It was vulnerable to chipping or breaking while being clipped and assembled, and many would develop stress fracture lines. The reality: The Cannonry Molga suffered from poor plastic quality, an issue that would dog most of the wave. To make it even more appealing (and to push the price point up of course), the Genesis version would include the CP-07 Shot Cannon, an add-on kit that had been out of production for several years. However, all but one of them would have significant problems, and the entire wave would suffer from poor sales.Ĭannonry Molga The idea: One of the oldest Zoids in the line, the grub-like Molga had been persistently popular with the fandom despite (or perhaps because of) its humble design. Consisting of Cannonry Molga, Command Wolf LC, Zabat, Hebby Rhimos, Houndsoldier, Cannonfort and Brastle Tiger each one of these moulds was chosen for a specific reason. In the lead-up to the release of the first wave of new Zoids, as well as the debut of the Zoids Genesis Anime, Tomy released a ‘filler’ wave made up of recolours of existing moulds. (Gojulas, Berserk Fury, Redhorn, Gunsniper, Storm Sworder, Iguan. This was something of a challenge in and of itself, as not only were about half the existing Zoids Dinosaurs, but that also included some of the franchise’s best known and most popular designs.
However, this also came with several ground rules, one of which was not reusing any existing Dinosaur Zoid designs in order to make the bad guy Zoids seem more distinct and special. Tomy’s premise allowed for the introduction of a whole bunch of new Zoids toys while also allowing them to reuse existing moulds. (In many respects the premise was similar to Turn A Gundam) Technologically regressed humans piloted ancient Zoids that they excavated from ruins, and fought an evil empire armed with their own unique Zoids featuring unknown technology.
Abandoning the pseudo-continuity of the previous series, Genesis was set in a distant future after a world-ending catastrophe that had all but destroyed civilisation. Debuting in 2005, Zoids Genesis was an effective reboot of the toy line with an accompanying new anime series. None the less, Tomy chose to persist with the line. Hasbro had given up releasing Zoids in North America (while dumping a lot of unreleased stock in Australia) while the short-lived UK release run by Tomy themselves had been an utter disaster.
To make matters worse, the franchise was completely dead in Western markets. However, it had ended up being something of a flop with poor sales across the line, leading to some releases seeing only short production runs or being cancelled altogether. The last Japanese release, Fuzors had started out as a low-effort re-release of old moulds in new colours, as well as a few moulds that had previously only been available in Western markets. The line has featured spin-off media including anime series, comic books and video games.īy 2005 the Zoids line was not in good shape. It also has featured licenced releases in North America and Europe through various partner companies. Zoids was first launched in Japan in 1983, with multiple re-launches since, resulting in a non-continuous but ongoing line. Background: Zoids is a line of motorized model kits resembling robotic animals created by Japanese toy company Tomy (now Tomy-Takara).