo in the popular newer moves. Well, the ones that started in 1999.

That is technically newer than the focal point today. That movie came out in 1932, which was 93 years ago. Honestly, I prefer Kharis over Imhotep. He's The Mummy in all the sequels and is the stereotypical Mummy you think of regarding the monster. Imhotep spends most of his movies rejuvenated and is only in the traditional look in fleeting moments. When I was very young, my brother and I had Remco Monsters that got played with a lot. My brother had The Mummy and I had Frankenstein's Monster.

They glowed in the dark and had a terrifying grabbing gimmick when a button on their back was pushed. A little later on, my Dad acquired a sale boat model that went on display in our living room. I don't know why, but The Mummy and Frankenstein became the permanent passengers of that boat. Come to our house, watch TV in the living room, and be amazed by our boar piloted by monsters dammit. I've got multiples of these ReAction versions of the monsters, this one is in black and white... like the movie.

Frankentron [Universal Monsters x Transformers]

Like Draculus before, I was super excited when Frankentron was announced and pre-ordered one right away. The Universal Monsters have been a life long fandom of mine and having them Crossover with Transformers is just pure bliss. If you would have told the small child version of myself always toting his Remco Frankenstein Monster around that one day there would be a Transformers version of it... well, you'd have one happy little boy. Frankentron is a pretty heavy remold of the Siege Impactor toy with several new parts. I really liked Impactor and think it was a good choice for a base mold. His blocky yet well articulated design really lends itself to the classic Frankenstein Monster look. Let's talk about the new parts. Frankentron has open palm hands perfect for classic lumbering poses. Then there's his new chest that looks like a bare chested monster.

Of course there's the new head with that signature flat top. It's really a great robotic take on the classic Jack Pierce design. Last, but certainly not least is the new Tesla Coil weapon with electricity effect. This serves as the monsters tank cannon, or a weapon in robot mode. It has a cool burst of purple energy that can be attached for an attack effect. I like to pose it upwards in robot mode with the intention of generation energy for the creature to use in a rampage. Transformation is pretty easy. Aside from folding a few parts here and there, Frankentron basically folds over in a 'touch your toes' position. Those few parts I mentioned fold into place and with that Tesla Coil weapon inserted you've got one wild Cybertronian Tank that shoots electricity. It's as though Dr. Frankenstin developed a Maser Tank. After Draculus I wasn't expecting another Universal Monster to get the Transformers treatment and they made a really great figure. I hope the rest of the monsters find their way to Cybertron. Happy Halloween!

Super Mario Bros (2023)

I finally got a chance to see Super Mario Bros after a busy few weeks. Thankfully the Mrs suprised me with tickets. As a big fan of Super Mario games, this was an absolute love letter. While some folks complained about the voice actor choices, I didn't mind the acting whatsoever. It was a joy to see the world from the games come alive on the big screen. There was plenty of easter eggs placed among the non-stop moving world filled with Nintendo. I frankly was disappointed when it ended, fortunately the end credits were full of additional fun. I'm not giving away any spoilers and have nothing but love for what I just watched. I can only wish other adaptations of beloved properties would be this good.

Super Mini World

One cool thing about big movies is all the cool media mix that comes with it. Well, for me anyway. The new animated Super Mario Bros. movie is a pretty cool example of this. There's all sorts of fun goodies and toys available, but so far my favorite is the Mini World toys that I'll be talking about today. I've been buying the Super Mario Micro World and PVC toys by Jakks Pacific for years now. They make a solid product that really brings the characters to life in a fun way. Micro World was a great keshi style mini figure line with great play sets that didn't take up a lot of room. Mini World is close to that same idea, but with articulated figures and cool transformable play sets. It's a small difference, but a fun one. I haven't tried it yet, but I do think they're cross compatible as well. Just maybe a hair off in scale. So if you've got some Micro World stuff, you could probably incorporate it.

On the subject of Mini World, like I said the figures are articulated. Not as much as the larger figures from the movie by any stretch, just a little bit. Arms move at the shoulders, it's basic, Usually this style of toy is very basic... if it's your thing... you're digging it. These are new sculpts to match the characters as they appear in the movie, but still 100% faithful to the characters as you know them. Realistically, I can see these appearing in newer packaging in years to come. They're just right for a blind bag at Five Below or in a gashapon capsule. Seeing as I've been buying Micro World figures via blind bag at Five Below for the past few years... it'd be something I'd be all for. 

The transformable play sets are pretty neat as well. Individual figures come of cards with a basic play set. This play set comes as the blocks you're used to seeing in Super Mario Bros. video games and open up to reveal a simple little place for your figure to have an adventure in. So far there is two larger play sets available. The Mario Bros. van (they're plumbers after all) unfolds into multiple areas based on settings from the games and movie. Personally I'm all about this van thanks to the cool teaser set as a commercial for the Bros plumbing service. You'll notice a familiar tune and the original voice of Princess Toadstool (before we started calling her Peach here in the states) voice from the classic cartoon.

The other play set is a larger one of Princess Peach's castle. Even if you take issue with the new movie for one reason or another... it's still a pretty faithful representation of her castle from the games. All I see when I look at it is Super Mario 64. It's a pretty large unfolding play set as well. I really hope more figures come along, because you'd need more than whats out currently to fill that thing with. I guess those Micro World toys would work. I'm pretty positive about these cool toys... as you can see. I'd hope for more games to get realized in this format (I could see Ghouls N' Ghosts easily working).

Master the New Week

It's a new week here on Planet Zone and dang that weekend went by too fast! Friday the Mrs found some Rise of the Beasts stuff for me, followed up with us finding more Saturday. That's in addition to picking up Legacy Metalhawk and Bomb-Burst. We got quite a lot, it was exciting. Thanks to Beast Alliance toys having an actual fair price, I got a lot. Prices are getting out of hand. That's another plus to the awesome Beast Alliance line. 

Sunday we went to a family dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse that turned out to be a bad decision. We eat there regularly, but always take out. It was over crowded and our party was shoved into a booth just a little too small. Welp, not eating inside there any longer. Take out only. The rest of the day was fine back at mom's place, but dang that was an uncomfortable dinner. Earlier we had stopped at Pop Shelf and I grabbed some blind bag clip figures based on Universal Studios horror movies that weren't their classic monsters. 

We got figure versions of Chucky in his Good Guys box and the They Live poster. I also got a Transformers blind bag labled as a wacky walker, but was a straight up articulated keshi. I got Megatron. Don't recall any news sites reporting these, but considering they aren't expensive figures from sponsors, no surprise. There's an Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and Soundwave in the series too. Think I'll try to get more. They're neat. I like Pop Shelf, need to go there more often.

I worked in a play through of Aliens vs Predator (the Capcom Arcade game) and a little Drill Dozer on GBA. I wish I had more weekend, but I guess if they went on forever they wouldn't be as special. That's bs, I'd be happy. Thanks everyone for reading Zone Base. I've got a fun week in store. It's the last normal week before our next special event! If you like what I'm doing, please share posts with your friends!

Transform Squadron 34- Code Orange is Go!

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The spooky season is upon us as Rob discusses the first Halloween event of the year! Pumpkin spiced mayhem aside, talk of Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron is talked. Then, Rob speaks on what it was like as a Transformers fan 15 years ago before the movies. Happy Halloween, everyone... too soon? Every day is Halloween at www.zonebase.org!

The Genesis of a New Week at Christmas

It's a new week and the start of the Christmas season here on Planet Zone! It's also back to a normal work week after the long holiday break. I've always seen the Thanksgiving break as a mid- year vacation and honestly this one was a pretty good one. Between the holiday shopping, taking in the Christmas sights, and some quality time at home. I enjoyed the holiday a lot. Now that it's Christmas time I'm also under the official 'don't buy anything until after Christmas' order. So for toy posts during the next month, we're going through the back log from the time I was getting sick to just too busy to open. There's quite a bit. My Draculus did come in Sunday, so happy to finally have him! Also now that it's Christmas time, we're going to celebrate the holiday here on Zone Base! It's not the same as Halloween time, but it's going to get pretty weird here on the site over the next few weeks. Between weird, cursed, and charming (I do like the holiday you know) we're going to have a good time with Saint Nick. He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good. So share with your friends for goodness sake!

GeGeGe New Week

It's a brand new week here on Planet Zone and I've got a bunch of fun planned for the week. I didn't do a whole bunch this past weekend, just a trip to Walmart and Target on top of doing stuff around the house. Actually ended up at two Walmarts as my grocery pickup was Sunday at a different store. We also stopped by the Dollar Tree which should be getting new Final Faction figures soon. Looking forward to that. Just hope I can find the Master of the Universe mini figures there. It feels like I've been looking forever.

Speaking of dollar stores, there's been sightings of a NEW Halloween army set at Dollar General. There hasn't been a new set since 2018 and I've been really hoping it'd be a more regularly updated thing. I can't wait until my local stores start their spooky stocking. I grabbed a bunch of fun Halloween stuff at Target's dollar spot. They have these great build kits with colored skeletons. Super neat.

Walmart has these cool skeleton action figures in their seasonal area. Turns out they're bootlegs of a much more expensive figure. That's going to be a post soon. I was hoping to find this triceratops skeleton sold with the usual animal skeletons decorations. They're still stocking the section, so I'll just keep waiting for that one. I love these things, perfect He-Man/Battle Tribes monsters.

Speaking of Target, I usually get something Starbucks when I go. Word to the wise, vanilla bean frappuccino with about 3 pumps of strawberry puree. Amazingly good, tastes like a milkshake. I got a new hoodie while out. When you wear as many as I do it's a big production getting a new one. Usually involves donating older ones to the Goodwill. My new ones looks like a solid new addition to my arsenal and the ones departing are appreciated for their service. 

I still haven't found that Stratos Eternia Mini, and Fright Features are still impossible to find locally. It's pretty frustrating after waiting so long for them, but I'm glad to see them selling well. Eat it naysayers. Ghostbusters rule. I picked up Cyberverse Cheetor, the new deluxe version. I'm glad the line is sticking around, I love it. Hopefully I can grab some of the new Dinobots. They look amazing.

It's that time of year where I have to make a list to help out the wife and relatives for Christmas presents. There's a great new yokai story book I'm putting on that sumbitch. The upcoming Kitaro haunted house at Universal Studios Japan makes me wish collections of his manga were easier to come by. Love that guy. We decided to cancel our trip to the Florida park this year before I had my health problems. It was a hard decision, but at the time we thought it would be a good idea since covid keeps going up and down. We just thought it'd be a good idea, with delta and my recovery, it turned out to be. Well, time to run some errands. Thanks for reading Zone Base and thanks for your continued support. I really appreciate it and please share with your friends!

Also, would you all watch a TikTok made by me? I like making short videos on occasion and it's obviously the best place for them. Kinda debating it.

Masters Of The Universal Studios And Christmas Trauma

Nothing say's Christmas like a brand new Masters of the Universe toy! I'll never forget that Christmas morning waking up to find Castle Grayskull under the tree. 

Where better to spend Christmas with them than Universal Studios? The park goes all out to create a wonderful and magical Christmas season, and just like everything they do... may be a little too mature for children. Merry Christmas, here's a skeleton faced demon.

Everyone gets free toy! Christmas!

Super Nintendo World Looks Super Awesome

First official looks at Super Nintendo World were released earlier and it looks great. I always rave about Universal's ability to bring their lands to life and they pulled off another miracle. It really looks like the world of Super Mario was brought to life in ways I couldn't imagine was possible. That's not a render you're looking at in the video above, that's really it! If the Wizarding World of Harry Potter changed the theme park landscape in 2010, this is really going to set the bar up another notch. I just wish the Florida version would be open next December when my next trip is planned... but it's still going to be quite a while before that happens.

Dinosaur Death Trap In Flordia

Anticipation of my trip to Universal Studios next December is murder. Know what else will murder you? Dinosaurs. One of the things I'm looking forward to is spending some time in Jurassic Park. By the time we go, the new ride will be open and there's gonna be some cool new stuff to check out.

Last time we were there, while eating lunch at one of the JP restaurants, this kid randomly yelled "WWE SUPERSTARS!" and slammed down his soda. There we were, an entire theme park restaurant staring at this kid like a freak. 

 

The main focus of the area is the Discovery Center and River Adventure. They manage to recreate the look and feel of the original movie really well. The River Adventure is the second version of the Jurassic Park ride that originally opened at the Hollywood Park in 1996. 

The ride was in works before the movie believe it or not. If you look at the images behind John Hammond during the dinner meeting scene in the original movie, you'll see conceptual art from the ride. It's in the 'future attractions' slide. Pretty cool huh? The version in Florida opened in 1999 and is clearly version 2.0 as there's a few differences. 

There's another version in Japan, which is a little different as well. The Singapore ride follows a similar idea, but is a river rapid style ride instead of a boat ride with a flume drop. Recently they upgraded the Hollywood Park ride into a Jurassic World version with new scenes and upgraded effects. It looks great... but I still think I like the original better. It just has a charm, you know?

 

Transform Squadron 26 - Accidental Micronauts

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Rob’s back in a post-Halloween hangover to tell you all about the Transformers. Well, Transformers SCF to be specific. He also talks about various Universal Studios stuff, the hidden Micronauts Kreon he discovered, and how he became a creepypasta by accident on Halloween night. There’s a lot to unpack here and don’t you just hate it when people say that? 

Pepsi And Universal Studios For Halloween

I've been on cloud 9 for the past few days. Not just because it's Halloween. In that case I've been on cloud 9 since the Halloween season began, which was last January. The specific reason for my numbered cloud placement for the past few days is a special one.

The Mrs surprised me with a trip to Universal Studios. Which we obviously haven't taken yet. I mean... there's a pandemic and all. It's open, but walking around in Florida wearing face masks doesn't seem like the greatest thing.  So we've got an open itinerary for next December. Which is the perfect timing. You know, put back some money, hope things are a little more back to normal by then... have time for a refund just in case...

So how to I shoehorn the thing I can't stop thinking about right now into the thing I think about all the time? Well duh, Universal Studios is synonymous with Halloween thanks to the world famous Halloween Horror Nights. Not to mention the Universal Monsters!

I also love Pepsi, which is just how great this old commercial from 1992 is! I wish this was just their ad every year, but hey... well why isn't it? Dang, I love that pumpkin.

I Just Want To Talk About Jurassic Park

I like Jurassic Park. It's a franchise about a theme park full of dinosaurs and incompetent management. It's a franchise based around one really great movie and a bunch of high budget B-Movie sequels. It's big, dumb, and a ton of fun. 

It's not a hard concept to like, everyone loves dinosaurs. I don't think anyone would not love the chance to see them alive in person. It would be amazing. A theme park full of actual living dinosaurs would be something everyone would love. Dinosaurs are cool.

But dinosaurs would eat everything they saw and cause chaos, so an actual dinosaur theme park would result in anarchy. Which is literally the plot of the movie.

I think one of the things I like best about these movies is the additional media/merchandise. This is something I've liked best about other things as well. I grew up with Star Wars. It wasn't until I was an adult until the prequels and sequels came out. 

Know all those cool Kenner toys? Well, what the hell was that guy who was in one second of the movie somewhere in the background supposed to do? In fact, what was all these other guys supposed to do? There was 3 movies and they had a definite end. Darth Vader was dead and not even a bad guy anymore, and here I was with his toy on Christmas morning. I wanted more and you know where more came from? Those goofy little story books and oddball video games. 

So the first JP comes out and honestly it's not like it took forever for the second movie to come out or anything, but I wanted more and what I got was things like video games and weird other stuff. Then more movies came out and really felt more like other media more than anything. I kinda like that.

The closest to a thematic sequel is the ride at Universal Studios. It began development before the movie began filming, so it's got that same time juice going on. When riding it, you're at the now open Jurassic Park and of course things go wrong. Because if they didn't, it'd be another franchise. Like Steel Magnolias.

The park was open in Jurassic World and I really liked that. But I found myself appreciating that little touch the prior sequels had, the wreckage of the original unopened park. I don't know why I like seeing that so much, but I do. I guess what could have been is the overall theme to to movies and something we can all relate too. That and dinosaurs eating people on a toilet is pretty awesome.

 

Crestwood House Monsters- Frankenstein

We're nearing the end of our Friday Night Frights exploration of the Crestwood House Monsters books before diving head first into the Zone Base Halloween season. While there's still plenty more books to cover, these last two weeks need to go out with a Friday Night Fright bang! So it's time to pull out the big guns and the heavy hitters to bring the show home. Who better than Frankenstein to do so with?

One of the main Universal Monsters and certainly most relatable, Frankenstein's Monster is an icon of horror. I've loved the big guy ever since getting a Remco doll of him at an extremely impressionable age (I was a freaking toddler). It glowed in the dark and would give you a hug. The hug was a play feature intended as him grabbing a victim, but homeboy just needed a hug. Who doesn't? I got him and my brother got The Mummy. Years later upon moving into a new house, my father acquired a rather large model yacht in which he proudly put on display in the living room. For that yachts lifetime in our home, it bore two passengers. Frankenstein and the Mummy. Who were out for a lovely day at sea.

The book is presented above in it's entirety or can be downloaded from the link under it. Know what, the monster got two more books in the series. I suggest you give them a look too!

Crestwood House Monsters- The Wolfman

Things are getting hairy around the base, and that's because it's Friday Night Frights time! We're coming around the corner of the end of Spooky Summer and into the Halloween season. Mid August is when the pumpkin spiced mayhem goes into effect and with it, Friday Night Frights will go into hiatus until November. So I figured a good wrap up of the Crestwood House Monsters exploration we've been doing would be with the heavy hitters! Not that I'm out of these classic books, just it's time to spice things up a bit, and given that spice will be of the pumpkin variety... I think you get my point. Spooky shit.

The Wolfman is one the more layered stories from the Universal Monsters gang. Larry is convinced he has become a werewolf and is the one responsible for the recent murders in town. Everyone thinks he's loosing his mind while looking for the source of the killings while the guilt is tearing Larry apart. I'd like to point out the cover of the book though, that's not The Wolfman. That's the Werewolf of London which Universal released six years prior to The Wolfman. Frankly, I've always found it's story to be better than Larry's adventure.

Wilfred is a scientist who travels to Tibet in search of a rare plant. While there, he's attacked by a werewolf. Back in London we see that Wilfred's wife is bored of him being locked away in his lab and not paying attention to her. Wilfred is now a werewolf and is murdering locals at night. Afraid of what he might do, he locks himself away in hopes of keeping his wife safe. His wife, all the while getting increasingly more and more fed up with him ignoring her and locked away in the lab. In case the situation wasn't complex enough, an old flame comes calling.

Several of the Universal Monsters tend to make the viewer feel sympathy for them. In the werewolf movies that theme is really driven home. They're sad movies under all that fur and fangs. The book is in it's entirety in the above preview or available to download for free from the link underneath it.

Biohazard: The Real 3

So maybe the timing of using this commercial isn't the best, but considering we're all making the jokes... So far the virus pandemic has canceled a LOT of things for a few weeks. Toylanta was canceled among other things. I know my updates from it are usually a pretty popular, and I'm pretty disappointed. It's best to be safe while things get under control though.

I've been utilizing online services such as mobile app ordering and taking most food home and shopping online mainly for years now. That habit seems to be the way to go for a while and with the move to streaming services for media (I've been seeing news of movie studios offering major motion pictures to in demand services) fortunately we live in a world ready for such a situation. I hope all of you reading this are ok and continue to do so. Follow the guidelines being put out by your local governments, wash your hands and stay on top of those things. A little personal responsibility can go a long way.

Be nice to each other. There's a lot of scared people out these and that trip to the grocery store could prove stressful. I went out to stock up Saturday unaware if my grocery pick up would be available or what would even be in stock. People were generally friendly and patient with each other and that was nice. That's how we'll get though this. Thanks each and every one of you for reading Zone Base. I'd be honored if you shared the site with others to help them pass the time. I know my site isn't the greatest, and I don't make anything from it. But if one of my bad jokes about an old robot toy helps pass the time, then I've done my job.

Friday Night Frights- The Phantom Of The Opera

The Universal Monsters, a particular favorite group of mine and it's a fine Friday Night to take in one of the very best! The Phantom Of The Opera was released in 1925, 95 years ago this November! That's a long time, and like the long passage of time, there's a lot of history in this movie. For starters, the opera house. That set stood on Universal Studios grounds for 90 years before being torn down in 2014.

Bela Lugosi as Dracula filmed scenes here, as well as various scenes from The Bride of Frankenstein. Even the 1943 Phantom of the Opera remake by Universal was filmed on this set. That movie stared Claude Rains as The Phantom. Claude also appeared in other Universal Monster movies, Sir John Talbot in The Wolfman and Dr. Jack Griffin in The Invisible Man! Hey, you think there's a transparent inspiration for tonight's edition of Friday Night Frights? A ton of TV shows and movies were filmed on the set. So many that it's rumored to be haunted. A caped figure has been seen in the catwalks leading to speculation of Lon Chaney haunting the set of his most famous movie.

What's really interesting about this movie is, well, it just doesn't exist anymore. Nope. The version you're watching above or on video perhaps is a cobbled together reconstruction. It's a close appropriation of the original film made by editing together clips from various editions of the movie. It's a silent movie, but you'll notice around minute mark 1:00 in the above clip the guy holding the lamp is clearly talking to the audience. That scene is likely from one of the sound versions of the movie stuck in sans audio.

Weird huh?

The movie is public domain and chances are you've seen it sitting in a discount movie bin from time to time. My aunt saw a copy of it in one of those and I still have that VHS tape to this day. I wonder just how much of the original movie is on that tape that I watched countless times growing up?