Royal Guard with Bogling (Halloween Edition) [Star Wars/The Black Series]

What's Halloween without a ghost or two haunting the holiday? To answer that, we've got one of this years holiday Star Wars items. A Target exclusive Halloween Edition Royal Guard member who was apparently a victim of the second Death Star explosion. As always, I manage to get a few holiday edition Star Wars toys each year. The Mrs usually gets me the Halloween Droid Factory toy in addition to whatever Halloween and Christmas items they have at stores. A few weeks ago, we picked this guy up at our local Target while excitedly checking out all the new spooky season merchandise. I don't think there's ever been a holiday edition Star Wars toy I haven't liked, but this one is particularly cool. The Royal Guard are usually seen standing by Emperor Palpatine in their striking red robes, keeping vigilant watch over the Supreme Leader of the Galactic Empire. This one must being watching over his throne in the wreckage as he's clearly passed on. Cast in white glow in the dark plastic *yay* and draped with a white glow in the dark *omg* cloth cloak is our ghostly guard.

I hadn't noticed before that the guards are wearing armor under those robes... but it makes sense that they would. From what I understand, this mold was originally released in 2017. I wouldn't be able to tell though as he's got all the articulation that I've come to expect from current 6" figures. As for accessories, our ghostly guard has a tiny little pistol and a staff. These are the ones Royal Guards commonly carry, so it makes sense that even in the after life he's got his gear. Did I mention they glow in the dark too? They do and it's wonderful *I'm going to explode*. The pistol stores inside a holster, but mine tended to fall out easily. So be careful not to loose yours. *mines safe* Completing the look is a skull face variation of the Royal Guard visor. Our ghastly guard is all set to haunt the wreckage of the Death Star. Hopefully whatever scavenger who decided to loot and pillage the remnants brought an extra pair of space pants.

Like most Black Series holiday editions there's a partner figure in the form of a little Bogling who has been turned into a goblin! The adorable little scamp is painted in green with red eyes. It may be hard to tell in my *obviously not professional* pics, but he's got a little pair of slightly different colored shorts. Of course with the name, I couldn't help but to think about Boglins... but that's a different little creature all together. Boglings are normally adorable little critters and this one's definitely a goblin up to all sorts of mischief in a galaxy far, far away. This is a great little set and I'm not sure if your Target has any left, but I'd advise you to get one if they do. Not only is it a great Halloween toy, but it's a fun version of a really well made Star Wars toy. The force is definitely with this ghost.

Transform Squadron 56- Ghost Horror Laser

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Since August is ghost month, Rob takes a look at some of the spooky specters from Cybertron!

Gates of Hell

Summer is a Spooky Season.

Optimus Prime (EarthSpark/1-Step Flipchanger)

Continuing our look at the 1-Step Flip Changers from EarthSpark is Optimus Prime.  You've probably noticed from the pics that he's pretty similar to Swindle. The two share engineering and transformation schemes, but have individual molded parts. This isn't uncommon for these smaller gimmick toys. Optimus did come before Swindle in the series 1st wave while Swindle was in wave 2. I'm obviously not covering these in any particular order. Think of it as a playlist set on random. Optimus turns from robot to semi truck by flipping in the air or pushing over face first in robot mode.

While simple, it's a pretty satisfying process. Like the other Flip Changers, he isn't articulated unfortunately. However he could hold a 5mm weapon if desired. I'd like to see this toy in Machine Wars colors holding that particular version of Optimus Prime's gun. I wish there was more to say, but Optimus looks like Optimus. The EarthSpark version of Optimus, of course, but it's still Optimus Prime tried and true. His colors are simple like the others, and the Takara Tomy version has a better paint deco like others. These Flip Changers are a fun and simple way to collect the characters from EarthSpark and you need Optimus Prime!

We don't need another Monday

It's Monday... dammit. Oh well, at least next week is Memorial Day and a welcome 3 day weekend. I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a good week ahead of them. I did some shopping this weekend and finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Trips to Costco, Walmart, and Target were had. I got Rise of the Beasts mainline Rhinox and Beast Changer Mirage as well as Studio Series core class Ironhide. Not to mention a  Great Posing Figure Demon Slayer gatchapon blind bag (Inosuke!). Thanks everyone for reading Zone Base. I've got a fun week planned and hopefully a new Transform Squadron coming soon! Right now... it's time to get woken up. I'm... ah... still sleepy.

Weekly Halloween~ Alone in the Woods

The woods can be kinda creepy. I mean, yeah, nature is wonderful and all... but you know. Sometimes there's just random noises that come out from some woods and no matter how much you try to explain it away... you're still creeped out. With all the bad stuff that can happen it's only a matter of time before things get spooky.

Weekly Halloween~ The Haunted Toys R Us

There's several certain things you'll experience depending on your generation. Several of us all know that copy of Frampton Comes Alive every bodies parents had. If you're a Transformers fan of a certain age, you're well acquainted with cardboard boxes full of one dollar Flip Changers at old BotCons. If you're into the paranormal... you've heard about the haunted Toys R Us. It's one of those ghost stories that just stays around, but not without reason. It's a pretty good story and there's something charming about a ghost in a toy store. Creepily so, sure, but there's just something neat about it. In another time it would have been a children's movie.

Weekly Halloween~ Is someone in there?

Ever go into a room and feel like someone else is in there, despite knowing you're alone? It's weird huh? I remember this one building I worked at. One of the offices was mostly empty but you never felt alone in there. It was a bit intimidating, like I needed to leave. It was probably just my imagination or maybe emotions from a repressed memory. It's just weird. Kinda like today's video. I don't think I've ever walked into a hotel room and felt like it was empty.

Weekly Halloween: Living in the Amityville Horror

 

I'm endlessly entertained by the Amityville Horror. Not the movies, but the real life events. I'll watch documentaries and read news clips. It's fascinating to me. Probably because I was a young child when it was a more common 'real life' horror story. One thing that often crosses my mind is, the people that lived there before the murders and the haunting. Did they just see their old home on the news and say 'holy crap'? When the movies and notoriety came, were they like 'we used to live there, holy crap'?

I've heard before that Piper Laurie (the mom from Carrie) once lived there. I can't find anything to back that up online, but that'd be a weird coincidence if true. I'm honestly not that concerned if the haunting is true or not. I do admit, those old photos still make me a little uncomfortable. I used to see them in all those 'house from hell' articles as a kid and nothing can shake off the spooky vibes they carry.

In the Haunted House

 

I can't think of a better way for us to have fun on our spooky week than walking through a haunted house. What? Oh, no, don't worry. They'll be plenty more spooky stuff coming throughout the year. Every day is Halloween on Planet Zone after all. This specific haunted house in in a theme park called Suntopia World and is pretty unique. While it isn't full of jump scares, it is fairly uncomfortable. If someone or something was out to get you, they'd be able to hide among the props as you walk around.It'd be the perfect place for something really scary to happen.

Empty Apartment

 

It's always creepy going into somebodies home after they're gone. There's an absence of the life that once lived there that's impossible to ignore. What if the home is said to be haunted? Cursed even? Well, then, that's another story. It's both lonely and scary at the same time. You're potentially in danger after all. Why would a person put themselves into that situation? What would they do to get out? Fortunately I haven't been in that situation. I can't make that judgement call. I don't know what it's like to have those thoughts racing through my mind. The host of today's spookiness though, does.

Replay : Dark Roads

 

I did say I was in a spooky mood, didn't I? One thing that I've always found scary is that random person when you're driving alone down a dark road. You don't have to believe in ghosts and it doesn't have to be paranormal. A person on the road at night while you're driving is uncomfortable. That brings us to this edition of Replay. A paranormal Youtuber I enjoy has a fun compilation of scary things found while driving alone on a dark road. It's a fun little countdown of a common frightening occurrence just right for the spooky mood I'm in. Considering you had to click read more to see the video, looks like you're in similar spirits.

Replay: from a social network

 

The internet is a weird place sometimes. You're probably aware of that if you've found this site. Even as innocent as a social network where you keep up with your friends while going about your own day can be something spooky. Between that innocent inspirational post that your mom shared, some silly meme from a friend, that one guco-worker talking about last night's game... for the most part it's just the way society interacts these days. Just like how society in real time though, there's something dark lurking in the corners. Dangerous people up to no good and maybe a ghost or two. 

Portal to Hell

Ghostbusters Afterlife after all this time

This past Saturday I finally got to see Ghostbusters Afterlife. It was a happy moment as it's been 2 years since the trailer first hit the internet. That was before covid-19 happened and everything changed. I got my tickets last week and happily enjoyed a movie that never seemed like I was going to get to watch. It was well worth the wait, this was a wonderful movie. To give a little perspective, this is Ghostbusters part 3. 

The 2016 reboot is ignored. Like the video game (which at the time was considered part 3) it follows up on the Gozer plot line from the original movie. Part 2 isn't ignored (and it's still cannon) as Ray's book shop is in the movie as is the Vigo portrait. They had more than one adventure you know. If I could compare it to another movie, it'd be Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Strongly played off the original movie while setting up future films. Future films is something I'd be more than happy to see. I like this series. You may have noticed.

I'm not give a review here. Nor am I going to spoil anything(intentionally anyway). I'm just going to talk about something I like. I like Ghostbusters and I liked this movie. I didn't like the movie just because I like Ghostbusters, I liked it also because it was a good movie. Fortunately it was a good Ghostbusters movie. I like the new kids, Phoebe and Podcast were particularly fun new versions of Egon and Ray. In fact Podcast was the one kid I didn't have an opinion about going in and came out liking a whole lot.

Trevor and Lucky I assumed were going to get much bigger roles, but they came in second while still getting decent screen time. Admittedly Lucky got less than all four, but I honestly can't see what else she could have done. Well, I'd like to see more of how she got to the dirt farm in the final act. Not exactly going to lose any sleep over how some characters got to locations. It's a movie and I have a life. Once again it was a good movie, so I wasn't too hung up on 'how' and instead was preoccupied with watching it unfold. It would be a safe assumption that the kids would play out like a copy of Stranger Things. I wouldn't have had too much of a problem with that, but also happy that they felt more like an indie movie initially. Considering it's directed by Jason Reitman, that's not surprising. 

The movie manages to feel like a Ghostbusters movie while also feeling like something new. That's cool, it's a new team, it needs to have it's own identity. It's funny, scary, emotional, and nostalgic. The way a Ghostbusters film with this story should be. It even felt a little like The Real Ghostbusters with some of the equipment and plot. It's nice to wait so long for something and leave completely satisfied. It's been a long two years since that trailer first hit the internet. Here's hoping there's more to come. If not, then hey, they left on a strong note.

Enfield Poltergeist

I tried to think of the most harmless thing

I finally found the new Fright Features Stay Puft Marshmallow Man last week. I say finally because it took a long time. I know that's obvious, but sometimes you really have to explain things. Now got to find Winston with Slimer and the kids! If I was really crazy, I'd look for the Ecto-1 with alternate box art. Not doing that, it's literally the same toy in the same box with the same art(just slightly different). Toys can be weird. What's weird in a good way is Stay Puft's Fight Feature. In fact... it's a little morbid. If you squeeze together those marshmallow man legs, his upper torso spins upwards while raising arms. Now the ghost has been pulled apart showing marshmallow cream seemingly made of Mini Pufts (potential spoiler?) and a spinal column made of jumbo marshmallows. I never knew the intestines of a Sumerian deity could look so tasty!

7 Days

Spooky in Singapore

Halloween may be over, but just like that tuft of fake spider web that you'll never get out of your bushes, it's always a little spooky here. This is a haunted web site, you know.

What Did You Do Ray?

Ever since first learning of the new Ghostbusters Fright Features figures, I've been wanting them. A spiritual sequel of sorts to the Real Ghostbusters figures is an easy sell. Of course the pandemic pushed things back several times and they're just now hitting store shelves. They've actually been out for a few weeks, but I've just finally found them for myself. Stopping by Target for a new Galaxy watch, I swung by the toys and there was just one Ray Stantz and a million Ecto-1s. 

I skipped on the Ecto-1 for the moment (don't worry, I'll be picking it up soon) and snatched up Ray before heading to the electronics department. The first wave of these is the classic team, you know who. They all seemingly share the same body type mold with different heads for each character. Considering the 10$ price, there had to be a little wiggle somewhere. They're all wearing the same outfit, it's not a big deal. The Afterlife kids have two different body type molds for the younger and older kid Ghostbusters.

I've been comparing these to Kenner's The Real Ghostbusters and you can probably see it in the picture. Same articulation and comes with a ghost to bust. These are just a little taller than the classic Kenner figures and the sculpting is different. Though I'm sure you could still pair them up together well enough. It's clearly what Hasbro was going for with this being the 'core' toy line and the Plasma series being the higher priced and more detailed toys. It really works for me, these guys are pretty fun.

The proton packs are made of a softer, almost rubbery material. It plugs into the Ghostbusters back snugly and in all is one piece. The cord is flexible enough to put the Particle Thrower into either hand or stored on the pack via a peg. It's pretty simple, and simple is often the best solution. The original Fright Features figures had the Ghostbusters collectively loosing their shit.

However in the new Fright Features, the included ghost (for bustin') will change into a more frightening version of itself. Ray comes with this pink weirdo who splits open to show his gross mouth and freaky multiple eyes. The larger Ghost figures have various gimmicks similar to the Kenner larger ghosts. It's pretty great and so are these. I was a fast fan before they were released, and a steady one now that I can actually buy them. Ray was at my side all weekend getting played with constantly, I can't wait to get the rest.