Like Override, Cosmos was one of the harder to find toys in the Velocitron Spedia 500 Collection. Thankfully, Shawn had sent me both when I was having problems finding them. Fortunately for others, it seems leftovers are popping up at liquidation stores. Giving fans another chance to get their hands on these really cool figures. That's one of the problems with all these recent exclusives. It's really hard to get them because the stores don't stock them well. Pre orders sell out within seconds bought by seemingly ninjas and the whole deal is incredibly frustrating for someone who works for a living. I was fortunate to complete the Velocitron and even the Toxitron sets... and now seems like a good time to start taking a look at these really cool toys.
Cosmos is one of the bigger surprises in the Velocitron Speedia 500, because he's a flying saucer... not exactly what one would think of in a race. However thanks to the manga, we learn that he's serving an official roll. That's cool, it's fun that not every figure in the set is a participant. Who'd thought a company would consider the people who help make the event possible? Cosmos comes with a blaster (in case a fight breaks out at the race) and a little flag that can snap onto the blaster for officiating. The blaster can be held by the barrel so it can be waved in flag mode. One side of the flag is checkered, Cosmos will wave it around at the end of the race. The other side is plain white due to budget for when cars need to slow down or they've reached the final lap. Fun fact, my dad used to be a race car driver. When Days of Thunder came out, he was pissed off because Tom Cruise's car had the same number as his (46). He still bought a little toy of the car from Hardee's.
Cosmos transforms really easily. This is due to the pretty clever engineering from his design. Originally he was planned to be a retool of Origins Bumblebee. The designers were able to work out a brand new toy from three sets of new tooling (which would have been the amount needed for the retool most likely). Part of me wonders if Cosmos could have been a Core Class, but it's nice having him at a Deluxe size. The simplicity doesn't take away from the figure either, he's decently articulated and an all around pleasant version of Cosmos. You know, Cosmos should be simple to transform. Just look at him... making him complicated just wouldn't feel right. This is a great figure of Cosmos and I'm glad to see more people getting a chance to get one now that he's hitting the discount circuit. It's hard not to like Cosmos and good to see him get great toys.
Often with updates and homages to older figures, the design is improved. This makes for a better figure than the original in most cases. Override is a prime example of that when released as part of the Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection that I loved so very much. When the original toy released in Cybertron/Galaxy Force, I looked forward to the then new Override/Nitro Convoy leading me to actively hunt the figure. She was initially pretty hard to find (not knowing just a few months later she would be plentiful), finally tracking one down at Kohl's of all places. Unfortunately I didn't the toy as much as I wanted too. Her arms were pretty stubby against her seemingly too large upper body. Don't get me wrong, I got the GTS version and even used the toy for a custom Blaster figure. I didn't hate it at all, those proportions just irked me.
A lot more years later than if feels like, Override got an update as a new Voyager scale figure that improves on the original toy perfectly while still capturing that way cool design. Ironically, this figure was pretty hard me to find at first. After weeks of never finding her, thankfully I was gifted her and Cosmos (also hard to find) by my good friend Shawn. Being a Walmart exclusive, I don't think Kohl's would have came through again. A few weeks later she became more abundant and I ended up with another copy thanks to my Mom's habit of shopping the clearance aisles. I definitely don't mind having another one to keep in box as I love this figure. Those formally stubby arms and weirdly too large upper body are now perfectly portioned in a figure that I have nothing bad to say about.
Override transforms very easily, yet still has a great deal of articulation. Her Mach 5 inspired race car mode is pleasing to the eyes and the entire toy looks like the character just walked off my TV screen. This is the figure I wanted in 2005. Her blaster is still made from the cars engine and transforms from engine to gun simply, this time without the aid of a Cyber Planet Key. I've been told this toy is still compatible with one. That's neat. Personally, I was always a mixed bag about those. I thought they were cool looking, but was often annoyed with them generally in the way most of the time when plugged in. While I liked Cybertron, there was some issues that thankfully updates like Override eliminate. Override is a cool toy. I've always liked the design and colors. Now they're on a toy that's much better than the original. Awesome.
Her whole life, Dia has known nothing but the Diaclone project. Born in 1982, the same year that the program began and the reason her parents named her as they did, every moment of Dia's upbringing was dedicated to one day enlisting and training to become a mech pilot. Her ambitions eventually became reality and she was partnered with the Burn Out mech.
Although trending towards the smaller side of the mech spectrum, Burn Out has an impressive array of weaponry in humanoid mode. When in full battle status, Burn Out bristles with armaments from pulse rifles to destructive concussion levelers. As with the other Diaclone mechs, targeting of these weapons while maintaining balance and maneuverability is coordinated through aid of an artificial intelligence equipped in the mech's central computer. The AI from Burn Out is a copy of Dia's own personality and every bit as determined and stoic as its pilot. It is also just as stubborn, often leading Dia to disable the voice command function lest she start arguing with something that is essentially herself. A woman of very few words, she finds the verbal exertion more exhausting than the strenuous physical activity needed to pilot the suit without computer assistance.
Hope everyone is looking forward to a new week! Me... I'm a little sleepy. Daylight Savings time happened over the weekend and it always throws me off for a few days. The weekend was good, though I can't say alot happened. New episodes of The Mandelorian and 1000 lbs Sisters was watched. We had a nice dinner with Mom at Olive Garden Sunday. Gargoyle's Quest was played... it was cold and rainy.
As far as toys go, I finally found Shadowstrip at Walmart completing the Velocitron Speedia 500 collection (unless they release any more). This little set of exclusives meant a whole lot to me for some reason and now I'm ecstatic to have them all. I almost bought a few more EarthSpark flip changers, but held off. With Toylanta coming and my birthday at the end of the month... I kinda feel guilty indulging too much.
I did grab a set of the Dollar Tree Power Rangers figures. I was hoping to find more Final Faction, but sadly they haven't restocked. The Rangers though are a nice little set of mini figures. It's the MMPR team, sadly without the Yellow Ranger. I found it ironic as I passed out while watching Zyuranger Saturday night before finding these Sunday. I love Pluto Tv, speaking of which, they're doing a Beast Wars/Beast Machines thing today. There's a cool re-airing of Beast Wars happening in Japan thanks to Rise of the Beasts... so I like to think this is our equivalent here in the states.
Despite being very sleepy, I've got a fun week in mind for you all. Thanks for reading Zone Base. It means so much to me that you all support this little fan blog. If you could share it with your friends, that be awesome. Well, I've got some chores to do between watching Beast Wars on Pluto Tv. We've got a new bird bath that could use some adjustment.
Burn Out is a repaint of the Legacy Skids toy with a new head released in the Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection. That Skids toy is a great toy, so it's no surprise that Burn Out is also a good figure. The black and red colors along with the new head look much sharper on the toy. I like it a lot more. As with Skids, Burn Out is pleasantly articulated and transforms into a Honda City Turbo fairly easily. Both modes are quite solid and the included guns add a bit of additional play to the figure. They can be attached onto the car mode or held in Burn Out's hands. There's also the option to plug them into her arms or combine them into larger guns. It's pretty neat.
Burn Out is meant to be the Diaclone version of Skids. In G1, Skids was made from the Honda City Turbo Diaclone toy. That figure was available in multiple colors like other Diaclone Car Robots toys. This Legacy update is a fairly faithful to the original design with updated engineering. Unlike the original toy mold, this update cannot hold a driver. However you could probably plug the BotCon 2015 Diaclone pilots into the holes intended for the guns like with those figures.
Diaclones do not have an individual personality. They're driven by pilots. However, Diaclones released as Transformers DO have a personality. They're either released as new Transformers characters based on the Diaclone colors (like Road Rage). Or, like with Burn Out , they have an Artificial Intelligence that mirrors the pilots personality. Burn Out is driven by Dia, thus she's much alike her. Diaclone in Transformers fiction are much like their original counterparts. They're a military style force that pilots robots to fight threats, just now alongside the Transformers. When they expand the world with other series like this... I love it. Burn Out is an somewhat easy to get at a fairly low price new Diaclone figure that fictionally is in the same universe as the series her original line birthed. That's ridiculously nerdy... but in a very cool way.
If you look up 'dope' in the dictionary, the definition will just be a picture of the Velocitron Speedia 500 collection. Transformers Legacy is a really cool toy line as is, but when adding in the Buzzworth Bumblebee and Velocitron Spedia 500 segments, it gets pretty amazing. I think the funny part of myself enjoying the Velocitron stuff so much is that... I was pretty passive with Velocitron when Cybertron first aired. It was neat, sure, but I was more interested in the Jungle Planet. Though I really liked the race planets inhabitants. I'd love to see Ransack and Crumplezone make a return for this new sub-line. Dang, that'd be great.
That new SD Gundam game has had me thinking a lot about Doozy Bots lately. I absolutely would have loved Doozy Bots... I need to get that game! Speaking things I need to get, it's time to get... *ahem* It's a new week here on Planet Zone!
The Mrs and I took in quite a bit of new Halloween merchandise at Target and Dollar Tree this weekend. It's not all up, but a good bit was! So cool, there's some great new stuff this year. Walmart has a very tiny amount, but more is on the way. We've been watching 'let's shop' videos and as usual our stores are a little behind others. I'm thankful that Walmart and Target seem to be getting back to having most of it ready by Labor Day. In recent years they've gotten away from it, but thankfully not this year.
As far as toys go, I got a Micro Machines Transformers blind set at Target. They had Star Wars Micro Galaxy Squadron stuff, but I'm holding just a little longer to get some. With all the Transformers out right now, I'm trying to be a little responsible with my spending. I got a Barbatos Lupus Rex Gunpla for a great price at Hobby Lobby. They've got boxed models 40% off currently, not bad!
Walmart I picked up Burn Out and Blurr from the Velocitron Speedia 500 set. Just need Cosmos and Override to get them all! There's more TF out there, but that's all at my stores. After I get reasonably caught up, I'll focus on some other stuff I'm wanting to get. I also got an organization case to store my TF Micro Machines at Hobby Lobby. Little toys demand proper storage. Usually I opt for plastic shoeboxes, but I decided to use the same bead organizers I use for Mega Construx MOTU.
Hopefully I'll have a new episode of Transform Squadron out this week. If anything it'll be recorded and submitted to TF Radio. Halloween is in full swing here on the Base. Thanks to each and every one of you for continuing to support Zone Base. I know theres bigger and better sites out there, so it means so much to me that you take time to read my little podunk site. Please, if you could, share with your friends. I don't have any any ads or begging, I do this for fun. I like to think we're all enjoying our hobbies together here and on the show. So that's all I ask. Thanks for reading!
It's a little late, but it's also the start of a new week here on Planet Zone! The weekend went by faster than I'd have liked, but I still had some fun! I enjoyed some early Halloween stock at various stores and took the Mrs hunting various Krogers for Squishmallows. During the outing I picked up Scourge, Clamp Down, and Road Rocket from the Velocitron Speedia 500 collection at a Walmart. Also picked up Authentics Arcee and a Bakugan Cubbo at Five Below during their Squishmallows event this weekend. A trip to the Dollar Tree resulted in several Final Faction accessory packs I've been needing. Not a bad weekend for toys!
I intended to work on some models, but an impromptu lunch with family killed some of that time. Oh well. I was planning to record this months episode of Transform Squadron today, but things happened. Don't worry, it's still coming! Just sometime soon instead of just coming soon. I almost forgot to mention. The Mrs suprised me Friday morning with a Red Cog and some snacks. I wasn't aware they made jumbo Red Vines. They do! They're just like regular Red Vines... BUT JUMBO! I've got a fun week in store for you all. Hope you like Gameboy games! Thanks for reading Zone Base, I really appreciate it. If you life what I'm doing, please share with your friends. It's all I ask!
