CHANNEL ZI UPDATES AND NEWS LAST UPDATED: 11 May 2018

UPDATE NOTES, 5/11/18:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Hey folks! Welcome to the latest iteration of Channel Zi! Lots of changes since the last update. LOTS. And not just for the website. ;)

As we move into our 18th year, the site structure is completely changed now. All the old pages and subpages are no more! They always were a pain to keep up with, especially as Tomy really opened the floodgates in the early 2000s. We have now shifted (or more accurately, ARE shifting) that old content over to our new Facebook and Instagram pages (and Twitter, though I don't care for that platform much right now). A new addition is our Ebay store page, although many of those items will (eventually) also be available less expensively via the FB page. Yes, yes...I railed against Ebay in my last update, and I'm still of the opinion that they are far less cool than they were 20 years ago, and that they take a much larger chunk from you than they really need, but...it's also an excellent way to reach a lot of people whom I wouldn't otherwise be able to reach. And frankly, I've sold a hell of a lot of collection excess since the last update thanks to it. A necessary evil, I suppose.

So yes, I'm continuing to clear out a big portion of the Zoids collection that I have spoken of in previous updates, mostly NJR/NAR stuff and OER stuff, with a sprinkling of other sub-lines throughout. It's not a complete selldown, more like a streamlining exercise. :) Am also unloading quite a few items from the other toy lines I have collected...all in an effort to have less stuff and more time. And it's going pretty well so far, but there's a loooooong way to go...

One thing that has become apparent as Channel Zi is revitalized for the umpteenth time, and that it that we are likely now the oldest English-language Zoids website out there. O_O Not to usurp Jerry's title by any means, but I couldn't find his old website with my most focused Google-Fu. I'd better talk with Jerry to see if it's still out there (somehow) beyond the reach of Google. O_o All that aside, it's really strange when thinking of how much time has passed since the great Zoids rebirth in 1999. Those days seem so close and yet so distant. So much has happened with Zoids in those last 19 years, to say nothing of every other toy line that holds our interest. Man...

We'll wrap up this update now to keep it relatively short. Thanks as always stopping by to check out our delightfully outdated yet still kicking website! We've got lots of new content planned for the new branch sites, and hope to be sharing that with you more regularly in the coming days/weeks/months/years...so stay tuned to Channel Zi! :D

UPDATE NOTES, 12/21/15:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Hey there Zoiders! Holy shit, we've been online for FIFTEEN YEARS! Heh, can't say that I've been consistently updating during that time tho. :P Frankly, it kinda freaks me out a bit...more than the fact that Zoids themselves have been around for 33 years now. Crazy. And what better way to celebrate such an anniversary by launching the new (and long overdue) home for the site, www.channelzi.com!

The focus of the site is shifting too... After fifteen years of bringing you all the Zoids stuff that's fit to print (and a shitload that isn't), we are shifting away from strictly Zoids to encompass a much, much wider range of toys. MUCH wider. O_O Much more updating to come in the weeks ahead on that, so stay tuned. In the meantime, let's get on with some Zoid news and general ruminating. ;)

When Channel Zi started in 2000, it was pretty easy to get a grasp on all the old Zoids that had been released in the 80s, the alternate lines (Robo Strux, Techno Zoids), and the new ones out in Japan at that time...so the idea of dedicating a site to Zoids seemed like it would be a feasible and manageable undertaking. In the 15 years since, it's become nigh-impossible to do so. So many variations, re-releases, re-re-releases, new releases, HMM versions, Revoltech versions, D-style, gashapon, multiple animes, multiple mangas, vidgames, etc, etc....madness. Sheer madness. =X^O Looking back over some of the updates on this list, it's difficult to remember what life was like when I was making those updates. The Zoiding arena has changed so much in that time, it's been interesting to see, and difficult to fully take in. The fan-focus these days appears to have shifted mostly to Kotobukiya's HMM series of Zoid kits. While not motorized, the trade-off is in the level of detail achieved in the kits. Lack of necessity of moving parts has allowed for a hyper-realization of many classic Zoid designs. While I'll always prefer my Zoids motorized, I HAVE picked up a couple of HMMs along the way. Finding time to build them...that's another story. Meanwhile, customizing is still going strong in the fan community, and more people seem to have taken it on as a creative way to enjoy Zoids.

And even more holy shit, it's been over six years since the last site update! Jeez. You'd never believe me if I told you everything that had gone down since 2009 though. Good times, bad times, and a sprinkling of Zoids throughout. There have been a few solid additions to the stable in the last six years, mostly Robo Strux units. Scored a crazy-cheap unbuilt Brutox. The windup Robo Strux units have been painful to the wallet though...and red-box Chompz still eludes me. Manged to pick up a set of the Rebirth Century units that I did not yet have, as well as some unbuilt OJR windups that I did not yet have. The heaviest item, though, is an OJR Iron Kong Mk II Limited! Managed to find one Stateside and wow, is it awesome. Undecided as to whether I will build it....

Anyway, I'm back again (though I never really went away) to roll out the new site address, and to say that the bulk of the old site will remain buried in an archived hard drive in my garage until further notice. In the interim, we are shifting our focus somewhat to the new Channel Zi Facebook page! Yep, find us there at The Channel Zi Facebook Page. This format will allow more frequent updating, and also a good place to sell some of the collection overflow that has plagued me for some time. Ebay has frankly become an unfavorable place for an individual seller to unload the occasional item that's taking up space in a closet. That's unfortunate, because in its early days, Ebay was an absolute blast for selling and buying toys of all kinds. You could buy and sell all manner of crap there, and not lose much of what you make in the form of fees to the auction house. That's what happens when the corporate types take over...the fun dies, and it's all about THEM making the money, not YOU.

In other Zoid-related news, we lament the passing earlier this year of the ZOIDSPOISON site and message board. To the best of our knowledge, it is not coming back. There was a lot of Zoid fan knowledge and history tied up in that site, and now it's just lost. A shame, but there's not much you can do when the domain owner doesn't want to renew the lease. It was a fantastic run while it lasted, met a lot of interesting folks there, made a lot of good trades/deals, saw a lot of Zoid customizing talent displayed. Shame it had to end. But! This just means everyone is hanging out back at Pheno's again. ^_^

Oh, the Helic wallpaper is staying, BTW. It's in our e-blood. :)

That's it for this round. Hope no one is holding their breath waiting for the next update. Anyone who did last time is likely dead by now anyway... =X^D

UPDATE NOTES, 03/14/09:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Hey there Zoiders, and welcome to what I will hope to be our last server move EVER. O_O Every time something big like a server move or some such goes down, I end up taking a long look at how to make the site flow better, and how to streamline it...and usually end up throwing up my hands in frustration. This time was not much different. In fact, with this server move, I feel as though the best thing to do is start from nearly the ground-up, especially in the individual Zoid pages.

On the whole, the general format won't change...no fancy animations or drop-down menus or anything like that. I've revised the old individual page format just a little into a slightly cleaner form that should look a bit sharper and will be easier for me to modify later if needed. Also, I've decided to add my own notes/opinions about each unit below the stats and main photo section of each unit page. This will make the site a bit more blog-like, but it will also keep me from getting in a rush.

The anime section really hasn't changed much. As I work my way through Fuzors and Genesis sometime this year, though, I will probably add sections for them. Links to other sites should also not change much, though there's a little shuffling going on there.

One of the big decisions I'm struggling with might seem simple: whether or not to drop a hallmark of Channel Zi since Day 1: the old faded Helic logo wallpaper. I'm still mulling that one over, as I have a nice replacement in mind.

I've decided to kick off this latest reshuffling of the deck here at Channel Zi with a thorough review of the Battle Rex! Head on over to THIS PAGE to read about this oddball critter that never made it into full production!

That's it for this round. Hope no one is holding their breath waiting for the next update... =X^D

UPDATE NOTES, 08/17/08:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Hey there Zoiders! As usual, life has that annoying tendency of getting in the way of site updates. This has been our modus operandi for many years now, unfortunately...the hazard of actually having too much of a life away from computers, I suppose. So it is that I must apologize for the lack of update activity.

The site updating task that has been in the works for umpteen months remains a pretty daunting one, as there are a lot of critters hemmed up in the corral these days waiting to be worked up. Way too many, in fact. Couple that with one of the most upheavalistic years to hit me since I created Channel Zi, and you end up with me starting to wonder if I'll really have time to work on all those Zoid projects I had hoped to accomplish, site-related or otherwise.

With way too many unexpected large expenses (car- and house-related stuff, mostly) that have been hammering away at me as a big part of this wacky year, I've had to return to selling a lot of toy stuff over the last few months. It's helped, but it's still just not enough to keep up it seems...so it's time to start turning loose of the better stuff. As of yesterday, I've begun auctioning off many of my spare (mostly unbuilt) Zoids that I've accumulated over the last decade. O_O

Click on the embedded link to check out my Ebay Items For Sale list. Yep, that's the only place you're going to find stuff for sale that's officially recognized by Channel Zi...because that's me doing the selling! =8^D The first round of stuff went up yesterday (August 16) with new listings to follow weekly or bi-weekly thereafter until further notice. New rounds will be posted as updates to my sales threads on both The ZoidsPoison Board and at Pheno's Zoids Board, and as fresh posts to The ZoidFans Market. Expect mostly unbuilt NJR and NAR stuff, but there may be an occasional OJR/OER/OAR item thrown in. =8^) For those of you in the US, it's a good opportunity to pick up some Zoidy things without paying killer shipping costs from the other side of the Pacific. For everyone else, keep in mind that I can and will ship worldwide, so please don't hesitate to throw your hat into the bidding ring too if there's something you're jonesing for.

I will not be entertaining emails asking stuff along the lines of "Do you have (insert random Zoid name here) and if so are you planning to sell it?". Just be patient, and keep an eye on my auction list. 99-cent starting bids on everything!

That's about it for this round. Cross your fingers, and with luck, I might get some stuff updated before year's end. In the meantime, I hope y'all will find something among the critters I'm moving through the Ebay stockyard that will help ya fill in a hole or two in your own Zoid collections. =8^)

UPDATE NOTES, 12/02/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
The Invasion is repelled! Yep, for a while there it looked as though those pesky OERs were going to overwhelm us and take over the site. Luckily, reinforcements arrived just in time to turn the tide of battle! But though we have pushed them back this time, I definitely wouldn't count them out...for EuroZoids are crafty devils...persistent too. =X^D

While this is mostly just a site status update, there's lots of great stuff coming up just around the corner! My new killer desktop is finally up and running (thanks Greg!), complete with all the old site files! Once a few minor tweaks are worked out with getting my scanner hooked up to it and running, the next big site update will be ready to rock-and-roll! I've been working on this update in bits and pieces for quite a while, but it's finally all coming together.

Collection-wise, there are a lot of holes being filled here in the last half of 2007! OJR, OER, NJR, NAR, NER...plenty to keep me busy at the workbench for quite a while, and all of which I hope to share with all y'all as best I can. This year, I've also found my previously nonchalant view on OERs and NARs to be refocusing, and I'm really enjoying going back and learning more about these sub-lines that I had previously not spent time researching. I'm also stepping into some previously uncharted territory with the collection lately...a place I would never have expected to go: pre-production samples, AKA, prototypes. O_O I've been reflecting lately, too, on the fact that it's been around 25 years since I first picked up li'l ol' (unnamed) Garius. Wow. The Grateful Dead said it best: what a long, strange trip it's been. =8^) And it ain't over yet!! =8^D

It was my wish when I started Channel Zi for it to be as broad a resource for Zoids outside of Japan as I possibly could create and maintain. With all the crazy limited releases over the last few years, it's been difficult to stay caught up with current things, let alone try to keep up the ongoing search for good vintage critters. With the help of good friends, though, all things are possible...and thanks to them I now feel CZ is ready once again to slide back into the groove and get its Zoid on like it should. >8^D It will still take a little while to get things back to full-speed...there's innumerable Zoids to process and upload, plus there's another big server move looming out there next year...but...one step at a time. Despite the changing tides of life and collecting in general, our mission here remains pretty much the same as it always has. Sure we don't have the most or the prettiest pictures, or the most detailed in-depth analysis of specific Zoids, or flashy animations or the like. What we do have is a love of Zoids, and a desire to share that enjoyment with the general public and the Zoiding community through our unique point of view...all in hopes that those who haven't already will find something positive in the "monster machines with the power to move", and through those positive things, bring the world a little closer together.

That's about it for this round. Until the upcoming big update, I'll give ya a teaser of what's to come in the months ahead... *wink*

UPDATE NOTES, 11/08/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
As some of you may have known, I recently got married! =8^D Now that the wedding is done, the big project that's been taking up all my spare time this year is completed...so it's time to get back to using the hobby-time towards paying a little more attention to the site updates again. =8^)

So what's happening next here at Channel Zi? Best prepare yourself, for The Invasion appears nigh... =8^O

UPDATE NOTES, 08/15/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Update time! Although, not much to add to the site right now. Just a few tweaks here and there, like adding a link to Zoidspoison and changing my email addy on the front page.

The move to mah new residence is complete, and the Zoids are all still packed and waiting to be rebuilt. As I think I've said before, that should start late this year. Lots of work to do at the new place...rearranging things and finding space for it all.

And...I've got some long-term Zoids projects in the works. The nature of those projects will be revealed in time. Suffice it to say, they are unlike anything I've tackled before...and they are a bit scary. But hey, what fun is life without a little risk? =8^)

That's all for this time! Thanks as always for stopping by to check us out!

UPDATE NOTES, 06/06/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Yep, it's an update! The most massive update since...since...well, since getting back online back at the start of the year!

As I write this, the images for the Catalog Scans section are in the home stretch to finishing their upload. Over the last 24 hours, I've restored the 24 Scale, New Zoids, Old Zoids, Robo Strux/Techno Zoids, Blox, and Customize Parts sections... making the bulk (95%-ish) of the old site now back online! Still a few broken links, outdated links, missing photos, etc. floating about...but that's small potatoes now that the bulk of the work is done. =8^) Many MANY thanks to my GI Joe community friend Matthew for graciously achieving in less than 2 weeks what would have taken me longer than 6 months: the full retrieval of all files from certain Iomega ZIP disk doom. =X^D Thanks also to Matthew's (twin) brother Chad for helping get all that set up. Guys, I really appreciate the assistance!

Also as of this writing, all the Zoids are being packed away for the eventual move to a new residence. For those of you with large Zoid collections planning to move, take heed: start disassembling them and packing them way WAY in advance of your move date. I nearly got caught last time...this time I'm getting ahead of the game. Still have five shelves worth to finish, but they've tended to go pretty quickly once I've gotten started on them in previous rounds.

Once the move is complete and we're settled in, I plan to begin slowly reassembling everything and replacing the old individual Zoid images with better ones. Sharp-eyed Zoiders will see where I've aleady started this. ;^) In parallel with that, I'll be adding new pages for the many Zoids that I have yet to document for the site. Look for those to start showing up on the site in the 4th quarter of 2007 (i.e., after the wedding).

Also, I find I'm experiencing something I've since come to call..."The Gilvader Effect". It's difficult to describe...nothing bad by any means, but it's something very noticeable that's reshaping my approach to toy collecting overall. I'll expand on it more in future updates, when I'm feeling a bit more chatty. ;^)

That's all for this round, folks. Thanks as always for stopping by to check us out!

UPDATE NOTES, 03/17/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Well, it's been a big week here for the Channel Zi Zoid collection! Two of my longtime grail items showed up in the mail this week, and it's been a real relief finally checking these two big guns off my hit list. First, OER Zoider Serragengar fixed me up with a Gore The Lord Protector (along with some other great OJR and NJR items, including a Zoids Core Box!). Thanks dude!

Second...well...I'll let the photo do the talking... ;^)

UPDATE NOTES, 01/14/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Nothing much to report, other than the New Japanese Zoids main page, CP main page, and LTD main page are all open again. A scant handful of individual NJR pages are available right now. Also, I've been getting my commentary text on the various main subpages updated, as my comments still reflected a 2003 POV on all things Zoid. Things have changed a bit since then... =8^D And too, I've done some image tweaking on the OJR Diorama Set main page and on the Anime main page.

Some more good news: As of this writing, I should have hardware on the way that will allow me to complete the site relaunch! That will begin no earlier than next weekend. Expect general slowness with that, as I will be reformatting ALL the as-yet unretrieved individual Zoid pages (OJR, NJR, CPs, 24-Scale, Robo-Strux, Techno-Zoids, etc.) to the slightly cleaner format currently visible on the few NJR pages I have up and running right now.

UPDATE NOTES, 01/01/07:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
As I said in my last update message: "good things always come to those who wait". The wait has been long, yes, but the good things have finally come around. Ladies and gentlemen...CHANNEL ZI IS BACK ON THE AIR!!! =8^D

Wow, just over three years since the last update. Gah! O_O A lot has happened in that time. So much, actually, that I won't try to cram it all into this update message. ^_^

As most of you recall, the original site was lost in a server move on our last host. Whether my host intentionally dumped the site during the move or not is debatable. He wasn't too terribly thrilled that traffic to Channel Zi was way outstripping traffic to his main site...and eating up a lot of bandwidth in the process. Either way, rebuilding Channel Zi at that point just wasn't going to work out for me. The site had grown to a pretty unmanageable size, and it really did need a major overhaul/cleaning. And a rest. Work cranked up to a whole new level. LIFE cranked up to a whole new level. Suddenly I found myself focused on all kinds of things that didn't exist when I started this site back in '00.

During the course of that time I tried to keep up with most new Zoid releases from Japan, but ultimately fell behind (and for the record, I'm still behind). A lot of the new stuff coming out was either reissues or just not that cool, IMO. As a result, I focused a lot on OJR stuff, and ended up buying a couple of collections that closed the gap on a lot of OJR stuff I was wanting. I'm STILL sorting through all the Zoids that were part of those collections...

So why return now? *shrug* Frankly, I'm not sure. The time just felt right.

The whole of the old site won't be returning all at once. Things will be piecemeal for a bit until I get a lot of page reformatting done. Yep, there are going to be broken and/or dead-end page and image links all over the place...so don't be surprised if stuff you had definitely seen here once upon a time isn't here at the grand re-opening. It'll be back eventually.

There are a number of things that are significantly changing here at Channel Zi with our relaunch. Among them:

* -- Getting back to basics. I started the site primarily for the Zoids toys. Over time, it grew to encompass a lot of different Zoidy things...so many different Zoidy things, in fact, that it just got to be too big to wrangle by myself. I don't want to go through that again. that means...no more fan art, no more comics synopses, no more anime episode synopses, no more CCG stuff, no more RPG stuff...just toy love and LOTS of attitude.
* -- No more "New US Zoids" stuff roaming about the site. If it was released in Japan and in the US, it goes in the Japanese section. Any US-specific stuff that was released after 2001 that I deemed cool enough to add to my collection will be tossed in with the Robo Strux & Techno Zoids section. Believe me, it's not because I hate Hasbro. I certainly don't. But that's a topic for another page here at the site...
* -- No more RPG or Anime site links pages. The links section has been overhauled. If the old link was dead or the site hadn't been updated in years, I dropped the link (except in a handful of cases). Anything else I felt worth keeping from the various old links pages has ended up in my new links pages.
* -- No more breaking news on pending Japanese Zoids releases. When I first launched the site, I was one of a handful of folks who were riding that wave of new Zoids news. Frankly, Pheno and others do a better job than I can now, mostly because they have the time to keep up with it. I'm distracted by too many other projects. If I hear a news nugget worth mentioning, though, I'll post it.

But...stuff won't just be going away. There are new things too! For instance...

* -- A new page will be added for the OJR Diorama Base, Figure, Remodel, and Custmize Sets! This was something I was planning before the site went down in '03. Really, I didn't want to start on the section until I had all the reference material in hand...and at that time it wasn't looking too favorable that it would happen soon. After a clean sweep of some recent auctions, though, I'm just about ready to get these sets loaded up and documented for everyone to see!
* -- The Son Of The Return Of The Revenge Of The Menace Of The Attack Of Major Kong's Zoids Page! It gives me great pleasure...and it is also a great honor for me...to be able to host the work of one of the most influential Zoids Customizers around, Major Kong! Kong's unholy detailing of windups, Command Zoids, and other smaller Zoids sets really raises the bar for all Zoiders who claim to follow the path of the Dark Side! Many of you have never witnessed the wonders of Kong's work, so step inside and enjoy the Zoid visions of one of the guys who inspired me to delve further into the world of Zoids and eventually create this mess called Channel Zi! Watch this updates page for the official unveiling of Kong's new site!


One thing certainly won't be changing here at Channel Zi, and that's the ATTITUDE. Expect plenty of that same obscure humor, slyness, and smartass opining that I like to think has come to be one of the hallmarks of this site. We're not here to please everyone...that's impossible. We're here to say "Zoids are cool, dammit! Here's why we like 'em...check 'em out yourself and maybe you'll find them pretty cool too!". So yeah, sticking to the toys, maybe a little stuff on a couple of the animes (because I like them)...that's about it for content.

As always, thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit Channel Zi. We appreciate your patronage, and hope you continue to enjoy our visions and interpretations of the world of Zoids. And if you don't enjoy your visit, well...there are a whole lot more Zoids sites out there now than 7 years ago, so...go find one ya DO like. Chances are, we'll still be lurking around here in one form or another long after they're gone. =X^D

UPDATE NOTES, 12/29/03:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
Alright, so...what was added this time? Nothing really. This update is purely for informational purposes.

As of right now, due to other commitments and changing priorities, we do not plan to be adding any new material to Channel Zi in 2004. Yep, we're taking a break from site work for (at least) a year. We're spread too thin over too many projects, and there are other far more important things that need attending to over the course of the next year. Most of those things are job-related. We will, however, be sticking around for the foreseeable future. Remember, good things always come to those who wait...

As always, thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit Channel Zi. We appreciate your patronage, and hope you continue to enjoy our visions and interpretations of the world of Zoids (few and far-between as they may be these days).

UPDATE NOTES, 07/04/03:

GENERAL SITE NEWS & MISC.:
With this update, pages are added for Arosaurer, Storch, Diablo Tiger, and Cyclops in the "New Zoids" section, and pages for Mosasledge, Flyscissors, Shellkarn, Diploguns, Demonshead, Boldguard, Lord Gale, Leostriker, Cannondiver, Deantler, and Genius Wolf in the "Blox" section. Images for most of these are ready, and the rest should be up and running here in another couple of days.

US VIDEOGAME NEWS:
Amazon.com has preorder listings for the Zoids videogames for Gamecube (Zoids Battle Legends) and Game Boy Advance (Zoids Legacy). Not a whole lot of info there about them yet, but if you want to reserve your copy with Amazon, I recommend you head over to our Amazon.com Zoids Order Page and click on the direct links to them there.