Zibits Documentation? (2010′s toy)
I recently remembered a toy from a while ago that I have fond memories of. However, upon searching for them online, I found that little information exists on them other than a bunch of long defunct shop pages and obscure YouTube videos. So, without further ado...
Zibits! - “Control your world”.
I retrieved a few of these adorable dust-bitten bots from what they probably assumed was their permanent resting place to get documented.
Here’s the little bean! This is what I assume is the basic, or rather ‘bog-standard’ Zibit. According to an older review from ‘toysaretools.com’ (You can read that article here) Its name is ‘Flux’. The first thing I noticed about all of my new-old robot crew was that all their batteries were still working, which isn’t bad for a 10 year old toy! (At least, this was the case for ones that did have batteries in them.) On the topic of batteries, the Zibit itself runs on 3 LR44 (coin) batteries, while the remote requires 2 AAA batteries. A hassle to get your hands on, but considering these things haven’t given up for 10 years (admittedly, not of constant use) I don’t think its a bad investment!
Now, the second thing I noticed was that Flux has none of this screws, only being held together by friction. For for the disassembly, I will be using a robot with the same mould, also known as the copper chap from the first photo.
This process should be an absolute walk in the park. Regardless, I am somewhat trying to make a documentation. The Zibit pictured stands around 5.7 cm tall. The battery compartment’s screw is held into the cover piece, so I won’t worry about treating it as a screw and instead I’ll just think of is as a single part, along with the plastic its attached to. Now, shift your attention to those two little screws at the bottom. The heads of these screws are 4 mm wide and so is the head of the screwdriver I'm using to remove them. This same screwdriver will be perfectly sufficient to undo the battery cover. Go ahead and remove the battery compartment cover to reveal all the holding screws.
You can now see all 3 screws that will need removing. The most difficult part of this entire process will be putting that central screw underneath the spring back in place, so I recommend having some way to magnetise your screwdriver. Although, for me, the mere act of removing the screw magnetises the screwdriver. Anyway, go ahead and get them out.
All 3 screws are the same length, your only worry is losing these tiny things.
Now, carefully pull apart the front and back half of the Zibit. The little robot splits in half directly down its side!
Presto!
You can now see all of the core components of a Zibit.
This is what I’ve taken to calling the ‘drive shaft’ of the Zibit. Of course, it is not a drive shaft, and doesn’t even resemble one. Anyway, that is what makes the Zibit move. It is universal to all Zibits.
The visor can also be removed.
Alas, this is as far as we can really go into our exploration of the Zibit. I do however have a bunch of trivia both from memory and from research that I also want to put on this post.
Zibits of the same mould all operate on the same infrared frequency. This means they can respond to each others remotes. Though, this isn’t very useful if you want to operate them at the same time.
Zibits arms are somewhat pliable.
Some don’t have a screw inside their battery compartment, instead they have it in the back of their head.
The one with the transparent head splits down the middle, however the dome is a separate piece.
Now, I do need to reveal my ulterior motive. Before any of this, I wanted to try and find a list showing each Zibit so I could see what ones existed. However, I don’t think such a list exists. All website links I’ve scavenged are defunct, and the only image I did find lists the names of ‘series 1.5′.
(In case you cant read this:
Sion/Bendix/Rev/Bash/Termanis/Shift/Dinc/Spex/Epsilon/Tank/Go-B/Shox)
Not only does each one have a name, but they also have a description of their personality. Here’s a much nicer image:
I bring this up not only because I like the aesthetic of 2000′s graphic design, but because its sort-of* makes this lost media, and I think that's kinda cool.
(*in fairness, I’ve only searched around for the best part of like 5 minutes.)
However, while looking around, I think I’m starting to piece together why Zibits only lasted around 2 years. Most articles I’ve read seem to talk about how cute these little guys are. However, in the future...
??? Idk, I just don't like these other designs. I think this guy specifically feels kinda cheep to me because of their fake tracks.
This lump’s almost complete lack of printing feels a bit lazy.
Woah... Ok fine, this ones a cutie.
This demon is singlehandedly responsible for the death of the brand and I will not forgive them.
Hang on, but seriously. What caused the demise of the Zibits? What other, popular scamp runs around on a series of roads and hubs you construct? What's more, this opponent brand must have come into existence sometime around 2010...
Ah.
Perhaps some things are just meant to be.
