AZ-01 Blade Liger: So Is It Just Masterpiece Lite?

[@davidperdue7541]

4:01 The red coat of arms insignia I think belongs to the Leo Masters, a group within the Helic Republic who are renowned for being exceptional pilots of Liger type Zoids exclusively. I don't know a ton about their lore regarding how exactly they function but I suspect they are something of an analogue to the real world Navy Seals. It's an exclusive club for sure.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Thanks - I'll go ahead and pin this comment.

[@ZX-Gear]

Yeah. I assumed it was Battle Story exclusive lore as usual. Seriously,the Battle Story lore is SLEPT on.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@ZX-Gear all the more awesome that these stickers exist now, honestly. Someone at TT really wanted to make fans of more obscure Zoids lore happy.

[@Chilopodacrudus]

I don't comment on youtube videos much but I felt the need to say that I'm always so happy to see your uploads. They mean a lot to me as a huge Zoid fan since we don't really have that much Content out there to look at besides hanging out in the Discord which is great! But having these nice longer videos does wonders for me. I tend to come back and marathon your uploads every now and then when I'm feeling particularly Zoidy so I hope you can keep it up! Would love to see a collection video or just anything at all from ya.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Hey thanks, I really appreciate the kind words. There's also a couple of Facebook groups, Phenotype's forum is still around, and r/Zoids is reasonably active, if you're looking for more ;-) I definitely intend to keep it up, I've just been busy with work, really, and while I have plenty of old Zoids I could do videos about, there's never any urgency like when there's a new release, and so, well, you can probably imagine. The collection video is a topic that keeps coming up, but I just don't really have the equipment to do that in a way where it won't basically be the Blair Witch Project with Zoids, heh.

[@macdougalli2277]

@17:42 the extra bit at the top ..it makes the Liger into the "republic version"??? what does that mean? Its already a Republic zoid. Isnt that extra piece just leftover from Shield Liger?

[@spacehamsterZH]

Yeah, like I said in the video, I'm not sure what that's about. In CC the Blade Liger is basically unaffiliated because it's exclusively Van's Zoid (at least from what I remember, it's been a while), so maybe this refers to some other version or appearance, like in the Battle Story or NCZ. I really don't know. But the instructions clearly describe the piece as being an alternate piece if you want to build it as the "republic specification" (according to Google Translate), so it's not just a leftover Shield Liger piece.

[@davidperdue7541]

So you said that you have the next two on pre-oder. I know one of them is definitely the Liger Zero. That's one of my all-time favorite Zoids so I'm really looking forward to your review of it, but I'm wondering who the other one is. I want to assume it's Murasame Liger, but I've seen an image of what looked to be at least a design for a MP Liger Zero Phoenix. I've yet to see anything about an actual Prototype for it, though, so I probably just answered my own question. I do like the Ligers, with some of them I like much more than others, but I do agree with you. I guess they trump all the other Zoids by virtue of being the main flagship Zoids of all the anime series so they carry the franchise but, man, if we want to talk about a MASTERPIECE Zoid I think that making a redesign of the Geno Saurer would have absolutely been the way to go for a high quality motorized kit. The CPC pose would be an absolute must to have as a motorized functional animation. They did it before with the original Berserk Fuhrer and, after the success of the Zero Grizis, I think they could make it move really smoothly. Dare I say accurate to the anime. If it were somehow able to do that and to have a separate set of mechanics to allow it to do a roaring gesture... We really would be looking at a new pinnacle for the series.

[@spacehamsterZH]

The third one of the bunch is the Murasame Liger, and they've already shown prototype pictures. Actually, now that I think about it, I haven't preordered that one yet because it isn't up for preorder, just the Liger Zero. Don't know what I was thinking there. Anyway, yeah, I guess as far as the oversaturation with Ligers goes, we've got the same problem as Gunpla fans - everytime there's a new line, you have to sit through the inevitable RX 78-2 and probably also a Unicorn first. It's just still weird to me because I grew up on the OER, so I'll never really not think of Zoids as primarily robot dinosaurs, and like you said, a MP Genosaurer would be a) awesome and b) totally feasible, but obviously the relatively small R&D cost of just removing most gimmicks and just slapping some new armor on an existing model won that argument in TT's boardroom...

[@slash_wombat]

And agree, enough with the ligers already.

[@grahamsmith2022]

Great video review bro,I've watched a few and this is best by far,i agree totally with your assessment, it's a fabulous piece of engineering in its own right but for this anniversary i just get left a little bit empty wishing that they could have added some gimmicks instead of taking them away or as you say,doing a "dinosaur " type Zoid,after all that's how the line started.👍👌

[@spacehamsterZH]

Thanks, dude. I got a pit peeved when other channels already had their reviews up and I knew it was going to take me a while to get this one done, haha.

[@grahamsmith2022]

@spacehamsterZH you're welcome dude,I think the 'Blade Liger' might be the best of the dozens of kitty zoids but which is your favourite version?,the Kotobukiya HMM version might be it I my opinion.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@grahamsmith2022 Looks wise definitely the HMM, yeah. I'm a bit reluctant to pick one of those over its motorized counterpart on general principle, though.

[@slash_wombat]

Motorised looks great, wobbles from the extra armour, and falls apart more easily than the Shieldy.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@slash_wombat Haven't really had problems with the NJR having parts fall off, but otherwise, yeah, agree. It doesn't walk too well.

[@zmandaragis]

Are all your runners packed in plastic? I got mine today some aren't packed, thought it was weird.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they were all in bags... that's very weird. Was anything missing?

[@zmandaragis]

Luckily, all the runners are complete.

[@KairuHakubi]

I think I know what happened with the head. They elongated the torso to be more realistic, and to make room for blades (or in the case of the original use of the body, the flip-out missile pods, or planning for the fins on liger zero) and limb fins all clashing with each other, and that involved moving the shoulders further forward, and that put them in the way of the mane pieces. So they shrank the mane pieces down, but then the head looked wrong. so they shrank the whole head. What they SHOULD have done is.. make the torso longer? fine. Now make the NECK longer to match.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Also, if that's the reason, it didn't work because the Shield Liger, which is what the whole basic platform was originally designed for... kept getting its mane caught on the legs.

[@LokalMMAPH]

Wow, you have it already! Amazing.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Haha, I'm glad you feel that way - I was starting to get impatient when other channels had their reviews up and I didn't have mine yet...

[@LokalMMAPH]

@@spacehamsterZH I think it's just arriving at our local stores here in the Philippines. Usual SRP is 90 to 110 USD.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@LokalMMAPH I guess the one advantage of having no distribution here and ordering everything directly from Japan is that I have everything within a week of initial release... just don't ask me how much I paid for shipping.

[@LokalMMAPH]

@@spacehamsterZH It's probably hefty... Haha. Anyways, thank you for the amazing review as always!

[@GeneralFeixiao]

I feel that they made the head smaller to make it seem a little more balanced because if we’re being realistic, I don’t think a Zoid would be able to function properly with a larger head. It’s understandable though if it’s a Zoid modified for transportation and things like that.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Yeah, I mean, there's no in-universe functional reason why the head needs to be bigger other than the fact that sabertooth tigers in general have bigger heads, but... it just looks off to me, and I still think TT knows it looks off because they intentionally photographed the model in a misleading way. Quick spoiler for the next video: this is not an issue with the Liger Zero!

[@aimrankamarulbahrin1701]

Is the model kit undergate?

[@spacehamsterZH]

No. Tomy's kits are generally more geared towards being toys-that-you-build, they don't really do undergating and keep everything as simple as possible.

[@Hoshimaru57]

Okay, so it IS a proper model kit. I was worried it was a pre-built frame with just the armor snapping on like a Genesis kit for some reason. In that case: I’ll take a blade liger and a Deathsaurer please.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Oh yeah, these are actually more complex than your average classic Zoids model. Deathsaurer's still a while off, but man, I can't wait.

[@Hoshimaru57]

@@spacehamsterZHI decided to pull the trigger on this one. They are releasing the red Blade Liger too, but I think this is more iconic. I’m also going to get the Deathsaurer when I get the chance, but I need to recover some money first and pay bills.

[@ZX-Gear]

I want to point out how the box displays the Blade Liger and how it is supposed to be built is a bit different and confused me with the build. The feet armor for instance is very different and seemed misassmblied looking between the 2. Also,be careful with how you slide in the clear canopy as I found a crack on mine and had to get a new one shipped to me. Just a heads up.

[@spacehamsterZH]

Thanks - I didn't have these problems, especially not the canopy (and thank god for that - I couldn't get a replacement part where I live), but I'm sure others will find this helpful!

[@ZX-Gear]

@spacehamsterZH My issue is that the indent to slide them in I only found out too late and I only figured out now. Plus I live in Florida and HobbyLink Japan got me a replacement part on the way.

[@spacehamsterZH]

@@ZX-Gear Wow, I didn't know HLJ did parts replacements... that's awesome.

[@ZX-Gear]

@spacehamsterZH Yeah. I got the new parts and it is the issue with the design as there is only one notch so it forces the clear plastic to stretch each time you put it in and out. This sucks for people who want to paint their kits. My replacement canopy got cracked not too long after I got said replacement.

[@ZX-Gear]

@spacehamsterZH The next replacement I get I won't use till I paint the kit if I don't have to outright buy a new one.

[@macdougalli2277]

Watching this makes me want to sell my Masterpiece Shield Liger, and go buy a Masterpiece Saber Tiger & the new Blade Liger

[@spacehamsterZH]

We-e-ell... I can see why you'd say that, but the MPZs are super hard to come by these days, and the Saber Tiger is the rarer one of the two, so don't sell that Shieldy just yet unless you're sure you can replace it...

[@Twotoys.Collector]

No roar like the MPZ Shield Liger ~~~ so sad and dissapoint :((

[@ZX-Gear]

Well the MSRP is less than half of the MP but the gearbox is still compatible.

[@slash_wombat]

​@@ZX-Gear Hmmmm... ;)

[@slash_wombat]

Hold the phone. Major Kong lives?

[@spacehamsterZH]

Hahaha. That depends on who you're talking about. Slim Pickens is dead, but the man who called himself Major Kong around the Zoids interwebs over 20 years ago is very much alive and kickin', yeah.