The Memorial Day and Grogu

It’s Memorial Day! I’m definitely enjoying the holiday and taking advantage of the long weekend to get some much-needed rest and... okay, I’m moving, so I’m also using the 3-day weekend to pack. There’s a lot to be done, but I’m still making time to squeeze in a viewing of The Mandalorian and Grogu and, weather permitting, maybe even cook out.

Of course, regular posting resumes tomorrow as usual, and I’ve got a fun week in store for your eyeballs! Thank you all for reading and supporting Zone Base. Please share the site with your friends, and as always, be excellent to each other!

Oh, and speaking of Star Wars, keep checking this space. There’s incoming thoughts on the movie coming as soon as I get the chance to write it... likely on my phone!

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026)

We caught an early showing of the movie Monday morning before the theater got packed with holiday traffic. We wasn't aware when buying the tickets earlier in the week that it was actually the 49th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars, but that made the viewing a little more special once learned. As someone who's been watching Star Wars his entire life, The Mandelorian has been great. Really captures the spirit of Star Wars, feels more true to the original spirit, and yet... manages to be something new and not just a retread of what came before. A streaming series season feels like a long movie broken up into parts, so a movie that feels like a big budget season of the show is perfect. 

I won't go into spoilers as the movie was just released, but will say I love how Grogu got his own moments to shine.  Totally adorable, and capable on his own. The new characters felt natural and like they've been there all along. One thing I took extra notice in was how the special effects mirrored the original sagas in a way. Several shots felt like stop motion animation and that was special. Now, it could have just been well done CGI that mirrored the look of stop motion, but it was enough to warm my heart. The aliens and creatures were fantastic and as a kid who played with his Kenner Jabba the Hutt daily, I was very happy with the Hutts getting such a large role.

Overall, I felt the movie was excellent and hope the future of Star Wars movies follow its lead. Truly awesome in every sense of the word. 

The Mandelorian (Epic Hero Series)

Hasbro's newest Star Wars series just launched at the beginning of the year in January, though it wasn't until mid February that my local Walmart started stocking them. I was initially interested in them from early reports (and was under the assumption they were Walmart exclusive). After dipping my toes in the Epic Hero waters am firmly hooked. I got my first one when they first started showing up locally and he's the subject of today's post. The Mandalorian is Star War's newest hero starring in his own series alongside that adorable Grogu (who has his own Epic Hero toy). Mando (as his friends call him) is a cool gunslinger who's everything you want in a Star Wars character post original trilogy. He's represented well here in this new EPIC HERO SERIES figure format.

What makes an Epic Hero Series? Hell if I know, but what I can tell it's a throwback to the classic Star Wars figures of old. I'm thinking these are along the lines of Hasbro's 'Core Class' style figures with a more exciting name. A simpler figure at a lower cost intended for children. Din Djarin (as people who can pronounce it call him) is a 4" action figure with 5 points of articulation. That's a little bigger than the Kenner figures we associate with Star Warriors (normally 3 3/4"), but overall mighty similar. Din is decently sculpted and comes with both his trademark blaster pistol and the Darksaber that he carried for a while. He also has a removable plastic cape and little ports in his forearms. A good bit of the figures in this series has these. While I don't have any that utilize the ports yet, I'm assuming it's for sharing accessories. The figure is obviously kept simple with basic articulation and minimal paint apps for budget. Regardless, it still looks pretty good and as someone who swears by Kenner style figures... I like it! Sure it's a little bigger than I have come to expect, but I have big hands. That extra 1/4" isn't super noticeable to me. I look forward to getting more of these cool little figures.

Ultra Week

It's a new week here on Planet Zone! I wish I could sound more excited saying that, but a little more sleep would have been great. The weekend was pretty laid back. New episodes of The Mandelorian, 1000lbs Sisters, and Earthspark were watched. I got some new toys, Hot Shot and Needlenose from Transformers Legacy Evolution.

It's cool to get a new Hot Shot, I loved Armada. Admittedly though, I wish they'd revisit other characters from the series. It's usually Hot Shot and Starscream... who are getting new toys. Optimus is getting a new toy this time, hopefully I can get it. The larger Commander Class figures can be harder to find for some reason.

I've got a fun week in mind for all of you. With Toylanta approaching, my mind is on attending and having some fun. As usual I intend to get some Gobots. It's in a new location again and I'm a little anxious about that. Thank you for reading Zone Base. If you like what I'm doing, please share posts with your friends. That'd be awesome! Alright folks, let's get this week started!

Warriors In The Stars

It's Christmas time, I'm sure you've noticed. Another thing you may have noticed is all The Mandalorian merchandise available while you've been Christmas shopping. Star Wars has been synonymous with Christmas my entire life, which is probably why I was so welcome to the Disney movies (aside from Solo) being a Christmas season thing. It just seemed natural for new Stormtroopers to raid Walmart just in time for seasonal shopping.

The Mandalorian now has two seasons under it's belt, both of which dropped just in time for all those cool toys to be on wish lists. After all these years of my wife tolerating my love for Star Wars, now she's enjoying it quite a bit herself. So I can't help but to indulge her with every Baby Yoda thing we can get. 

I think one thing about the show I definitely love is the redemption of Boba Fett. Trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible here, but he's on the show. He's on the show and he's a badass. I won't go into too many story details or anything, because a few of you may not know more than seeing folks talk about him on social media. But he's alive and he's the Boba Fett we all wanted him to be in the original movies.

Like others my age, Boba Fett was always the biggest bad ass in the galaxy. This was 100% due to him looking cool and having the best action figure. In the movies he was awesome, but didn't live up to the fanfare dorks like me produced. The prequels built on that a bit with the introduction of his father, Jango. 

The various cartoons did as well with other Mandalorians. Then The Mandalorian comes along with a hero in that familiar armor and he's the bad ass my old Kenner action figure was. Though the actual Boba didn't get to shine as much as we wanted. Until now, anyway. Now he's the character we all said he was thankfully. 

There's always a contingent of self righteous nerds who'll crap on Boba and anything else that has the nerve to be popular. They'll still have a problem with him... and The Mandalorian. Magically, go figure. But for us who love the guy, we're happy to see him get his moment. Also the show, it's a good show that does the legacy proud.