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.

 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!

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 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.

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

 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.

 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.

 Hobby Japan posted an article looking at the CAS Units coming out for the Chogokin Liger Zero. This article features early samples, with the final version said to be even more polished. As is, the units look great, maintaining the dynamic movable parts known to the their respective forms.

 A dedicated page has been added to cover the 40th anniversary Traveling Exhibit. This was made primarily to list the goods and keep track of what ones appeared at what intervals, as well as provide names so that western fans can see what the products actually are. It currently has not been updated to include the Fukuoka Venue, but that'll be added soon. It also includes links to the direct site and twitter account, which you can follow for more up-to-date information.

 The Fukuoka Venue has launched as part of the Zoids 40th Anniversary Traveling Exhibit! This venue contains many of the same eye catch pieces, including the elaborate dioramas, character cutouts, and early concept art. The tweet covering this venue (linked at the start) also shows a clearer look at some of the concept pieces. In addition, the Fukuoka Exhibit launched with a wave of new Zoids products (see page 7 ~ 9). This includes Ritz Runstedt from Official Fan Book 2, which is a nice match up for the Arthur standee, and also includes Emperor Rudolph, the Irvine suit from the Zoids Hunter episodes, and so on.

 A video was posted by TakaraTomy for the AZ-03 Murasame Liger. This shows off the gorgeous colors of this kit. The video uses a finished example (custom detailed) but the color shift as the product turns is incredible. If this is in the physical kit, it will be the first Murasame Liger to actually attempt to come close to the anime colors, with former products being straight blue or seafoam. The video also gives us a good look at the chrome plated Murasame Blade.

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 Customizer SigemkikanZ has been posting more images of high-detailed Zoid customs, including the Murasame Liger seen in the 40th Anniversary Key Visual, the Death Rex that was used in some of the Zoids Wild promotional material, and a shot of Wild Liger and the Death Rex.

 Hey guys! I've been gearing up for a cross-country move happening in the middle of the year, so updates have been quite slow. I've still got some updates being worked on, but they're not ready to push yet, and meanwhile official news is heaping up! So, today we're going to do an infodump on what's been going on these last few months, just to get it all organized into one spot. There's a lot to look forward to!

 Perhaps the most exciting thing to note is the announcement of the Large Zoids Expo 2023!! For those who aren't aware, the Large Zoids Expo was possibly the largest event ever held for the Zoids franchise, and it's now being revived in 2023 for the Zoids 40th Anniversary, boasting to be the largest Zoids event ever yet again. I talked about the former event over on facebook when the traveling exhibit was announced, but to simplify, the event featured tons of products, announcements, prototypes and early concept sketches, Zoids statues, a life-size silhouette cutout of the Seismosaurus, exclusive merchandise, and more. The event doesn't have much information yet, but updates will continue to be posted on the Expo Twitter Account, which has so far been covering the traveling exhibit.

 An announcement video was posted for the event, but not much information is given. However, we do get to see Perfect Human Katayama introducing a full scale CG Murasame Liger as he talks about the features of the upcoming Anniversary kit!

- Announcement Video

 The Expo isn't the only curious teaser, however. A second teaser, featuring a hollowed out street melted away by, presumeably, a Charged Particle Cannon has been posted! There's one Zoid that I'm sure will jump to everyone's mind~ For now, we are awaiting more information.

 The traveling Traveling Exhibit has been going for a while now, and man, the amount of products coming out of this is insane. Acrylic Standees from every anime and a wide variety of other products. Some have been surprising, such as standees featuring battle story characters (Arthur, Ray, Anna, and Wolff, featuring their existing art), or standees of Bio Tyranno and Volcano showing them in a cel-shaded style instead of their typical fully 3D look. There are so many products to cover that I don't know if it's feasible for a news post, so I'll work on a dedicated page for this event soon.

 There are several posts covering the event and its displays. Part of the event was a series of dioramas featuring anime scenes reimagined through model kits, including a rather impressive Hover Cargo. There were plenty of products, and some character cutouts. Even a bit of concept art.

 Some of the products specifically shown off on Twitter, including character acrylic standees for Arthur, Ray, Anna, Wolf, Bit, Zero, Zoiko (Who was the twitter mascot during the MPZ days!), an Irvine Eye Mask, T-Shirts including a Geno Saurer and a Blade Liger shirt, a 40th Anniversary Stainless Steel Mug, a Rainbow Jerk Fan themed after its tail feathers, a Fiona/Fine Mug, and a Postcard Set. A lot of products are to be expected, such as the standees and can badges, but some of them are also just really cute ideas, such as Irvine's Eye Mask and the umbrella that looks like you're looking out of an E-Shield Generator at the Saber Tiger.

 Photos and product information for the AZ-03 Murasame Liger have dropped! Several details have been pointed out about the kit over on Twitter. The Pile Bunkers on the front legs are movable. The eyes and core have LED lights. The cockpit has been modeled after the anime, including a forward-leaning Ruuji figure. The Murasame Blade, which will be chromed, features a telescoping joint and can extend to both sides, unlike the former motorized kit, where it could only extend to the left as part of the spring-loaded gimmick. This kit is scheduled to release in Late January 2024, for 14,300 yen (tax included.) An article from Dengeki Hobby features some additional photos. Earlier on, we saw a teaser of the Murasame Blade which, aside from having the script normally seen along the edge of the blade, also features the 'Murasame' kanji at the base of the blade! Other prototype shots included a face view, a 3/4 view, and a shot with the blade extended.

Bikkuriman Collab

 On April Fools, Zoids Official also posted about a collab with Bikkuriman, a product line from Lotte that focused on collecting stickers that are typically packaged with wafer snacks. During this announcement they mentioned a sticker that showed off Murasame Liger and Super Zeus, Bikkuriman's mascot character. Looks like this sticker will be packaged together with the AZ-01 Murasame Liger when buying through TakaraTomy Mall!

- Review Video

- Preview Featuring Ruuji's VA

 Zoids Official has announced that the RZ-007 Shield Liger and the EZ-016 Saber Tiger will be released as part of the Anniversary Zoids line! Once released as the Masterpiece Zoids, these two kits saw significant price increases after their short release period. We currently don't have any additional information on them, but it's a welcome rerelease, especially for the Saber Tiger, which has ranged from 250 ~ 400 USD over the years. We do not yet know if they will include all original features, but it's currently speculated that they'll lose the roaring features from the previous release. I'd love to see them released in anime colors, though, and will await further information!