Kotobukiya has announced a huge number of re-releases. Not that there are too many, but this is the longest our pre-order table has been in a LONG time! Rejoice! In August we have the HMM Shadow Fox and Zero Panzer. In September we have the HMM Geno Breaker Raven, Zero Jager (CAS only), Schneider (CAS and full kit), and Lightning Saix. In October we've added the HMM Berserk Furher, Zero Jager (Full kit), and Geno Saurer Raven.

    Kotobukiya has finally posted color photos for the new 1/100 Murasame Liger! This line has been officially dubbed the "Zoids Aggressive" series, based upon the renewed articulation and aggressive pose possibilities of the figures. The Liger is also up for pre-order on a number of sites.

    For those who wish to import the Zoid through a deputy servic, Kotobukiya Direct is issuing a limited edition stand and stickers that are available for direct orders only. These will not be present in the AmiAmi shipments, nor any other stores' shipments.

    Along with this news we have our first look at the Blu-Ray Edition Murasame Liger. Rather than to go with the clear color versions, like earlier box sets, it is cast in a more anime-specific green color. We've never had an anime-accurate Murasame release so this is quite interesting!

    The three remaining Matrix BLOX have also been added! I'm not 100% sure if I have the connector parts necessary to turn them into Matrix Dragon at this time but it's something I'm interested in trying in the future.

    Zoids Material Hunters has launched! A link on this Tumblr Post will show a few Twitter posts made by players of the game, who have shared many customization options for the in-game Zoids.

    The Zoids Info twitter has posted our first real clear look at the stand for the Masterpiece Shield Liger. It's an interesting look!

    TakaraTomy has posted an interview with their designers who've been working on the Masterpiece Shield Liger. This is a very in depth video which has a lot of very interesting views. It contains CGI renditions of the figure and a wide variety of prototype stages shown in action. Included is also an NJR Shield Liger for a comparison of shape, design, and function. This reveals that the Masterpiece model will indeed be larger than the original version.

    Other design aspects are also discussed, such as the semi-realism animal sketches. These were used to rough out the expression of the face and desired shape of the mane. They also go on to say how they compared the original kits to the more realistic motions of these animals to improve the design.

    While this video is in Japanese you can get google translated subtitles by clicking the CC button. Subtitles will appear in Japanese. Click the gear icon at the bottom right and select 'Translate' with the language of your country.

    Kotobukiya has announced a release of the Beam Gatling Unit, previously seen on Zoids such as the Dark Horn. This will be a separate customize part scheduled for release in late August. It is uncertain at this time if the set will come with custom paint or recolor casting. It is said that it requires customization on the buyer's part to fit onto some Zoids (which, according to some stores, includes the Dark Horn it's meant for anyway?) This may be a translation error on Google's part but we'll know more closer to the release date.

    In the mean time they've also announced a rerelease of the Dark Horn. So far as I'm aware this kit has never had a rerelease so it is recommended to snap it up while you can! We have updated our preorder column with all recent Zoid items.

    The Masterpiece Shield Liger page has been updated with color photos! We now get to see that this Zoid will also have an armorless form, and many transparent parts to accomodate the lights. Seen above is a new commercial featuring the walk cycle and breathing motions. The movement of the paws looks amazing compared to older generation motorized kits.

    The kit is scheduled for an October Release at a price of 12,000 Yen. This is roughly $103.

    Zoids: Material Hunters has far surpassed the original sign-up goal! This means that people will receive the upgraded White Tiger as well as 3,000 Zoid Gold when the game launches. A launch date has been estimated for April or May! New images can be found on Yoyaku Top 10 and on Famitsu!

    There are a few new pictures on the Zoids Info Twitter of the Masterpiece Shield Liger! Hopefully soon we will be seeing some video.

    Dengeki Hobby Magazine has posted a new series of photos of the Masterpiece Shield Liger! These include photos published during the month's issue with a few extras.

    They have also posted a new series of photos of the 1/100 Murasame Liger. Unlike the Shield Liger photos these are actually quote large and very high detail! It looks like there's lots of nice touches to the overall design.

    Takara Tomy has teased a new Zoid, though what this figure entails is yet to be seen. It mentions more life like movement than previous figures and possible electronics, with more currently unknown. With the figure being poseable it may be possible that the electronics are just lights, rather than fully motorized as speculated by some. We're still waiting for more information.

    This news is accompanied by the announcement of a new TT Twitter Account. A teaser was also posted in CoroCoro, which can be seen on Twitter.

    We've also added a page for Zoids Material Hunters under Games. All translations are courtesy of Falcarius! Since our last update they've posted a trailer (seen below) and six new Zoid profiles. All profiles (and world view / story information) is translated and posted in the different Material Hunter pages.

    In celebration of pre-registration reaching 70,000 members there is a Zoids: Material Hunters giveaway for Japan residents. It will raffle off three of the threezero Iron Kong figures, and one of the threezero Shield Liger figures. These designs are based on the concept art book world.

    The Zoids Scramble Volume 1 checklist has been updated with a large number of new cards!

    Sometime in January Kotobukiya made an announcement that the pre-orders for Marine Kaiser were all being removed, and that production issues were preventing it from being released. Later, a notice implied that the kit would still be released at the end of January but I've been unable to confirm that anyone has actually gotten their kit. So far, many sites are still listing the item as discontinued.

    The threezero Iron Kong is now up for pre-order, for a late May release. It is retailing at about $325, with a member price of $293 and an elite member price of $287. The figure will be almost twice as tall as the threezero Liger, which you can see a review for under Action Figures.