Robots/Monsters/Oh My

 

I got the coolest Press Release today chock full of upcoming Hasbro toys. There's some really cool stuff coming in 2022 and I thought I'd point out a few neat things that I thought might be of interest to Zone Base readers. 

Transformers: Bumblebee Cyberverse Adventures Dinobots Unite Smash Changer Optimus Prime (Ages 6 & up/Approx. Retail Price: $31.49) 

This is a pretty neat looking figure. While being part of Cyberverse, it's clearly Optimus from the Bumblebee movie and upcoming Rise of the Beasts! I really dig the newer movie designs and this one's pretty tempting. That's him in the header image. 

Star Wars™ - Star Wars™ Mission Fleet Boba Fett Starship and 2.5-inch Figure Set (Ages 4 years & up/ Approx. Retail Price: $41.99) 

You guys know I've been a fan of the Mission Fleet Star Wars toys. While I didn't see a picture of this one, I'm really looking forward to it. Boba Fett is one of my all time favorites (I already have his regular Mission Fleet toy) and looking forward to seeing his classic ship in this line,

Power Rangers Dino Fury Megafury Saber (Ages 5 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $38.99) 

Tokusatsu fans love role play toys and Hasbro has a few Power Rangers ones on the way. I'm pointing out the Megafury Saber as I want to run around the back yard and swing it at imaginary monsters. Or the neighbors kid.

Marvel Mech Strike Monster Hunters (Ages 4 years & up/Approx. Retail Price: $11.99-$34.99)  

Holy crap! I already thought Marvel Mech Strike was pretty great, but they just made it amazing! Now we have Marvel's heroes with super cool mech suits and sci fi weaponry fighting specifically monstery versions of the Marvel villains. I am specifically excited for this, just look at that packaging! With this and the new season of Stranger Things (finally) coming soon, we've got a great start to spooky summer!

Thanks to Rogers & Cowan for providing Zone Base readers with another awesome press release.

Spider Maul: Far From New Hope

I've been a fast fan of the Star Wars Mission Fleet toys, specifically the Gear Class (standard/basic class). While the larger vehicles are cool, the charm is in the way cool accessories they package with the figures. Jet packs, little helicopters, and jet skis really add something to the little figures.

I've been speculating this is a result of Hasbro's Micronauts line they had planned that never materialized (maybe it will eventually). I don't know if I'm right, but they sure do seem Micro inspired. I love Star Wars, and adding in some extra far out to the mix is a welcome addition.

After what felt like an eternity, Hasbro has finally graced store shelves with a second wave of Gear Class. It's a small wave. A repeat of Boba Fett, a Clone Shock Trooper (good repaint of the wave 1 Clone Trooper), and Darth Maul. Darth Maul here is as he appears in the various animated series. Not dead and with robotic legs. Spoiler alert: He got cut in half in a movie that came out 21 years ago. 

Like all Mission Fleet figures, Darth Maul is a mini figure with a pleasantly rubbery plastic. The toy is decently articulated and has that distinct sculpting that the Mission Fleet toys have. Think of a cross between a classic Kenner Star Wars figure and an Imaginext figure. He has that 5 points of articulation a Kenner would, but the shoulders of an Imaginext. For such a basic toy, it gives him an extra touch of movement that's pretty nice.

Maul has his trademark double lightsaber. It's just as awesome as it was when I first saw it in 1999. His included accessory/vehicle is a spider droid that doubles as his spider legs. The spider unit is pretty neat, some of the legs swivel for posing or stability. There's a spot for lightsaber storage and it has amounted gun. Darth stands on a little platform with foot pegs to ensure a snug fit. It's a chunky representation of his cybernetic spider legs that's hard not to like. It's a badass little figure from a neat little line. I dig it.

A Weekend Of Happened

This past weekend was pretty low key, thankfully. I had gotten off Saturday morning and watched Tokushoutsu off and on while napping and waiting for the grocery order to arrive. Shortly after I went out to Target and Walmart to pick up a few other things we needed. High hopes for the new Hasbro MMPR Megazord at Target were dashed as they had a spot for the toys, but none in stock. Dammit. They did have one more of the Cyberverse Tiny Turbo Changers I've been hunting for and Chewbacca from Star Wars Mission Fleet. Those and some Baby Yoda stuff were grabbed for the wife.

Walmart still didn't have anything new on the TF front aside from the mountains of Netflix stuff. I'm getting strong early 2004 vibes from the over ordered waves of toys. Oh well, they'll crowbar the new stuff in when it comes. New Micromasters have been popping up and I never have trouble finding those at Target. Hopefully those will end up in my possession soon. Ghostbusters stock was still wiped out, though the Real Ghostbusters shelf tags are still in place. Hope I can get that Ray and Winston soon. Same amount of GI JOE, soon I'll be grabbing those. Admittedly I'm letting the rush slow down a bit so I can get the ones I want.

Walmart finally put out some Masters of the Universe stuff! Some! While they didn't bother with any WWE MOTU, there was a bunch of Skeletor, Battle Cat, and Sky Sleds. I would have gotten a Skeletor, but they did have a full shelf box of Eternia Minis. Since folks are buying the entire case of at a time, so I decided to go ahead and buy a complete set of series 1 while I had a chance. Next week I'll get regular MOTU if it's in stock.

Right now the stuff is pretty limited for it's run as a Walmart exclusive line, so it'll be easier to get next year when it's everywhere. I'm trying to be patient as I can, but seeing dudes clear out stores in groups is a little piss offy. It might be first come, first serve. But it's also a free market and I have a little problem buying from third party sellers. Karma mofo.

Power-Con was also this weekend and since the pandemic and all, they did a free online version like other cons. This would have been awesome if not that it was done exclusively through Zoom without replays available. Between the time difference from Georgia and California, the panels I was most interested in was on while I was getting some sleep. Without the video put up for later viewing like other cons, I couldn't watch it later like with KaijuCon.Line. Considering it was a free, I'm not complaining. Just wished I could have taken part in it. I did though read the news and am pretty excited for the stuff coming for MOTU.

The rest of the weekend was spent with a little room organizing and watching movies on Netflix. Hopefully I'll have my room somewhere near were I want it within the next few weeks. While I just moved in the middle of June and work on it's taken a backseat to more important things, I'd also like to be done with that project. Admittedly parts of it will always be in flux. Some Halloween planning was also done and man, the kids in our new neighborhood are going to love us.

Star Wars In Fleets Of Mission

The Star Wars toy line has been around forever and still manages to have really neat toys. The new Star Wars Mission Fleet figures are definitely really neat toys. I missed out on their Toy Fair preview as it's near impossible to navigate a flood of news an event like that generates. It was through other mini figure fans on Instagram that I discovered them. Honestly, it's one of those things that it really takes a picture to give you a solid idea of just how cool these figures are. I'll try to describe them anyway. Because that's how blog posts about toys work.