Monday & Punishment

Monday again, it was just Sunday and I was happily playing Doom and enjoying my weekend. Oh well, welcome back to another week on Zone Base. Hopefully you all had a great weekend, I did. The Mrs and I did our weekly shopping and enjoyed a fun Easter by Watching The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and enjoying a peaceful day at home. While out Saturday I picked up a few fun things. We stopped at Aldi because they have excellent produce and I picked up a MrBeast Labs Hybrids. I've been meaning to check these blind monster packs out regardless of the apparently famous YouTube guys name on the label. They're fun modular figures with emphasis on mix and match parts that look to use the Glyos system. I got Serpanther in mine, a red Gorgon/panther hybrid. Pretty neat, though the tail section is made of some cheap plastic.

At Walmart I got a Blokees Classic Class Soundwave from Transformers One and the new Walmart Exclusive gold Skeletor from the new MOTU Core Class line that I'm pretty excited about. It's a slightly smaller action figure range for Masters of The Universe that's seemingly movie and classis character based. I plan to cover them pretty throughly here as they're perfect Wednesday post material. I also look forward to building that Soundwave soon. 

The Mrs surprised me with a very cool Easter Basket full of candy, a MrBeast Labs Swarms blind pack, some of his candy (literally, who is this guy and why is his name on some pretty good products?) A MOTU X Transformers Scareglow Starscream (now I own the complete set), The Red Rodan Kaiju Ranger figure from Playmates new Power Rangers X Godzilla figures (must get all these), as well as some Reese's and Hershey Easter Candy. There's also a Super Mario Pez dispenser in there that I'm tempted to carry around regularly. Some people vape, I Pez. It was a great surprise and I think she liked her Easter basket from me. I got her a canvas print of our cats... it's on the wall over the TV. 

She made one excellent Sunday dinner that I enjoyed while finishing the last of my Blokees Defender Version kits that haven't been assembled yet and of course playing Doom. There's a new Defender Version series on the way that I can't wait to get my hands on as well as more Wheels. So good! Well, it may be spring, but I've got Halloween on my mind and the beginnings of this years 3 month long spooky season is cooking in my brain. Last year we broke site records, let's see how big Pumpkin Spiced Mayhem is in 2026! Well, it's time to get this week started. It's a special week here on the site as I renewed the domain for the 10th time... that's right, Zone Base turns 10 this week and it's really amazing to see how it's grown over the years. Thank you all for reading and supporting the site. Please don't forget to share with your friends and be excellent to each other.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

I just got back from seeing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and just like the first movie, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

While the movie takes inspiration from Super Mario Galaxy, it pulls from all over the Mario series. There are even appearances from other Nintendo properties, which makes it feel like a full-on celebration. Like the previous movie, it’s a fun love letter to Nintendo fans while still being an enjoyable ride for all ages.

Like I usually do with movie posts, I’ll avoid spoilers. But since he’s been all over the marketing, I think it’s safe to mention Fox McCloud showing up. Seeing Fox and his Arwing from Star Fox in the movie was really fun, and I’m hoping it leads to more Star Fox in general—games, a movie… or, as the Mrs pointed out, toys. I’d absolutely lose my mind if Fox showed up in those little Mario figure displays at the Walmart check out. I check those things every time I’m there.

The movie isn’t a direct adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy, but it's used more of a framing device, similar to how the first movie worked. It’s probably too early for me to decide which one I like more, but right now it feels like a natural continuation. It blends really well with the first movie, and I like that a lot.

Honestly, I’m still riding a high from watching it. As a big Mario fan, this thing is packed with so many Easter eggs and references it’s kind of mind-blowing. I’m still thinking about the Pro Wrestling poster hanging on Mario’s bedroom wall.

I’ve seen some people online already trashing it, but they feel like the same type who went after the first movie—people who just hate popular things to try and seem interesting instead of developing an actual personality.

Me? I loved it.

I made a complete dork of myself. I brought a small Mario figure with me and wore a Mario Kart shirt. The theater had Super Mario candy and themed ICEEs, plus Yoshi popcorn buckets that were already sold out. I grabbed a pack of Feastables Yoshi Eggs—white chocolate with peanut butter—which felt very appropriate with it being Easter. They were actually pretty good.

I don’t really know who MrBeast is, but I like a lot of his products. It honestly feels like he just appeared one day out of nowhere. Who the hell even is he?

The Mrs grabbed one of the ICEEs—Mario Cherry and Princess Peach (peach flavor... wouldn't it be great if it was mango or something?). She went with Mario. I tried a few sips and yeah… it’s just cherry. Still fun, though. I had a Pepsi Zero Sugar... I might be addicted.

On the way out, we noticed the theater had a custom Mario balloon sculpture in the lobby. No idea how we missed it on the way in, but it was a nice extra touch.

Overall, it was just a really fun experience on top of a great movie, all centered around something I’ve loved forever. Pretty awesome.

Bumblebee [BMK Series 1]

If it’s not completely obvious, Yolopark started their BMK range with the old standbys — classic Transformers characters recognizable to everyone. While I know it’s uber cool to pretend to only like deep cuts… I like the main guys too. I’m also not cool, and I’m cool with that. Not to mention, I love classic Bumblebee.

Spending a little time with him in this BMK kit is exactly what I needed after a hectic few weeks.

BMK stands for Beginner Model Kit, and that’s very obvious when assembling one. Ideally, these are for a younger audience, but as I’ve said before, they’re just right for a future display I have in mind. They’re solid representations of classic characters at a pleasant size — exactly what I’m looking for.

So far, all the BMK kits I’ve assembled have followed the same general format. You’ve got a torso piece that includes the character’s waist and legs down to the knees. The lower legs, arms, and head are separate pieces that snap into place to complete the build. It’s done in seconds — maybe minutes if you’ve got some tight joints or distractions, like an insane cat going nuts while you’re trying to do something.

That was me. Her name is Miso, and she’s a tiny force of nature.

Cat chaos aside, Bumblebee looks great once assembled. His arms and head have a decent range of motion, and while the legs are mostly static, there’s a swivel at the knee and an ankle joint that give his stance a little life.

Bumblebee comes with his pistol — something you might catch him using if you flip across the Transformers channel. It’s an iconic look for him, even though his original toy never had a weapon.

Completed, it’s a nice, satisfying Bumblebee that looks like he just stepped off the screen. I’m really liking this BMK display idea of mine… now I just need to make some more progress on that room organization.

Leo X Godzilla [Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Godzilla]

Rounding out the first wave of figures in the awesome TMNT X Godzilla line from Playmates is Leo X Godzilla. Pairing the Turtles’ leader (regardless of what Raphael says) with the King of the Monsters, and utilizing Leonardo’s signature blue alongside Godzilla’s atomic breath, just feels natural.

The blue flames on his katana combine the two characters’ signature weapon/attack perfectly, and it just looks fantastic.

I’ve made the comparison before, but I really feel the need to make it again — these feel more like designer toys than action figures you can just pick up at Target.

After this year, Mattel will be taking over mainline TMNT action figures, and thanks to Turtles of Grayskull, I know they’ll be in good hands. This crossover feels like an excellent finale to Playmates Toys TMNT for me, as I’ve been buying them since I was a kid in the late ’80s.

Once again, the figure has excellent articulation and sculpted detail. It’s pretty amazing just how well the melding of Godzilla with the TMNT aesthetic works. I really like the way his tail and back plates integrate with the turtle shell.

Part of me wishes they’d do a Gamera. Now that I’ve said that, I really want one.

Unfortunately, this is the last TMNT X Godzilla figure we’ll be looking at for a while, as wave 2 isn’t due out until this fall.