Kotobukiya's Art of HMM Plus, a sequel to their Art of HMM book is scheduled to be released in February for 2,970 Yen! This book will include art from about 20 kits not featured in the previous book, will include most of the instruction manual information, and more. It's listed on some sites as 168 pages. The latest post contains a video showing off a flip through this book with its incredible full color images.

 Those who order from Kotobukiya Direct will receive a special cover which features the HMM Geno Breaker Repackage boxart. Please be warned, however, that a similar promotion was run for the previous book, and Kotobukiya was shipping these covers in a ridiculously long box with the book and cover lined up side by side, and cling wrapped to a cardboard backing. This meant that shipping was way more expensive than it needed to be (6000+ yen). We are unsure if this practice is still in play.

 The Medarot twitter posted quite a bit of content for their Zoids collaboration. This included concept art for the Command Wolf Irvine, the Geno Saurer, the Shield Liger, and the Blade Liger. (Though not official, former webcomic artist Tanimeso posted their idea for a Konig Wolf version~). They also showed off the character costumes, additional Zoids, and some cut scenes from the game.

 Zoids Official posted several more videos from HAL, a 3D & animation school. Each one featured Zoiko, a mascot who originally came out around the time of the MPZ Kits, and has returned for the 40th anniversary promo videos! You can view them here: Link Link Link

 TakaraTomy's Youtube Channel has posted a video report of the Big Zoids Expo! Though the event is now over, it was a heck of an event. It's nice that the company has chosen to archive it in video form.

- Report Video

 In an exciting change of events, Zoids Official has announced a Machine Beast New Century Zoids Core Box! Machine Beast New Century was a term used later in the NJR era model kits, and what this box could contain is anyone's guess. The former Zoid Core Box contained the Zoids Mammoth model kit, a set of the Zoids Battle Story (OJR era books), Avenge of Proitzen book (mostly the story of OFB4 with different stats files), a set of metal pins featuring the Helic, Guylos, and Zenebas insignias, and a series of large print cards called the Zoids Bible, which featured the core lore of the franchise that many people still refer to today. It was quite a collection, and a holy grail of mine for many years (obtained a while back, actually!) Planning for this product has begun.

 Several new Zoids have been added to the Zoids Index! This includes the Black Rhimos (who was just a placeholder before), Death Stinger, Gojulas The Ogre, Iron Kong PK, Liger Zero Jager, Liger Zero Schneider, and Ultra Saurus. There are also some minor quality updates, such as making page format more consistent, tables less redundant, etc.

 Liger Zero and Liger Zero Panzer have been updated to use diorama-based imagery, instead of anime imagery, to match the rest of the Index (which focuses on the core lore wherever possible.) Liger Zero and Liger Zero Panzer now also have a military history section, an expanded Media Appearances section, and Panzer has had its concept art fleshed out a bit. Some of the history segments for the Liger Zero series are shared between them, because the CAS units were really more of a side note in the battle story, almost always taking part in the same battles.

 You can now read Part 4 of the long Interview with Tokuyama! This segment goes into the creation of Zoids Wild, and how certain ideas came to be.

 The Big Zoids Expo is still going strong! Kotobukiya posted their own review of the event up 'til now, covering many of the exhibits. We're just about to round the corner toward the second phase of this event, with exhibits scheduled to swap out today. We've already seen teasers of the new model exhibit and the new concept art exhibit so it'll be interesting to see what new content is revealed for this event~

 As for status updates, the Murasame Liger Letter Opener increased from 4950 yen to 6600, but at a glance, that's the only price change we've been able to find. Some items have been noted out of stick, including the black logo T-shirts, purchase bonus stickers for the first half of the event (Republic), Blind Character/Zoid Badges, OJR Logo Shirt, Blind Box Art Acrylic Blocks, Blade Liger Face Shirts (below XXL), and Anniversary Shirts (besides M and XXL), Geno Saurer Raven Shirt (Large), 40th Anniversary Shirt (Medium), Zoid Core Pies, and Entry Bonus Cards. There have also been delays on the Tattoo Stickers, Character Stickers, and Blind Character Cards. (Huge thanks to Falc for tracking this!)

 When Hunter Wolf MPD was exhibited at the Big Zoids Expo, it was in front of a screen featuring a promotional video. This has now been posted online, along with a look at the weathered model kit by SigemikanZ and a dedicated Collaboration Page containing lore content!

- Video

 The AZ Shield Liger received its own promotional video, this time animated from the perspective of Raven analyzing the Zoid from his Saber Tiger. This was a fun take on the existing promo video style, and it's nice to see the Tiger running around.

- Video

 Zoids Official posted a nice look at the Wild Liger Kokuoh, which now has a dedicated product page.

 As many of you already know, the HMM Green Horn is set to release at the end of the month, and one of Koto's stores has posted some new images of what the kit looks like out of the box! The look of the attack boosters fanned out looks quite dynamic, even for a Red Horn variant.

 Zoids Official has posted a new video featuring Zoiko, the mascot of the MPZ Zoids. Along with this they've announced that they'll be sharing the highest nominated student videos on their channel soon. For those of you who aren't familiar with HAL, it's a university that focuses on 3D modeling. You might remember some of their videos being shared a while back.

 Medarots posted a video featuring some interactions with their new Zoids collab characters. They also posted this neat graphic for the Geno Saurer.

 After a period of silence during a cross country move, I'm ready to jump back into projects, starting with Official Fan Book 4! I know a lot of people have been reading up on this story lately and I wanted to thank everyone for waiting patiently while I get everything sorted out.

 Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of OFB 4 are now available, concluding the main story segment of the book. As the story nears its end, Wolff Muroa and the Eisen Dragoons invade Delpoi under the flag of the Neo Zenebas Empire. President Camford must face the stark realities of the war she has so been fighting so desperately, while the Republic makes a last-ditch effort to save their leadership.

 A while back I'd started a project to translate an earlier CoroCoro web article interview with Tokuyama, who has held a high position in staff throughout Zoids' history. With the anniversary, I thought it'd be a good time to start wrapping up that project. Part 3 is now available, with more in progress.

 The Big Zoids Expo 2023 is shaping up to be the largest Zoids event in history, and merchandise announcements have been rolling out non stop. There's a lot to cover, so I'll try to itemize things the best I can, but first lets cover the details of the event itself! The event will begin from October 7th and run until October 22nd, held in Tokyo, with some exhibits set to swap out on October 16th.

 Ticket sale prices are 2,200 yen for one visit or 3,200 yen for two. Elementary and junior high school students get in for 1,000 yen, and free for preschoolers and caregivers, up to one per person. We mention the tickets because, for each ticket purchased, participants will receive 1 random Battle Card Game Card-style card. Those who enter during the first phase (before October 16th) will receive a random card from Republican Set while second phase participants will receive a random card from the Empire set.

 Though not necessarily expo specific, IT Media also posted an article discussing the 40th Anniversary, which looks over the history of Zoids leading up to now.

Exhibition Contents

 The exhibit itself will have over 500 Zoids toys on display over the course of the event! In addition, over 100 concept art and prototypes will be shown at the venue, giving a look into the development process of Zoids. One example given so far is the Starfish, shown off in beautiful quality. The venue will also include a Blade Liger photo spot where people can take photos as if they're riding inside of the cockpit, a diorama spot to take photos of your own Zoids, new dioramas, and more. Large art exhibits will also be there, such as this HMM Gojulas MPV art.

 The 40th Anniversary Zoids Exhibit, which was previously traveling around Japan, will also be present. This means a resale of traveling exhibit goods, such as standees and mugs. Great news for those who missed items the first time around!

 We've also seen our first preview of what the venue is going to look like. A new diorama even includes references to the Official Fan Books, complete with customs from it.

 Bub, a Japanese company selling products such as bath salts, will have their own corner at the venue, featuring a custom Bub Liger display.

- Exhibit Goods: Model Kits

 Wow there's a lot to unpack here. Many of these Zoids have been teased on Twitter, but since they'll be hitting sales and pre-orders at the venue first, I'll be listing all of their news and updates in this post. For general goods, please see the new Big Zoids Expo page, where I've put a list of the items and their price. This post shows off the two gorgeous pendant necklaces that'll be available.

 For the model kits themselves, the most important thing to know is that some kits that were announced earlier have been said to be event exclusives, meaning they'll only be available for purchase / pre-order at the event. Only extras that didn't sell at the venue will be available for later purchase, but if they sell out, there will be no later sale.

AZ-04 Shield Liger

 The AZ-04 Shield Liger, which is modeled after Van's Shield Liger from Chaotic Century, will be available for pre-order at the exhibit for 11,000 yen. This Liger includes Van, Fiona, and Zeke figures, and those who pre-order the kit will also receive a Battle Card Game style Shield Liger card as a special bonus. This bonus is only available for pre-orders placed at the venue. General pre-orders will open up after the venue, with the scheduled release date being in late June 2024.

Hunter Wolf Metropolitan Police Department Spec.

 The Zoids x Patlabor collaboration kit, the Hunter Wolf Metropolitan Police Department Spec., will be available for pre-order at the venue for 4,950 Yen. People who pre-order through the venue will receive this special postcard bonus. There's also been a preview of it at the expo. As you can see, this wolf sports a number of cool unique parts. A custom of it will be shown off by SigemikanZ.

Gatling Fox Shirakami Fubuki Version

 The Gatling Fox Shirakami Fubuki Version will be available for purchase at the venue for 6,050 yen. Today's the first time we're seeing what this Zoid actually looks like. For this kit, however, the only sale that will happen after the event is excess stock. If it sells out at the venue, no further kits will be released afterwards. The fox features white armor with a black-tipped tail and faded-blue accents and caps. The kit comes with an acrylic standee of Fubuki in a Byrne Blood costume, referencing the Gatling Fox's pilot in Zoids Wild Zero.

Wild Liger Kokuoh

 Wild Liger Kokuoh, or Black King, has finally been teased and will be exhibited at the venue starting on October 7th. This Liger features black armor with gold and red accents. We don't yet have sales information on it.

40 Troopers of Horizon

 This series of blue-themed Zoids Wild kits features Rising Liger (4,950 yen), the leader of the platoon, Dimepulsar (4,400 yen), who specializes in electronic warfare, and Catalga (5,500 yen), who specializes in transport and demolition. They will be available for purchase at the venue, and if sold out, will not have a later sale. Excess goods will be dumped into Takara Tomy Mall.

HMM Gojulas Marking Plus Ver.

 The HMM Gojulas, which released during Zoids' 30th anniversary, is getting an MPV version with new parts included! These include the clear colorless parts and new decals that've become known for MPV Zoids. Everyone who pre-orders this kit at the venue will receive an HMM Zoids Special Emblem Decal set, the same as the one distributed in the summer of 2020. The kit itself is scheduled to release in April of 2024. Pre-orders will also become available through Kotobukiya's stores after the exhibit is over. The price is 27,500 yen. Last but not least, Mercy Rabbit's amazing box art for this kit has been published, and will be on display at the venue!

 Collaboration sales have been opening with online retailers to coincide with the celebrations. Caseplay is selling a variety of smart phone cases for 4,480 yen each, featuring both previous art and 40th Anniversary art. Sugomono Japan is selling two varieties of souvenire jackets, ranging from Small to XL (baring in mind Japanese clothing standards are different than American clothing standards). These jackets are selling for 35,000 yen and are made of 100% polyester.

 Zoids Official has confirmed that the AZ-01 Blade Liger, the first Zoid of the series, will be reissued! This is exciting news for folks who didn't get it the first time around, as we all know how much merch is closing in on the wallet right now! Pre-orders are available on the Takara Tomy Mall and the kit is scheduled to release in late March of 2024.

 Though not necessarily news, Zeros have just started shipping out. Product sample photos were posted recently. For those who are expecting Ligers, remember that batteries for the LED claws aren't included by default, so be sure to pick up some LR44s if you want to test out this feature right away.

 HMMZ_Art, the account associated with Kotobukiya's Art of HMM art book, has announced that there will be a sequel to this amazing collection of Zoids art and lore! We don't know many details yet, but updates will continue to be posted on the account.