Three prototypes of additional kits were shown at the Shizuoka Hobby Show, starting with the RMZ-03 Command Wolf. This guy looks quite tough. Normally Command Wolves are more slender, but this guy looks like he's ready to brawl. It's a cool take.

 The fourth kit is the RMZ-04 Helcat. There are a lot of Helcat fans out there who've been waiting for an HMM for a long time, and now we finally have a new, posey Helcat! This product looks amazing. Helcat isn't an easy design to articulate. There's a lot of points where you have to make hard choices on where to cut, and divide the design, but I think they did an amazing job. The first two kits had effect parts, but I'm not sure if that's feasible for every kit. Many of us are waiting to see if the stands displayed (and seemingly cast from the same plastic as the prototypes) will fill that gap for these smaller kits.

 The fifth kit in the series, and the final prototype shown off in Shizuoka is the RMZ-05 Molga! Articulation is fun, especially with smaller kits like this. If the stands are included it adds a lot of fun play possibilities for display. The rearing up pose is cool. The third Molga prototype, displayed in front confirms that we'll have pilots even at this scale. It also shows off the classic "clamshell" or "whitehead" cockpit of many older Zoids.

 These 1/100 scale figures are a collaboration between TT and Kotobukiya, and like the Adamas Machina line will branch out to other franchises besides Zoids. Designed by Nidy-2D- this series has shown two Zoids girls so far, Blade Liger and Fine/Fiona wearing armor from Sieg/Zeke. We don't yet know much about this series, how the products will be packaged, or what all will be included. It's slated to begin in 2025. So, let's look forward to learning more in the future!

 Zoids, the classic TV anime series is celebrating its 25th anniversary and it seems Takara Tomy has plans to do a variety of projects for it. We don't yet have images of any of it. However, this includes a collab with Wixoss, a card game in Japan that formerly collabed with Zoids Wild, which produced some rather cool art. (Fun fact, the same artist who worked on the Wild cards does a lot of Digimon stuff too, for those Digimon fans out there.)

 A special talk show is also planned for around September 14th, which we're looking forward to. There's also a pop-up tour which we don't know much about yet, but is planned for August 29th ~ September 18th. Paid streaming of the series is expected to begin this summer.

- Project PV

 Another text-only teaser was posted for the upcoming Machine Beast New Century Zoid Core Box, with info expected to drop on the 11th. Info will apparently also be displayed at the Shizuoka Hobby Show, which if I'm not mistaken is running until the 12th. The Core Box was a holy grail for years, so it's exciting to know we'll finally be getting some info on this. (It's worth noting that Machine Beast New Century is a term for the NJR model kit line, not Zoids New Century /ZERO the anime.)

 The AZ-07 Death Saurer, which is closing pre-orders on the 9th* has received an updated commercial that uses the original Deathy's commercial audio! There was also an interview video which discusses the Zoid's development, echoing a lot of thoughts we saw in earlier interviews. The kit was also displayed in a diorama setting at the Shizuoka Hobby Show.

 * Pre-orders in Japan regularly close earlier than elsewhere, so don't worry about this.

- Updated CM

- Updated CM

 The Wild Liger Kokuoh, a Zoids x Fist of the North Star collab first teased at the Big Zoids Expo is finally gaining some traction with a new product page. Interestingly it varies quite a bit from the original painted concept seen at the Big Zoids Expo. I like the direction they chose to take it, which better represents the source material. The kit is scheduled to release in late December 2024 for 6,600 yen, though other sites like Amazon JP and AmiAmi have it for a slightly discounted price.

 This kit will come with an acrylic standee of Roah, the man who rides Kokuoh, the black horse that the Liger is based on. A second mini standee including the 40th anniversary logos for both series was shown in the product photos, but isn't specifically mentioned, so may not be included. This kit will also come with a Fist of the North Star themed backdrop for you to display the kit on. Last but not least, the box art features custom manga-style artwork for the Liger!

- Preview

 We heard earlier that these guys would be getting reissues, but now we have specifics. HMM Berserk Führer is scheduled for July for 10,450 yen and HMM Lightning Saix is scheduled for June for 6,380 yen. The image for the Old Republic Guysack was also teased again at the Shizuoka Hobby Show, though as far as I know, there's no new details.

 I posted a review of the 40th Anniversary Encyclopedia over in Assorted Books. This doesn't contain the full book, but gives an idea of what to expect. The book is still up for sale on Amazon JP and other sites, so if you're interested in what it has to offer, you can still pick up a copy!

 A small batch of concepts have been uploaded to the New Century /ZERO anime section, courtesy of Kuzann! There's quite a lot more of these to get through but I'm trying to take my time with them to provide as much information as possible. The section has also been updated to match our more recent standards for concept pages (one or two sections haven't been updated yet due to time constraints.) New concepts include:

 Characters: Altair, Armed Guardsman, Ballad Hunter, Benjamin, and Bit Cloud (2 new.)
 Zoids: Hover Cargo

 A couple days ago Hobby Watch posted an interview with Takashi Nakase of Takara Tomy, a key figure of their Zoids projects. This interview also included our first look at the AZ Death Saurer kit in motion, with a video of its motorized walking features. The interview is full of interesting details, a few of the talking points being:

• When they first started talking about the next kit to commercialize, both Gojulas and Death Saurer were recommended. Ultimately, Death Saurer was chosen for commercialization.
  
  
• The interview contains numerous pieces of concept art in a nice, clear viewing size as well as a photo of the prototype.
  
  
• Advanced Zi will continue as a model kit series, and they're considering many different options. For example, they're obviously looking at popular antagonist Zoids, but also as kits that didn't get a chance to appear in the animes of the past.
  
  
• They've also expressed interest in tackling some of the wind-up Zoid designs, with the idea that they'd be reimagined and released under Advanced Zi as now-fully-motorized kits instead of relying on main spring power.
  
  
• The closing statement included a vague mention of exploring new categories of products, so we'll see what comes later! This is an interesting note since they have a section for various 'brands' on the new website that currently only holds AZ. (This is purely speculative, but it's fun to think about what might come next!)

 After the interview, they posted a commercial of the kit that recreated the classic advertisement from its original release! Just tonight, a Review Video was also posted featuring Zoiko. This shows us more of the finished product and its motorized features, including the Display Mode, and gives us our second look at a size comparison. This new comparison seems to place it at about the same size as Death Saurer (it appears smaller in the video because it is leaning forward for its firing pose.) One thing I quite liked about the video is the inclusion of the old motorized kit, showing off how various sections have been updated in design. This highlighted lots of details I hadn't noticed before.

- Advanced Zi Commercial

- Original Tomy Commercial

- AZ-07 Review Video

 Official Fan Book 4 has received its next and final update! This includes the BLOX segment at the end of the book which looks over BLOX lore, history, the various kits, and functionality that developed over time. There's also a final epilogue page featuring a touch more of the story.

 Avenge of Proitzen, a sort of "3.5" book that came out with the Zoid Core Box before OFB4 was released has also been added to the Official Fan Books page! The story segment is more or less the same as OFB4 so has been excluded from the book's page. The additional images can be found at the start, and all remaining book content (the fact files for Helic, Guylos, and Zenebas Zoids) has already been posted. This includes basic stats and descriptions for kits that didn't get to get profiles in OFB4, such as some of the Yuji Kaida Zoids and some of the customized model kits.

 From here it's finally time to move on to the Zoids Battle Story books, which many of you will know better as the "OJR" Battle Story! Work on this is already underway, and there'll be another news post once a solid update / section is prepared for it.

 Over the last day or so the AZ-07 Death Saurer has gone up for pre-order! You can find it on other sites, too, not just on Amazon Japan. This kit is scheduled for a late November release for a retail price of 33,000 yen (though many sites are getting it for closer to 27,000) and what a beast it is. There's an overwhelming amount of information to cover on this thing, so let's get started.

 First, the product page. This is the largest product page we've gotten for AZ kits yet, and wow does it go into detail. There's tons of concept art images displayed, discussions about the development process, and beautiful images compiled into a huge gallery. This kit looks amazing. Another concept art image was shown on Twitter a while back.

 Now let's talk features. The AZ Death Saurer comes with a seated Prozen pilot as well as a standing one. Standing pilots are a nice addition for the AZ line. It also comes with a standard pilot, to be seated in the cockpit in the stomach. The Zoid design is updated with more realistic details including a more dinosaur-like posture, the body raised off of the ground, etc. The hydraulics of the legs all move as the Zoid does. It contains LEDs in the core and the Charged Particle Cannon. The Charged Particle Intake Fan has an option part to change it into the Charged Particle Converter as seen in the anime. There's a forward-leaning firing pose meant to mirror the anime.

 The kit also has a Display Mode, which allows you to display it with the LEDs on. This is an awesome idea that I'm really excited about, and will make enjoying the kit so much easier. I've been keeping the AZ kits on my desk, with batteries alternating between my favorites just to swap them on every now and again. I have so much appreciation for the engineering of these kits, as well as how up front staff is about the development process (which is always a fun read.)

 * Some details in this news post have been updated to fix mistakes.

- PV Video

 TakaraTomy has announced a brand new portal site! This is a place to find all the newest information of Zoids, from products to events. This is an exciting development as it implies there's a lot more to come.

 Speaking of that, as of the Death Saurer, the "AZ" in "Anniversary Zoids" has become "Advanced Zi" with Death Saurer listed as the forerunner. What does this mean going forward? It certainly sounds like there might be grand things in store for the Anniversary Zoids, which have been my personal favorite Zoids products to come out in almost two decades. I greatly look forward to seeing where they go in the future.

 Zoids Official Fan Book 4 has been updated! This includes profiles for the various Zoids that appeared throughout the book. We now also have a complete stats file for the combat ratings of each Zoid, so there's plenty to cross compare. Both Guylos and Zenebas get organization charts. After this, there's just one more short section of the book to go! Then we'll circle around and do some profiles for Revenge of Proitzen.

 The Zoids Index has received a few updates as well! To start things off, the Command Wolf and Command Wolf AC have had their combat history updated to include everything from ZAC 2100 and later. New profiles include the Elephander, Elephander CT, Elephander FT, Elephander ST, Jagd Führer, Raynos, Shadow Fox (with color variants), Spinosapper, Spinosapper 4-Barrelled Cannon, Sturm Führer, Wardick, and Zabat. Some of these include concept art (or rely heavily on it.)

 Eons later the Zoids Graphics page has been updated to include Volume 2. This covers some profiles of SS Zoids, CP unit information, the Jagd Führer concepts, and a short 1 page model kit comic.

 I was recently contacted about showing visitor customs off on the site, like I've done for my own customs. Thus, we have our first user-submitted custom page, the Mother Bio by Two Toys! This is a beautifully done custom, and of course, I had to cover it as a Generations Zoid. You can find visitor customs at the bottom of the model kits page, and of course, I'd be happy to share other visitor customs if anyone's interested!