Guide & Intro: So, what are the kits like?
So, what are the kits like? - Okay, I want to build some. - What are all these different releases?"I think it's the same reason why I like Zoids models. I make them. Then they move. Hell yeah!"
JammerLea
Zoids kits come in boxes like most models do. Depending on the line they're from, they'll have a photo of the kit, CGI images, and/or elaborate dioramas featuring the enclosed Zoid painted and stickered up in an action setting. The Zoid won't come prepainted like that, of course, but that's part of the fun: you can detail them as much or as little as you like.
Inside the box you'll find frames of parts, all molded in color. Some Zoids have a few details prepainted on, like the black markings on a Liger Zero's face or a Shadow Fox's gold trim. Most Zoids also include a motor, be it small coilspring (windup), large coilspring (aka "super 1000"), or various sizes of battery-powered motor boxes. With the exception of the old Grade Up Zoids, you don't have to build any of the motor box yourself: pop in the appropriate batteries and it's ready to go. You'll also get precut stickers for markings, a pilot or pilots, soft plastic "caps", and instructions. Clear plastic "eyes" and cockpits are very common additions, and some Zoids will have gears, stabilizers, and even rubber bands. Most will have mini catalogues of what releases were current at the time, and a few Japanese releases include bonus cards, DVDs, or "Fanbook Ex" stories.
Blox/Z-Builders kits come with Blox blocks and a series of connectors instead of a motor. These are little cubes with holes in them, which plug together with connectors. Rubber inside the Blox makes for rather flexible, easy to customize Zoids, though Blox do tend to get loose over time. Their less-popular Neo Blox cousins use different Blox shapes with no rubber, giving them stiffer joints.
For those worried about the language barrier: Tomy's instructions are indeed all in Japanese, but it doesn't really matter. Zoid instructions (no matter what line) are all about the pictures, and feature clear and useful diagrams of what goes where. Arrows help line pegs up, and even labeled things (such as Rayse Tiger's tubes) can be figured out by a game of match-the-symbols.
Quality control is good in the Zoids line as a whole, though there are occasional accounts of people getting, say, two left wings or two left eyes. This seems to have been more prevalent in the Genesis line. Some notable examples of bad plastic to watch out for are the Hasbro Geno Breaker (a good amount of the smaller release in the US seems to be from a particularly horrible batch of red plastic), later releases of the Bomber Unit custom part, and later releases of the maroon Seismosaurus and matching Blox Laser/Scissor Storm and Steelarmor. The limited (and now quite pricey) Sturm Tyrann seems to suffer breakage in its booster connectors quite often.
Note that Zoids are done in runs, or "batches", and you thus get slight variation in plastic color and quality between individuals. The blue Blade Liger is notorious for having many minor variants, and the distinctive "Red Zoids" of the old UK line had multiple shades of red and slightly different parts fit (just enough to sometimes thwart restoration efforts!) depending on their place of manufacture.
What's actually building them like, you say? Very fun.
If you've never built models at all, Zoids are a pretty harmless way to start. They don't bite...unless you stick your fingers in their mouths. Snap-fit makes them mostly forgiving to beginners: get something messed up? Just carefully take it apart and figure out what you did wrong. Being molded in color means your Zoid will look pretty nice straight out of the box - if the picture's got a blue and gold Command Wolf, by golly, you're gonna be building a blue and gold Command Wolf.
Actual assembly involved cutting pieces free and piecing together parts of your Zoid in stages. Some people will cut and trim pieces a step or two at a time, which is what I used to do. I now tend to cut off huge amounts of parts at once, sometimes even going sans instructions for the sheer fun of working out what bits are which by the feel of them. That, to me, is one of the most telling parts of the motorized Zoid experience...putting together interlocking pieces that I can tell are going to move when things are finished, seeing how all the bits of plastic work together.
Most motorized Zoids follow a pattern of stick body halves together around motor, build head, build limbs, attach limbs, add final bits of armor and guns. Windups tend to have only a few pieces for their legs (Allo Saurer and Battle Rover are exceptions), and battery ops will have anywhere from a few to a great many all working together. Caps hold moving bits together by fitting over pegs, and static pieces that don't snap together alone may be held on by small slid-on bits, often disguised as guns.
If you're used to snap-fit models in the style of high-grade Gundams, you may be surprised to open a box and find four-odd frames of parts that assemble to a Zoid the size of a large guinea pig. This is not to say Zoids are simplistic so much as different, and there are some that are quite nice pieces of engineering: take Gildragon, which has a surprisingly small number of pieces for its finished size and huge amount of motion; or Gorhecks and Bear Fighter's clever use of the limited power of windup motors. Still, if what you like most from your models is a ton of parts and a high degree of posability, you're better off sticking to other kits...or getting some of Kotobukiya's alternate Zoids line, which walks the line between the two styles. Blox are poseable, but they're more toy than model.
