Things that still need categorizing. Where am I going to put all this crap!?
A 1/144 Saber Tiger, yes! I think this was an NJR candy prize, but I have no idea past that. I got it for cheaps off the ebay. It’s a neat little kit. Decent articulation, detail’s not bad, and the tiny guns are removable. I want to do a better touch-up job on the head. My gray gundam marker is too bluish, and I need to paint the lower jaw “cap” in something that matches.
Here are a few pieces from the Baratz series. I don’t have any of the others, because they were expensive as crap to get. There were 13 Baratz in all: six designs, each with two colors, and then the obligatory “chase” figure.
These came out in early 2006, along with the first Neo Blox (with which they can combine). The theory is that they were originally to be released as “Baratz 2: Electric Boogaloo”, but got postponed until the Neo Blox release for whatever reason.
These were released in the US during the 80s, and also in Europe (where they were known as Zany—that’s the product name AND the description). They are recolors of the famously rare “Zoicoro” SD pullbacks from Japan. The googly eyes are a nice touch, I think. I lucked out finding a whole set of these several years ago on fee-bay.
I know nothing of this bootleg’s origins. The box paper and instruction booklet are very thin, compared to normal ones. I don’t know about plastic quality, because I haven’t built it. I got a mess of them for cheap in 2000, sold a few when I was unemployed, donated one as a prize for Pheno’s forum contest, and kept the last one for myself.
Sometimes people will send me drawings along with their trades, or just because they rule. I think this is cool and should happen all the time.
These little guys (and I mean LITTLE!) came in vending machines in Japan in the early 2000s. I was mainly interested in the mini versions of the original windups, so that’s mainly what I kept. A complete listing of all gashapons can be found over at Zoidspoison.
Geno Breaker, in mini form! I don’t normally get into the action figures Hasbro made, but I got this one accidentally, plus I’m on a Geno kick, so here he is. I actually like him better without all the extra equipment, and the head spear reminds me of a cockatiel. Pics 1–4 are right out of the package. Pics 5–8 are after a much needed touchup paint job. #9 is of the whole “family”!
King of Flexible Mobile/metal action/ka-dou-ou was a (tragically) short-lived 1/100 scale offshoot with die cast metal parts and super articulation.
Flexible hybrid cannons! I love my little mini tank-liger. I really need to get some pics of the regular KoFM liger, don’t I…
Too bad this line died so quickly and so hard, because this guy is actually pretty cool. It would have been nice to see other zoids done in this style, or even a Storm Unit for the Führer here, but oh well. It does have the one shortcoming of super-articulated figures: the more points of articulation, the harder to get a stable pose. I almost sold this, until I came back to my senses. WHEW! The last two pics show why I will never part with this wee beasty.
I think the Cosmic Builder stuff came out in the mid 90s. They “borrowed” some zoid elements, as seen above. The top half of a whitehead cockpit could be found attached to various bits, and they also remodeled the famous pilot. I like him, in a 40s space opera kind of way.
I have no idea what the deal is with these, or even where I got them. I think a seller threw them in as a freebie. I asked Lionel if he knew anything about these guys, but all he knew was that they were OJR. He did have a picture saved that I think is from the auction I won (small world). I had a Merda one previously, that I actually put on my jacket’s zipper, but the ring wore down, and I lost it. I was 24 years old.
This looks like an enlarged knockoff of a Starrior (Runabout), but is battery operated, and also has a weird “plane” mode. Any info on this thing would be sweet, as I know nothing.
These came out at the end of 2004. So named because they consist of pvc rubber bits surrounding a single core blox. Unfortunately, the blox(es?) they used are knockoff-quality, and not as secure as the regular ones. A set called “The Gacha” (which I don’t have) came out at the same time, consisting of repaints of Vol 1. Pic #9 is Victory Liger, which was a limited edition piece that came with a video game.
Gashapon set from around 2000. If you were as bad at painting the tiny pilots as I was, this set was your only hope. Too bad it’s so flippin’ rare. The only downside: no sitting Van and Fiona figures (but they were in one of the “Battle Collection” mini sets that came out later).
I got the Glidoler off Yahoo Japan (thanks to Celga) for very few yen. I don’t even think I had to pay the “shipping within Japan” fee, because it was so small. See also: Dino Comics.
One of the highly sought-after mini pullback zoids. I’ve wanted a super deformed Molga for a while. I got two of these in an auction. They were a steal because the motors were busted. My friend calls these “silly deformed”, because they are. This one and the Glidoler are a lot easier to find than most of the rest of them (you don’t even want to know what the Barigator goes for).
