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Every story has its beginning, so they say, and the story of my Zoids begins here. Back in the early 1980s, Tomy (already successful with their windup toys) put a new spin on the powered toy with the introduction of Zoids. Equal parts model kit and toy, Zoids were windup or battery powered toys that you assembled yourself. For me, the Zoids journey begins sometime around 1982. On a trip to Nashville, Dad dropped Mom and me off at 100 Oaks Mall. In the mall was a nifty little toy store whose name escapes me these days. It was a nice place, typical of non-chain mall toy stores in those days, with lots of domestic AND imported toys. I recall seeing Star Wars items there, G.I. Joe figures and vehicles, Corgi James Bond vehicles, Brio trains, and of course...ZOIDS!
Some 25 or so years later, Garius remains with me...still complete with just a little battle wear. My brother, thank goodness, taught me to try to take care of my toys and not lose any small parts. I picked up an Elephantus a few months later, but that was my last Zoid purchase until Robo Strux hit the shelves (Please see my Robo-Strux page). The Giant Zrk I ran across at a Children's Palace in Memphis in 1990 (Remember those stores? Damn, I miss them). I was visitng some friends in college there at the time, and we were out looking for cool stuff. Lo, there, marked at $8.90 was a SEALED Giant Zrk. I couldn't believe it. So, Zrk in hand, I had my next brush with the world of Zoids. After picking up a Radox shortly thereafter at a Lionel store in Chattanooga, my Zoids collecting would drift in limbo until the emergence of Techno Zoids in the mid-90s. The floodgates would finally open in late 1999 with the latest re-releases.
Needless to say, there are a few folks I must specially thank here for helping me to improve my understanding of the original Zoids line, and for helping me to expand my collection. Very big "Zoid Thank-Yous" go out to Jerry Dreiss (for having the coolest English-language ZOIDS page on the web...Francis Ng, for keeping me hooked up when I needed my Zoid fix and for brokering the deal with Tommy (whom I also thank here)...Toby Capwell, who in one fell swoop filled in umpteen zillion holes in my collection...Aki Yoshida at Amenbo, who has kept me steadily Zoiding since '99...Major Kong, for reminding me that attitude is key...and especially to all the original Zoids crew at Tomy, for creating and nurturing Zoids into becoming one of the BEST toy lines EVER! And, a special thanks to Mom...for letting me go in the toy store that day. Life has been better ever since... Zoids Listing The OJR Page has now been further broken down into faction/subset sub-pages! Click on one of the four links below to see Zoids from that specific faction/subset.
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Tomy had been running a cool commercial on Saturday mornings advertising Zoids, and after seeing it I was convinced that I needed a Zoid. My first choice: Garius, the one that looked like a Tyrannosaur (sorta). As you may know, the very first Zoids released in the US (save for the Giant Zrk), had no assigned names. But who needed names when you toy is cool as hell? So, allowance firmly in hand, I dragged Mom into the toy store as soon as we hit the door to the mall. It didn't take long to find what I was after. Plunking my money down on the counter, I boldly entered the world of Zoids. After leaving the toy store, I was unfortunately forced to accompany Mom to some dress shop...the price of being too young to run around the mall myself. ARGH! I knew I couldn't make it to the car before I had to have that rascal built and running, so while I waited, I furiously began assembling Garius. By the time Mom was finished, so was I. The grin didn't leave my face for some time...
Most of the Zoids you will find on this page were bought second-hand, already assembled. Some have replacement parts, some are incomplete, some have no decals, and some have extra parts scavenged from other Zoids whose heyday had come and gone. But all of them are still ready to go into action at the flick of a switch or twist of a knob!
