Iron Kong EZ-015 Gorilla Type Zoids Motorized Toy Kit Item No.: No. ???? Manufacturer: Tomy Includes: Stickers, 2 pilots, 6 rockets Action Feature: Walks via battery-powered motor Retail: 3000 yen Availability: ca. October 1999 Other: Guylos Empire
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I've taken incredible care of my Zoids kits but that doesn't mean horrible things can't happen. As I started to review Iron Kong I removed the aging C-Cell battery still in his chest (a little gunk, cleared out easily) and while I was checking to make sure the backpack's "AA" batteries were removed, it knocked his shoulder rocket launcher off. All six batteries deployed in my office. One immediately shattered in half, four others are fine, and the sixth is... I don't know where it is. This is why you take photos before writing a review, kids. There was also a broken plastic tab on the ground but I can't identify where it belongs. What you're seeing is a mostly intact kit I've kept in a dark linen closet for years to ensure nothing bad would ever happen to it. Irony.

The silver plastic from this release feels very brittle. At this point I dare not power it on ever again, and would probably steer you to one of the many other releases like RoboStrux Badox of the black (not silver/gunmetal grey) ones because looking at how the rocket split, I don't trust the materials to be durable. I'm pretty sure my copy came from a model shop in the Phillipenes, but the packaging looked identical to the Japanese kits with no signs of bootleggery. It worked great - the launcher works manually. There were battery packs, one in the backpack and one in the chest. He could light up, walk, and the backpack could spin. I guess it's now, as the movie says, for display only. Pity. That's one thing you don't think about as a toy collector over time. An accident could ruin a collection real fast if you're not careful, which is one of the many reasons I love buying stuff for kids designed to be durable.

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I wanted this ever since I saw the Robo Strux Badox version - it was so cool! It was King Kong to Gojulas/Terox as Godzilla. This great ape hasa pronounced brow, a robust rump, muscular-ish limbs, and lots of hoses and cables. The rocket launcher is manual, as is a cover to a rocket launcher on the left shoulder. (It does not fire missiles.) The gray armor is mostly smooth and looks pretty modern. This is good, because it isn't - the 1980s kit kept getting reused in multiple relaunches aimed at kids, and for good reason. It looks great! The green eyes? Awesome. They light up red with the batteries, and there's more than some pressure needed to apply to the gray armor to get in there. I won't be doing that again.

The stickers are still the cruddy clear kind, but they work better with bigger kits. Having a larger flat surface on which to apply them went a lot smoother, and you can see it's a lot less weird looking. They don't cover up the nicely sculpted vents or other model detailing, and this one has a lot of clever details. On the rear haunches, it seems like he has little brake lights. It's cute, it's a nice design choice.

The kit's cannons can be built out with custom part sets, which were not included in this release (but I believe were in the Hasbro US box.) You can see places where you can attach more stuff, like a radar thing or additional blasters on his wrist. I think it's excellent as it is, with a flip-up head featuring seating for two blue pilots. I never really warmed up to the blue ones. The gold and silver ones always looked better and lit up in the small space. It's also worth noting that the joint for that opening head is incredibly creaky, which kind of scares me that this toy is going to be garbage by the time I'm done photographing it, and might be dust if I ever had to relocate it to a new home.

Despite the rockets departing to parts unknown and the mystery tab, it still looks great. In theory I'm glad I own it, but I never marched it around the floor very much and I kind of wish I spent more time playing with it when I got it... instead of spending all the time writing reviews of toys all the time. I guess that's the weird irony of this hobby and/or job - I get access to some great stuff and find some amazing deals, but if you can't enjoy them? Maybe it wasn't always worth it. If this kit ever gets a reissue I'd recommend it - to you, and to me - because it's incredibly impressive. I really hope I find that rocket before somebody trips on it, or it gets thrown out. I'm also kind of amazed to experience this as an adult that knows better.

I would not recommend picking up the 1999-2003ish reissues of this kit because it seems fragile and finicky. It's gorgeous, but if someone taking care of it can just have it break easily in their hands with a part falling off? I don't trust that it can survive assembly from a mint-in-box sample or the rigors of the post office. Maybe buy it in person if you have a chance.

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Day 3,134: Tomy Zoids Hammer Rock Figure Kit
Day 3,139: Tomy Zoids Iron Kong Figure Kit

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