Shield Liger

I've liked this one since I first saw it in clips of the Japanese ending to the anime. If you're buying it expecting it to look like the anime one, keep in mind that the cockpit's a bit different, and that the feet are silver, not golden yellow...I have no idea why Ban's Shield Liger has gold feet instead of silver...all I know is that the model is cool. I don't remember its original price...2000 yen or so, I think...but it's out-of-production, so I got mine on eBay.

The Shield Liger comes in the typical box with its motor (which takes one AA battery, not two AAA like my other battery-powered critters), parts, decals, etc. And there's a lot of decals, too...not that I use them. And before someone asks, no, it doesn't come with special figures like the Blade Liger, just a regular pilot.

Assembly on this guy was pretty straightforward, although parts like the legs and head were fiddly and took time, since they had a lot of parts. The head is a bit of a pain to line up, but make sure to do so, or it'll be harder to get it together all the way. I got this guy after the Blade Liger, so the steps for the body and legs were familiar-they share some parts. I'm starting to get the hang of the whole bitey jaw thing, so that part didn't give me as much trouble as it had before on critters.

The Shield Liger runs on one battery as opposed to two, so my other catlike Zoids always outrun it quickly. That doesn't matter to me, though...it moves quite nicely, and its head moves a bit as the jaw opens and closes, which looks cool. Liger's pace is a good steady one, and it's a lot easier to catch before its runs into stuff when set down on a floor, too. The tail can be moved, the shield thingies on the top and bottom of the head can be flipped out, the missile pods on the sides can be folded out, and the cannon on the Liger's back can be unfolded from under the flap that covers it and moved around. I think that cover is pretty neat...you can barely even see the cannon when it's folded over it, and once you take it out, it can fold back out of the way...kind of hard to describe, but cool.

I really like this guy...sure, Liger Zero might be all streamlined and stuff, but Shield Liger's got this sort of box-y yet sleek to it. And simplicity is good-Shield Liger doesn't need all those fancy new weapons, no.