Motormaster [Legacy United/Voyager Class]

Transformers Animated was a fun series with some really cool toys. The stylized sculpting was a fun alternative to the movie and classics styled toys available at the same time. It was only natural that the BotCon, which was officially affiliated at the time would offer an exclusive set based around the series. The Stunticon Job was a cool way to introduce the Stunticons to the series and make use of the prior existing toy molds as is a necessity when making exclusives. Motormaster is one of those characters folks automatically assume will be made from an Optimus Prime, so it just worked out naturally. Luckily, the Animated Motormaster was really cool.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to that BotCon, nor acquire a set. It always stayed in the back of my mind as a 'someday' type of thing. Flash forward to present day and amazingly enough, things like formerly hard to acquire toys are getting updated in Generations. Giving second chances to get some of these ideas. It may not be the original... but often time it's good enough. That's where Motormaster finds it's way here, as a reworking of the Animated Optimus Prime toy update that was released earlier this year. I really liked that figure, so it's probably to no surprise I liked this one. It doesn't hurt that the happiness of finally getting some version of this Motormaster put a nice cherry on top of everything.

Since I've talked about the mold before, I'm going to focus more on what's different. Most noticeably, the new head. Motormaster famously has a square head. That's replicated here with additional characterization. Long story short, he's Macho Man Randy Savage as a transformer. Specifically, Macho Man as a bad guy. Considering the colors, I like to think N.W.O era Macho Man. Considering Randy Savage is one of my all time favorites, it's probably to no surprise I like this. His colors are mainly black with some purple and green thrown in and it looks fabulous. Both modes look great. Transformation did feel a little looser this time. That could be from mold degradation or just mine in particular. The original Optimus Prime toy was just a good figure all the way around and I feel like this is a total upgrade based on the colors and new head alone.Can you dig it?

Godzilla 1954 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

While I've certainly enjoyed Playmates kaiju offerings, Bandai's sofubi returning to US shelves is reason to celebrate around here. Godzilla Monster Series is a wonderful line of kaiju toys in a form factor that I vastly prefer and the 5" scale is absolutely perfect. These figures can really take up some room (the tails alone... ) and no detail is lost at the slightly smaller size. Not to mention... I like smaller toys. They're priced fairly too, I've been seeing them from $12 to $15 at retail. 

Some online stores are charging more, so choose where you buy these wisely. Of course the older, larger figures were only $10 a few years ago... "sigh". This is classic Godzilla as he appeared in the original 1954 movie. It's 5 inches tall with 5 points of articulation in the shoulders, hips, and tail. The colors are great. I've always loved that darker, muted shade of green. Sculpting is really well done with appreciated attention to detail. It's always great to see a Bandai Godzilla figure on a shelf and I'm elated for their return after a long absence. Nature is healing.

Filch [Star Raiders Collection/Deluxe Class]

One of the great thing about the Walmart exclusive collections is that they provide an outlet for prior unreleased characters/toys to be released under. Filch was a Decepticon from Transformers Robots in Disguise 2015 whom never got a figure outside of a Tiny Titan release. In the Star Raiders Collection, she's making her debut as a Deluxe Class toy. Spoilers, it's a good one. The toy is a remold of Kingdom Airazor. Using that mold as a base, the designers make a solid representation of her. Like with Skywarp, the mold makes for a good skeleton. Filch turns into a corvid. However, unlike Airazor and Skywarp, she's not a beast era style beast warrior with an organic looking alt mode. Her alt mode is more robotic, like traditional Transformers with beast modes are. He remolding is pretty extensive and doesn't have all those feathers.

A neat design change was the wings. Where Airazor and Skywarp have those forearm guns that serve as missiles for their beast modes, Filch's wingtips separate and plug into her forearms. This allows her to resemble her show model better and makes her backpack smaller. She can also hold these wingtips as sort of a sickle weapon. Transformation is easy, literally identical to the other mold uses before aside from connecting the wing tips. Corvid and robot mode are very well articulated. This is just a well designed Transformers all around. I really like Filch's colors and feel like they bring the toy alive in a way the prior uses didn't. They're just so pretty. They did a really good jn making Filch from Airazor and did enough to make her different than just a simple repaint.

Keizer Monday

Bloody hell, it's Monday again. Personally, I was having a great weekend too. Saturday the Mrs and I went Christmas shopping and Sunday we saw the newest Venom movie. Actually, I went Christmas shopping Friday morning too. The season is drawing near, meaning I'm going to have some extra busy days working in the holidays with my work life. I'm sure you will too, but no worries, Zone Base is here to keep you entertained with robots, monsters, and misadventure! This weekend will be extra hectic to prepare myself for next weeks Thanksgiving holiday break. Not just a hard work week, but some weekend work to offset the days off. No so great, but it will definitely make the time off sweeter. 

That being said, next week will have a little interruption in the normal posting schedule. There will be content, just not as much. I'm sure you all understand and hopefully you'll have a great holiday week too! I did get some great new stuff for myself while shopping. The Mrs picked up Studio Series Gamer Edition Ratchet for me last week, and I found Studio Series Gamer Edition Bumblebee and Monster Series Mechagodzilla while out Friday. Saturday was busy, but I did pick up Legacy Quake. 

Actually Saturday was kinda a little personal BotCon for me. I only got a few hours sleep. Bought toys, watched Transformers One and played Transformers Minecraft. I had some frozen pizza and fell asleep watching GIJOE.  Just like the old days! I'm actually planning to watch Gobots all day today and get a few weeks of toy pics for upcoming site posts. The holidays are wild times, and I'm sure to ring them in the only way I know how. By the skin of my teeth and keeping it gonzo as always. Thank you all for reading Zone Base. Next week will be a little different, but don't worry, it will return to normal soon after. I've got some fun stuff coming over the upcoming days, please look forward to it! Don't forget to share with your friends!