Dark Horn (TDP Limited)
Dark Horn is an upgrade of the quintessential Zenebas stompy Red Horn, powered up with glowy and one nasty bad vulcan that nobody can quite figure out how to romanize. Gunbluster was developed for the express purpose of combating it, and even then found itself hard-pressed when drawn into narrow territory and close quarters. Post-meteor, the Deochalcum to power all that doom sank, and the Dark Horn fell into obscurity and disuse, newer ones being more like Red Horns by another name.
The models seemed to reflect this. First was the early NJR limited, which was disappointingly not-quite-Dark-Horn: teal in place of forest green, Red Horn stickers. Then came the Hasbro, which while readily available wasn't a Dark Horn so much as a recolored Red Horn: battery case a different color, guns silver, Hiblit painfully absent.
But eventually, thanks to TDP, we got a Dark Horn that attempted to do the original justice...as a limited Fuzors tie-in, no less.
Initial pictures showed a dual-Hiblit Horn, causing much stir, as this would be a construct requiring some remolded parts. I couldn't have cared less as I don't like the dual Hiblit look at all - what got my attention was that this was a proper Dark Horn at last. Forest green caps and weapons, glowy parts, glowy stickers...in fact, the only real differences besides the given battery cover screw issue would turn out to be Savage Hammer red pilots instead of Dark Army chrome, and Savage Hammer's logo also replacing the Guylos emblems on the sheet. Not perfect, but damn near close.
Being in Fuzors-style box, Dark Horn continued to confuse and disappoint dual-Hiblit fans after its release, as the Fuzors animation model only came in that flavor and that's thus what ended up on the anime side. Nevertheless, they sold quite effectively, and when I see them these days they're nearly as pricey as their original counterparts. Me, I got mine from HLJ for list price...as a present. Aw.
Building went par for the course as far as Horns are concerned, which the only real issue being the tailtip wanting to go on properly, something my two NAR Horns suffered from as well. The black plastic was nothing special, but not the awful evil stuff that plagues many new releases.
I think we all know Tilly's opinion on the Horn mold by now. It is awesome (or awesome ♥!, as Party would say), and colors like this make it even better. While black is a clichéd evil staple, Dark Zoids take that look and sell it, make you believe it. On semi-organic but still mechanical lines like Dark Horn, you really end up with an effective melding of Zenebas and Guylos design philosophy. Compared to the Hasbro version with CP-03 or even the earlier limited? Yes, those little bits of forest green really do matter, and how.
If you're gonna buy a Dark Horn, make it the OJR or this guy—whichever you can find for less. Whether you're a stompy fan, a Horn fan, a Dark Zoid fan, a spinny Zoid fan or all of the above, it's a must to track down someday.
Written November 2006
