Monsterbots/Misadventure

There's something about Transformers that intend to disguise themselves by turning into something that's not common. Pretty sure there wasn't any dinosaurs walking around in 1985, though there likely could have been a UFO just flying around. After all they were aliens. Though by the post movie years when things got more space opera, you got more far out ideas like the Monsterbots. A group of Autobots who transformed into monsters.

The Monsterbots took up with the Beastformers/Battle Beasts and made a home on Planet Beast. As awesome as that is, part of me wishes they would have had more of a role in Masterforce as they fit the series tone better. I think so anyway, with things like Seacons and Pretenders battling Super Sentai style, I can't help but to thing they'd fit in as their monster modes would effectively be Zords.

I've always enjoyed how the advertising for said bots of monster played up their standing as in fact monsters. From the commercial showing them bursting from the lab of there creation, to print ads indicating their scariness, Hasbro wanted you to understand that these are monsters. I talked about the Halloween Horrorcons here before. But, something tells me, that somebody clearly always wanted scary robot toys behind the scenes. I'm not complaining either, it's like 75% of my site. Considering the unreleased Universal Monsters Transformers around the same time... suddenly my weird site about robots and monsters isn't so weird after all. It's totally normal to post about Halloween in February.

What the heck did I do this weekend?

This weekend was pretty chill. The wife and I did our weekly shopping Saturday morning when I got home from work, leaving the rest of the weekend relaxing around the house. We stopped by Target to look at all the cool Halloween stuff they'd put out since last weekend. On the Transformers front they still hadn't stocked the last wave of Primemasters or Optimal Optimus. They did have Shadow Striker and Grimlock from Cyberverse in the larger $20 scale. I plan to get those, just didn't right then. I've got a few items coming from online purchases and I really don't like to spend too much at a time. Most notably from my online purchases coming is the bucket of monsters pictured above. I don't know what type of toy you technically call a green army man, but toys along that type are something I'm very fond of and jump on the more random assortments. In the past I've gotten great selections of robots, ninjas, zombies, skeletons, pirates, and all sorts of wacky designs. This set is really amazing. It's a large tube full of various monsters like Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Godzilla, and all sorts of cool monsters. It's coming Friday and honestly I'm having a hard time waiting. We also picked up out Walmart grocery order as well as a trip inside to peak the Halloween stuff. A nice supper from Zaxby's and a great weekend at home.

Some stuff did come to my attention over the weekend. Just as I completed the first wave of scouts from Cyberverse there's been reports of wave 2. Now, there's just 3 figures I need from this set as I already have Bumblebee. I'm looking forward to the cool recolors of the Starscream mold for Windblade and Slipstream, though I'm a little hesitant to fiddle with them. My Starscream's wings kept popping off and his left arm was pretty loose. I'm hoping I don't have that same issue with these two jets here. The QC issue was a bit of a bummer for me as I've mentioned it's the recolors that make little toys like this fun and I'm betting the jet mold is going to get the most mileage. I really don't want to have the same issue with a million jets.

Pictures of the upcoming Battlemasters in packaging went about the internet this weekend and man do they look great. The package art with the neat SIEGE logo makes it looks like a game for the SEGA Genesis. Just super sharp packaging. Despite the negativity floating around online around Siege (I just don't get it), I'm really looking forward to it. This looks like a great time.

Mega Construx has been showing off their new Breakout Beasts blind package line and I think they look swell. Little monsters and dragons in an egg with slime... what's not to love? I'll be sure to jump on these when I find them.

Friday I finally figured out what Instagram TV is despite it being as thing for a few months now. Despite being a regular user of Instagram, that one just passed me by. It's pretty neat and I plan on using it semi-regularly. I had tried on doing some sort of vlogs using YouTube but I just can't put into words what went wrong there. For some reason Instagram TV makes more sense in my head, so be sure to check out my Instagram page for updates (links are in the about section... mobile users, click the full web version down at the bottom of this page for the links) and go ahead and follow me as I posts regularly there. I don't know if I want to call it my photo blog, but it sure is something.

Mail Away Creepy commercial

I miss these kinds of promotions, clip and save points, mail away for a free toy. Sometimes, like in this case, it was an exclusive version of a figure. I think the last time I can remember was around 2009 for that exclusive N.E.S.T version of Ravage. Creepy here is absolutely in the Halloween state of mind. A Monster Gobot decked out in those ooky spooky green and purple colors and appearing in a commercial straight out of a late night horror film. Not to mention his name is Creepy.

Sky Shadow bio

An intelligent, brilliant colored robot, Sky Shadow is one of the most charismatic and popular of the Predacons. A good statesman and leader, he acts as one of Megatron's most trusted counselors. In actuality however, he despises everyone and wants nothing more than to rule the Predacons with his own, "more imaginative techniques." He is an expert in concealment and surprise-assault tactics; with reptilian patience he can lie for days in wait and then suddenly attack with a powerful turbo-missile, or convert to robot form and overwhelm unsuspecting Maximals with his devastating saw-edged pincer. Powerful wings allow him to hover over targets, giving him a distinct advantage with targeting accuracy and in reconnaissance missions.

Pincher intsructions

Slog intructions

"Destruction is the highest form of art."

He has taken sculpture out of the art studio and transplanted it onto the battlefield. In his Pretender guise, he can whittle an Autobot warrior into an abstract wreck within minutes. He considers his carved-up conquests to be renowned masterpieces. His diamond-steel alloy talons can tear through any material known to man or robot. Enclosed creature/robot is armed with a magnetic repellor-attractor which rips iron-bearing opponents into microscopic pieces.

Golobulus bio

 

Descended from the serpent kings of pre-history; Golobulus rules over Cobra-La, a hidden, secret valley in the Himalayas where the high priests of the Bio-Mechanical cult have created a technology based solely on living organisms. The buildings of Cobra-La are really crustaceans, and the clothes of inhabitants are as alive as the people who wear them. Golobulus has achieved immortality through symbiosis... at the cost of his humanity.

"The plates of Golobulus' body armor are living mutations of lobsters and crabs, each genetically altered to perform a specific function and bred for the tensile strength of their chitinous shells. Over the centuries, so much of Golobulus' body parts have been replaced or bio-mechanically altered that very little of the original is left except for his brain and his central nervous system."

Dino Tanker

Bandora Gang ya'll

I'm trying my best to control myself and not start the Halloween celebration until September. That being said, my wife and I have been watching Halloween stuff since July. So... it might get a little spooky in here early. I've promised myself I wouldn't start officially until I see stores putting out stuff. I don't mean craft stores that always start early (because, hand making things takes a little longer), but like Target. Which has already started listing stuff on their website.

I don't think anyone would mind...

Castlevania season 2 trailer

SSSS. Gridman trailer

I'm pretty excited for this.

Whoops

Suddenly I don't feel so bad when I throw something into the garbage and miss.

Godzilla: King of Monsters trailer

Super Robot Red Baron opening

Mirror Man opening

Space Sheriff Shaider opening

The Mobile Cop Jiban opening

I wish I has more than a casual knowledge of The Metal Heroes series outside of watching the occasional episode when I have some spare time. Thanks to VR Troopers, Big Bad Beetleborgs, and it's friendly relationship with Robocop I was drawn to the series naturally. One thing I really enjoy about older tokusatsu is the embracing of horror in the villains. Sure, you got the sci fi and all, but the monsters are straight out of an 1980's haunted house. What's not to love?

Redman intro

I won't lie, I've been feeling a bit beat down lately. I just want to curl up in front my TV, eat some pizza (nice big glass of Pepsi to wash it down with), and watch some of my silly shows. I've been on a bit of a Redman kick lately, and ain't nothing wrong with that. Low rent, no plot, and high on crazy. Redman is a great tokusatsu series by the folks behind Ultraman and Godzilla. What makes it great? Well, like some other older toku series, episodes are just a few minutes long. The short time frame doesn't allow for anymore plot other than 'there's a monster, Redman's here to fight it'.

Fight it he does as an entire short is exactly what you watch these silly things for, the rubber monster carnage. What makes these a little more special is that... Redman kinda just randomly attacks and kills monsters the majority of the time. Like, more often than not, a monster is just existing and there he is. On a show like Power Rangers/Super Sentai, when the monster is destroyed, you get a flashy move and the monster explodes. In Redman... well... he'll stab them to death, break their necks, throw them off a cliff, sometimes just bash their heads in. Then for good measure he might just throw the corpse off a cliff. Honestly it's a little jarring to see a monster just get beheaded like a victim of Jason Vorhees. Also, part of the charm.

Just talking here about this silly show has cheered me up a little bit, so I think a marathon of episodes with a big old pizza this weekend is just what I need.

Godzilla forever mofo

 Last week the news that Toho plans to start a new Godzilla series after 2020 hit and the kaiju fans went nuts. I've been waiting to talk about it here as I wanted to see if anymore news would come before I started talking about it. Some were upset that it was outright said there wasn't going to be a Shin Godzilla sequel. Personally, I liked Shin Godzilla, but don't want a sequel. I'd much rather have a return to traditional Toho Godzilla movies. As Monsterverse rages on, the 2020 time frame is the same as when talks of Shin Godzilla 2 were going around. I believe it's part of Toho's deal with Legendary as so the movies don't compete with one another (which would really be self defeating, all it takes is a look at the time frame between current Toho Godzilla movies and Legendary's time frame to get the idea). With Legendary's Godzilla 2 and King Kong vs Godzilla coming in 2019 and 2020 respectively, it's clear as to why the 2 year wait. Allegedly there will be a span of 1-2 years in between Toho releases, which is standard Godzilla series timing. Realistically, they're probably going to be filming the first movie during this time.

I'm very, very, very excited. It's no secret how much I love Legendary Pictures offerings in the genre, but Toho is king of the giant monster movies and a new series from them is super exciting for a life long fan. Fortunately this new era is during the modern age where watching a foreign movie isn't that much of a challenge anymore. Gone are the days of finding bootleg dub jobs on VHS while waiting for an American release that's often limited in release. As the US releases of Shin and the animated movies show, the turn around for a US release is pretty quick.

The prospect of these being on Netflix in the US like the animated movies just made me scream in excitement out loud.

Monster Royalty

One game series I wish would get a modern update is King of the Monsters. A great kaiju wrestling game that is just a freaking blast to play. The sequel was more of a scrolling beat 'em up (except for the Genesis version, which was a fighter) but was still fun. It was just a great early 90'sera  arcade game that took the basic tropes of giant monsters and made for pure euphoria. The Neo-Geo version of the first game is available on Switch (and I'm sure other places as well), but I hardly see part 2 anywhere. It's a shame, because with all the recent interest from the public towards kaiju (mainstream attention, not just us weirdos), I'd think it would be a great time for a new game. Or at least getting part 2 out more.