Zoids in the Media. A few years back Visa ran a commercial featuring a company called the "Wound and Wound Toy Company". In the commercial you could quickly see the Stegosaurus Zoid. This is interesting, since that is a battery powered Zoid. Please who called the store at that time to ask if they sold Zoids usually got a rude "NO"!
In "Godzilla '85" during one of the American added scenes, when Raymond Burr is first introduced, his grandson can be seen playing with Zoidzilla! The Zoid even gets a close up.

Zoids Convention. During the mid-Eighties Raymond Chung remembers attending a Zoids convention in Hong Kong. He was a young boy at the time, but recalls seeing the Zoids anime short. For the NJR (New Japanese Release) Tomy resumed the conventions, where customized Zoids where displayed. Other conventions have occurred in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Zoid Fanzine. Sure, there were tons of Japanese magazines that covered Zoids, but they received very little attention in the States. One exception was Made In Japan, a small Xeroxed newsletter that I recently got a hold of. It was put out in the late Eighties, just before Mad Thunder and Gorem were to be released. The twelve pages are all copies of pages from Japanese catalogs and magazines, and show almost every Zoid made up until that time. Unfortunately my issue seems to be a copy of a copy, and everything is very hard to see. If anyone knows any more about this fanzine, or knows who put it out, please drop me a note.
Radio Shack Mammoth. Several people have written about this one. Several years ago Radio Shack put out a version of the Mammoth.

Centaur. A college student named Itsuki told me about this one. He's from Hong Kong originally and is a Zoids fanatic. He reports that Centaur is the real king of Zoids (according to a Japanese Magazine from '88). By remolding and combining Gojulas,"urutorazaurus", "gorudos", "saramanda" and mammoth you get a Zoid that looks like a Centaur! He still needs the last three to build one himself. Awesome! Come HERE for pictures that Itsuki has provided of this and other customized Zoids.

1. Are they still making Zoids?. Yes. Zoids have been in and out of production since the first series ended in 1992. Currently we are enjoying the New Japanese Release (NJR) and the Hasbro Release (HR) in America. The UK will soon be added to the list of nations where Zoids are sold again.

Where can I get Zoids now?. Wal-Mart, K-Mart, www.imageanime.com, Toys 'R Us, www.hlj.com, Kaybee Toys, www.ebay.com

Was there an Anime series?. At one point, no. The first ten years of Zoids existence (known as the Original Japanese Release, or OJR) they did not have an anime series. This was quite unusual for a Japanese toy line. When the NJR was announced in 1999 a companion manga and anime series was created. This lasted two years, and then another series was produced, that lasted one year. Both series were translated and brought to America, and eventually to the UK. The anime shots on my page are from a short (15 minutes according to one source) promotional film produced in the mid-Eighties. This short film combined anime, live action, and stop motion photography.

Would you like to trade?. If I had Zoids to trade, sure. But I don't. My meager collection consists of one each of what you see on my page. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind buying Zoids, even built or beat up ones.