Wheeljack [Galaxy Version 05-One]

Wheeljack may have been one of the background characters in Transformers One, but like several of the greater Transformers cast of characters... he's there. That's a good thing as not only does it give us a large cast of with cool designs, but provides toy companies with all sorts of characters to make toys of! Blokees seem like the perfect choice for TF One characters as both styles meet in fabulous ways. Wheeljack is the first kit I assembled from my case and damn looks great!

I've always been a fan of Wheeljack and have always thought he looked cool, but this is a new level of appreciation. I mentioned in my B-127 post how these kits seem like characters out of Megaman X and Wheeljack has me mentally imagining it. Being the mad scientist of the Autobots, he'd would totally be the character that would tell you about all the great upgrades you've gotten between levels!

Wheeljack features that new sturdier design that's seemingly been introduced in this One series. If he had an 'O' ring, you could easily mistake him for a newer Action Master with improved articulation. He's got the two hands that are standard with most Blokees kits and the same laser B-127 has. It's a solid generic gun, so I don't mind. This version of Wheeljack is a miner and doesn't have a Transformation Cog yet, so he doesn't have the wings you normally associate with him. That's perfectly ok, because we're talking about storytelling and TF One told a great ... one. I really like how this kit came out, he just looks so good! The white and gray colors really pop as well. Dang, Blokees just makes good things.

Cheetor and Tigatron [Swapticons]

When Swapticons were first to be shown off, it was today's subject that I was most interested in initially. Being a Beast Wars fan, I'm an easy sell for anything related. This set features Cheetor and Tigatron combining to form one long kitty boo boo.

Originally in Beast Wars, Tigatron was a repaint of Cheetor's toy. That bit of trivia stays on my mind with this set. Even if it's redundant right now, it's funny with the two paired up. They're a pretty neat little bots, and their wacky Swapticon faces make them look more cute than silly. They kind of remind me of Sacred Beast Legend Bioroid figures a little because of their shape. Not a lot, just a little. Obviously these are sillier toys that super serious collectors would scoff at... but there's something about them that's hard to resist. Of the four sets in the first wave, this is my favorite as you probably would guess. Of course I don't have the Walmart exclusive 5 pack yet, so I can't rule those out. It's all beast warriors, so you know I'll love it. Until then, this is the last of the Swapticons posts on the site until more are made available. Hopefully there is more, these little shits are pretty fun.

B-127 [Galaxy Version 05-One]

It's time to look at another series of Blokees here on Zone Base. Specifically Galaxy Version 05- One, which by the name should clue you in that we're talking a series based on Transformers One. TF One was very popular among the Transformers fan base and so are Blokees. This is a match made in heaven! I was very thankful to find the case on Easter Morning as a gift from the Mrs. She had put each kit inside a large egg and hid them through the house! Not only was it fun finding the eggs, but it was a big surprise to see what was inside! We're going to begin out exploration of this new case with B-127, which of course is Bumbelee's name prior to his arrival to Earth in newer fictional settings. This kit features B (or Badassatron) without his Cog, which had a really strong resemblance to Megaman X the more I look at it. Maybe I'll get an extra and do a custom one day.

As cool as B-127 looks, he's also a good starting point for this series as he's as good example of the newer construction this series has. This series seems to be the start of a new design for the Galaxy Version that results in a sturdier finished product. As much as I've loved what came before, this feels like a much more solid figure after the kit had been built. Not to mention two specific points I've never enjoyed. In prior sets, the connector joints had to be assembled, while they've already come assembled here. It was never a gripe of mine, but man they'd kill my fingertips pushing them together. The other is the shoulder pads fit much better. I've popped off others very easily, while these snap on and stay put. I guess they've adjusted the connections. The upper body of the figures frame has some adjustments too. Now the ball joint for the heads is molded in and there's some additional peg holes in the body that the armor bits have additional pegs to insert into. I've never complained about the fit before, but it feels much more solid now. B-127 is like an action figure I bought already assembled from the factory as opposed to a small model kit.

Of course he has the standard open and closed hands you expect and a laser pistol to hold with them. The base is present, though the additional Autobot and Decepticon symbols are gone. Oh well. B-127 looks great. I've always liked yellow and black colors together. They really pop on the cool sculpting that's unmistakably Bumblebee before coming to Earth. While Bumblebee has always been a cute character, this figure is downright adorable. The signature Blokees visual just blends so well with the TF One aesthetic. This just might be a perfect meeting of the two styles. I mentioned Megaman X up above... but yeah, they feel a little out of that universe. B-127 is a completely pleasurable kit that I was happy to build and being the general admiration for Bumblebee around the site... the perfect starting point for another case of Blokees posts.

Evil Monday Empire

Holy crap it's Monday again. I hope everyone had a good weekend, mine was pretty great. It was Mother's Day and I spent time showing the Mrs and my Mom my appreciation for all that they do. I also spent a lot of time playing Doom and Old Towers. Lots of fun to be had! I didn't buy any toys this weekend, it be that way sometimes. Aside from some good food and things for the Mrs and my Mom... I didn't really buy much. Well, I did luck up on a soft shell jacket for $8, hooray for clearance deals!

The weekend began with Takara showing off their newest Microman toys and I'm excited! Between Super7's Micronauts and these... I'm in heaven! I do need to order some Transformers Wild King toys as well while I keep my eyes peeled for the Godzilla Transformers to become available. I know they're up for pre-order, but my jadedness for pre-orders these days is at a high. Blokees has been showing off a new Soundwave kit that I'll definitely be trying to get. I've mainly focused on their blind boxes, but do get the occasional full sized model too. With all the cool toys coming out, I've got a lot to keep up with! Well, speaking of things to keep up with, I've got a fun week in store for you all. Thank you for reading Zone Base, please don't forget to share with your friends!

Red Alert [Age of the Primes/Voyager Class]

In Transformers Armada, fans got introduced to a new character named Red Alert whom was much different than the G1 original. This Red Alert was a different character who served as the teams medic. If you're noticing the similarities to Ratchet, you're not alone. That was his name in Japan. Red Alert was styled after Robocop and Power Rangers. I strongly remember the conversations about how much he looked like Robocop before it was confirmed. At BotCon 2002, there was some design art inside the convention booklet.

A few images of Red Alert were there, this lead to my friends and I talking again how much he looked like Robocop. Later after the convention and getting home, my job had screwed up my scheduled time off and I had to go in just a few hours after getting in from the long road trip. Later that evening, a very tired me stopped by Walmart on the way home for some food and they had the newly released Red Alert in stock. After talking about how much he looked like Robocop the days before... I bought him on the spot. Initially I wasn't very interested in him, but at that point had to have him. He looks like Robocop, ever notice?

Opening my new toy while eating my frozen pizza... I quickly became a fan and have been ever since. He was great! Though I initially thought he should have been a smaller toy, something that the Deluxe Class Cybertron figure would be a few years later. Still, there's nothing better than a big chonky robot toy. So thankfully this new figure is a Voyager Class, but it's a little smaller than that original despite being a comparable price class (Voyager Class wasn't the term until Cybertron, they were called Max-Con during Armada). Times have chance in the 23 years since that original... and so has the price.

This new Red Alert still is a very good update of that toy bringing it to the year 2025 with current engineering. He looks pretty much the same but there's a lot more articulation (and sadly no Mini-Con gimmicks). The left hand retains the swappable gimmick with two different weapons that can be plugged in. Whichever is not in use can store in the alt mode kibble on his legs. Since there's no Mini-Con gimmicks (and you get less toy for the money), the kibble doesn't fold down into a repair bay. His gun still attaches to the vehicle roof and can unfold into a shoulder mounted cannon from there, or be removed to be held traditionally. It still has that claw missile, but doesn't fire anymore. I don't mind that honestly.  Since we're talking about that vehicle mode, transformation is pretty easy and could probably done by veteran TF fans by muscle memory as it's similar to several other toys. The only real challenge is some of the joints are pretty stiff.

Red Alert's cool Rescue SUV looks just as great as ever. It's super satisfying and all around pleasant. There's no electronics, so you'll have to just say "RED ALERT WOO WOO WOO" on your own... and I assume many of you are doing that anyway. As someone who enjoyed the original upon it's release, this is a real treat... even if it's a stark reminder of how much $20 got me then, vs what $35 gets me now and it's kinda a bummer. I do wish there was Mini-Cons... but they're just not in use currently. There is some ports throughout his body where at Battlemaster could probably fill the roll. Regardless, it's an excellent toy that I'm very happy with. Yes, he's got some long legs. It's a thing.

Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus [Swapticons]

You'd be hard pressed to get a Transformers line without an Optimus Prime figure and since this is Swapticons we're talking about, you know he's paired with Ultra Magnus. Being silly little toys, they have some wacky faces with Optimus giving the people's eyebrow while Ultra Magnus makes an attempt to be like Optimus. The two link up to form a version of Optimus's truck and trailer mode that's pretty similar to some of it's newer depictions.

Slightly armored, a little sporty. I think someone in the design team must be really insistent on this look. It's not on every toy... but sure pops up every so often. It does look cool, so no problem. I can't help but to see Ultra Magnus as Gears though. It's the colors. A lot longer than I should remember, I had a dream where I found an Ultra Magnus made from a Gears toy. So now sometimes I'm reminded about that dream when I see an occasional Ultra Magnus toy. You haven't dreamt about your hobbies? What's that like?