Halfway 2 Halloween~ Witchcraft in the Kitchen

It's pretty great timing that Walpurgis Night is at the start of Halfway to Halloween. Halloween, itself, requires a witch to fly over the moon to happen. So what better way to get the Pre-Spooky Season going than a little witchy celebration? Halfway to Halloween is often a good excuse for some spooky fun in the springtime. This means some scary movies with friends and of course there's going to be popcorn. Jiffy Pop knows there's a certain amount of magic in making their product without burning it, so they chose a witch to sell it on TV in the olden days. Man, the video quality of this makes it extra spooky... dang.

It's Halfway 2 Halloween Time!

Good news Zone Base readers, we're Halfway to Halloween! The spooky season is our favorite time of the year on Planet Zone and halfway there gives us a chance to have a little mini celebration. I like to start observing the occasion at the start of Walpurgis Night as it feels not only appropriate, but downright on brand. It's literally a Halloween in the middle of the year. This little springtime bit of Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem will be going on for the next two weeks.

Halloween on Zone Base veterans know regular site content will continue as normal, but there'll be a little trick or treat in between each post. Something spooky, nostalgic, or obscure... it's a bit of a mixed bad. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. I've got a fun two weeks in store for you with some orange and black wrapping. Please don't forget to share the site with your friends and Mutual High Fives all around!

Magmar/Devil Rock (Rock Lords)

Magmar (Devilrock in Japan) is the leader of the EVIL ROCK LORDS. As his US name would suggest, he turns into an igneous rock which forms when magma cools and crystalizes. Thus his name is symbolic of his alt mode. Normally Magmar comes with a club that looks like a torch, though it's labeled on his US package as an Ax-Rifle as a goof on Tonka's end. It's the same weapon that comes with Devilrock, but for some reason in the Gobots meet the Rock Lords movie, he's carrying Brimestone's axe. Somehow they just couldn't get it right with Magmar's weapon. Unfortunately mine in the pictures is missing the weapon. Honestly I kind of like the weapon being a weird torch. Rock Lords are so absurd that one using a torch as a melee weapon is pretty satisfying.

It's worth noting that both the Rock Lords and Machine Robo version's weapon is black, while in Robo Machine and Machine Men it is a  dark brown color. The toy itself is in the same colors in Rock Lords, Machine Men, and Robo Machine. In Machine Robo, however, the green is lighter and the orange is swapped out for purple. Machine Robo's eyes are a pinkish color, while the other versions are white. There is a pink eyed version of Magmar on Machine Men packaging, but so far that seems to not be a released version. I love these colors as it gives him a Frankenstein like appearance. Magmar/Devilrock is supposed to look scary and he pulls that off. 

Magmar is a pretty nice toy around the size of your average Gobot. Like most Rock Lords, he's pretty chunky as the rock alt mode makes for a thicker robot mode. If you like chonky robots like I do, you'll find this pleasing. He's fairly articuated for a transforming toy of his time. Arms bend at the shoulders and elbows can bend inwards. Do to the transformation, legs can move at the hip, but only forward as though kicking. His knees are arlso articulated, but once again, only forward. Do to his top heavyness, you'd probably want to keep both legs down anyway or he'd fall over. Magmar's head does swivel up and down from transformation, so he can look down imposingly at smaller toys.

I like this toy a lot. I like Rock Lords and transforming toys that transform into unconventional forms admittedly. I also like monsters, so when you have a fairly monstery robot toy that turns into something unconventional... I'm generally happy. Though it's hard not to like Magmar, he's just cool looking. Rock Lords have a wonderfully medieval fantasy vibe to them that stands out among other robot toys. Machine Robo has a tendency to make their bad guys spooky and creepy flavored. There's the Devil Invaders, or in this case Devil Rock. It's a neat little touch that makes me think of super robot cartoons and their monsters of the week.

Bios~ Nemesis Prime

The most vile creation of the evil Unicron is a creature so shameful and foul that Autobot warriors fear to speak of it. Nemesis Prime - the powerful yet twisted clone of the legendary Optimus Prime, pulled out of time and perverted to the cruel villains purposes - possesses all the knowledge and wisdom of the Autobot leader, but is powered by a deep love of evil and destruction. Perhaps the greatest threat to the Universe ever created by Unicron, Nemesis Prime carries within its body the Dead Matrix, an artifact capable of negating and destroying forever the power Autobot Matrix of Leadership.

Weekly Walpurgis~ Wario in 3D

Walpurgis Night is a wonderful time for all things spooky, and seeing how Mario is on everybody's mind lately... Hey, know what rhymes with Mario? WARIO! Back before he was all burps and farts, Nintendo liked to sell Wario as something sinister as this commercial shows. The Virtual Boy had it's faults as YouTubers who never played one will tell you, but it had some good games and this was definitely one of them.

Warduke (NECA)

I've never been super big on Dungeons and Dragons. I tried, but pen and paper RPG just isn't for me. However, I've loved the old D&D cartoon since childhood. During it's time, I had a lot of fun with the toy line by LJN and the assorted kids books and stuff. I was actually quite disapointed that I couldn't get into the game itself despite multiple tries. The occasinal video game, sure, just can't do pen and paper RPG. That being said, how I've enjoyed D&D lead to me appreciation of one of the most badass villains of all time. Warduke.

I've actually spoken about my admiration for Warduke here before. This weird occult flavored cousin of Darth Vader who of course set off the Satanic Panic folks back in the day. My original action figure was destroyed thanks to a jealous cousin and replacing it hasn't worked out in my favor. There's various homages to him in independent toys (especially in the Glyos area), and I did luckily find his Funko Pop a while back. NECA recently has put out some premium D&D figures including the Duke of War here. Thankfully he was a birthday gift from my wife who absolutely spoils me on holidays.

NECA nailed it with this incarnation of Warduke. He looks 100% like you'd expect a 'serious collector' premium toy to look. All of his classic design is here with leveled up detailing and paint. I'm especially fond of the metallic pain on his helmet and the flame effect that can be attached to his sword. Warduke has his additional daggers and short sword as well as his trademark shield. They're all sorts of magical and NECA made them look it. The figure has a ton of articulation so the EVIL ACTION FIGURE can be put in all sorts of menacing poses. There's also a range of extra hands for this purpose.

Warduke is one of those characters that I keep on an untouchable high shelf. Thankfully this figure really drive home some of that prestige. He's pretty large, about 6 inches and scales pretty well with Masterverse figures from what I've seen in MOTU groups. Despite being from different series, he fits in nicely there. Warduke comes from that same 80's fantasy boom that He-Man came from, and both respective toy lines set off the Satanic Panic alarms of the time. This is an amazingly great figure of an all time favorite villain of mine. I'm definitely glad to have it and grateful of my wife for giving it to me.

Walpurgis Week 2023!

It's time to get spooky Zone Base readers, Halfway to Halloween starts now with Walpurgis Week here on Planet Zone! In honor of Walpurgis Night festivals happening this coming weekend in various parts of the world, we'll be focusing on creepier stuff all week! Next week, Halfway 2 Halloween posts will start for two whole weeks! Sure, some places started mid April, but Christmas in July... Halloween in May. It's just a short taste of the Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem that'll start in August until October... and with a focus on a more nostalgic look at the season. Hold onto your dooky gang, the next 3 weeks are gonna be spooky!

What if Destroids?

 

It was a dark and stormy night. A lone security guard patrols the medical university when he discovers the door to the morgue is open! Upon investigating he finds Decepticon Pretenders robbing the bodies of the dead! What could those dastardly fiends want with a bunch of corpses? They plan to make an army of un-dead soldiers, THE DESTROIDS ARE HERE! Part of the reason I love Masterforce so much is that it's complete departure from traditional Transformers story telling. While other series have strayed from the trail on occasion, Masterforce was the first to go it's own path. From the spooky depictions of the Decepticon Pretenders, to the Destroids, to an outright witch... Masterforce didn't mess around. Someone wanted to tell a scary story.

Bios: Dead End

 

Long exposure to the radiation of Dark Energon has changed Dead End. The formerly talkative Decepticon mercenary now broods quietly in the shadows, staring hungrily at the power cores of his fellow warriors. He's always freaked out the Autobots, but now even his friends think he is scary.

 Strength: 6 Intelligence: 5 Speed: 8 Endurance: 6 Rank: 4 Courage: 8 Fireblast: 6 Skill: 6 

When the Vamp's Outside

 

Vamp is one of the Monster Gobots that automatically springs to mind whenever you think about the group. Like the other Monster Gobots, Vamp's original mold is a Devil Invader toy from Machine Robo. Called Casmodon, where he varies quite a bit from Vamp. Casmodon is more of a swamp and ocean specialist, which owes to his Gilman like appearance. As Vamp, she has the power to drain power from other GoBots. I'm assuming this was inspired by the collar formed from alt mode kibble in robot form. 

Thinking about it, Vamp does kinda look like Nosferatu in some ways. Regardless, she's clearly the most 'monstery' of the Monster Bots. An excellent toy as well. I wish I knew where mine currently was. There's also a larger Super Gobots version and Ripclaw from Beast Hunters is intended to be a homage to Vamp. I've always really liked the alt mode. Like the other Monster Gobots it's a weird vehicle of sorts that sorta looks like the Batmobile. Pretty fitting for a vampire robot.

Weekly Update 4/25/22 Walpurgis Week

 

It's Monday and the start of a special spooky week here on Zone Base! In observance of Walpurgis Night this weekend, every post this week will be spooky flavored! Consider it an early taste of Spooky Summer as we anticipate the big Halloween party later this year!

This weekend was a busy one. Well, Sunday was. The Mrs and I spent Sunday at the zoo. It was a fun day, but now I'm exhausted. A trip to Target Friday morning resulted in some new Bakugan and finally getting the Turbo Changers Shockwave from Cyberverse. It's the Buzzworthy Bumblebee version for what counts. We watched The Batman Saturday night. I really liked it, even though it was way too long. Really good movie and I must get a Riddler figure now. Maybe a Batmobile.

I made a quick trip to Walmart Saturday that resulted in a Legacy Kick-Back and Mech Strike Monster Hunters Black Panther and Dr. Doom! I'm certain at this point that Studio Series Soundwave actually doesn't exist. At the zoo gift shop they had an odd series of transforming animal robots. There was lion, leopard, and a tiger. I got the leopard one. We plan to do another zoo trip in the fall, I'll probably get the others then. Kinda just wanted one this time. 

Hope you all enjoy Walpurgis Week here on Zone Base. Spooky Summer is right around the corner and this week is more what I have in mind to make summer a little scarier before the pumpkin spice mayhem commences. Thanks to each and every one of you for continuing to support Zone Base. There's a ton of bigger and better sites out there. Taking the time to read mine means the world to me. Please don't forget to share with your friends!

Weekly Halloween: Springtime Code Orange

 

Spring is in the air and Halloween is around the corner. While little peaks and glimpses start in January, it really starts leaking out right now before stuff starts showing up in summer. Just this past weekend while at the Dollar Tree, there was already Halloween flavored glow sticks being stocked. The Mrs. got some Halloween nail things from there a few weeks ago. It's coming! Kicking off the spookiness is Walpurgis Night. Walpurgis Night takes place April 1st and runs through May 1st. It's something I've been wanting to incorporate here on Zone Base and this year is the year! Next week will be extra spooky in observance of Walpurgis Night as we hit the halfway mark to our favorite holiday! Boo!

Update from Planet Zone 4/4

 

Greetings citizens of Planet Zone, there's some schedule changes on the base you should know about. Weekly Halloween is not a Wednesday thing. Why? Well, I thought it'd be good to get back to doing the weekend update posts. However I thought I'd make it a general update and having the spooky stuff DEAD center of the week. Hope everyone likes the return of Transform Squadron, I've been getting a lot of positive feedback and there's a new episode coming soon. I also hope you all have been enjoying the extra BIOS posted. I've been a little busy lately and frankly those sometimes fill a gap when I'm brain dead. I enjoy posting them anyway, but there's usually a good reason why there may be more than one a week.

I mentioned spooky stuff up above. Everyday is Halloween on Zone Base, but as spring approaches, we're quickly approaching the Spooky Summer which leads into the 3 month Halloween party. I've decided to handle Spooky Summer differently this year. It'll still be spooky and scary, just different. I wanted to mix it up a bit and make it a little more different than the all out pumpkin spice assault. It's the beginning of April as a write this. You can expect something spooky towards the end of the month, a mini Halloween party to welcome in Walpurgis Night. I've been wanting to work it into the site for some time now and now is the time! 

This weekend was a mix of chilling at home and chilling at home. There was a Facts of Life marathon on GAC Family. I'm sure you can understand. Lots of Kirby was played as well. Cooked out for the first time this year. Sure was nice to get the grill going. A quick outing Saturday evening for a few things lead to finding Legacy Arcee. That was unexpected, still can't find a Studio Series Soundwave though. Also grabbed some more Million Warriors, a Dino Strike ball, a retro Dino Megazord, and finally a Batman from the new movie (I'm waiting for it to hit HBO Max). As with the never-ending quest for Soundwave, Inwas also hoping to find Buzzworthy Bumblebee Silverstreak. Oh well. I've got a fun week in mind for you all. There's a new episode of Transform Squadron in the works soon. Thanks for reading Zone Base and please share with your friends!