Dinobot Snarl and Grimlock [Swapticons]

It's summer, the Summer of Swapticons, and since this is Zone Base... you all know Halloween is cooking in my brain. This isn't just a me thing either. If you look around, you'll see the term "Code Orange" in certain circles. This is due to the early stock of Halloween items in some stores, which has led to the whole Summerween thing. We're taking over.

What does this have to do with Swapticons? Well, as I've mentioned way too many times, I was Snarl the Dinobot for Halloween in the 2nd grade. Specifically Dynabot Snarl, as the Collegeville Costume box said. So, with spooky season in mind, today's a good day to talk about the Snarl and Grimlock Swapticons pack!

I actually like Snarl for more reasons than Halloween. For one, I think he's cool-looking. Also, things like Armor Geist in Exkaiser help solidify just how cool his design is to me. Grimlock, on the other hand... we all love him. The leader of the Dinobots and one of the most impersonated characters in the history of the series.

Times when I've spoken with Greg Berger have led to what's become one of my favorite bits of Transformers trivia. During those original cartoon days when he took on the character, the voice was so demanding that he took lessons from a heavy metal vocal coach to ensure he didn't destroy his vocal cords each session. In short, this is an ideal Swapticons set... and I just like dinosaurs.

In this 2-pack, Snarl becomes the rear of the dinosaur with Grimlock forming the head. The result is a dinosaur that looks like a MechaGodzilla version of the 1998 American Godzilla... or Zilla, as real ones know it by. Frankly, that makes me like the beast mode a lot, and being Swapticons, you can mix and match to create a lot of fun alt modes. Dino truck, kitty-saurus, stego... sports car... or tank... you get the idea.

Once again, they've got that wonderfully boxy and silly Swapticons design that I really enjoy. I mean, look, these clearly aren't for display cases and for ahem serious collectors. These are straight-up toys, and that's what they are. Me? I buy a ton of ahem serious collector toys... and these are more fun to blog about.

You can throw a few in your messenger bag, entertain yourself at your desk, and store them in a shoebox. Once again, part of me wonders if the designers who worked on these also worked on the most recent Changeables from McDonald's. And yes, I am comparing a retail toy with a fast-food premium like it's something noteworthy to think about, and that's because it is. After all, what may have been the first figure of Arcee was made from Happy Meal Power Rangers figures and Sculpey. Not to mention, designers work on a whole slew of products, and it's pretty damn fascinating.

Also of note, Grimlock and Snarl's combined form looks like it's taking a nap, and that's freaking adorable.

Pilot Liam [Armorsaurs]

Armored Saurus—adapted into Armorsaurs—is one of those newer toy lines that’s been popping up in certain corners of the internet. I’d been seeing people in Microfans sharing the figures, along with various robot groups showing off the mecha, so when I spotted them at my local Walmart, I decided to take a chance and picked up Liam.

The show itself is mostly CGI with live-action elements, similar in style to Power Rangers, the western version replaces the original actors. From what I can tell, the toys are a brand-new line produced by MGA Entertainment rather than imports.

The premise centers around a group of kids involved in a military program using armored dinosaurs. The twist is that they have a special gene that allows them to communicate with the dinosaurs—so they’re not just randomly chosen and thrown into danger. Instead, there’s a reason they’re being put in harm’s way.

Makes sense.

Liam—“Pilot Liam,” technically—is the red ranger of the group and is paired with the T-Rex. On his own, he’s a nicely articulated 3 ¾-inch scale figure with a modular armor gimmick. He comes with a variety of plug-in armor pieces that you can mix and match, which ends up being a lot of fun to mess around with.

He also includes a sword and a backpack that doubles as a sheath. The figure itself is made from a slightly softer plastic that actually feels really nice in hand, without getting in the way of posing or attaching parts. Everything connects easily, and the included connector pieces give you a lot of flexibility when building out different armor configurations. It’s a familiar kind of gimmick, but it works. The Glyos System fan in me definitely appreciates it.

Overall, I liked Liam quite a bit—and I could easily see myself picking up a few more.

Dinobot Slug (Legacy Evolution/Core Class)

Around 2009, someone at Hasbro discovered Slag wasn't a friendly term everywhere in the world and started using alternates with Slug being the most often used. At this point there's more Slag toys named something completely else than Slag... but it's still an elephant in the room in some corners of the Transformers world. I'll be calling him Slag, but the name on the box says Slug for those reasons. Slag is another member of this Core Class Dinobots set and a classic Dinobot as well. As a Core Class, he is pretty small. though apparently is one of the larger toys in the class. Slag, like Snarl, could almost pass for a regular toy as his combiner limb nature isn't completely evident. If not for his dino tail weapon containing Volcanicus's head, it'd be pretty easy to hide.

Well that and the assorted pegs visible in robot mode. Slag looks fairly accurate to his classic character here with obvious omissions for size and paint. He's a good looking figure. Transformation from robot to Triceratops is fairly easy. He's another one of those toys where everything looks like where it would go. The dino tail forms a 'blaster' in robot mode. It also is storage for Volcanicu's head and forms part of the combiners abdomen. Snarl forms the main torso of Volcanicus and mirrors Kakuryu in Dinoking... which is obviously another use of the mold set coming at some point. As a Triceratops, Slag has a fair amount of articulation considering his small size. All four legs can move and his mouth can open. Opening his mouth would of course expose the robot mode head... but that was the case on his original toy as well. This is a perfectly serviceable little figure of Slag. Like the other Dinobots in this set, I like him a lot. In fact, I like this set and am honestly enjoying it more than the full size Volcanicus from Power of the Primes. Not disparaging that version at all (I like it quite a bit), but the more compact design benefits the combiner overall. Everything is just sturdier. Not to mention, I really enjoy the blocky old school nature of this set of toys. We've got one more Dinobot to go until Volcanicus awakens! 

Dinobot Snarl (Legacy Evolution/Core Class)

Halfway to Halloween is the perfect time to take a look at a Snarl toy. Long time readers know about my Snarl Halloween costume, but in this case it's time we got back to our look at the Core Class Dinobots from Transformers Legacy Evolution. Like the other Core Class Dinobots, Snarl is small and a little blocky. Small, because he's a Core Class. The blockiness obviously also comes due to his smaller size and brings a level of old school charm. It's impossible not to compare this set to Dinoking, which possibly could be coming out later made from this set of molds. I hope it does, Dinoking is pretty great. Volcanicus, the combiner this set, is also pretty great and so is this set of figures. It's really hard to complain about a dinosaur combiner robot.

Snarl, of course, transforms into a stegosaurus. Dinosaur mode is pretty faithful, though I can see others take issue with his hind legs. Those are formed from Snarl's robot mode arms and the feet are at his elbows. This leads to his forearms effectively hanging out the back of the feet and impossible to ignore. In a larger toy, these would fold up. It doesn't bother me as the size and combining nature of the toy will lead to some compromises. I can see how it would turn off some though. Transformation is pretty easily and everything goes where you'd expect too by looking at it. You do have to remove the red portion of the dino back and manually attach it to the robots back. Theirs also a little maneuvering of this piece when converting Snarl to Volcanicus's right leg. So try not to loose it.

Snarl comes with a sword. The sword can be mounted to the top of the dinosaur or beneath. It goes without saying he can hold it in robot mode, but it also can be mounted on his back as that's the same part as the dino back. In robot mode Snarl is fairly faithful to his classic design. He's not as blocky as some of the other Dinobots and probably could have been a stand alone toy. I normally favor Snarl figures, but this one really is a good little toy. Just two more Dinobots to look at until Volcanicus!

Hidden Hatchers wave 1 (Fierce Changers)

Fierce Changers is a fun new series of Jurassic World toys that features transforming dinosaur toys. There's a variety of size classes coming, but today we'll be looking at the initial batch of the Hidden Hatchers variety. Hidden Hatchers are a smaller set of figure that transform into eggs. Simple, yet fun little toys that obviously appeal to the egg bot fan in me. In this initial batch, we have Blue (a velociraptor), Tyrannosaurus Rex, Indominus Rex, and Dilophosaurus. The four seem to all share engineering and parts aside from their heads. It doesn't take away from the the little dinos and I had a lot of fun with the silly little things. It's hard not to enjoy the cute sculpts and stomp them around. Transformation to egg form is pretty easy, though in some instances I had to get the head positioned just right to make it work. The Indominus Rex was the biggest trouble maker in that instance. Egg mode isn't as smooth as a Tamagoras, but serviceable. Fierce Changers looks to be a fun new little series of Jurassic World toys. There's figures that change from one dino to another, and even a large T-Rex that converts into the classic Jurassic Park Jeep. I'm looking forward to getting more of these adorable little terrors. Good job Mattel.

Jawbreaker (EarthSpark/Warrior Class)

I liked Jawbreaker almost immediately when he first appeared on the show. Of course when his toy came out, I jumped right on it. Jawbreaker is a Warrior Class figure, like others in the class in EarthSpark, he's not too much different than a Deluxe Class toy. Only paired down for price and difficulty. Just right for the younger audience they're aiming for. I guess the adult nerd crowd is a given. I really like his colors. The orange looks good against the black and silver. It's plesant looking.

Jawbreaker transforms into a dinosaur, specifically a Stygimoloch. According to the TF Wiki, this may not be an actual species. That's ok, living alien robots from outer space that turn into things aren't either. It's an easy transformation, which is to be expected. Simplicity aside, Jawbreaker is a pretty neat toy. There's a little hollowness that's mostly easy to ignore, but a surprising amount of articulation. Jawbreaker also has a flip out blaster. I like these little self contained weapons some EarthSpark toys have. While not wanted all the time, it can be fun when used right. Jawbreaker almost feels like he's from another toy line other than Transformers, but I can't quite place where exactly. Maybe Masterbotix. He's a neat little figure for the lower price a Warrior Class costs. A little simple, but not in a bad way. I'd like to see it in other colors. I could just see a weird colored pack of these dinosaurs running together.

San Diego Incident

Nov. 3, 1997

Weekly Update- 1/9/22

A new week has begun on Planet Zone! I enjoyed my weekend, but wished it would have lasted longer. I spent it doing some much needed housework. That'll be taking up the next few weekends, but it's just the thing to do in winter I suppose. The holidays are over, so things will be getting back to normal around here for awhile. I did pick up the Beast Wars reissue Wolfang and Retrax this weekend. Man, the price went up on those things. I've got a fun week in store for you readers. Thank you for continuing to support Zone Base. If you could, I hope you share posts with your friends.

Beast Lord Dino Robot

Dino Robot is a set I've been tracking down for a few years now. Thanks to Shawn's tip, I found a set at my local Rose's. A store I often forget exists. As you can tell by looking at the pictures Dino Robot is a knock off of Go! Goradora/Beast Hunters Abominus/TF5 Infernocus. Specifically it's a K.O of Goradora as those are the closest in colors it comes to. The individual combiner members are sized up a little being closer to Core Class scale than the Legion/Legend scale the originals were. I'm a fan of both size classes (as you probably know by now), but having more Core Class bad guys is definitely a good thing. I have both versions of Abominus, Infernocus, and multiple (but not all) of the individual uses of these molds... but no Goradora. So Dino Robot is a good substitution for the Goradora I don't have. However, I'll be refereeing to the set at Dino Robot the rest of this post because I kinda love that name. It's a discount store bootleg robot toy... it damn well better have a name like Dino Robot.

Speaking about names... these guys man. Each member's name is their alt mode, or what the shady company that made the set thought their alt mode was. Jurara is named Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is a stretch. However the original mold has been used for Grimlock a few times, so I guess it works. Barara is named Pterosaurs. Which I guess works, even though he's more of a take on Firebird from the Hanna-Barbera Godzilla cartoon. He's supposed to be a dragon of sorts, but now you can't unsee it either. Burara is Monster... which fits. Lastly both Dorara and Garara are named Double Dragon. Which is awesome. However as they both are named Double Dragon... I guess one is the NES port. These are not complete 1 for 1 matches to the originals as the colors are not exact. Dino Robot is closer to this team than the others, however.

This is a pretty good set for some knock off toys. For Twelve dollars and ninety nine cents I got what the box advertised as an 8 piece set. The Five In One Dino Robot and three weapons. Yeah... they counted the weapons as pieces to advertise on the box. The figures are larger than their original use as I said above, but don't look too bad. Considering the age of the original toys and multiple uses they look pretty sharp. Of course I don't know when this mold set was made off the original toys or if it's just a  stolen CAD file as the box art is CGI models. There is some loose joints here and there, but for the most part the figures are decently sturdy enough. Pterosaurs is probably the worst of the batch when it comes to that. Those three weapons... the group does have a problem holding them correctly and they don't connect together well either. So I just kinda had to make them work where they could.

I was pleased with how stable they were combined together. When it comes to these sets the combination is either sorta ok or a complete shit show. These guys were pretty high in the sorta ok end of things. Everything actually worked pretty well, but the legs could have been a lot better. Admittedly the original toy's legs were never so great either. This was during an era of Transformers where there was obvious sandbagging when the creatives didn't want to do something the higher ups commanded. You'd think HBK was loosing the match with those legs. Honestly, the arms are a little half assed too design wise, but considering it's supposed to be a monstrous robot... it works. Just the legs could have benefited from a little more effort. To be fair they were small toys sold at a pretty low price.

I am pretty happy with Dino Robot as is, not only does he make a good stand in for Goradora but at that bigger size makes for a great villain for the upcoming Core Class Volcanicus to fight. It's been a while since I've bought a discount store robot and that's an itch I've been needing to scratch that Dino Robot fulfilled. Despite some hit or miss points in the toy, it is a satisfying experience. For twelve dollars and ninety nine cents you're not getting a lot these days, hardly even lunch at a fast food place. So a somewhat decent robot toy set that didn't crumble in my hands (it has happened before) that definitely has a purpose... yeah. Dino Robot's ok.

Pretty Mayhem 5- A New Beginning

 

From Memorial Day to Independence Day is fireworks season here in the States. It's a highly dangerous yet beautiful way to celebrate during the summer. Another festive yet scary summer tradition is the big budget summer movie. Which aside from Bumblebee, is the live action Transformers movies. With them is our last look at sparking Transformers toys. This time though, there's no monsters to be found. Instead another scary summer movie tradition, dinosaurs! In 2014 Age of Extinction brought us the live action movie's version of the Dinobots and a slew of toys with it. 

Being a big budget movie with a bunch of toys and merchandise is a different animal all together than the standard Transformers toy line. There tends to be more odd gimmicky simple toys out in force than usual. The Dino Sparkers are exactly just that! Translucent versions of Dinobots rode by figurines of Autobot characters. Pulling the toys back on a solid surface will make them roll toward and fire sparks! The character selection was- Optimus Prime and Grimlock, Bumblebee and Strafe, Drift and Slug. There was allegedly Lockdown with Wolf listed at one point, but nothing ever came of that. I wish there was more to say about these toys, but they 100% were what they were. I had a good time with this movie line with the various Dinobots and then new One Step Changers. It was a fun summer of chasing down neat toys. 

And that brings our look at sparking Transformers to a close. Summer is a Spooky Season, partially due to the various dangers that lurk between all the fun in the sun. We've got another month of Spooky Summer to go before Halloween starts... but as of this weekend, firework season is over. It's Independence Day and another long holiday weekend. I certainly need the break and will be enjoying napping between grilling. Regular posting will resume Tuesday as I'll be taking Monday off. Thanks everyone for reading Zone Base and please don't forget to share with your friends!

Slug/Slag (Cyberverse)

 

Not going to lie, this is one of the most impressive figures I've seen in a while. Slug is just oozing personality and damn near impossible not to like. This is the Cyberverse Deluxe version of Slug (formerly Slag) and a real stand out. I love Dinobots (still need to find Snarl) and was all too happy to see him underneath the tree on Christmas (thanks to the Mrs!). If Cyberverse isn't your thing, then you're probably unaware just how much they nail the classic characters with a touch of stylized flair. I'm normally a big fan of the warrior class. Warrior class is a more simple figure, but in that simplicity is an accidental throwback to older robot figures. Still, I've gotten some of the Deluxes (need to get Hot Rod and Bumblebee still) as they're quite nice. As of right now, I think Slug is the best one they've done.

Slug turns into his trademark triceratops and looks 100% like classic Slag in both forms. HOWEVER, in that stylized flair I talked about above is some extra charm. They've added spikes and a facial expression that makes him look as if he walked off the pages of a Generation 2 comic. If they ever repaint this mold, I really hope it's in green or red. It's one of those things I just can't un-see. 

As a figure on his own, Slug is pretty great. Make no mistakes, I'm outright gushing. I was completely blown away by how good this figure is. If I have anything that resembles a complaint about him, it's that I had a little trouble transforming him. The robot mode legs make up the rear section of the dinosaur and arranging them didn't go so smoothly. I haven't seen any other complaints about this, so that very well could just be me being clumsy. Outside of that, Slug is well articulated and decently so in dino mode as well. Instead of a sword, he's packing a hatchet and the gun you normally see him use. The two can be combined which makes for a great cannon for the triceratops. There's also one of those action effect blast thingies included to plug onto the guns barrels. I normally don't care much for those, but in this case I actually like it. This toy is so good it sold me on something I normally don't like!

Ractonite

A long forgotten Christmas tradition is to tell scary ghost stories at night. That tradition is so forgotten that it seems totally out of place these days. You all know I like it spooky and can appreciate it as a counter point to all the sugar and spice. Admittedly my habit of listening to paranormal and true crime podcasts while at work is a regular thing anyway. But it does help alleviate some of the stress of the holiday season. With that in mind I thought looking at the spooky skeletal Fossilizers would be just the ticket! While I was getting sick this past summer the wife picked him up for me. He's been in my backlog since then and I'm glad I finally opened him up. I like Fossilizers as is. Nothing like a Transformer that's a skeleton that transforms into a skeleton. Add in that the body can be broken up and used as armor or weapons for other transformers and you've got quite a morbidly weird idea. They also remind of of Rock Lords and Bone Age.

Ractonite transforms into a triceratops. That's probably not the most accurate description of the exact dinosaur species represented here, but I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs never turned into robots either. It's a pretty good skeletal dinosaur. Decently articulated. Of course he can be split up and made into a variety of weapons and armor as a Fossilizer. There's a combiner you can make with them and these are the parts that make up it's torso and feet. Considering that he's the widest of the Fossilizers, you'd figure more would be used. I may do so whenever making mine. In robot mode there's a strong resemblance to Ribcage that I cannot ignore. If I was on whatever official board decided exclusives, there would definitely be a Fossilosaurus set pitched using these guys. However that gate is firmly kept by others.

Striking Dinosaurs By Hunting Them

It's been a little while since I've talked Dino Strike here... and I wanted to again. The newest and current series 'Dino Strike Hunt' is pretty great. This time it's a mix of dinosaurs with removable capture devices and hunter vehicles. Instead of fighting dinosaurs with battle armor, they're being hunted! The dinosaurs are still really solid and the vehicles are pretty fun. There's 10 different toys with a variety of common to rare pieces.

Even though 'Hunt' is a departure from the armor and firing rockets of the prior series, the theme still feels natural. The capture devices range from muzzles, to a variety of chains, and one even has a trap that it's foot can be stuck in. The hunter vehicles are neat. Two jeeps and a helicopter with capture claws and firing rockets (a giant crossbow on the helicopter). The second camouflaged jeep is one of the more rare toys of the series, which I oddly appreciate for reasons unknown even to me.

Fighting Dynowarz

Dynowarz: Destruction of Spondylus is a game by Bandai for the NES from 1990. Back then I loved it. I haven't played it in 30 years, I don't know if I'd love it now. But I still think it's pretty awesome. You play as Professor Proteus and the Cyborasaurus. Levels swap between Proteus running and jumping and shooting and piloting Cyborasaurus. Who then runs, jumps, and shoots things. Cyborasaurus is a Robosaur and you'll spend his levels fighting other Robosaurs. If you're keeping score, that's a space dude driving a robot dinosaur fighting bad guys who also have robot dinosaurs. What's not to love?

Unfortunately there's not much info on the game out there. It wasn't a big hit. Most sites that bother to talk about it are basic reference sites or much bigger sites than this making fun of a weird old game. Part of me wants to believe it was part of a bigger series or was planned to be. I tried looking up a Japanese or other versions just to see what else there was and... nothing. It just feels like it was bigger than it was, like there's more to it. Guess not. At least I can remember it fondly.

I mean, dude, giant robot dinosaur.

Sky Lynx Is Majectic Nonsense

Sky Lynx from Earthrise was another Christmas gift from the Mrs. He's always been one of the more neat members of the Autobots. You've got a space shuttle that transforms into some kind of dinosaur bird thing, while the booster pack/transporter thing turns into a lynx. The two robots then combine to form Sky Lynx, whom best can be described as something. But a specifically majestic something. He's makes no sense whatsoever and that specifically makes him perfect. Majestically.

This new figure is an extremely solid update. Bringing the original toy to the modern era with all sorts of fancy articulation and improving on the original toys flaws. It's pretty great and he'd tell you the same.

This is a pretty big toy with a bunch of different modes. Despite all of that he transforms really easily. It's a snap to convert everything into everything and combine those everythings into an new everything. He's a lot of things, but not a complex thing. That's a nice thing.

I'm particularly happy that the designers kept him as faithful to the original design as possible while updating him at the same time. Sky Lynx is such an individual, he needs to be stuck in his era. I can't imagine a sleeker version would look any better. Something this weird needs that big chunky 80's super robot aesthetic.

They gave Sky Link a big articulated neck and tail. He's always had a big neck and tail, but the articulation allows for a nice range of movement. My mental go to imagery for Sky Lynx is the episode 'Call of the Primitives'. He's portrayed more like a brontosaurus in that episode and this neck and tail make that more possible than his original toy. By that, I mean, he can actually be bent that way. 

Before anyone tells me a brontosaurs doesn't actually exist, neither does giant alien robots that turn into fifty thousand different things. But they should have feathers. Not dinosaurs, Transformers. 

In case all his different modes weren't enough, Sky Lynx has a base mode as well. Obviously it's meant for Micromasters to function as a base for. However I find it just makes a good launching pad for the space shuttle. Though I guess that would mean the Lynx portion would be left behind. That never stopped Omega Supreme though. It's uh... not a very realistic cartoon.

I do like the base mode a lot, even though mine didn't hold together very well. Admittedly I may not have stuck it all together right. There's a nice ramp that runs up to the shuttles canopy. Said canopy can open, even though it cannot actually hold anything. It's the thought that counts.

It's super hard not to like this toy. Big, chunky, and downright insane. He even comes with some of those plug in action effect thingies. They're all fire blasts. One big segmented one and three smaller ones. You can use them for the space shuttles thrust or Sky Lynx's fire breath. Their may be some other uses for them that I didn't notice.

Like I said directly above, it's hard not to like this toy. It's literally all toy and you can just sit and play around with him forever. There's a real visceral joy to a large dinosaur/space ship thing. Just want to fly him around the house for hours. Watch out for the cat.

Fossilizer Age

Not all of Kingdom is updates to classic characters, fortunately there's some new bots in the mix as well. Not just new bots, but a  new kind of bot even! Paleotrex is a Fossilizer. A Fossilizer is similar to a Weaponizer, but made of bones. That's right, Paleotrex here can be taken apart and fashioned into armor and weapons for other Transformers. However those weapons and that armor is made of dinosaur bones. After the initial confusion of what I just said, the inherit awesomeness of it just rushed through your mind. I know. It's metal as fuck.

Paleotrex is a skeleton robot Predacon that turns into a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. It's just as awesome to say that as the fact of it is. His robot mode head has a flip down mask that's really similar to the old mutant heads that Beast Wars toys originally had. Speaking of original Beast War toys, with his mask flipped down, his head becomes Optimus Primal's missing skull mace. 

Let's put that into perspective, Optimus ripped this guy's head off and is using it to beat other Predacons. Kingdom is metal as fuck.

Paleotrex turns into a T-Rex skeleton, like I said above. Because of the gimmick of turning his body into other things, he's a partsformer. You take him apart and rearrange him. That kind of thing bothers some folks, but is unavoidable here. 

In both modes Paleotrex looks great. While I vastly prefer the mask down, keeping it up is a good way to remember this is supposed to be a robot. I say that, because his robot mode isn't very robotic. Paleotrex is a an alien robot dinosaur skeleton. With that many descriptive words something's got to give. In a line full of robots that turn into things, the skeletons that turn into skeletons get a pass. Not to mention, it's rad as fuck. I mean, just look at it.

LOOK AT IT.

I can make jokes about how metal Paleotrex is (as fuck), but there's more than meets the eye (*cries*) here. This is a new character, which is rare these days in Transformers. Part of Beast Wars magic was that it was a mix of new and old. Even now that Beast Wars is being revisited, there's something new with the old. Transformers is a giant iceberg that keeps getting bigger every time you look. 

Hasbro bought Kenner in the 90's and later had Kenner run Beast Wars. After all these years Beast Wars is back in the forefront with these new skeleton dinosaur robots included. Dinosaur skeleton robots that you take apart and use their bones to make other things. Hey, didn't Kenner... 

I talk about Microman a lot here. Microman is part of that iceberg. In formation and ongoing growth. There was a bootleg Microman line called Dokuroman. The toys were casts of Microman toys (with less joints) and given skull heads. Here's a skeleton robot. I'm sure that's an accidental homage in this case, but it's still there. Oh hey, what was a feature of Microman again? The Transformers iceberg is neat, huh?

Smashing Dinosaurs From Their Icy Tombs

Blind assorted, tiny rubber keshi toys are pretty easy to get. I buy plenty (like a ton), but I've been wanting to find a new line to really get behind. Not that I'm ignoring the others ones I buy, but without Grossery Gang, there's been an empty spot. An Instagram friend has been posting quite a bit of the Zuru Smashers lately and they've been catching my interest.

The Smashers line by Zuru is a neat keshi line blind packed in collapsible plastic capsules that you 'smash' to open. Series 1 passed me right by. I don't think I ever saw it. I did buy a few from series 2. Fun, but I just didn't see them often. That brings us to series 3 which kinda snuck in under my radar. This was the 'Dino' series, which as the name implies was a dinosaur themed set. I really wish I would have gotten in on these guys earlier as the dinosaurs rang from standard, to mutants, to robots, and even skeletons. Really awesome stuff.

Fortunately I began seeing these at the same time as I discovered series 4, which is the 'Dino Ice Age' set. So there's still plenty to go around. Actually I see more series 3, so no problem there. I don't think I have to tell you, but series 4 is an ice age expansion of series 3. The toys are available in a range of prices, but I usually see the 8 pack at my local stores for around $9. 

You get 8 toys on a card, 6 in smash-able capsules (egg shaped for the dinos) with 2 visible on the card and a random slime pack. There's also larger eggs that have larger figures inside... but I'm focusing on the little rubber dudes here. Part of the reason I didn't notice them is my stores tend to just put them wherever. You might have to really look if you'd like to pick up a pack, and they could be anywhere. The figures are pleasantly rubbery with wacky sculpts. So far I've been really enjoying these little prehistoric freaks. I think Zuru just makes blind packed dinosaurs I like.

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?

 

The Lost World On R-Zone

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.