Blade Liger (Zoids) Free Papercraft Model by Pendragon's Studios

7 Feb, 2022

Who doesn't know Zoids, most of you, especially mecha anime lovers, must know very well what Zoids are. For those of you who are still quite unfamiliar, Zoids is a sci-fi franchise created by Takara Tomy, a Japanese toy company, that introduced giant robots or mechas called Zoids. Zoids are giant robots that are used as fighting machines controlled by human pilots. Most Zoids appear in the form of lions, tigers, wolves, bulls, and other animals, including various types of dinosaurs.

Zoids itself was first present not in the form of an anime series such as Gundam, but the opposite, which was first presented in the form of a model-kit by Takara Tomy around 1982. At the beginning of its release in Japan, you will not see the very cool form of Zoids. like now. The shape is still quite absurd for a robot based on animals. Oh yes, the name is also not called Zoids, but Mechabonica.

The name Zoids itself was coined by Takara Tomy at the end of 1982 with a target area in the Americas. Surprisingly, the name Zoids is much more in demand when compared to using the name Mechabonica in Japan. Because of this, Takara Tomy finally decided the name Mechabonica to be Zoids as his trademark throughout the world, including Japan.

Around the '80s, Takara Tomy decided to release Zoids with cooler and cool designs specifically in the American and European markets. The Zoids they named Power Zoids which have the form of Tanks and Serpents. At that time, the design had evolved a bit when compared to when it was still using the name Mechabonica.

In 1999, you could say is the year the Zoids franchise stepping stone. That year Takara Tomy made a major evolution of his designs. The Zoids design that you are now seeing, was first conceived in 1999 and re-launched in Japan and several other countries in the Asian region by dividing the Zoids into two types, namely from the Helic Kingdom and Guys.

Not just re-releasing the Zoids model-kit in the form of cool beasts, Takara Tomy also immediately made his anime series project with many requests from fans. The first anime series was named Zoids: Chaotic Century which lasted 67 episodes with Shield Liger and Blade Liger as the main stars.