Bah Monday

Good Morning Zone Base readers and welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! Christmas time is in full swing here on Planet Zone and there's plenty of Rock Lording around the Christmas tree going on! The weekend went by way to fast for my liking, but I can still say it was a pretty good and productive one. I hope you all had a great weekend as well, but let me tell you about mine. Saturday the Mrs and I did our weekly shopping. For whatever reason, the grocery order at our local stores has been terrible so we did that in person again. I'd love to get back on our normal routine, but these are things that are out of my hands. I've been saying for years now that our most local store needs new management, so hopefully this will lead to some improvements. It's so bad that stores in other towns are being affected negatively and I'm sure that's causing some uproar behind the scenes. Christmas just isn't the time for retail to drop the ball!

I got some Christmas shopping done and I'm feeling pretty positive about this holiday season. Normally it's a more stressful time, but this year has thankfully been a breeze. It's nice to just enjoy Christmas without the black cloud hanging over my head. Sunday, I finally got my yard decorated. I know it's still early in the month, but seeing as this task is usually done Thanksgiving weekend, it was really bothering me. I got started early and really feel like I did a great job. It's a lot of work, but you can really stand back and admire the prettiness of it all once done. We've got a pretty cozy theme with our decorations and I love it. 

Mom came over for Sunday dinner and the Mrs made an excellent spaghetti meal! It was pretty cold outside, so after spending most of the day stapling lights to my house as well as some car maintenance, the warm meal tasted extra great! We watched the second episode of Stranger Things season 5 with Mom who is very concerned about Dustin. Rewatching it after the initial binge watch on release is great. I'm definitely enjoying the chance to digest it fully before the new episodes. After she left, the Mrs and I watched Home Alone while she played a game and I started work on building a BeastDrive. I've got a big backlog and it's fun to spend a little time building a kit on the weekend. I probably could have finished it, but took my time. I was a little tired after the busy day. Maybe next weekend it'll get completed, there's no rush.

Being Christmas time, I didn't buy myself anything, but didn't come away empty handed! I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I had won a Yolopark giveaway on Threads and am looking forward to receiving a randomly selected kit in the mail! It's been far too long since I've looked at Yolopark's products here on the site, and there's no way this won't be a future post! There was also a few fan events in Japan that I greatly enjoyed looking at pictures from. Most notably, a Diaclone meetup that featured some hand made items that looked so great! I found myself really liking the custom pilots created. It's really funny, while not a lot of pictures were taken at the event (a sign everyone was having a great time), plenty were taken afterwards at various convenience stores. It's impossible not to love toy pictures while someone is enjoying a quick snack! 

Well, I've got a fun week planned for you Zone Base readers. Thank you all for reading and supporting the site. I really appreciate it and am so humbled and honored to see so many people take time out of their day to read my posts. Please don't forget to share the site with your friends and be excellent to one another. It's time to do some household chores and take toy pictures for upcoming updates. The normal Monday morning for me, but I should really watch the new Earthspark movies on Paramount Plus. I'm really surprised they made additional content for the series and am looking forward to Hot Rod and Liege Maximo! Mutal High Fives everyone, let's get this week started!

FirePower Robo [BeastBox/1/4 Squad]

Following up on SacredPower Robo is FirePower Robo from 52Toys. FirePower Robo is another homage to old school super robots as a BeastBox and a really cool one at that. Instead of Chinese Mythology, this time we've got a group of vehicles rolling into the battle! Just like last time, I also acquired the special edition of this set and got the fancy slip cover and keshi set of pilot figures! FirePower Robo units are also able to combine with SacredPower Robo members for unique team ups. While I've loved both sets and this idea... I'm definitely a bigger fan of FirePower Robo. This was much to my own surprise as going in, I thought it would be the reverse. The vehicles make for less kibble and a more solid combined mode. Not to mention, he just looks cool.

Each vehicle can form it's own little box that can be combined with the others to make a standard sized box mode. Like before, I couldn't figure out how to get the weapon inside the Box Charger... so I'm really hoping someone points out just how to do that. Let's talk about the individual units. Peacemaker Railgun is a heavily armed bullet train that forms the mecha's legs. It's fairly articulated and can snake around. The cannons that form the combined modes gun are from this train. There's also some additional cannon along it's body that can be raised or lowered. Peacemaker Gunship is a boat that splits in half to form the arms. It has some cool turbines and cockpits that can be folded out of the way when converting (something I forgot to do in the pic). Peacemaker Tank is a really neat blue H-tank that forms the body. I'm really fond of it's shape and color. It's a really neat little toy. Finally, we have Peacemaker Fighter. A jet that forms the head and shoulders. Peacemaker Fighter looks great in it's black and silver color scheme.

FirePower Robo comes together very easily and hold sturdily. It's fairly articulated, though some part maneuvering will be needed for some poses. Even though Bismark/Ramrod wasn't a combiner, I can't help but to draw similarities due to the hat. I really like this one, it's got a Machine Robo look going on... and you all know I can't resist that! The bonus keshi drivers are really neat too. Each one is individually sculpted in a cool military themed armor. They look great in the blue color that they were cast in. I swear this is the cast from some PC-98 game. FirePower Robo is another excellent BeastBox release and I'm loving the 1/4 Squad series. The old school robot toy box, the keshi drivers, the entire package is great. I really hope more of these follow.

SacredPower Robo [BeastBox/1/4 Squad]

52Toys BeastBox never ceases to amaze me. A few weeks ago, when I first saw news of SacredPower Robo and FirePower Robo (whom we'll be looking at later this week), I was blown away. A homage to combining Super Robot teams of old in the form of a BeastBox? Yes, and they pulled it off spectacularly. Today we're looking at SacredPower Robo, whom is composed of robots based on creatures from Chinese mythology. I was fortunate enough to acquire the First Edition Bonus package which included the teams Ranger pilots in keshi form! This was actually a treat as they were packaged separately with box boxes together in a nice sleeve. The main toys box is a wonderful homage to old school super robot packaging. I love this thing.

I was initially worried transformation would be a challenge, but was pleasantly surprised to find myself doing all the steps without consulting the manual. Just the picture on the back was needed to form all the modes. The individual beasts are small, but decently articulated for their size. Each one also has a small Box Mode, which the four can be stacked up to form a traditional sized Box Mode. Forming the combined mecha is pretty simple as well. Qinglong (the dragon) forms the legs and waist, while Xuanwu (the black tortoise with the snake) forms the torso. Zhuque (the Vermilion Bird) is the head and shoulders while Baihu (White Tiger) splits in half, forming the arms. Some of the bests parts remove during this process. They combine using the Zhurong System Arms Merge to form a sword.

The combined form draws mental comparisons to Voltron/Go-Lion, it's a cool robot. There's a good deal of articulation, though you may need to adjust some of the parts for some poses. The bonus keshi figures of the teams Rangers (whose names I currently forget) are really cool little figures. They've got individual sculpts and really pop in bright red. It's a great little extra for buying this version of the set that I really like. In box mode, the team fits comfortably inside their Box Charger. Though I couldn't figure out how to store the weapons or tiger butt that becomes the back of the robots head. Here's hoping a more enlightened owner points out how to do so. I don't have anything bad to say about this set and am really happy with it. You can also swap parts with FirePower Robo whom we'll be looking at later this week.

Beat Monday

Hey Zone Base readers! Thank you all for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, I sure did! The Mrs and I went to Daiso for Halloween goods and other fun stuff. We enjoyed pizza Saturday night and I awoke to a wonderful breakfast the Mrs cooked. Aside from household chores, video games were played and I grilled out hamburger sliders and hot dogs! The Mrs made some  fries, baked beans, potatoe salad, and banana pudding to complete the meal. Mom came over and we had a great Sunday evening. 

I got some fun stuff as well. My local Walmart hasn't seemed to stock toys in a while sadly, but another BeastBox order was made getting me mostly caught up with the boxes I'm wanting. Just waiting for some more to show in the US Amazon shop. Who'd I get? I got Fire Power Robo to go along with the Sacred Power Robo bought last week! I was happily able to buy the bonus versions that came with keshi pilots and in a fancy box! Please look forward to posts about them in the coming days. While Walmart was pretty barren on toys, they did have a Beast Wars Megatron Funko Pop figure I'd been wanting. I've had the Optimus Primal for a little bit and plan on eventually completing the range. 

I'm taking a little break from Donkey Kong Bananza and decided to buy a spooky game from the e-shop for Halloween. Fortunately they had Pumpkin Jack on sale for a little over $6. It's just the thing for the spooky season and pretty fun too! A little reminiscent of Midi-Evil for PS1 and maybe a little like Maximo for PS2. For a few dollars it's just right and pretty fun! At Daiso the Mrs and I bought a lot of fun stuff for the house. We got a good bit of Halloween figurines and I got their fun range of Halloween wind up toys. They're cute and full of character. I also got some Display Bases for models as well as some more tools to go in my modeling tool box. Sometimes you need more than nippers and a hobby knife. Daiso tends to have some pretty great items for the task. 

Well, it's time to get my day started. I'm enjoying a cup of coffee while watching G1 on the Transformers Channel. I'm endlessly entertained by the fact that the version on Pluto TV has a completely different schedule than the version on other fast channel apps. That's weird, but beneficial at times. As usual I've got some chores to do and pictures for upcoming posts to take. I hope everyone is enjoying the Halloween party. We're halfway through the season and it's been a really fun one. Normally I try to outdo myself each year. This year has been a little difficult and I've found myself extra busy at times. So instead my goal was just to have a fun Halloween and it's been the most successful yet. Thanks to all the additional people coming to check out the site in the recent weeks. I really appreciate your support! If any of you could or would like to, please like and follow the sites Facebook page. I had made it a while back to share posts to groups. I love the followers it has, but would love for more. All I ask is for readers to share the site with their friends and that's an easy way to do so! Let's get this week started Zone Base readers, Mutual High Fives everyone!

New Week Loading

A new week has started here on Zone Base and that means more robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, I sure did! The Mrs and I did some weekly shopping which unfortunately did not result in any new toys, but I've got some Cyberworld toys ordered that we'll be talking about soon. Sunday, I did some toy room organizing and we enjoyed homemade pizza with Mom while watching more Stranger Things. We've rewatched all of Season 2 now and still chugging through. We tend to get 2-3 episodes in every Sunday, so I expect to be finished by the end of August. It's been a fun rewatch and Mom is hooked. Next weekend we're starting Season 3 (my favorite season) and I think some sushi is in order!

Now let's talk robots! Transformers Cyberworld premiered this weekend on YouTube and I really liked it. They're short episodes like Cyberverse was and have the same fun spirit. Long time readers may remember how much I enjoyed Cyberverse, so I'm hoping this will follow suit. The setting finds Optimus and company on a mysterious world that has them pitted against each other in games. The dialog is funny and it looks like a solid story is building to support the adventure. I'm here for it! As I told Chris online, it's premise is similar to a storyline I came up with for Machine Wars when I was younger, so it's exciting to see something similar as a cartoon. This isn't the first time something I've imagined for Transformers has become a reality, but it's neat everytime it's happened. Hooray for tulpas! I'll be talking about the toys soon. 

In other robot news, 52toys announced Sacred Firepower this weekend and I can't wait to get one. I've been patiently waiting for them to stock Sacred Robo on their US Amazon shop and now have another to wait for! Hopefully I'll be able to get the special versions that come with keshi pilots as they add a lot of fun. Both of these Robo toys are compatible with each other and you can swap parts to create something new. 52toys also showed off their new base units and they look great. Not only are they perfect for BeastBox toys, but inchman enthusiasts are loving them too. Playmates has been showing off their new Power Rangers toys and I'm looking forward to building that Megazord! It looks to be of a similar build to their Voltron line from years ago. I think the same design team possibly worked on it and that has me excited. Long time readers may also remember how much I enjoyed those. Here's hoping they do a Metal Force version as well!

Summerween is in full effect as more and more of my stores are stocking early Halloween fun. Even Five Below is sneaking out a little spooky season fun in summertime. Summer is fun, but having a little Halloween infused is better! The Mrs picked up some great spooky stuff Friday and while checking out the Summerween stuff at Walmart, I grabbed some multicolored skeletons. I always grab a few cheap skeletons each year and the bright colors are great! Dokuro Time Travelers?

Tfcon Canada and G-Fest took place this weekend and I couldn't attend, but greatly enjoyed what I could see online. Both looked like good times and teased some great items on the way. Wonderfest Summer will be soon and I definitely look forward to the pictures from that! I've seen some great previews of SplatterHouse figures and man I wish I could go! Well, I've got a great week in store for you all Zone Base readers. Thank you for supporting the site, I really appreciate it. I hope everyone has a great week and ask that you share the site with your friends. Mutual High Fives everyone!

ZombieTrack BMM-02 [BeastBox Mega MechaBeast]

ZombieTrack is another toy I had been waiting to get stocked in the Amazon 52Toys store for what seemed like forever. Thankfully he was same day delivery and was in my hands the minute I was finally able to purchase. ZombieTrack is the second Mega MechaBeast in my beloved BeastBox series of toys. ZombieTrack is something I've been really looking to get my hands on. Just look at it! With Halloween around the corner, there's nothing like some Devil Invader energy to get the spooky summer going!

ZombieTrack is a smaller BeastBox that transforms into a grasshopper whose mech suit transforms into an all terrain bike. Larger figures can drive the bike and it can carry a box mode ZombieTrack or other smaller BeastBox. The grasshopper forms the head of the larger MechaBeast mode. I love this toy.

Don't ask me how the combination of a grasshopper and all terrain vehicle creates such a creepy robot, but I'm all here for it. There's a resemblance to Vamp/Casmodon that I can't help but to love, but ZombieTrack is still his own robot. Well, I'm saying he generically. Judging by the box art, there's a horde of these. There's probably a variety of genders in that swarm. As a grasshopper, ZombieTrack is surprisingly articulated.

The legs have a wide range of movement and the head can look all around. I like the antennae. Even though I didn't do it in the picture, you can raise it's wings up as well. Those wings are laser guns in MechaBeast mode, so I like to think of them as boosters in beast mode. Transformation to box mode is easy enough, but maneuvering the legs can be tricky the first time. Box mode can easily slide into the smaller Box Charger that comes included. Head mode is a variation of box mode with a few parts flipped out.

The all terrain bike transforms pretty easily. it essentially folds into itself and the treads are the arms and legs. The head snaps in securely and those wings I mentioned earlier become back/shoulder mounted lasers. There's quite a bit of articulation and even though he doesn't come with a weapon to hold... it looks like a standard sized weapon could fit into the hands. It's nice to pose him with those claws out though. There's a little tread kibble in the arms that ends up looking like legs and I find that to be a creative way to deal with it.

MechaBeast mode looks like a giant grasshopper that's learned to stand upright. Man, could you imagine that? I live in the American south and the grasshoppers don't get that big here... but you drive a little further south and they start getting larger. Scary large, but thankfully not as big as ZombieTrack looks to be. Overall ZombieTrack is an awesome addition to the BeastBox ranks and my favorite of the two Mega MechaBeast toys available. He's super creative and wonderfully spooky. I wonder if whatever comes after him in this series can top this?

Psychotrain BMM-01 [BeastBox Mega MechaBeast]

52Toys has really came up with something special with their new Mega MechaBeast series. This new twist on BeastBox takes a smaller sized BeastBox and pairs it with a large transforming exo-suit. The BeastBox forms the mechs head and other BeastBox toys can be combined to create some crazy monstrosities. You can even use different Boxes for different heads, it's crazy!

Starting out look at these new monsters is Psychotrain, the first in the series. I got mine a few weeks ago once the Amazon store had them in stock and have been waiting patiently to talk about him. Psychotrain is an elephant, whose suit transforms into a train. The train can carry more than one box for bigger railroad nightmares! Honestly I wasn't aware of the additional combinations until I flipped through the instructions, I had saw Psychotrain and just had to have it! There's just something so cool about this big behemoth that I couldn't ignore.

Let's start off by talking about the elephant. It's downright adorable thanks to the small scale. That's pretty funny considering that's the same face as Mega MechaBeast mode. The elephant is obviously a more basic to than a larger BeastBox, but still has articulation in the trunk and ears in addition to simple leg articulation. Despite being so basic, it's still a very sharp looking elephant. He folds up into box mode easily and fits snugly in the included small Box Charger. Head mode isn't much different than box mode, just position the face outward (but leave those ears tucked in). The train is something else to transform. Somehow it goes from a serpentine shape to a big brute of a body. It's pretty impressive and kind of mind boggling. To put it in perspective, the MechaBeast's head area forms the front of the box car while the legs become the rear. Meanwhile the chest is the front of the steam engine. Honestly, I don't think I can even explain exactly how everything folds into place, but it does... and everything has to be just right.

Once transformed, Psychotrain is once big and scary bot. It's hard to believe that train formed this brute. That cute little elephant is now one scary face, and the sides of that box car have formed some new ears. They can be folded away if you use another box for the head. Psychotrain is heavily armed with dual forearm mounted chain guns and hefty morning star. The morning star can be stored on the back of his calf and in the rear of the box car in train mode. It actually holds that rear section together better thanks to the way it pegs in. He's large and imposing... but also decently articulated. Proportions can make some poses a little tricky, but I don't see a body like this doing much more than lumbering. Psychotrain is a really cool  and impressive toy. I'm generally pleased with BeastBox toys, but these new Mega MechaBeast's really blow me away.

More Violence, More Action, More Monday!

Monday again, yeah... dammit. Like you, I wish it was still the weekend. I guess we'll just have to get through the work week with more robots, monsters, and misadventure! My weekend was pretty good. Some weekly shopping and good food. The Mrs and I decided to re-watch all of Stranger Things so we'll be caught up when the new season premieres later this year. So far we're 2 episodes down and it's just as good again! 

As for toys, my stores were pretty limited. They're due for a restock. The Mrs did grab me some gacha while out at Target Friday. 4 of the new 5 Surprise Transformers balls and a Voltron bag figure. Voltron was him forming the blazing sword (woo). The TF's were 1 Megatron in robot mode, 1 Wheeljack in vehicle mode, and 2 Starscreams in vehicle mode. These new 5 Surprise Transformers are pretty neat, but they sure are stretching the '5'. You get the character and a weapon. A trading card, a sticker, and a bag of kinetic sand. I guess that's 5 things? I also ordered the Swapticons Jungle Mission 5 pack. It's never showed up at my local stores and I didn't want to miss out. With new Swapticons images getting leaked, my excitement for the little bots was revived. The line is getting even more fun toys that I'm looking forward to. There's a Clench!

I've got a fun week in store for you all. We'll be looking at the new Mega MechaBeast toys from 52toys BeastBox! Of course another Transformers Blokees will be making an appearance. Halloween is around the corner and I'm gearing up for another spooky season on Zone Base. Code Orange is starting to ring out as some stores are starting to stock their early wares. New items from Target have arrived at my house and we're keeping an eye on our local At Home. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Don't forget to share with your friends and Mutual High Fives for all!

Take Monday with You

It's Monday, dammit. Thankfully you've found yourself on Zone Base to get you through the week. My weekend was pretty good, even if short lived. Thankfully Memorial Day weekend is approaching for a much needed break. The Mrs and I enjoyed some weekend shopping and good food. I ate plenty of Sushi on Saturday as the Mrs and I watched the newest episode of 1000lbs Sisters and rented The Minecraft Movie on Amazon. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did. While I haven't played Minecraft in a while, but I've always enjoyed it. The movie, however, was hilarious and felt more like a Tenacious D episode than a video game adaptation. 

I intended to buy the new Doom game this weekend, but decided to hold off for a little while. I'm still playing though the 2016 Doom game I recently bought on sale. I really want the new game, but think I'll get it a little later. I found Turtles of Grayskull Mechaneck and ordered ZombieTrack from Amazon. Surprisingly, ZombieTrack came in within hours. I've been wanting him since announcement, but waiting for 52toys to stock him in the US Amazon shop. I generally get my BeastBox toys there or in person and have had great success. I think there's a fun monster robot week in Zone Base's future. Speaking of fun, Cyberworld toys are starting to materialize and I can't wait to cover them here on the site. They feel like the successor to the Beast Alliance figures that I loved so much and were so fun to blog about. Please look forward to upcoming posts about them as they become available to me. I spent Sunday evening playing Doom and building Blokees. Such a fun way to spend an evening. 

Speaking of fun, that's the kind of week I've got coming your way Zone Base readers. Thank you all for coming back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone enjoys the content and hope you all share it with your friends! 

Moonsafari BB-69 [BeastBox]

[Dual Shape of Mecha Moonsafari and Cube] Transform Moonsafari from cube mode to mecha model and back again in minutes! The whole body of it has fully adjustable joints, allowing to display in a variety of poses.

BeastBox really cranks out some fun ideas. Moonsafari is a cool robotic giraffe that of course, turns into a box. How? Magic... I'm convinced those designers are magicians.

There's been a few transforming giraffe toys, but there's a big difference between going from an animal to robot vs animal to box. Well, those magicians at 52Toys pulled it off with one pretty amazing toy. Moonsafari is a very well articulated robot giraffe that stands pretty tall at 8.66" according to 52Toys. His (assuming) mouth can open and ears can move in addition to all the cool leg and neck articulation allowing for a very expressive toy that's pretty darn cute. Don't let that adorableness fool you though, because this is a serious robot ready to fight!

I've mentioned my appreciation to the similarities BeastBox toys often share with Zoids and that comes into effect here giving Moonsafari a visual edge. Adding to that is an additional accessory set that I was made aware of just recently. With the add on set, Moonsafari gains twin weapon pods manned by pilots. I'll be sure to stay on the look out for these when they become available to me separately from the bonus edition version Moonsafari. Remember the mentioning of the magic? It's performed during transformation as somehow he just went into box mode pretty easily. I say pretty easily and not very easily as I struggled with his back hips quite a bit initially.

There's a joint inside the hip that folds into itself uniquely and I didn't understand the instructions at this step. I got pretty frustrated after trying for too long to get those back legs properly into place, put him down, and watched a transformation Reel while riding my exercise bike. Turns out it was actually pretty simple and I originally didn't understand. Once that was understood, everything just went into place. 52Toys has a great Instagram presence and those Reels can be a life saver. I'm pretty amazed by the neck wrapping around itself so fluidly to finish everything up. It's weird, normally I'm hardly concerned with the actual transformation with a toy. BeastBox though... I'm thoroughly amazed by the process. See, it's magic.

Jetstream BB-68 [BeastBox]

[Dual Shape of Mecha Jetstream and Cube] Transform Jetstream from cube mode to mecha model and back again in minutes! The whole body of it has fully adjustable joints, allowing to display in a variety of poses.

It's no secret that I joke around a lot, but I mean this with all seriousness. This is one badass toy we're going to be talking about today. Jetstream looks cute and by all means is, but he goes hard. Jetstream is a robotic Rockhopper Penguin with a great backpack.

As of this writing I don't have a bio to go by, but it has a digital readout of 40 degrees. I'm assuming our dude is doing some cold weather research. That backpack has an articulated antenna that looks like a cannon, so maybe he's going to give someone a cold blast with it. As cool as the backpack looks and as much of a Battle Beast vibe it gives me, it's just an accent to the excellent toy penguin Jetstream is. With a small amount of articulation (which is all you'd expect for this beast mode), 52Toys really produced one expressive bird.

His beak can open, his head can move all over the place, those wings move as do his legs, feet, and tail! One fun little feature is the wheels under his body and tail. Jetstream can lift his legs and roll around on them ala a Transmetal vehicle mode. I wasn't even aware of this when I first saw him, nor when I happily found him among my birthday presents from the Mrs. He can just scoot around if he don't feel like walking and I love that about him. Now, one thing about BeastBox is that they can be extremely deceiving. This little penguin converts into a box, how the hell is he going to do that?

Transformation isn't too difficult, but has it's moments of getting everything just right. His chest opens up and each side unfolds. It's just a matter of tucking everything in and plugging everything else into place. As a 4CM scale BeastBox, his Box Charger is one of the newer unfolding versions. Box mode slides locks into place securely allowing it to be stacked with your others. I think I prefer the standard Box Charger... but these little ones sure are neat. Jetstream is another outstanding effort from 52Toys and a solid example as to why the line is so good. Not to mention, who can look at that little guy and not like him? 

It's Halftime to Halloween!

It's the start of a new week, but not just any week, we're now Halfway to Halloween! This week we'll infuse a little of that Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem into the site to help hold you over until August and the start of the Zone Base Halloween party!

It may be spring with summer just around the corner, but there's plenty of chills to cool you down! In addition to the spooky fun, we'll be looking at some neat stuff  too! There's BeastBox and more Swapticons in between the tricks and treats. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please don't forget to share with your friends and Happy Halfway to Halloween!

BB-02HD Helldiver w/ BB-EXO45HD Helldiver Heavy Armor [BeastBox]

It's been far too long since I've talked about a BeastBox toy here on the site, so it seems today is the perfect time to talk about Helldiver and add on partner kit Helldiver Heavy Armor. The Mrs. got me this awesome little guy for Christmas and I just love his little fiery details. Helldiver is a fire themed variation of Ghostdog, whom is an armored up variation of Beastboxes lovable Dio. Adding to the fun is the Helldiver Heavy Armor. This is an additional add on piece that gives Helldiver some extra equipment and serves a cool scorpion-like partner drone when not attached. Helldiver is a charming little dinosaur covered in armor. I don't know if you can see or not, but he has some tiny little arms that look like wrenches. I love those. The fire deco looks great with translucent orange bits against two different greys used for various parts. The lighter grey has a little sparkle which looks great in person, but didn't show up in my pictures. There's a cool small laser weapon that can be attached to his back or added at the end of his tail.

Heavy Armor can be disassembled and added onto Helldiver giving him night vision goggles, a radar assembly with LARGE guns, and two BIG arms with a hook and chainsaw. This gives our little terror quite the upgrade and practically turns him into a whole new bot. It's really hard to express just how much it really ads to his overall visual. Helldiver's mouth opens, and all I can see is his excitement about how badass the armor looks. Transformation to box mode is pretty easy. If anything, getting his head just right can be a touch fiddly. Heavy Armor can join onto the box for easy storage and makes the mode bigger. It looks like it would all fit inside a Box Charger easily... but he didn't come with one. I should have gotten one and tried it out, but these are not things that occurred to me at that moment. Last month when I was at the 52Toys store last month, I should have picked up a nice orange one to match Helldiver's flames. This is a great BeastBox toy. Dio is a lot of fun normally, and upgraded he's even better. I love the translucent orange and his big feet. The addition of Heavy Armor adds to the package greatly and makes everything better.

Super Monday Action

Hello Zone Base readers and welcome back for another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was very restful. I've got another hectic week ahead of me, so it was much appreciated. Saturday was a day of shopping and a family dinner. Sunday was spent watching TV and napping. I should have worked on organizing my toy room, but decided to take it easy in anticipation of the busy week. My local Walmart was disappointing again with their toy selection, unfortunately. I did grab a Transformers Hot Wheel though. They don't have names on them, but are cars with the characters paint decos. I think I got Stinger (y'all know I love him), but who knows? If anything it's a neat red car. My Walmart actually has a neat new resturant I'd love to try. It only serves food from various ghost kitchen restaurants. Say what you will about Mr. Beast, but those burgers looks tasty. I was full from the family dinner, so I'll have to try it sometime later.

I didn't just make it out of the weekend with just a Hot Wheel that I think is Stinger (maybe?). I finally ordered Mechabeast PsychoTrain by 52toys! I've been wanting to get one and since my local 52toys store didn't have one... I ordered one. That sentance was a mess. Mechabeast is a cool offshoot of BeastBox that's loads of fun. I look forward to getting ZombieTrack when he's available to buy here in the states as well. Speaking of cool stuff I'm looking forward too, Toyfair was this weekend and many cool things were shown off. Transformers, MOTU, M.A.S.K, and more! I'm super excited for how this year is shaping out. Well, I'm writing this in a hospital waiting room while my mother is going through surgery 2 of this months trilogy of medical terror. Despite my crazy schedule the past few weeks, I've got some fun content coming your way. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Please share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives everyone!

Shoot, it's Monday

I could do for another few days off, but the weekend is over and Monday is here. I had a pretty great weekend even though not much was done. Unfortunately, the Mrs caught my cold as I was getting better and spent the weekend not feeling so great. I recover extremely fast from being sick, but unfortunately it took a toll on her. I spent most of the weekend taking care of her and playing my Evercade EXP-R. I did get out to the store for some needed items, unfortunately Walmart still hasn't restocked from Christmas. The first quarter is always a bit barren for toy stock, but piles of unsold toys makes it hard to not feel a little down. Transformers One was a great movie and those are good toys! I'm glad it's found success on streaming, but wish the unsold stock from it (and Earthspark) would move sooner than later. Cyberworld doesn't look like it will show up until later in the year, so thankfully what's going on now won't hold it up.

I did order Transformers Legacy United Armada Universe Wheeljack from Amazon. So, I didn't come out of the weekend empty handed. It and the Optimus I ordered last week will come in soon. I've enjoyed Legacy, but the coming Age of the Primes toys look like a fun Generations line and a suitable replacement for Legacy. If anything, I'll be be happy for the easier name. When I wasn't playing video games this weekend, I kept up with convention news. Hasbro had a booth at Megacon and showed off some exciting new Transformers coming this year.

I was more excited for the news that came from Wonderfest this weekend. The winter 2025 show did not disappoint with cool reveals. My beloved 52toys shown off so much cool stuff... it was jaw dropping. BeastBox is going to be great this year. Not to mention Mad Cars looks like a lot of fun. There's always room for Inchmen on Zone Base! Of course all the cool garage kits were fun to look at. As always there was fun Godzilla, SplatterHouse, and Microman stuff available that really grabbed my attention. That's not selling the other things short either, just man,  I was blown away! Well, it's time to get the day started. I've got some household chores to be done and pictures for upcoming posts to take. I'm really excited for the things 2025 looks to be bringing. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I know it's just a small podunk site, but this is a labor of love and fun to share my hobbies with all of you. There's no ads, no affiliate links, or any sort money talk around here. All I ask is that you share the site with your friends! That and I hope everyone has a great week! Mutal High Fives!

Jetsam BB-24 [BeastBox]

[Jetsam Legend] Like the one which called Leviathan in the deep seas, Jetsam has his own perspective. Cruising in the vast ocean is the mission of discovery and protection to him. This is a journey to discover endless possibility, and also a task to protect the brightest fantasy.

There's something pleasant about a sea turtle. Just seeing the big reptiles swim about is peaceful. They tend to live pretty long lives, and thanks to the mystique of the ocean... it might be older than you realize. Jetsam is Beastbox's take on a sea turtle and man does he work well as a mechanical being. Jetsam is nice and large with a really cool cannon that unfolds from his shell. The cannon can swivel left to right and be moved up and down. I like to imagine a battle going on and Jetsam just swimming up and being the deciding factor with that cannon. It looks like an inchman could fit in the spot behind the cannon. I should have incorporated some sort of pilot figure just to get an idea of the range of possibilities. Some Beastbox toys do have pilots, so it's not out of the range of possibility. There's a small tabbed piece just behind the hinge. I couldn't get it to move up with my fingers, but can't help but to think it's a seat if folded up.

I enjoyed his flippers specifically. That's a silly thing to enjoy, but something about articulated robot turtle flippers is fun to move about. That colorful beak can also open and close, Jetsam is just so full of life. One gripe I do have is that the turtle shell can be moved out of place really easily. Not sure if mine was locked in place correctly. Transformation to box mode isn't hard, but is a little moire involved that I imagined going in. Those flippers and that shell make up the bulk of the box in a transformation where everything needs to be just right. Once formed you've got a green box that slides right on into the Box Charger without any problems. If it's a tight fit... you did something wrong. Jetsam is a really neat addition to my BeastBox ranks. I find his turtle form charming and like the green used in his deco. BeastBox toys are really creative and a heavily armed sea turtle is impossible to resist.

Wandering Star BB-63C [BeastBox]

BEASTBOX BB-63A HEATMISER / BB-63B BLOWBACK/ BB-63C WANDERING STAR Meet HEATMISER, an unstoppable monster but also fragile baby; BLOWBACK, on a mission impossible for normalcy; and WANDERING STAR, breaking free with eyes wandering and senses in pure delight. Collect them all!

It's impossible to not love an Axolotl. They're these little, adorable sea creatures that seem like something straight out of a fantasy story. 52Toys recently released a trio of them and today we'll be looking at Wandering Star from the three. They're all the same base mold (as I understand), but each are very distinct from each other as different characters with vivid colors. Wander Star is an absolutely delightful mixture of blues with some accenting purple and silver tech detail. Wandering Star, like the other Axolotls, is a smaller toy. That doesn't limit him in any way as I found him very articulated and expressive. You can put him (not gendering, just using him generically) in a variety of swimming posses. His head can swivel, allowing for some cocked head poses. Like he's looking at you curiously. The tail has quite a bit of pleasant movement as well.

Transformation to box mode is fairly easy, though I kept removing the front legs accidentally. Probably the most involved step is splitting the tail and moving it into place. Really, the best description of transformation is that Wandering Star folds backwards, pokes in his extremities, and folds his tail around himself. He fit's into his Box Charger snuggly... actually let's talk about that Box Charger. Wandering Star (as do the other two) comes with the newer, smaller variation of the Box Charger. This new version is a more compact model that expands into a full size box. The compressed boxes can be stacked together to save room for when not in use. It's a pleasant alternative to the standard Box Charger that normally comes with your BeastBox toy... and kinda fitting for a little guy like Wandering Star. It's probably easy to tell that I like this little toy. The colors are great and an Axolotl is impossible to hate. Wandering Star just looks so happy and full of a joyful existence. I can't look at it without smiling... and that's a pretty solid reason to like a toy.

Demon Dart BB-32 [BeastBox]

[DEMON DART Legend] Despite being a veteran of the Cavalry Army, Demon Dart is troubled by his rookies face. Although the corp disbanded ages ago, he still keeps some of those old fashioned habit, and never adopt the noise suppressor is one of them.

I do love a beetle. Well, maybe not in real life... but absolutely as a toy. Demon Dart, who we're looking at today, is a really neat robot beetle. Something about the boxiness of a robot toy really works great with bugs. Demon Dart really pulls off the insect robot look really well in his cool red and black colors. It's a simple color set, but just looks so striking on his design and make me think of the EVA-02. BeastBox toys always look cool, but there's something extra special about this one. One really neat feature of Devil Dart is his flight mode. Not only do the wings open up, but a set of jet wings unfold from underneath. After the little nosecone is in place, you've got a cool a flying beetle ready for battle. The flight mode reminds me of the vehicle modes in Beast Wars Transmetals. They weren't much more than a few parts that folded out of the beast mode, but it made for a fun design. I'm reminded of Transmetal Waspinator's vehicle mode in particular.

You'd think going from the beetle to a box would be tricky, but transformation very easy. It's an involved transformation to be sure... but everything just works without any hassle. Devil Dart is a pleasure to change from one mode to another. Box mode is nice and compact. It really does just fold up cleanly without any kibble in any mode. That's some really impressive engineering. Box modes slides easily into the Box Charger without any fuss with plenty of room to store his little missiles. Demon Dart is such a cool toy. He's simple to transform, but not a basic toy. Those six legs articulate in a pretty wide range of movement. You can open the beetle wings without unfolding the jet wings as well if you choose. Despite looking like a nightmare of you found one in your kitchen, this is a pleasant little bug bot. Just a pleasure all around. I love it.

New Week, same old Spin

It's the beginning of another week of robots, monsters, and misadventure! I hope everyone had a pretty great weekend, mine sure was! The Mrs and I did some household stuff and watched The Wild Robot while enjoying some home cooked chilli! The wife is a great cook and that was a great movie! I finally let myself play the final stage in Astro Bot to complete the game. The final stage used Thunder Force V music in an enjoyable shooter stage. The ending was amazing, but I've got a few more things to do in the game. I don't think I'll ever put this game down, truly one of the great ones.

Unfortunately I didn't find any new toys while out shopping. Others are finding Blokees at their Walmarts and I'm literally chomping at the bit. Not to mention new Transformers Legacy figures that haven't shown up here yet either. I ordered a BeastBox toy, so the weekend was still fruitful. With Christmas approaching, I don't want to spend too much on myself. However small surprises are ok. Well, it's time to get this week started. I've got some fun posts for you all this week, please look forward to it! Today is Pocky and Pretz day, make sure to enjoy a box if you can. I've got a Strawberry Pocky box to enjoy at work tonight. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. The site keeps growing and I really appreciate it. Don't forget to share with your friends and hey... have a great day!

Chinese Dragon MB-14 [MEGABOX]

[CHINESE DRAGON Legend] For thousands of years it has symbolised prosperity, strength, luck and imperial authority. Unfolding into a 29cm long mythical creature, the exquisite MEGABOX MB-14 Chinese Dragon has descended!

2024 isn't just the 40th anniversary of the Transformers or 50th anniversary of Microman and Hello Kitty. It's also the Year of the Wood Dragon! To celebrate, we're taking a look at Megabox Chinese Dragon MB-14. Megabox is a companion line to Beastbox that has featured licensed characters or in this case, characters from East Asian mythology. Chinese Dragon is exactly as his name implies, a traditional Chinese Dragon. I'm saying 'he', but no gender has been implied to my knowledge. Chinese Dragon is a really ornate looking toy. The green and gold colored plastic really compliment each other as does the translucent orange bits. This is a really pretty figure. Chinese Dragon is also very long, with plentiful articulation allowing for cool flying poses. I get the mental picture of Mythical Qi Beast RyuseiOh/Red Dragon Thunderzord flying into action. His legs also are articulated and the mouth can open.

Transformation into box mode is a little involved to say the least. It's pretty hard to imagine Chinese Dragon's serpentine shape forming a square... but it really can. This involves a lot of folding and splitting the tail right down the middle. I'm used to the BeastBox's folding into boxes with obvious corner points forming pretty quickly during the transformation process. With Chinese Dragon, you actually form him at an angle. It took me a second to realize I had made the box after I had formed the corners together. Once finished he fits into his Box Charger for storage. Speaking of, the Box Charger is a nice green color that really pops. This really is a very good looking toy. I've been enjoying BeastBox quite a bit and a part of that is based on the creativity each toy has. It's hard to imagine a shape like Chinese Dragon's turning into a box... let alone something angular. Once you've done it, it takes a moment to let it sink in. That's really cool.