Japanese Z-Knights Japan is the origin of the Z-Knights. Made by Tomy they were released around 1990. It was a promising release with an interesting product. The start was quite good, there were some intruiging models including Z-Knight and Marine Kaizer, two big Z-Knights with a very cool movement. There were middle-sized models with outstanding designs. And there were many small Z-Knights, affordable also for kids. After a first wave there were more models produced, including Gilga and Great Z-Knight, the third and fourth of the big Z-Knights, also different sorts of supporting articles were made like Z-Knight booklets or Kabaya mini model kits.
The back story had much potential, it could have been expanded to a complex universe. There even was a promotional video tape with a short Z-Knight anime and other clips sold with a Z-Knight douple pack including colour variations of two Z-Knights. There also was a second video tape with an expanded version of the anime and a collection of advertising clips. Unfortunately they never made a whole season of the anime, and the development of new models was stopped. Around 1995 the Japanese Z-Knights disappeared from the shelves.
Near the end of the Japanese release there were three interesting items developped: There were two small Z-Knights that came with a remote control, plus this remote control was also sold separately. Now this tank shaped remote control is an interesting item: The connector to the Z-Knight is designed as a replacement for an AAA sized battery. This means you can put the connector into the Z-Knight as if it was a battery, but the power comes from the remote control, with which you can move the Z-Knight forward and backward or flap with the wings of the Z-Knight (if it has any ;-). With an adaptor it is even possible to use the connector as a replacement for AA sized batteries in the bigger Z-Knights. Because these bigger Z-Knights need more power the remote control is powered with two batteries, but when you are using it with small Z-Knights you have to use a dummy battery which is included in the set and prevents the small Z-Knights to get more power than the engine can handle...
The aforementioned Kabaya mini model kits also are interesting. There were two models produced: Z-Knight and Marine Kaizer (plus there also were bootlegs of these two models). They were made in a scale approximately 1/144 - 1/200 and consist of surprisingly many and detailed parts. The built model is posable and is a neat addition to the range of Z-Knight goodies.
American and European Z-Knights Around the time when the Japanese Z-Knights appeared there was also an American and European release of Z-Knights. There were less models, the names were changed to computer terms like Hardware, CPU or Boot, and the colourations of the models were changed - only two models were released in the same colouration like the Japanese ones, Hacker (Desert Walker) and ROM (Northeglaiver). The back story was rather simple, but at least there was a little comic included in the package. Nevertheless this release didn't last very long, many models were not even released in America or Europe.
Bootlegs and Similar Products As with almost every toy line there are also bootlegs of Z-Knights. Paul Miszczak found a bootleg line called "Deathdolls", which after a long search also I was able to acquire, see the pictures in the picture archive. Michael K. spot a very interesting toy line called "M.A.R.S.", prebuild robots with sound and light effects. These robots are clearly inspired by Z-Knights, especially regarding the technical aspects like the walking mechanism etc. Micheal K. also got some strange small chromed figures on a blister card, which turned out to be cheap copies of Deviking and Deathdoll; these figures called "Mobile Arms Robot" have absolutely no posability, though... Another knock off comes from a company called Silverlit. Within their Multimac toy line they already used many parts of ZOIDS as well as a similar design like ZOIDS, and they also produced a kind of "Z-Knights" - which looks quite horrible, see the pictures in the picture archive... Probably there are more bootlegs of Z-Knights out there. so if you find anything, don't hesitate and send any informations or pictures to me ;-)
Z-Knight Gashapon Figures - a Z-Knight Revival? As a side product of the ZOIDS toy line the company Yujin is making small soft plastic figures that are sold in Japan in capsule vending machines. These sets of so called Gashapon figures often include a "secret figure". In some of the sets these secret figures are ... Z-Knights! Until today there were six such small figures produced, including Z-Knight and Marine Kaizer. Furthermore there was a fifth and sixth figure, but it is not sure if these were meant to be Z-Knights at all; the figures do not correspond to any of the known Z-Knights. Anyway, the release of a figure as a Gashapon figure does not necesseraly mean that it will also be released as a model kit. Nevertheless it is very interesting that Tomy remembered it's old Z-Knight toy line...
2004: A Limited Re-release of Z-Knight! Toys Dream Project - it is always what the name says, it is always a dream come true. This time it is the first of the large Z-Knights that was re-released in a limited quantity! It is an almost exact copy of the original Z-Knight - there only is a slight difference in the colour of the dark blue parts, which are a bit more greyish on the new release than on the original one. Other than that everything is the same, even the box couldn't be distinguished from the original box if there wasn't be the TDP-logo printed on the new one. Though if you already own an original Z-Knight then you won't need the new one, but if you don't have the original one then the new one is definitely a must ;-) Unfortunately there are no signs of a general re-release of Z-Knights - but then obviously everything is possible... To the top of the page |
