Zoids

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Hi, anyone here collect or otherwise interested in Tomy Zoids? I don't hear much about them around here. Granted, they are pretty far removed from Macross as Anime/Mecha goes.

[David Hingtgen]

Me. Not a ton, got out of it for a while, but bought GilDragon when it came out.

[kensei]

I liked the series, it's just so hard to get here. As well as the models.

[drifand]

Perversely, I'm more interested in the non-motorized Zoids toys, like the 'Metal-Action' Liger Zero and Berserk Fuhrer, and also the 'playset' Mecha Collection series... really love the Hover Cargo, Whale King, plus the idea of expanding your Zoids 'army' thru capsule-machines. I've got TWO 'battalions' of Empire Zoids on my Whale King versus THREE Hover Cargoes loaded with different Liger-led units.

Lately, I've given the 'bio-Zoids' a try, but found them lacking somehow. It's like I was hoping for a 'MG' or even 'PG' level of mechanical complexity in the joints but all I got was simple snap-fit ball joints covered by rubbery 'armor'. Bleah.

Anyway, I've also put in a pre-order for the upcoming Kotobukiya Shield Liger kit... now THAT looks like a 'MG/PG' style endeavor! Keeping my fingers crossed :-)

Here's one of my fav Rumbles for TBDX... Liger Zero FTW!!!

http://www.toyboxdx.com/rumble_plus/170602-liger.html

[Nightbat]

funny how I know of their existence since I was just a wee lad

but apart from the toys never really 'got into it'

[JELEINEN]

I had a couple of the toys back in the eighties and picked up a couple of the more recent imports a few years ago (shortly after which they started coming out in the US).

[F-ZeroOne]

I loved them as a kid, but never had more than a couple. I really like some of the modern designs, but because of space issues haven't picked any up. I also know that if I begin, I'll never stop...

[TSP]

funny how I know of their existence since I was just a wee lad

but apart from the toys never really 'got into it'

Bart Smith used to sell alot of these during the mid 80's. But they were quite expensive. Someone told me that some stores still sell Zoids in Nederland. But I never found any. Or maybe Amsterdam is the wrong place to look for such things.

I bought some injection kits like Liger Zero, Command Wolf, Gojulaz Giga for Kit bashing Panzertier style. But ended up with building them as dust collector for my unfinished projects showcase. One day I grab one of them and pump it up with ball joints.

[ShadowerV2]

I got me some Liger Zeros the Blue Phoenix, the Fuzors version, Murasame, Hayate and Mugen Liger. And Deadly Kong.. Pretty cool.

[Opus]

I used to collect them but there were just too many and they took up too much space.

[Veritas]

Never owned any of them as a kid... heck i didnt even know they really existed, but when they made a comeback recently i found myself picking some kits up. Pretty well detailed for the price and i have to admit outside of the toys/models, i'm actually a fan of the Chaotic Century Cartoon Series. The series after i can do with out. Haven't seen anything since though, nor have i seen too many zoids, except in import stores and online.

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Yeah, I am hoping that the Kotobukiya Shield Liger would lead to more articulated kits. Hopefully an Iron Kong (the gorilla form just begs for articulation!) and a Death Saurer.

I am very attracted to the mechanical precision of the moving joints. Never liked the Ligers (all the cats) that much. Nice to look at but they made too many and the movement sucks compared to stuff like Gojulas Giga and Iron Kong.

As for the anime, I got kinda cheesed off by how the hero melee attacks owns everything else. Stupid kid in the Liger just yells, shoves the throttle forward and BLAM, the Death Star 3 blows up!

I would have like more emphasis on the guns and missiles and charged particle beams. I love the way the zoid weapons are so easily interchangeable across the models for customisation.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Retracting Head Ter Ter

[areaseven]

Still have my Liger Zero stashed somewhere in storage. I have to admit that Zoids are fun, but I don't see myself collecting them.

[Nightbat]

Bart Smith used to sell alot of these during the mid 80's. But they were quite expensive. Someone told me that some stores still sell Zoids in Nederland. But I never found any. Or maybe Amsterdam is the wrong place to look for such things.

I bought some injection kits like Liger Zero, Command Wolf, Gojulaz Giga for Kit bashing Panzertier style. But ended up with building them as dust collector for my unfinished projects showcase. One day I grab one of them and pump it up with ball joints.

Don't ask me for names but I had a small wind up elephant and raptor and battery operated

mammoth and stegosaur (still have that last one ...somewhere)

[grapetang]

I have the Deathpion and it's the pride of my Zoids.

I am very attracted to the mechanical precision of the moving joints.

I love the mechanical stuff too. Have you see the Salamander (pteradactyl)? It's AMAZING what they did with one single eccentric motor: the pteradactyl walks, flaps its wings up & down as they fold & unfold, lifts its head & opens its mouth while the tail swishes left & right. Neat stuff!

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

I have the Deathpion and it's the pride of my Zoids.

I love the mechanical stuff too. Have you see the Salamander (pteradactyl)? It's AMAZING what they did with one single eccentric motor: the pteradactyl walks, flaps its wings up & down as they fold & unfold, lifts its head & opens its mouth while the tail swishes left & right. Neat stuff!

Yes, the Deathpion is very sleek by Zoids standards. Most Zoids are rather blocky (Battletech Like) but the Deathpion is more Anime smooth.

I have the Salamander. I don't like the looks of the thing (ugly looking head for one) but I bought it because the movement mechanics are IMHO one of the best (Gojulas Giga is cool too, the way they can make a relatively low cost toy dinosaur which replicates and can switch between both the Godzilla man-in-suit walk and the tail balancing Jurassic Park walk).

My collection centrepiece is the King Gojulas. Got it 2nd hand but its got great shelf presence. Towers over other zoids. If Mecha Godzilla was built like that, Godzilla would get its butt kicked bad.

[Lightning]

my favorite's the Liger Zero Jager....or did they call it something different?

[dr_vandermeer]

I've got a bunch of old Japanese ones, including the big Godzilla looking one. He was so bad-ass.

[TSP]

Yes, the Deathpion is very sleek by Zoids standards. Most Zoids are rather blocky (Battletech Like) but the Deathpion is more Anime smooth.

My collection centrepiece is the King Gojulas. Got it 2nd hand but its got great shelf presence. Towers over other zoids. If Mecha Godzilla was built like that, Godzilla would get its butt kicked bad.

Kow Yokoyama did some really nice designs for the early Zoids/Panzertier Saga. They are a perfect match to the SF3D/Ma.K Panzer Kampfanzug or Super Armored Fighting Suits.

Gojulas Giga is the reincarnation of the Emmerich Godzilla. He is mean,fast,loud and has 2"AA"+2"AAA" batteries.

I've got a bunch of old Japanese ones, including the big Godzilla looking one. He was so bad-ass.

Zoidzilla!

[Salamander]

I've got a fairly big collection - all of the common European 1980s releases, one or two vintage Japanese Zoids, some European Zoids 2, a fair amount of the Japanese ones that were sold from 1999 onwards. The last on I bought was the Shield Liger Mk. II reissue. Most of the latest Zoids are kinda boring, though.

Bart Smith used to sell alot of these during the mid 80's. But they were quite expensive. Someone told me that some stores still sell Zoids in Nederland. But I never found any. Or maybe Amsterdam is the wrong place to look for such things.

Try the collectors' shop 'A Space Oddity' for some vintage stuff and some modern stuff.

Prices are quite high, though.

[grapetang]

Yes, the Deathpion is very sleek by Zoids standards. Most Zoids are rather blocky (Battletech Like) but the Deathpion is more Anime smooth.

I have the Salamander. I don't like the looks of the thing (ugly looking head for one) but I bought it because the movement mechanics are IMHO one of the best (Gojulas Giga is cool too, the way they can make a relatively low cost toy dinosaur which replicates and can switch between both the Godzilla man-in-suit walk and the tail balancing Jurassic Park walk).

My collection centrepiece is the King Gojulas. Got it 2nd hand but its got great shelf presence. Towers over other zoids. If Mecha Godzilla was built like that, Godzilla would get its butt kicked bad.

Yeah, I really like the Deathpion's sleek, organic design; it's quite a departure from the other Zoids. and I agree about the Salamander blockiness (I like the head better w/ the ears/flaps removed) & the mechanics. I don't have any of the Gojulas' but would love to get a one some day.

[wolfx]

Toys aside, is the anime any good?

I heard they revived zoids lately and made it into "little kids piloting animal mechs in a tournament" kinda anime.

[Veritas]

Toys aside, is the anime any good?

I heard they revived zoids lately and made it into "little kids piloting animal mechs in a tournament" kinda anime.

Well as far as i know there's been 3, maybe 4 zoids anime series released in the last couple of years. The first one over here at least is called Chaotic Century and IMO is actually pretty good... considering it's geared more towards older kids. Head Ter Ter brought up a point about how irritating it was to have all of the fights or nearly all of them end the same way with power ranger like power up melee attacks after a long and drawn out battle. If you can get past that there's actually a pretty good story in there.

As for the series afterwards "little kids piloting animal mechs in a tournament" is a good way to put it and i pretty much hated it. IMO it basically took away all of the things that made the first one good and left us with only pretty much the battles to fall back on. It just doesn't stand up.

Since then i think there's been 1 or 2 more anime series and as far as i know i don't think those have been released domestically.

Hope that helps.

Edited October 1, 2006 by Veritas

[wolfx]

Thanks, Veritas.

How about the original? Is the original something like Gundam where these factions use these mecha to fight each other in a war?

[Veritas]

Thanks, Veritas.

How about the original? Is the original something like Gundam where these factions use these mecha to fight each other in a war?

Sorry Wolf i guess i never went into detail on the Chaotic Century series. I've never seen the original Zoids series from way back in the 80s, but Chaotic Century involves a war between two factions (Empire and Republic) on the same planet. Both of them have their own unique Zoids models and you'll see alot of different models showcased throughout the series.

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Here is my rough rundown.

There is a 'Battle Story' in the back of the Japanese Zoids boxes. Each Zoid had a fragment of the 'Battle story' dealing with that zoid models involvement in the war.

Generally, it was about a long war between the Helic Republic and the Zenebas Empire. Other factions included the Guylos Empire and the Neo Zenebas. No real hero mechs(zoids) here, more of an epic scale intercontinental war.

The animes operate on a different plot from the 'battle story'. Its still about the Empire vs the Republic but we have 'Hero' mechs.

For example, in the Battle-Story, it was the introduction of the Republic Madthunder which stemmed the assault of the Imperial Death Saurer. In the anime, predictably, the Death Saurer gets taken down by loud kid in a hero zoid who gets all his victories by screaming and throttling forward while the hero mech does its slow-mo melee attack-which-defeats-everything.

Generally, the Chaotic Century and Guardian Force animes are good in my opinion. New Century Zero (treat it like a comedy), Fuzors (especially Fuzors) SUCK! Did i TELL YOU fuzors SUCKED? Never watched Genesis, but since the title character is some 12 year old kid in a liger again, well......

Edited October 2, 2006 by Retracting Head Ter Ter

[wolfx]

I went ahead and did a wiki.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoids

So from what i understood, there was no actual anime pertaining to the ORIGINAL battle story, which featured warring factions using ZOIDs to do battle. Later anime released which were the chaotic century, guardian force were "retellings" of the original battle story but strapped a "kid hero" into a "hero mech" to save the day.

Then New Century was the shounen tournamanent thing and Fuzors and Genesis seem to be alternate universes.

[Salamander]

The UK Wikipedia has a rather nice entry with regards to Zoids:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoids

[David Hingtgen]

Thread resurrection, but they're going to make Revoltech Zoids. http://ngeekhiong.blogspot.com/2009/09/rev...hers-under.html

[Wanzerfan]

I have the Styracosaurus toy when the line was known as RoboStrux.

I liked the original anime, and Chaotic Century was good, even though they screwed up on the timeline a little when the Guardian Force Heroes storyline came out (the American version was set 1 year after Chaotic Century whereas the Japanese version was 3 years). Too bad I wasn't able to finish the series before Cartoon Network dumped it for other projects.

[Dangaioh]

I have a couple of the Zoids. However, 3 of my favorites that i own are the Giga Gojulas, Gun Sniper w/Custom parts and the Liger Zero Phoenix. Would have been nice if I can find the canons used for the Proto Giga Gojulas and the Custom set used for Leena's Gun Sniper.

[David Hingtgen]

Leena's Gun Sniper used so many parts from other Zoids and custom sets it ends up being quite expensive---I've only ever seen it FULLY done once:

http://hanegaru.main.jp/hp05_008.htm

http://hanegaru.main.jp/hp05_009.htm

[nugundamII]

Leena's Gun Sniper used so many parts from other Zoids and custom sets it ends up being quite expensive---I've only ever seen it FULLY done once:

http://hanegaru.main.jp/hp05_008.htm

http://hanegaru.main.jp/hp05_009.htm

[nugundamII]

[nugundamII]