Fright Zone arrived via BBTS in a separate shipment, though part of my Pile of Loot from yesterday. Understandably, as the box is massive. It was shipped in a typical BBTS box, but inside was the Mattel fitted shipper, and inside that the actual beautiful package with art on the front extended to the sides, and photography on the back.
Inside that package? It's amazing that they managed to fit every part, because it looked like those parts were thrown in there with zero rhyme or reason. Totally disorganized, or seemingly so. I'm sure there was a deliberate order to it, but I'd be damned if I took everything out and had to replace it all for a return/exchange. It was chaos.
Anyway, it comes in several pieces, the two main walls and floor base, two interior floors, a removable dungeon, dungeon door, tree, throne, dragon beast, and accessories. Assembly is similar to the original, but most of the gimmicks have been revamped significantly. The tree no longer folds shut to grab figures, but the trunk splits in the middle like a mouth to grab warriors. The branches are all shaped to grip warriors as well. One more branch roots from the bottom and hangs a warrior out as bait for the dragon beast. The rock trap at the opening of the dragon beast's lair can also hold warriors captive. There is a "secret entrance" off to the side of the dragon beast's lair, which has rubber teeth so a warrior can slide in easily. So much play value on the outside alone...
What I love most about this incarnation is that they've revised the design to include interior play. To do this, you literally need to transform the playset by removing the floor base, inverting the angle of the walls, and reattaching the floor on the inside. The dungeon pops out and pops back into the interior. The tree can rotate, but the back is where Hordak's throne is. The interior has a weapon rack (with three weapons included, a staff, a rifle, and a Horde crossobow), metal bonds mounted to the wall beside the dungeon.
The dragon beast is awesome. It’s a lot longer and bigger than Battle Cat, maybe by 4-5” in length. It fixes an issue I have with the cat mounts, in that instead of articulating the knees, it articulates the ankles with hinged rockers. That way the beast can stand flat. Knees are way less important for posing. The hips of each leg are swivels, no ball or hinge. But the neck is on a ball type swivel, and when you open one jaw, the other jaw automatically opens. Very cool.
I haven't even fit figures into this thing, but it really is a fun piece. It's not huge, so I should be able to find space for it on my playset shelf. Gotta move vehciles out though. This new Fright Zone is an improvement over the original in just about every way.
Inside that package? It's amazing that they managed to fit every part, because it looked like those parts were thrown in there with zero rhyme or reason. Totally disorganized, or seemingly so. I'm sure there was a deliberate order to it, but I'd be damned if I took everything out and had to replace it all for a return/exchange. It was chaos.
Anyway, it comes in several pieces, the two main walls and floor base, two interior floors, a removable dungeon, dungeon door, tree, throne, dragon beast, and accessories. Assembly is similar to the original, but most of the gimmicks have been revamped significantly. The tree no longer folds shut to grab figures, but the trunk splits in the middle like a mouth to grab warriors. The branches are all shaped to grip warriors as well. One more branch roots from the bottom and hangs a warrior out as bait for the dragon beast. The rock trap at the opening of the dragon beast's lair can also hold warriors captive. There is a "secret entrance" off to the side of the dragon beast's lair, which has rubber teeth so a warrior can slide in easily. So much play value on the outside alone...
What I love most about this incarnation is that they've revised the design to include interior play. To do this, you literally need to transform the playset by removing the floor base, inverting the angle of the walls, and reattaching the floor on the inside. The dungeon pops out and pops back into the interior. The tree can rotate, but the back is where Hordak's throne is. The interior has a weapon rack (with three weapons included, a staff, a rifle, and a Horde crossobow), metal bonds mounted to the wall beside the dungeon.
The dragon beast is awesome. It’s a lot longer and bigger than Battle Cat, maybe by 4-5” in length. It fixes an issue I have with the cat mounts, in that instead of articulating the knees, it articulates the ankles with hinged rockers. That way the beast can stand flat. Knees are way less important for posing. The hips of each leg are swivels, no ball or hinge. But the neck is on a ball type swivel, and when you open one jaw, the other jaw automatically opens. Very cool.
I haven't even fit figures into this thing, but it really is a fun piece. It's not huge, so I should be able to find space for it on my playset shelf. Gotta move vehciles out though. This new Fright Zone is an improvement over the original in just about every way.
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