Dark Horn Styracosaurus Type Zoids Battery Powered Toy Kit Item No.: Asst. 83100 No. 83106 Manufacturer: Hasbro Includes: Stickers, 3 pilots Action Feature: Walks, opens mouth, has rotating cannon Retail: $19.99 Availability: ca. 2002 Other: Discount Guylos Empire
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The original Japanese releases of this Zoids kit are not terribly cheap, but thankfully Hasbro's common Dark Horn was easy to get. The original kit from Japan in the 1980s? You're not getting that. The Japanese reissue of said kit? Probably not - both included unique stickers and a special cannon upgrade, which the US version lacks. No, Hasbro just used the Red Horn stickers and parts. Other figural kits of Dark Horn were made from other lines and manufacturers too, so you've got a few choices. But this is the one I got on clearance at the grocery store.

I never had a proper "Red Horn" as a kid, but I did get Brutox [FOTD #364] for Christmas when I was pretty young. Since both Red Horn and Dark Horn kits were on clearance at some point in 2002 or 2003, I was able to get both and Hasbro put the line down by early 2003. I was at a press event in Rhode Island while they were showing off the second year Transformers Armada stuff next to the first Clone Wars line, and when asked about Zoids hasbro representatives all said something to the effect of "we're letting that brand rest" and "I'm not familiar with that brand." Hasbro hadn't brought out any other Zoids until a localization of Zoids a few years ago (Japanese kits with new pilots in US boxes) and the very recently released Transformers x Zoids x Diaclone Shield-D Prime, a very expensive toy.

Dark Horn keeps it simple. I should also note, this release does not glow in the dark despite some other Guylos Empire kits being able to do so.

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As mentioned above, this one isn't special - Hasbro de-specialed it for American audiences. Japanese releases of Dark Horn typically came with a CP-03 Beam Gatling Cannon, and this set just has the normal Red Horn parts. The beefy cannon looks cool, but this set from Hasbro just has a rotating turret plus another articulated cannon.

This guy measures around measures about 12-inches long, and back when I got Brutox it felt like it was way better than Transformers Dinobots figures. These kits were big kid toys. You had to assemble them, and when you did you got a much bigger toy that could walk. It wasn't just some cool toy figure - you could flick a switch and march these guys across your table. The parts all came on plastic frames, and you popped them out and secured them using rubbery twist bolts. After that, you could sticker them if you so choose. I remember really enjoying putting this one together, but as to specifics? It was over 20 years ago.

Neither Hasbro nor Tomy embellished these kits - what you got here seemed to be barely-modified molds from the 1980s. The one change was that it now takes 1x "AA" battery, rather than two. The beefy dinosaur sort of drags his tail as his body is hauled forward by multi-part legs, complete with moving feet. There were several joints per leg, but they weren't things you could pose. They were here for the robotics. The mouth would open, and it looked super cool.

Sculpting was very much of its time - lots of vents and cannons. His detailing looks like some 1980s manga tank, with bigger, meatier pieces compared to some of the earlier kits. It had a nice heft to it, and it certainly looked good on a shelf. One thing I disliked from this particular era of Zoids were the stickers - you really needed to do some trimming to get them to fit, and even then, I didn't love the results. Or my handiwork. Either way, the 1980's kits' foil stickers tended to look better and shine more than what Tomy and Hasbro were putting out in this era. But, I'm not complaining - I was able to get a Dark Horn for less than the price of a deluxe-class Transformers figure.

This guy is a lot more expensive today, but still somewhat affordable. I kind of wish we would see Hasbro and other manufacturers give "kit" figures another shot, just to help keep costs down in this era of eye-popping inflation. This sort of motorized toy could hold its own, but unfortunately American audiences didn't quite fixate on these kits as much as 1980s kids did their favorite toy lines. Zoids (and Techno-Zoids and RoboStrux) have had several failures to launch in America, which is a pity because the secondary market shows great interest and they're just such cool toys. Who wouldn't love to build their own dinosaur, covered in cannons? It was fantastic that Hasbro gave these a shot - and tried again a few years ago - and hopefully will again. Today, Tomy US are bringing in some kits for US distribution in some model or craft shops, so I'm keeping my eyes open. Sadly they don't seem to bringing in the wind-up or battery-powered kits, instead aiming for customers who want mega-posable robots. Such is life. These old walking kits were a ton of fun, so if you have the chance I highly recommend picking one up.

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Click here to see more Hasbro figures in Figure of the Day.

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Day 364: Tomy Robostrux Brutox Figure Kit
Day 382: Tomy Robostrux Slithor Figure Kit
Day 406: Tomy Zoids Twinhorn Action Figure
Day 484: Tomy Robostrux Brox Figure Kit
Day 486: Tomy Zoids 24 Scale Neptune Figure Kit
Day 1,352: Tomy Robostrux Batlar Figure Kit
Day 1,422: Tomy Zoids Gator Figure Kit
Day 1,471: Takara-Tomy Zoids Masterpiece Shield Liger
Day 2,000: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-05 Gannontoise Figure Kit
Day 2,008: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-01 Wild Liger Figure Kit
Day 2,013: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-03 Kabtor Figure Kit
Day 2,017: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-04 Scorpear Figure Kit
Day 2,039: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-06 Gabrigator Figure Kit
Day 2,075: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-07 Kuwaga Figure Kit
Day 3,089: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-13 Gusock Figure Kit
Day 3,094: Takara-Tomy Zoids Wild ZW-14 Stegosage Figure Kit
Day 3,099: Tomy Zoids Sinker Figure Kit
Day 3,104: Hasbro Zoids Dark Horn Figure Kit

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