Post by Zoidstar on Jan 10, 2012 7:26:10 GMT -5
Zoidstar here bringing you another Zoids review, this time a brief review of the Technozoids Iron Kong!
The kit itself was released around 1994-95, and was quite common, at least in my neck of the woods. These guys sat in tall stacks on the clearance shelves of the local Walmarts, however, they weren't marked down in my area as they were everywhere else, running for about thirty dollars, even on into 1996 when I last remember seeing them (then again, none of the Walmarts in my area run good clearance sales...)
This particular Zoid and I have a history together. My mother bought this Zoid as a Christmas present for my cousin. Even though he removed the backpack and missile launcher and rewired the lights to work off the motor battery, I still thought he was awesome the way he would stomp along, terrorizing my aunt's dog as he went.
Anyway, onto the kit!
I've done a bit of panel lining and detail work to make him look a bit nicer. The photographs really do not do this kit justice, the yellow isn't as bright as it appears in the pics. This is definitely a kit one has to see in person to truly appreciate it. However, there are still better color schemes out there for this guy, the best ones being PK and Z2 in my opinion.
I colored in a few pistons on the arm with a silver Elmer paint marker and a gold Gundam marker. I planned on doing this to every one, but only did it for the two, as I felt that it detracted from the rest of the kit's detail. And I was too lazy.
The missile launcher is non-functional on this version of the IK, however this can be remedied with a pen spring. I prefer to leave the spring out, as my NJR Iron Kong tended to launch springs at random when bumped or jostled. However, he comes with two sprues of neon orange missiles. However, I felt that they should have just re-used the Robo Strux/Gore launcher for this guy if they were gonna leave the spring out of the missile launcher.
The backpack works the same as any other IK release, the missiles rotate when turned on and it houses the batteries for the lights. Also, the CP-11 can be put on the TZ Kong, however I would suggest using the backpack from the old Empire Customize Set to better match the color scheme, even though it would cost you more for that than simply buying the TZ Kong and CP-11 would likely be cheaper.
Glowing eyes!!!
Pros:
-Crisp mold
-Classic design
-Fun build with little fuss
Cons:
-Tends to be overpriced by scalpers
-While the color scheme isn't bad in person, there are better Kong colors out there.
-The "roaring" feature is a bit annoying
In conclusion, while I don't consider the color scheme to be all that bad, at current rates this guy fetches, I would suggest this variant for only hardcore variant chasers. The Zoid seems to be getting scarcer and scarcer, with not as many popping up on eBay, and those that do tend to fetch +$100 or even more.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all at the next Zoids review!
The kit itself was released around 1994-95, and was quite common, at least in my neck of the woods. These guys sat in tall stacks on the clearance shelves of the local Walmarts, however, they weren't marked down in my area as they were everywhere else, running for about thirty dollars, even on into 1996 when I last remember seeing them (then again, none of the Walmarts in my area run good clearance sales...)
This particular Zoid and I have a history together. My mother bought this Zoid as a Christmas present for my cousin. Even though he removed the backpack and missile launcher and rewired the lights to work off the motor battery, I still thought he was awesome the way he would stomp along, terrorizing my aunt's dog as he went.
Anyway, onto the kit!
I've done a bit of panel lining and detail work to make him look a bit nicer. The photographs really do not do this kit justice, the yellow isn't as bright as it appears in the pics. This is definitely a kit one has to see in person to truly appreciate it. However, there are still better color schemes out there for this guy, the best ones being PK and Z2 in my opinion.
I colored in a few pistons on the arm with a silver Elmer paint marker and a gold Gundam marker. I planned on doing this to every one, but only did it for the two, as I felt that it detracted from the rest of the kit's detail. And I was too lazy.
The missile launcher is non-functional on this version of the IK, however this can be remedied with a pen spring. I prefer to leave the spring out, as my NJR Iron Kong tended to launch springs at random when bumped or jostled. However, he comes with two sprues of neon orange missiles. However, I felt that they should have just re-used the Robo Strux/Gore launcher for this guy if they were gonna leave the spring out of the missile launcher.
The backpack works the same as any other IK release, the missiles rotate when turned on and it houses the batteries for the lights. Also, the CP-11 can be put on the TZ Kong, however I would suggest using the backpack from the old Empire Customize Set to better match the color scheme, even though it would cost you more for that than simply buying the TZ Kong and CP-11 would likely be cheaper.
Glowing eyes!!!
Pros:
-Crisp mold
-Classic design
-Fun build with little fuss
Cons:
-Tends to be overpriced by scalpers
-While the color scheme isn't bad in person, there are better Kong colors out there.
-The "roaring" feature is a bit annoying
In conclusion, while I don't consider the color scheme to be all that bad, at current rates this guy fetches, I would suggest this variant for only hardcore variant chasers. The Zoid seems to be getting scarcer and scarcer, with not as many popping up on eBay, and those that do tend to fetch +$100 or even more.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all at the next Zoids review!
