Ever try to put a Boglins tail on? It's super hard, but it's even harder getting the dang little monster out of it's crate the first time. You see, the tail is a separate piece. There's a plug that goes inside it and connects to the main body. That plug is used to hold the Boglin in place inside it's crate. It is a damn act of nature to pull that plug out. That is the most stuck in place thing ever stuck in place in the history of things stuck in place. When you finally get that plug out, you put it through the tail and back into it's socket. Then the Boglin is assembled. Sounds easy huh?
In that same spooky treat sack from the Mrs. I've talked about this week was Studio Series 86 Gnaw. While not outright spooky, a Sharkticon is delightfully monstery. Totally a Halloween appropriate robot. Honestly, they could do an orange jack-o-lantern version as a Halloween Horrorcon if they ever followed with that abandoned idea from 20 years ago. Ooh, it could be a Boglin. I'll just keep dreaming while they reward sites that steal from and shit on them instead. Actually, a Sharkticon is basically a robot Boglin... I'm super glad I just made that comparison. Now I'll never unsee it. Man... let's watch that awesome Japanese Boglin commercial again.
Man, I love that thing. I also love Gnaw, how couldn't I? He's this big round monster full of teeth with a robot mode that makes me think of a Gamorrean Guard. Considering all the Star Wars influences in the 1986 movie, that may not be coincidental. My brother got a Gamorrean Guard mask the same Halloween Return of the Jedi came out and wore it until he was too old to trick or treat. This toy is pretty damn great BTW. Full of articulation and character. Like all the other Studio Series 86 toys I've gotten, it looks like the character walked off my TV and became a toy I took bad pictures with on a TV tray in my living room. Just wonderful.
Gnaw transforms relatively easy. His arms becomes the shark monsters legs while his leg fold up behind him. There's a backpack that adjusts to cover those legs and forms the shark monsters back. The whip weapon connects to that for a tail and the robot head hides away as you fold the monsters big mouth over his shoulders. His gun can be mounted for a little beast mode fire power and the shark fin can be used as a dagger as a bot. Gnaw isn't just a show piece, but a well executed toy. To quote that guy Chet who lived across the street when I was in the 5th grade "he's pretty bad ass, Gnaw meen brah". Well, I assume that's how he talks now. It's the south and he once told me life is pretty wild when you play with madness like he does. That year I really wanted to be Eddie from Iron Maiden, but instead was Jason Vorhees with a bootleg fright mask. Am I forcing a bunch of Halloween stuff into this because it's almost here? Yep.
My brand new Boglin came in today! The Mrs. had pre-ordered this guy for me way earlier in the year and I've been waiting anxiously ever since. I haven't made my admiration for Boglins a secret around this place and actually holding Blobkin in my hands feels like a trophy after the past few months. If he looks familiar, Blobkin is one of the original gang with a new toy. Originally one of the Halloween Boglins, Blobkin came with a trick or treat bag! That's a pretty rad extra, now the Halloween series is called Dark Lord Boglins and includes new member Crazy Clown. They're slowly showing up at standard retail and I hope to get some more. I really wish they'd revisit the Mini Bloglins keshi from back in the day. Dang, if only they'd bring those back!
I don't care what the calendar says, Memorial Day is the start of summer and you know what summer means on Zone Base? The beginning of five months of spooky shit! Summer is a spooky season and that will be observed here all through June and July. August? Technically part of summer, but also the official change over to Zone Base's Halloween celebration!
Just in time, the new Boglins will be in stores and into our hearts this summer! The Halloween ones will be in time for a pumpkin spice latte! There's even 'gold horned' editions exclusive to Walmart! I can't think of a better way to kick off the scariest time of the year!
This year looks to be a winner for us spooky minded folks. There's all sorts of cool things on the way and all sorts of scares coming up. Since I've started 'Not As Brightly Lit' this year the site has gotten a lot of new visitors. If this is your first spooky season here on Planet Zone, don't worry, all the regular content isn't going anywhere. Spooky Summer is the prelude to Halloween where I post all sorts of scary stuff in addition to the normal content.
They'll be more scary subject matter, paranormal/creepy stuff, and all sorts of macabre until August. That's when the pumpkins go up and we celebrate three solid months of Halloween! If you're here for just the regular content, it's not going anywhere either. I'm about to post a whole lot over the next five months. It's time to do the Monster Mash here on Zone Base, and the Transylvania Twist too. Thank you all for reading. Please share with your friends, and don't forget...
In a surprise turn of events, after reading my post on Boglins last week, Shawn put on his Superman cape and sent me a most surprising surprise. Inside a giant box was a Crate Creature, from the toy line Crate Creatures, who clearly take their inspiration from Boglins and a few other gross toys from the past. His name is Guano and this little shit is the best.
Unlike Boglins, Crate Creatures are not puppets. Instead they're fun figures full of play gimmicks. Guano here is from the Big Blowout series. Meaning he literally busts out of his crate and farts a whole lot. He farts, he burps, he talks, he screams in pain when you give him a wedgie, he even adorably giggles when you tickle him and snores when he's sleeping. Just like me.
Like other gross toy lines, Boglins inspired other weirdo monster toys in between various low key revivals. It's super awesome to see the spirit live on in new ways. Crate Creatures are pretty great on their own... and I'm pretty tempted to get a few more now. It's hard not to love little Guano, especially when he had a padlock remote to make him fart from 50ft away. Just like me.
I'm probably too old to still be bitter about a toy I wasn't allowed to have. I mean... I have a ton of toys. Though one that has always escaped my grasp was a Boglin. While I'm sure you've probably guessed why I would have wanted one, my parents refused. Why? They felt it would give me nightmares. A fair concern for a parent to have. Though it's also code for "hell no, I'm not buying that thing". A parent would probably skew away from a tiny monster with moving eyes sure to scare the shit out of their child late at night... also waking them up. Which... you know... starting to think parents are full of crap when they say they don't want their kids to have nightmares.
There was even Halloween Boglins (goddammit spellcheck one more fucking red line), which of course was a perfect. Between Boglins and Masters of the Universe's toy line made from Halloween decorations. It was clearly Halloween all year round at Mattel in the 80's. Like this site. Wait what? Forget I said that last part.
