#blueguardians

[everyzoid]

RMZ-008 Pegasuros

Alright, now we have the second flying zoid and already we’re off to better start than Glidoler. It still has some awkwardness with the large body with the wheels and such and shares the same blue and grey with black caps color scheme. I’m pretty sure it’s the same basic chassis as Glidoler, just without the large foot-pontoons. Unfortunately, like Hidocker, Pegasuros isn’t supposed to be any specific avian creature, but just “bird-type”. Again this is just kind of lazy, though it doesn’t bother me as much because I can’t really say Pegasuros resembles any particular bird in particular. Glidoler likewise didn’t really look at all like a duck, but at least elements of its design, such as the capability to land on water, fit the theme.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison with Pegasuros’ progenitor and it’s immediately clear how much sleeker and more aerodynamic it is. My complaint of the small wings has been addressed and it actually appears to be equipped with weapons. One detail I’ve just now noticed looking at pictures for this review is the tiny feet which is an odd detail. Every other flying zoid either doesn’t have feet at all or walks on them, instead of having wheels. There are always a few details of each zoid model that you wouldn’t see represented if it were a real mech, but it’s kind of hard to see what the intent is here. Would the actual zoid walk on the legs and simply not have most of the wheel mechanism? Or are the legs just some sort of decoration?? It’s kind of bizarre to think about.

So overall, I think Pegasuros is an improvement on Glidoler, looking more like it fits the role. Weirdly this guy is still one of the fastest zoids, capable of mach 3.4, being just barely beaten out by Orudios, who also makes for an awkward-looking aircraft. While I do like elements of Pegasuros, or as it was called in Europe, Cosmozoid, I don’t think Tomy has totally figured out how to make flying zoids look good. Overall aerial zoids are a mixed bag for me, but even so this one falls a bit on the lower end. Not terrible, and like all zoids of this era certainly has a goofy charm to it, but it doesn’t quite nail the look. Better luck next time, Pegasuros. 3/5

[everyzoid]

PZ-001 Tank

A couple of firsts with this zoid. Tank, along with the zoid immediately after it, are the first zoids not released in Japan (and we won’t be seeing more of those for quite a while) as well as the first zoids to be powered by an electric motor, rather than a wind-up one. Released as “Power Zoids”, both models have quite prominent wheels, which is extremely unusual. So far, there have been three wheeled zoids and there will be many more to come, but almost all of them make some effort to conceal the wheels. Tank here even has a spring suspension, which is slightly visible in the above picture. It’s also very unusual that the Power Zoids were only released in the US and Europe. As far as I know, they are the only Tomy-designed zoids to not come out in Japan. Later we’ll see other zoids that only made it to the US, but those would be presumably designed by Hasbro, who handled the US line.

The bigger deal, however, is the transition to an electric motor, powered by a AA battery. While wind-up zoids would continue to be produced, motorized zoids would become quite common and allow zoids to grow much much larger in size. As such, Tank is the largest zoid released so far, though it’s quite a bit smaller than what would come. It’s also not based on any sort of animal. The Zoids Wiki has it listed as tank-type, which yeah, I guess it is? I wouldn’t describe the above as a tank, but I wouldn’t know what else to call it either. It just kind of looks like a medieval battering ram bird-tank? 

Either way, I kind of like it, really. It’s big and chunky and I don’t really think it goes along with the other zoids at all, but it’s nice in its own weird way. The wings look too small for flight (though you’d think the same about Glidoler) and according to the Zoids Wiki, they are stabilizers. This makes sense considering this thing can go 185 (!!) mph, which is only a bit slower than Gurantula, our fastest zoid so far. I’m a fan of putting the duck-like cockpit on the swept-back neck, as it’s pretty much the only thing that makes this look like a zoid. Honestly it’s not really a mech at all. It’s just a weird car. 

Additionally, it has a unique color scheme. It appears to be a part of the Blue Zoids/Blue Guardians faction from the blue, but it also incorporates brown on the axles and hubcaps. The European release, below, uses black instead, which is more in-line with the releases so far. 

This is a tough one to rate though, like I almost can’t even think of it as a zoid. It’s explicitly not based off an animal of any kind and I can’t really say that for any other zoid. It’s probably the most unusual zoid in the entire line. I guess they were still figuring out where to go after the tiny windups and this was their first stab at a motorized zoid. Before too long we’ll see much more complicated designs that have jointed legs, which will become the standard. For now though, I appreciate this strange duck car for how weird it is. 3/5

[everyzoid]

RMZ-005 Aquadon

Here’s our first aquatic zoid, appropriately named Aquadon, or Aquazoid in it’s European releases. Aquadon is a cute ‘lil guy with an interesting gimmick: the pods on either side are filled with styrofoam and after it’s wound up, the legs kick, allowing him to swim like the real thing. Kind of brings up a question though, which is what is this thing supposed to be? Like reeeeally look at it and try to figure out what animal it’s supposed to be based on.

In case you can’t tell, it’s supposed to be a frog, which like nah, it kind of super isn’t. If anything it has a humanoid shape, like a diver wearing some kind of flippers. I would even be far more likely to accept it as some sort of mythological creature rather than a plain ol’ frog. In that way it’s like Glidoler, but I find the shape of Aquadon to be quite a bit more pleasing. Designing an aquatic craft around using flippers rather than traditional aquatic propulsion methods is a little silly, but I could buy the idea that it has a conventional engine in the main body and uses the fins more for maneuvering.

I’ve just now noticed that Aquadon, like Glidoler before it, is primarily grey and blue with black caps, rather than grey and black with blue caps like Garius and Elephantus. Gurantula was grey and black with black caps. I suppose I’ve never really looked at these guys in-depth before. It’s hard to know how much color difference the actual models have, but I think the OER release (top) has a more teal blue than the OJR and OAR release above. I think I prefer the darker blue. Either way, the color is appropriate for an aquatic zoid.

Speaking of color, it’s time to talk about Zoids 2. Like Gurantula, Aquadon was released in the Zoids 2 line, now under the name Aquazoid, the same name as it’s OER release. Pictures of Zoids 2 releases are sometimes hard to come by, but here we can see the decals pretty well and what the heck is going on with them. They’re clearly a new set from the OJR release and they make no sense. You decide to give this guy a white, yellow, teal, dark blue, and silver color scheme and then big black and brown tribal tattoos? What, why, how. Who did this. Why would you do this. Why would you turn such a good-looking zoid into one of the worst eyesores in the entire series history. I love it. 

Overall, I have a fairly good impression of Aquadon. It’s a really nice-looking and cute design, even if it looks literally nothing like a frog. I suppose its a bit unfair as all these early designs are fairly abstract and I appreciate the design concessions that allow the model to actually swim, but I can’t help but be disappointed, especially considering that we never would get a proper frog zoid down the line. Still, I like the image of one of these surfacing quickly, its pilot disembarking from the floating craft. 3/5