When Stand River was hosted I was, unfortunately, rather busy handling things offline. There were a few new kits announced though, and the first one we'll be mentioning is the HMM Guysack!

 This kit was announced to have a Normal version and a Heavy Armor version. Many of us grew up with the Zoids anime series, so to us, the most recognizable Guysack is the Heavy Armor version, which will feature additional tail armaments including additional weapons, radar, and a gun seat, as well as featuring an angular cockpit and tanks on the sides of the body. This will likely reuse the same whitehead style cockpits already established in the Godos variants. The Normal Type featured in the battlestory used the more rounded cockpit, simpler tail equipment, and what looks to be an additional cylinder/gun/missile on the sides.

 While fans of the series had many ideas about what might be announced or revealed at Stand River, nobody was expecting this one! Kotobukiya announced its intentions of making and HMM Salamander, an absolute monster of a flying-type Zoid with a huge wingspan. Though we don't have any pictures of this kit or its overall design yet, the Salamander is already packed with details, so we're looking forward to seeing what liberties they take with its design. Hopefully it has better luck than the MSS Salamander!

 Kotobukiya has announced an upcoming HMM Redler BC, which will be packaged with the Booster Cannon CP! When the HMM Redler variants released, a lot of people turned a curious glance to the lack of clear colorless parts, which have become a standard of most Kotobukiya releases. Well, now we know why! This combined variant will include the clear colorless parts people have been hoping for. This kit will be a Kotobukiya Shop exclusive.

 After the initial release of the HMM Gojulas, the next release was the Ogre, followed by the Gunner. The original Gojulas itself, however, never actually received a rerelease. Kotobukiya has announced that they'll be rereleasing the limited Gojulas Marking Plus Version!

 The HMM Green Horn pre-orders are well underway, with the model kit expected to release in October of this year for 12,000 yen (13,200 with tax.) The kit is estimated to have 400 ~ 600 pieces, and will include new frill pieces and the new updated version of the Attack Boosters (which will be releasing as a separate CP as well, scheduled for October at 2,400 yen.)

 In addition, Kotobukiya posted a LABO Article going over this kit. For those who aren't aware, the Attack Boosters are based on the Delusional War Record (web comic) appearance, where the Horn was equipped with Attack Boosters as an equipment test. "Wouldn't boosters be useless on a Horn?" Not if you need a durable Zoid to make sure they don't blow up first! The blog points out the Anti-Charged Particle Shield Generators that replace the frill pieces, the additional tail parts, the new composite sensor on the back, and the variety of connection points that the Attack Boosters use.

 During their discussion of the Attack Boosters, they mention that there were two reasons for remaking this equipment. One was to introduce additional connection points, allowing them to be installed to more than just the Blade Liger. The second was to remove the seam lines in the top of the booster cover, while also redesigning the internal mechanisms. In doing so, they reduced the restrictions on how much the part could move and reduced the risk of parts breaking. The boosters can open wider and have additional movement points (diagonal or horizontal deployment). Both the AB and the Green Horn AB will come with clear colorless parts in addition to the clear colored pieces.

 Several new reissues have been announced! These include the Saber Tiger Marking Plus Ver. (December / 7,200 yen), the Buster Tortoise (November / 4,800 yen), and Sturm Tyrann (October / 13,500 yen).

 As an aside, Kotobukiya has posted a notice addressing what a lot of people have been noticing as of late, a significant increase in prices. It's quite obvious what lead to these price increases, but to summarize, a rise in the price of crude oils, infection preventative measures taken in their manufacturing bases in China affecting material supply, and the rapid depreciation of the Yen have all made it far more costly to procure everything needed to output a finished product. Kotobukiya has thus had no choice but to significantly raise the prices of products, starting with their own original IP products being released in July. Hopefully matters will calm down in the future~!

 Zoids Official posted a video featuring the Ankyrox Rare Bone Ver. in motion. As a funny aside, it seems the boxes for the Ankyrox shipped out with it being marked as an Ankyrox type instead of an Ankylosaurus type~

 Throughout the 40th Anniversary Project Animareal has been involved in creating dynamic promotional images to spark the imaginations of fans. Modeler SigemikanZ on Twitter has been sharing quite a few photos of the custom model kits that go into creating these images! As well as others.

 40th Anniversary Key Visual & Logo: Link | Link | Link | Link | Link
 40th Anniversary Key Visual - Blade Liger: Link
 40th Anniversary Key Visual - Liger Zero: Link | Link
 40th Anniversary Key Visual - Murasame Liger: Link | Link | Link
 Additional Customs: Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link

 Revolver posted a blog a while back about an exhibit featuring their customs. The blog showed off quite a few photos of their customs, many of which appeared in Hobby Japan Magazine alongside Zoids Wild-centric stories!

 Zoids Official has announced the early planning sketch for the AZ Liger Zero Phoenix! This Phoenix has quite the glow-up, with careful attention paid to make sure the BLOX parts look more proportional on the AZ base than they did on the old motorized version. One big difference is the more seamless integration and design of the cannons, which are both substantially longer and lower-set than the old version.

 Earlier this week Zoids Official posted a New Century Zero clip video, asking about what everyone's favorite NC0 scene was. They also posted a look at the armorless Zero, discussing the difference between the term 'prime state' when it comes to standard Zoids, such as the Blade Liger, and Liger Zero. It also gives us a side-by-side look at how the Liger Zero frame differs from the Blade Liger. There are more modifications than I realized at first. It's nice to see Zero have a fully armored neck. Last but not least, we got a look at the box art for the AZ-02 Liger Zero!

 While discussing what all went into the AZ-02 Liger Zero's development process, Zoids Official also posted a conceptual design of the wild form of Liger Zero, complete with a beautiful digital quality of the artwork that once appeared on the back of the boxes during the NJR era! This would be a fun one to see, but to be clear, at this point this is an early concept art only. Even so, it's always cool to get to see what goes into developing these products!

 TakaraTomy has posted a video introducing us to the Dino Expo kits, showing us what these kits look like out-of-the-box (no additional painting). The bone colors look good, especially with the red eyes.

 By the way, the poll will remain open for 2 more days! This poll will help us decide what projects to prioritize over the spring and summer months. So far, HMM Lore is leading the book-adjascent category, with the FOR manga ranking top for manga projects! If you'd like to provide your own input, feel free to vote~ (This poll does not mean other projects will stop, it'll only help me decide what gets priority.)

 TakaraTomy has made a dedicated page on their website for the Rare Bone Ver. 2023 kits, which shows off additional images of each, and some nice dino-themed graphics. These two kits are scheduled to release at Dino Expo on March 14th, for 3,850 yen each (tax included.) I haven't seen a confirmation of an after-event resale, but the former Gilraptor Rare Bone was sold on TakaraTomy Mall after the initial event sales.

 Kotobukiya has released the product page for the Kotobukiya Shop Exclusive Rev Raptor Night Patrol, which is scheduled to release in September for 7,800 yen! It'll include some clear colorless parts in addition to the clear green. The decals for this kit are the same as the Rev Raptor + Pile Bunker unit.

 For those wondering about the price, this kit will include both a basic plastic cast gold Pile Bunker as well as a gold-chromed version, based on the old motorized version of this kit released. The price is the same as Raven Raptor + Pile Bunker~ This was truly an unexpected variant, but a welcome one. Pre-orders are already opening, and western fans can pre-order through places like USA Gundam Store, which will receive the kits a bit later, but allow you to order these exclusives without the need of a proxy.

 Kotobukiya's notes from the product page also wish to remind people that chroming will make parts thicker. In other words, be sure that you carefully trim the chrome off of pegs when assembling this kit, to avoid parts not wanting to go together or snapped pegs.

 Two new reviews have been added to the NJR Section! This includes the standard Helcat and Helcat Noir. I was shocked to find out that the Noir was such a beautiful color in person. They're still relatively cheap, too, so I recommend picking one up if you're able!

 Speaking of model kit pages, the broken videos from the Zoids Wild pages have also been fixed, and the build videos have been added for Hunter Wolf, Catalga, Kuwaganos, Kill Scythe, Zero Phantoth, and Zero Grizis.

 After showing us the initial product images, the AZ-01 Blade Liger went on to get its own dedicated page on TakaraTomy's 40th anniversary website. This Liger is on track to release in April, for 11,000 yen, and we've seen a ton of coverage on it leading up to this point. We'll try to cover everything, but some earlier twitter posts will be skipped if they contain information already shown on the core product page and store page.

Initial Product Views
 We started seeing more of the Blade Liger throughout October, including this beautiful graphic. A video posted on Zoids Official gave us our first look at its walk cycle, confirming the absence of the roaring animation seen in the MPZ line. This is likely due to how finnicky the roar was in the first place (on the Shield Liger, it often only got 1 or 2 roars into the walk cycle before one part or another would shift a couple mms and cause the mechanism to jam.)

Stock Photos
 More recently we got a look at the first out of the box photos for this model kit, with no panel lining or special paint. Though the photos don't show the details particularly well, the kit has a unique look. The eyes beneath the canopy are especially cool. They also posted four different sample videos, showing off the Zoids' walk from several angles.

Details
 The AZ-01 Blade Liger includes a couple of neat traits, including the blade arm having a telescopic joint to allow the blades to rotate forwards further over the shoulders. It also includes an E-Shield Generator (mane) piece like the Shield Liger. For those wondering why this is included, it's a shoutout to the old Tomy motorized Blade Liger model kit. In this version, you could assemble the Bang version (with the standard Blade Liger generator and tail armor) or the Republic Spec., which encouraged you to use leftover Shield Liger mane pieces and tail.

Heaps Of Videos

 We also saw a ton of video content for the Blade Liger! Not just that, though. We also saw the return of Zoiko, a Zoids mascot character seen during the MPZ days! Zoiko has continued to be the spokesperson for Anniversary Zoid updates, including when preorders went up for the Blade Liger and Liger Zero.

- Video

 This video showed off the Blade Liger as introduced by Zoiko. It had a particularly cool shot with the old motorized Blade Liger and the AZ-01 Blade Liger rotating on the same revolving table, and goes over basic mechanics.

- Interview

 This video featured an interview with Daisuke Kishio, who played Bang Freiheit (Van Flyheight) in the original Japanese version of the show. Bringing back old Zoids VAs is a recurring theme in the Anniversary videos, and it's great for that nostalgia factor!

- Interview

 A second interview video took an in-depth look at the Anniversary Zoids series, complete with some amazing concept art created for the Blade Liger. We get to see the various gimmicks on the Zoid once again.

- AZ-01 Blade Liger PV

 Daisuke Kishio, voice actor for Bang Freiheit makes a return to show off the AZ-01 Blade Liger! In this video we get a new look at the gimmicks, this time through the lense of special effects and CGI.

 The AZ-02 Liger Zero development is now in full swing and we're receiving frequent updates! The Zoid is on track to be released in Late September for 14,300 yen. With that said, let's get into the details.

 First and foremost, as one would expect, all of Zero's armor can be removed, and you can display it as the unarmored version. The Zoid also includes a new Ion Booster deployment gimmick, where the boosters extend from the roof of the housing and, in a new design feature, extend the barrels of the boosters themselves.

 A Bit Cloud figure is included, and the cockpit even has a bar going over the pilot's chest, just like in the anime. In a shocking update we've learned that the AZ-01 Liger Zero also comes with additional translucent claws, which contain LEDs! This is in addition to the light-up eyes and core that are standard to the Anniversary line, and it's the first time since the big Hasbro electronic action figures that the Liger Zero has featured an actual glowing Strike Laser Claw gimmick.

Zo Sticker
 Some of you might've noticed a blue and white sticker with a Japanese character on it being advertised alongside the Liger Zero. This is a pre-order bonus (for purchases made before March 9th). It has the katakana "Zo", short for Zoids, and the year (2023). This is sort of a pet sticker, like putting a bumper sticker on your car talking about being a proud pet owner. It's a sticker to effectively say "I have Zoids at home."

- AZ-02 Liger Zero PV

 This awesome CG trailer shows off the various features of the Liger Zero, narrated by Ayako Kawasumi, the voice of Leena Toros in the Japanese version of New Century /ZERO. The stalky big cat motions applied to the Zero also make for an awesome look at this Zoid.

- Zoiko Product Review

 Moving on to Zoiko's introduction of the kit, this video shows off the actual model kit and its various features, including walk cycle and LED.

- TT Review

 A final video for the Zero shows off a review from TakaraTomy, taking a look at the Liger Zero in person, not just in a special edited video. You really get a sense for the scale of this kit.

 The HMM Redler Zenebas Empire Ver. has just been released in Japan. The Guylos Empire Ver. is scheduled to release next month for 5,800 yen, so let's go over some of the posts covering these kits over the last few months. There was a livestream for building the Zenebas version which also showed off the Guylos Version box art. There's also some out-of-the-box photos. A post by Mercy Rabbit over on Twitter discusses thoughts on the box art concept. A recent LABO article also discusses the model kit.

 Kotobukiy has announced the upcoming release of the HMM Rev Raptor Night Patrol! This was a limited kit from the old Tomy motorized line, and featured a black and purple Rev Raptor with a gold-plated Pile Bunker. The kit was discussed near the end of the Redler Assembly Stream as well as at the end of the recent LABO blog, with pre-orders planned to open soon!