--This rumble is dedicated to Yappy and Mark. Without your repeated advice and urging, I would have never purchased this fine toy.

have never really been a huge fan of the whole Zoids phenomenon. Generally speaking the all plastic construction half model half wind up toy simply never appealed to me. I could see why the line was a success, but the spark just wasn’t there somehow. When Yappy first recommended that I pick up the Zoids KZ-02 Metal Action Berserk Führer, I was mildly interested, but other pieces invariably won out in the toy buying queue.

Toy of the Year came and went, and the KZ-02 was one of the few toys I didn’t own from the list of nominations. I was chatting with Yappy and he reiterated the importance of the KZ-02 and my inevitable ownership of it. Needless to say, I gave in and I am ever so pleased I did. The KZ-02 is simply put, the most fun toy I have purchased in years. I have more beautiful toys, more interesting and unbelievable toys, but in terms of sheer fun and playability, the KZ-02 is certainly among very exclusive company.

The KZ-02 skeleton boasts incredibly solid die-cast and ABS construction. I played with it for hours before even bothering with the armor. Its fully articulated, many ball and socket joints complemented appropriately with detented hinge joints in the obvious places. The most unexpected feature was the ball and socket joints in the body that really allowing for some cool, raptor-like poses.

Mein Führer comes with two trays packed solid with hideous lavender armor pieces. The armor snaps on snugly with little or no fear of breakage. The armor poses incredibly well and restricts movement very little, save for the forearms. The little tiny arms seem a bit lost and dwarfed in the sea of lavender lines. His weaponry in insane, fully jointed and expandable and it presents a multitude of different posing possibilities. I am interested to see if TOMY will release other armor packs for the KZ-02 as they did with the KZ-01.

The KZ-02 has been a real treat and a surprise. If you like toys vaguely reminiscent of the old Takara 1/72 Dougram line, this toy promises to give you hours of enjoyment. It retails at such an amazingly low price point, I was really shocked at the incredible engineering, sculpt and playability. This toy makes me stop and wonder why we don’t have a ‘Master Grade’ style Gundam toy with a die-cast skeleton and snap on armor pieces for ¥4800.