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- Dengeki Hobby Magazine Updates!



 A good few issues have been added to the DHM Article. This includes May, August, and October from 2010 (mostly model kit reviews), January and March of 2009 (covering Rebirth Century content), and March 2005 (featuring Fuzors customs, Mercy Rabbit illustrations, the WF BLOX Command Wolf, and heaps of Fuzors based Concept Art!)


Site Dengeki Hobby Magazine Articles2024-01-30 13:54:46

- Interview with Tokuyama Update



 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.


Site Interviews CoroCoro Articles2023-10-16 00:35:18

- CoroCoro Interview With Tokuyama Update!



 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.


Interviews Articles CoroCoro Site2023-10-06 04:46:42

- Hobby Watch Article!



 With the upcoming AZ kits, an article has been added that provides machine translations of Hobby Watch's interview with Takashi Nakase, one of the leading developers of the Zoids franchise. This interview goes into detail about the choices made while creating the AZ-01 Blade Liger, challenges and goals from a toy manufacturing perspective, and discusses upcoming products! I've also went through and added direct links for some of the interviews buried in magazines and such, so you can now find them directly from the Articles page.


Site Interviews Anniversary Zoids Articles2023-06-18 08:43:00

- Figure King's 40th Anniversary Interview!



 During the tail-end of 2022, Figure King, a magazine in Japan, published an issue discussing the currently-ongoing Zoids 40th Anniversary. This included a look at the franchise's history over the past 40 years, along with product lineups from various series, tons of cool concept art (including some never released before), and an interview with two of the current staff members, Yutaka Tajima and Takashi Nakase. We've added a cleaned up machine translation of this article to our Assorted Magazines article. It's a fun read, for those who enjoy hearing about the development process!


- 2011 HMM Product Planning Article


 With another milestone for HMM coming up next year, an article has been added for the HMM Zoids 3rd Public Planning Meeting held back in 2011, or in particular, the event page that was once posted about it (but since removed from the website). This article is an interesting look into the predecessors of major events like Stand River, and featured the discussions where Kotobukiya officially decided to release the massive Gojulas for the very first time. As usual, this article relies on machine translations, so may have mistakes. If you're interested in assorted staff discussions, though, give it a read!



Site HMM Articles2022-08-14 18:20:23

- Smack Zoids! Update!


 Well, its been a hot minute since we looked at this series. The Smack Zoids articles have received a section for The World of Super-Large Zoids, which includes coverage on the huge transporter Zoids seen in the March 2002 issue. This includes translations of their text blurbs courtesy of Falcarius.



Smack Zoids! Site Articles2022-07-23 00:00:18

- Art of HMM Book Section!


 With the prototype reveal for the HMM König Wolf and Redler, there's a lot of hype going around! To celebrate, a page has been created over in Books for the Art of HMM. At this time, it doesn't include the bulk of the book. It does, however, contain a cleaned up machine translation for the interview featured at the back of the book! This roundtable discussion goes over the history of the HMM series, how it began, how each of the major team members got involved, and what to expect in the future. It also discusses the highest-ranking fan requests from recent years, including the Ultra Saurus and Death Saurer!



Interviews Articles Books HMM2022-07-23 00:00:17

- New Televi-Kun Page!


 A new page has been added for the magazine Televi-kun, which is an anime-focused magazine. This can be found under Articles > Assorted Magazines or Books > Media. Our scans mostly consist of early 2000s issues. The magazine includes its own diorama style images similar to CoroCoro & DHM, and even sometimes features unique anime-style artwork!



Televi Site Articles2021-08-03 19:11:53

- CoroCoro Updates!


 The articles section has been updated with a large number of scans from 2020 ~ 2021, featuring some awesome diorama-style images of the Wild Zero Zoids. MiraCoro 2019 has also been added.



Site CoroCoro Articles2021-08-03 19:11:34

- CoroCoro Interview With Tokuyama Update!


 Part two of the interview with Tokuyama has been added to the articles section! You can view it here. As a refresher, this is an interview that was posted during the time that Zoids Wild was airing. It was posted in parts on CoroCoro's website, and included a lot of interesting details about Tokuyama's personal headcanons on the series, concept art of some of the Zoids, and more.



CoroCoro Site Articles2021-08-03 19:11:21

- Dengeki Hobby Magazine Update!


 The Dengeki Hobby Magazine section has been updated with scans for the October 2004 and June 2006 issues. This includes some Zoids Generations content, BLOX customs, BLOX Geno Saurer and Shield Liger introduction, Mercy Rabbit art, Rebirth Century customs, artwork, and story, as well as the concept art for Brastle Tiger! I know a lot of people have been wanting to see larger scans of this fierce tiger, so check it out in the 2004 issue! I've also replaced the April 2009 scans with new ones. Many of our magazines were scanned on an old scanner that bleached out almost all colors, and I'm slowly working on replacing them with better ones (save for the HMM Geno Breaker scans, because those stark white claws and teeth just can't be saved.)



- Dengeki Hobby Magazine!


 Scans have been added for Dengeki Hobby Magazine May 2004, May 2005, February 2006, and July 2011 issues. Articles of note include a look at some Panzer Tier artwork including an interview, Brachios kit overview, some assorted Genesis goods that haven't really been documented much before, Mugen Liger concept art, and a look at the unreleased Zoids One BLOX Iron Kong, Gairyuki, and Seismosaurus.



Site Dengeki Hobby Magazine Articles2020-12-26 16:54:22

- How To Price Your Zoids?


 So, as some of our visitors are aware, we have a little infoblurb on the Names page, which discusses how to price Zoids. I wanted to make a dedicated post discussing this matter in more depth. Both because of recent events, and because of the global shipping complications. Not to mention insane claims of value like that absurd article! This is going to be a long post, but if you buy lots of Zoids, and aren't using Yahoo Japan, please consider reading.

Services Taking Advantage Of Buyers

 Lately there have been a lot of "hobby hunting" services popping up online, claiming that they can help you find any Zoid for a nominal fee. Now, this would be a fair service. The problem is, they're hiding their real fees behind heavily inflated prices. They take advantage of people unfamiliar with international markets. The buyer thinks they're finding super rare kits, and have no idea how common (or cheap!) they actually are.

 The other half of this problem is Ebay, which has had such inflated prices for so long, that many YJ sellers are now listing their products for two or three times as much on Ebay. There's a market for it, because pricing resources can be hard to find. To people unaware, these look like the normal prices, and they'll pay them.



- How Expensive Are We Talking?

 To address this question I'm going to look at Ebay. I'll provide the Zoid, its lowest sold price (including shipping) and then a comparison. The comparison will be based on YJ sales within the last 3 months, and what you'd be paying by using Buyee. They will be based on DHL shipping, a fast, reliable, and expensive shipping service. You can save more by using slower, uninsured shipping methods. The buyee price is an average, not lowest.

HMM Death Stinger Hiltz: $748*
  Buyee Estimate: $430 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $60 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $495 (Saving $253)

HMM Geno Breaker Raven: $393
  Buyee Estimate: $200 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $50 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $255 (Saving $138)

HMM Blade Liger AB Bang Ver: $303
  Buyee Estimate: $150 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $50 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $205 (Saving $98)

HMM Storm Sworder Ala Barone Ver: $340**
  Buyee Estimate: $200 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $45 shipping fee (estimated)
  You Would Pay: $250 (Saving $90)

Tomy Konig Wolf: $97
  Buyee Estimate: $30 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $40 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $75 (Saving $22)

Tomy Berserk Furher: $126
  Buyee Estimate: + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee
  You Would Pay: $84 (Saving $42)

Tomy Death Saurer: $379
  Buyee Estimate: $250 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $50 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $305 (Saving $74)

Tomy Geno Breaker: $174
  Buyee Estimate: $75 + $3 service fee + $2 payment fee + $4 shipping fee
  You Would Pay: $84 (Saving $90)

 * Had no recent sold Ebay listings, so going with lowest available price.
 ** I do not have an item weight estimate, so shipping may be slightly off.


Note: Shipping fees are based on the Zoids weight, and may be higher depending on the seller's packaging. These prices were also calculated over 2 weeks ago, some may have changed since then. For example, when I made the images, the $140 (Sold) Konig Wolf was the most recent one.



Breakdown: For this example I chose popular Zoids that I often see people requesting price estimates for. I chose Zoids both from the rarer end of the spectrum (like the Hiltz) to the more common (like the Konig Wolf). If you purchased all 8 of the Zoids above from Ebay, you would pay $2560. If you purchased the same items yourself, through a proxy like Buyee, you would pay around $1753. You would save almost a thousand dollars by buying them direct from Yahoo Japan, and that $1000 could buy you at least another 5-10 rare Zoids.

- But the service does the work for you!

 Factually correct. The service goes through the trouble of setting up the deputy service account and finding it for you. This is worth a small fee. My problem is that they are giving you a "modest" service fee and then putting an enormous price hike on the item price to cover how large their fees actually are.

 So why are these items so expensive? For one thing, you're paying the cost of importing on top of importing it again to your location. So let's say the dropseller imports the Konig Wolf for $75 after all is said and done. They're in the US, and sell it to you for $140. Let's assume domestic shipping to you is then $25. That's a $40 profit before you pay any additional service fees for their time and effort. If their service fee is 10%, you should be paying $82.50 for that Konig Wolf before domestic shipping. Is it becoming more clear? They are actually charging you almost 60% service fee, most of it is just hidden in the 'rare' item price.

- Importing Is Pretty Intimidating, Though!

 True, but please believe me when I say importing services aren't as scary as they look! It basically boils down to, you enter the item URL, click bid/buy, and they handle the rest. Then when the item arrives at their warehouse, you select your shipping method, and you're done! The scary part is the fees. You should definitely research and understand the fees before buying. Learn everything you need to know in our Buying & Importing Zoids article. Contact us for any additional questions!

 Now, it's true that you have less seller protection overseas, but if you buy many Zoids, you'll still save more than you've lost. For example, if you bought the above Zoids over a few months, and you lose the Geno Breaker Raven, it's a tragedy. But, you still saved $654 with the other Zoids. You could buy another Geno Breaker Raven for $255 and still have saved $399. If you buy a lot of Zoids, it will always be worth it to import yourself. Actual loss is also extremely rare. I've only lost a couple items in the hundreds that I've purchased.

- So how do I price my Zoids?

 Check out our names page! Copy the Zoids Japanese name, click the Yahoo Japan link at the top of the page, and paste. Then click the link on the upper right (there's an image to show you where) to see sold listings. You can get a rough idea by just taking off the last couple digits. So if it is for 1500 yen, it is around $15, give or take a few dollars for more expensive items.

 After that you can use Buyee's fee calculator to get an estimate on cost. CAUTION! Buyee keeps the box in the seller's packaging, so always allow for around 400-500 g for packaging. Also be sure to keep your consolidated boxes under 3.5 kg. At that point, DHL shipping shoots up to over $200.

What if I'm buying locally? Then it's fair to include all costs of importing, because they had to pay those prices to get the item to you. They'll probably want at least a few dollars for their trouble, just make sure that they aren't hiding the actual cost! A % fee can be fair, as long as they're honest about how much it is.

Final Notes

 I know it took a long time to get to the point. I've been seeing people taken advantage of left and right, and it's hard to see this happening to other fans. I'll put it under the unique "Pricing" tag so you can easily find it again. You should all be getting a fair price on your items. I hope this helps, and Happy Zoid Hunting!

 The folks over on the Zoids Reddit / Discord also have a convenient price guide for Zoids before shipping & fees. If you want a more updated price, contact us! I'd be happy to help you get an updated price.


Pricing Articles2020-11-23 19:59:34

- Dengeki Hobby Magazine Update!


 Scans have been added for DHM January, February, and March, 2004! This is Deathpion Fandom Hour, so if you're interested in Deathpions, check it out! Also included is a photo of an unreleased Master Action Blade Liger figure, Energy Liger, the Tasker Sisters SRDX figures, unreleased One BLOX concept sketches, and a Dimetroptera custom.



Site Articles Dengeki Hobby Magazine2020-11-23 19:58:07

- CoroCoro Comic Update!


 I've added months worth of scans to the CoroCoro Page. The September 2018 ~ August 2019 issues have been uploaded. I've also updated some of the earlier 2018 issues with cleaned up double page spreads, so no more hideous gutter lines going through the page. CoroCoro has tons of amazing diorama style images to check out!



Site CoroCoro Articles2020-10-14 17:38:44

Article Section Revamp!


 I've never been quite happy with our last revamp of the article section, which was messy and honestly a bit hard to navigate. The section has been updated to be broken down into categories: Merchandise, Assorted, and Reading categories. This should make it easier to find what you're looking for at a glance. The actual magazine scans have been put into their own column to make it easier not to confuse them with similarly named articles.

 The Buying Zoids From Japan article (renamed Shopping For Zoids!, and now located as the very first item you see) has been completely rewritten from the ground up. The article now includes a F.A.Q. section, as well as separate pages for Deputy Services and Stores & Markets. The Deputy Services have been updated for a less scroll-heavy layout, with sections added (for those with enough info) for pros, cons, and shipping standards. Japamart and White Rabbit Express have been added to our list of popular services. The info table for every service now lists whether or not it covers Kotobukiya Direct exclusive items, such as the Liger Zero EM.

 Stores and Markets have been moved to their own page, divided into International Stores (New Items), International Stores (Used Items), and Japanese Only Markets. Each major store includes a basic rundown, location, and stocking info (if it regularly gets certain items in stock, etc.) Some stores have been added.



Site Articles2020-04-18 20:37:57

Zoids Article on Outseekers!  [Site]


 Although not really official, TT's twitter pointed out this wonderful article from Out Seekers, which discusses a man's rediscovery of the Zoids Franchise, and the custom projects he created using the Zoids Wild kits. It's a great article, both from a nostalgic and a customizer standpoint, complete with photos and videos!



Articles2020-03-02 04:40:47

New CoroCoro Articles Section!   [Site]


    With the rise of interesting interviews on CoroCoro Online I've decided to add a page to our Articles section specifically for dissecting these articles. Please note that these are based on automatic translation, so there are bound to be some mistakes, but most of it should be relatively straight forward. These pages are striving only to provide a slightly more coherent alternative to reading the raw auto translate and I hope that they can provide an easier avenue to learning about the development process of Zoids.



Site Articles CoroCoro2019-08-26 09:00:00

CoroCoro & Articles!   [Official]


    CoroCoro has started a new article series called the "Thorough Dissection of the History of Zoids", where they go over their history with the franchise. This includes pictures of earlier volumes of corocoro and a look at some of the kits, manga, models, etc. Older fans may find it interesting to flip through, and it brings back memories! We'll continue to update this list as more are added.

    - Article 1: (1984) Mechanical Life Forms "Zoids" Land In CoroCoro Comic!
    - Article 2: (1985) Clash!! Helic Republic Vs. Zenebas Empire!
    - Article 3: (1987) Zoids Appear In TV and Videogames! The World View of Zoids Appears To Be Expanding!
    - Article 4: (1988) Make Your Own Zoids!?
    - Article 5: (1999) New Manga, Hobby Restart! The 2nd Zoids Series Is Starting With The Anime "ZOIDS!"




- CoroCoro Twitter Gift Campaign!

    CoroCoro has also launched a twitter campaign called the 12 Days Consecutive Zoid Super Present Festival, where they're giving away rewards to people who retweet and comment on their campaign article posts. These presents are almost certainly limited to Japan, but their progress will be noted below! This post will be updated as we get more information. So far there are only a couple winners per post.

    - Day 1: Death Rex Purple Dragon Form (2 winners)
    - Day 2: Wild Liger (2 winners)
    - Day 3: Gilraptor
    - Day 4: Gannontoise
    - Day 5: Gabrigator
    - Day 6: Grachiosaurus
    - Day 7: Knuckle Kong
    - Day 8: Triceradogos
    - Day 9: Stegosage
    - Day 10: Beast Liger
    - Day 11: Cannon Bull
    - Day 12: Zoids New Century /Zero BRBox + Limited Liger Zero


Official CoroCoro Articles2019-08-26 01:00:00

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