(Blue) Hydrazoid
This is my favorite windup by far. Back when I got this (in 1999), they were hell of rare and I paid through the nasal passages. They pop up every so often, though.
Tags ’n Shit!
aquatic
040 War Shark (Holotech)
The clear plastic on this one was even more brittle than usual, and the pegs that hold the feets did not survive my last move without a dab of super glue. Still, Holo-fishy wins points for being the most “holotech’d” of the line (but it would have been nice to have smoky grey boosters too). As with all my holos, I had to get this from a contact in Australia.
In: 80s/90s Misc Releases > Zoids2
Aquazoid
There were two variants of this kit, but since I never look in the box, I keep forgetting which one I have. I picked it up in a tiny shop in Seattle’s Chinatown (ahem, International) district back in 2001 and haven’t had a chance to open it since.
In: 2nd Worldwide Release > Blox
BZ-003 Mosasledge
Despite my initial hatred of all things Blox, I had to get this one right off, on account of my undying love of aquatic zoids. It sat in storage for years, until I dug him out with plans to raid his parts for my Killer Bee custom. Lucky for Mosasledge, his parts were not right, so he lives on. This one would look a million times better with panel lining and details painted on. I am adding that to my eternally long zoids to-do list.
In: 2nd Worldwide Release > Blox
BZ-013 Cannon Diver
I never liked this one much, because the big guns looked silly, but when I put on some smaller ones (off an Unenlagia), he grew on me. I’d like to do a custom using that head, but nothing comes to mind yet.
CP-14 Viking Lance Unit (on Hammer Head)
It would have been nice if the colors matched. I am hella going to paint these up. Someday. More pics to come. Also someday. You can affix this CP to Command Wolf, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
EHI-01 Wardick
Another “swimmer”! Back in ’95, this one’s name was a source of endless giggles for my younger brothers. This one and Guysack…
EMZ-19 Sinker
A Zenebas “swimmer”. The tanks help keep it afloat, and a tiny propeller in back… propels it.
RMZ-10 Furolesios
Mint in Box! I never thought I’d get this one, but somehow it was totally ignored on ebay and I got it for $36! See OER Hydrazoid for a built one.
RZ-033 Hammer Head
And no one seems to like poor Hammer Head (inexplicably renamed “Sledge Head” by Hasbro) either! Well, I do. I took the bar that controls the “swimming” movement out of mine, so I could do a “circling around for the kill” pose. This is about as articulated as the poor guy can get.
Sinker (OJR/NJR)
As soon as I got theNJR Sinker (back in 2000), I made these swaps. I think I like the silver one better. Due to slight mold differences, the back vent piece is incredibly difficult to remove, post swap.
Unnamed frog type
It really swims, though I’ve never had the courage to test it myself. The tanks have a piece of styrofoam in them to make them float (see pic #4). Known as RMZ-05 Aquadon (OJR), or Aquazoid (OER), or “frog looking thing” here.
Vol. 07 Sea Panther
Sea Panther (poor romanization for Panzer?) is one of the most anticipated reissues in the Graphics line. It pretty much sold out instantly, leaving lots of people in the lurch, preorders be damned. Thankfully they’re doing another run in December, but those could go just as quickly. And with good reason: Sea Panther has never been reissued, and the original is hellllllla rare. The mechanism is totally awesome—it rolls along, while all the legs move about creepily. For being one-piece legs, the movement is nice and fluid. The bonus “present” in this set is the gun sprue from Remodel Set No. 1.
The only bummer to be found: if you like applying stickers, you will be saddened by the quality of the foil sticker sheet. I ended up using stickers from spare OJR sheets.