Academy Zoids

Academy Zoids is a line of Zoids, licensed by Tomy for release in Korea.

Academy Zoids.
Academy logo
Start Date	2001
End Date
Includes Zoids From	Various
Regions	Korea
Designation	Various

Overview

Academy released a line of Zoids models which mirrored a number of Takara-Tomy kits from different periods. Although Academy has a presence in Europe and the United States, these Zoids were distributed only in Korea. The main difference from the Takara-Tomy Zoids lines was a language switch to Korean and the presence of the "Academy" logo, either printed or added as a sticker, on the boxes.

Because the Academy line Zoids were released after their Japanese counter-parts, the molds saw some degradation. Most notably, the Command Wolf frames and the legs of Shield/Blade Liger models made after 2012 suffered mold degradation to the point they could not be put together without modification.

Customize Part kits were included in the line. Academy would use these parts to make their own combination-sets such as Liger Zero + CAS units, Blade Liger + Attack Booster, and Gojulas + Cp-10. Fanbook EX pamphlets and other advertisements included with the Takara-Tomy kits were present in the line as well, re-printed with Korean text. Academy also made three unique posters of their own design and included them with a few of the larger Zoids kits.

Releases

2001:

Though not the first Korean Zoids line to be released, the Academy line started in 2001 with four Zoids.

• Liger Zero
• Liger Zero X
• Salamander
• Gordos

At this point, only a sticker of the Academy logo was present to differentiate these from the NJR versions; the box and instruction texts were still in Japanese. These kits did not have the mold imperfections that were seen in the later Academy releases. These may have been leftover stock from Japan and Academy simply distributed them in Korea.

2002-2009:

Between the end of 2002 and 2009 the majority of Zoids seen in the Zoids (1999) line were released by Academy, this time with Korean text in the manuals and boxes. The line had its own website, Zoidsclub.com during this period, which listed available models, information about the Anime of the time, Zoids TV commercials, general modelling tips and some background information about the Zoids themselves. Guylos and Helic had English titles displayed, translated as Gairos and Heric.

Academy Blade Liger

Zoids released:

• EZ-001 Saicurtis One of the few designation number inconsistencies between the Japanese and Academy sets. This would later be corrected to Gojulas in the 2010 wave.
• RZ-002 Guysack
• RZ-003 Barigator
• EZ-004 Red Horn
• EZ-005 Redler
• EZ-006 Molga
• RZ-007 Shield Liger
• RZ-008 Gordos -second Academy released Gordos
• RZ-009 Command Wolf
• RZ-010 Pteras
• EZ-011 Hel Digunner
• EZ-012 Brachios
• RZ-013 Cannon Tortoise
• RZ-014 Godos
• EZ-015 Iron Kong
• EZ-016 Saber Tiger
• EZ-017 Iguan
• RZ-019 Double Sworder
• RZ-020 Stealth Viper
• EZ-021 Death Saurer
• EZ-022 Gator
• EZ-023 Helcat
• Zi-024 Command Wolf Irvine
• Zi-025 Gustav
• EZ-026 Geno Saurer
• EZ-027 Rev Rapter
• RZ-028 Blade Liger
• RZ-029 Storm Sworder
• RZ-030 Gun Sniper
• RZ-031 Dibison
• EZ-032 Sinker
• RZ-033 Hammer Head
• EZ-034 Geno Breaker
• EZ-035 Lightning Saix
• EZ-036 Death Stinger
• RZ-037 Ultra Saurus
• EZ-038 Elephander
• RZ-039 Raynos
• EZ-040 Wardick
• RZ-041 Liger Zero -second time Academy released this Zoid. Included a Korean language Fanbook pamphlet while the first release did not.
• RZ-042 Command Wolf AC
• RZ-043 Spinosapper
• EZ-044 Zabat
• RZ-045 Salamander second Academy release of this Zoid
• RZ-046 Shadow Fox
• EZ-049 Berserk Führer
• RZ-052 Gunbluster
• RZ-053 König Wolf
• EZ-054 Liger Zero X -second Academy release of this Zoid.
• RZ-055 Madthunder
• EZ-056 Hammer Rock
• RZ-057 Snipe Master
• EZ-060 Dark Spiner
• EZ-061 Killer Dome
• RZ-064 Gojulas Giga
• EZ-065 Dimetrodon
• RZ-066 Gorhecks
• RZ-067 Arosaurer
• EZ-068 Storch on the back of this box, there is a small error. The "R" in Storch has a reversed color pattern from the other letters.
• EZ-069 Seismosaurus
• RZ-070 Gairyuki
• RZ-071 Ligerzero Phoenix
• EZ-072 Energy Liger
• EZ-074 Death Raser
• RZ-075 Rayse Tiger
• EZ-076 Brastle Tiger

• Zoids Customise Parts: All Customize Parts sets from CP-01 through CP-21 excluding CP-16 the Zoids Controller. This would later be seen in the 2010 wave.

• Liger Zero Schneider set (base Zoid + CP)
• Liger Zero Jager set (base Zoid + CP)
• Liger Zero Panzer set (base Zoid + CP)

Notice the designation 028AB and the old Tomy logo

• Blade Liger AB set. Given the special designation number of 028AB. This version had only the older Tomy logo.

• BZ-001 Leoblaze
• BZ-002 Unenlagia
• BZ-003 Mosasledge
• BZ-004 Nightwise
• BZ-005 Flyscissors
• BZ-006 Shellkarn
• BZ-007 Diploguns
• BZ-008 Demonshead
• BZ-009 Buster Eagle
• BZ-010 Boldguard
• BZ-011 Lord Gale
• BZ-012 Leostriker

• FZ-001 Liger Zero Phoenix
• FZ-003 Command Wolf AC
• FZ-006 Buster Führer
• FZ-015 Energy Liger
• FZ-016 Liger Zero Falcon
• FZ-018 Gairyuki Shin

2010-Present:

Starting 2010, Academy continued its line with Zoids from the Genesis and Blox series. This was the point where unique Zoid + CP combination sets were seen. Academy also changed the ZoidsClub to be a subsection of Academy.co.kr rather than its own separate website.

Though the company focused on the newer Blox and Genesis lines in 2010, it did not completely stop reproduction of kits previously released. For example, Liger Zero X was seen again despite having been in the original 2001 launch. These differed in that the 2010 Liger Zero X had flat red Liger Zero Empire parts, severe marbling in the silver and Korean texts while the 2001 version was nearly identical to the NJR. Another example includes the Academy Command Wolf AC; first seen in the 2002 wave, it was released multiple times over the years. By 2015 the mold was so overused that the latest release had parts "bleeding" excess plastic into the sprues and had a mold so degraded that it could not be put together.

Zoids Released:

• Deadborder
• Blade Liger AB set. Given the special designation number of 028AB. This was the second time this combination kit was released, this time with the Takara-Tomy logo in blue.
• Blade Liger BE or "Black Edition" This Featured different colors on the box art, but was identicle to the Fuzors "Black Impact" release.

Newer Version

• Liger Zero with Fuzors styled box. The kit is standard colored and does not include RD though.
• Gojulas
• Gojulas + Cp-10 combination set
• Whitz Wolf

• Zoids Customise Parts Kits CP-11 through CP-19 including the Zoids Controller this time.

• RZ-002 Guysack
• RZ-003 Barigator
• EZ-004 Red Horn
• EZ-005 Redler
• EZ-006 Molga
• RZ-007 Shield Liger
• RZ-008 Gordos
• RZ-009 Command Wolf
• RZ-010 Pteras
• RZ-014 Godos
• EZ-016 Saber Tiger
• EZ-017 Iguan
• EZ-018 Saicurtis This time, the designation number was corrected.
• RZ-019 Double Sworder
• RZ-020 Stealth Viper
• EZ-022 Gator
• EZ-023 Helcat
• Zi-024 Command Wolf Irvine
• Zi-025 Gustav
• EZ-026 Geno Saurer
• EZ-027 Rev Rapter
• RZ-030 Gun Sniper
• EZ-034 Geno Breaker
• EZ-035 Lightning Saix
• EZ-036 Death Stinger
• EZ-038 Elephander
• RZ-039 Raynos
• EZ-040 Wardick
• RZ-046 Shadow Fox Wind-up key in the tail was slightly warped in this release
• RZ-042 Command Wolf AC released more than once between 2010 and 2015. Severe mold degradation has made it impossible to assemble by normal means.
• RZ-043 Spinosapper
• EZ-044 Zabat
• EZ-049 Berserk Führer
• RZ-052 Gunbluster
• RZ-053 König Wolf
• EZ-054 Liger Zero X
• RZ-057 Snipe Master
• RZ-062 Saberlion
• EZ-063 Gun Tiger
• EZ-065 Dimetrodon

• FZ-001 Liger Zero Phoenix
• FZ-002 König Wolf Mk-II Some Mold degradation present making the Sniper Rifle difficult to assemble.
• FZ-003 Command Wolf AC
• FZ-006 Buster Führer
• FZ-007 Lord Gale
• FZ-011 Killer Spiner
• FZ-012 Command Striker
• FZ-013 Matrix Dragon
• FZ-014 Chimera Dragon
• FZ-015 Energy Liger
• FZ-016 Liger Zero Falcon
• FZ-017 Jet Falcon
• FZ-018 Gairyuki Shin
• FZ-019 Gravity Wolf
• FZ-020 Gravity Saix Notable marbling on the metallic orange color of this kit
• FZ-021 Gravity Saurer

• BZ-001 Leoblaze
• BZ-002 Unenlagia
• BZ-003 Mosasledge
• BZ-004 Nightwise
• BZ-005 Flyscissors
• BZ-006 Shellkarn
• BZ-007 Diploguns
• BZ-008 Demonshead
• BZ-015 Styluarmor
• BZ-016 Scissorstorm
• BZ-017 Laserstorm
• BZ-018 Dispelow
• BZ-019 Evoflyer
• BZ-020 Leogator
• BZ-021 Dimetroptera
• BZ-022 Jet Falcon

Some boxes of the Academy Genesis varied in colour from the Japanese versions.

• GZ-001 Molga Canory
• GZ-002 Cannon Fort
• GZ-003 Command Wolf LC
• GZ-004 Hound Soldier
• GZ-005 Hebby Rhimos
• GZ-006 Zabat
• GZ-007 Sword Wolf
• GZ-008 Soul Tiger
• GZ-009 Brastle Tiger
• GZ-010 Murasame Liger
• GZ-011 Rainbow Jerk
• GZ-012 Lanstag
• GZ-013 Bamburian
• GZ-014 Deadly Kong
• GZ-015 Hayate Liger
• GZ-016 Mugen Liger
• GZ-017 Decalto Dragon
• GZ-018 Gil Dragon

• GB-001 Bio Megaraptor
• GB-002 Bio Tyranno
• GB-003 Bio Kentro
• GB-004 Bio Tricera
• GB-005 Bio Ptera
• GB-006 Bio Raptor
• GB-007 Bio Raptor Gui
• GB-008 Bio Volcano

Trivia

• The Academy Zoids television commercials released between 2002 and 2009 were same as the Tomy commercials, on translated into Korean. However, in 2010, unique commercials were aired, parts of which were edited into the video seen on the current Academy ZoidsClub page.
• Deadborder is the only Academy Zoid from the OJR era. Its mold is the same as the Toy Dream Project version.
• If treated as a singular line, this is the longest running Zoids toy series in history.
• Just as there are bootlegs of standard Takara-Tomy Zoids, there are counterfeits of Academy Zoids too. These are rarely seen outside Korea.
• A Red Blade Liger was once seen on the older ZoidsClub.com website. It was never released.

Links

http://www.academy.co.kr/zoidsclub/ Current (2010 version) Academy ZoidsClub page.

http://web.archive.org/web/20021124130859/http://www.zoidsclub.com/ Old ZoidsClub website accessible through Internet Archive only.