Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Various angles

The canopy and mouth open, and the E-Shield Generators (mane blades) deploy.

Deployment of the Completion Refrigerators on the sides of the shoulders, and movement of the Laser Blades

Rocket booster deployment.
Doesn't open up as dramatically as the Kotobukiya HMM.

Tomy Blade Liger - You can optionally build the top of the head with a 5-strand mane, and one additional pilot figure is also

You can optionally build the top of the head with a 5-strand mane,
and one additional pilot figure is also included as an optional extra.

Effect parts for the Laser Blades

Leg articulation range

Waist and neck articulation range.
The neck goes up quite a lot.

The rear of the waist also moves side to side.

The legs can spread apart this much too.

Tomy Blade Liger - The white instep armor limits how far the ankle can bend forward. This ends up restricting the leg poses y

The white instep armor limits how far the ankle can bend forward.
This ends up restricting the leg poses you can pull off.

Pulse Laser Gun firing pose

Attack pose

Tomy Blade Liger - Laser Blades deployed pose (1/3)

Laser Blades deployed pose

Tomy Blade Liger - Poses using the effect parts (1/4)

Tomy Blade Liger - Poses using the effect parts (2/4)

Poses using the effect parts

Tomy Blade Liger - Alongside the Kotobukiya Zoids 1/72 HMM Blade Liger released in 2007. The Kotobukiya kit holds up well eno

Alongside the Kotobukiya Zoids 1/72 HMM Blade Liger released in 2007.
The Kotobukiya kit holds up well enough in terms of detail that the 18-year gap doesn't feel all that huge.

This kit is the Realize Model Blade Liger released by Takaratomy. The Realize Model line is a 100% plastic model series at a nice 1/100 scale, taking a different approach from the traditional semi-assembled, pre-motorized Tomy Zoids. The very first release in February 2025 is the ever-popular Blade Liger.

First off, true to its 1/100 scale, it's a compact kit with a reasonable parts count and solid sculpting. The color separation is well done, and the Laser Blades and tail even come pre-painted, so the straight build already looks great straight out of the box. The molded colors in particular are much closer to Bandai quality than Kotobukiya — a definite step up from the toy-like colors of the older Tomy Zoids.

On the articulation side, it offers a solid level of poseability for a variety of poses. The neck and waist are especially flexible, which really helps with posing — though the ankle articulation is a bit of a letdown. The instep armor gets in the way and prevents the foot from bending far forward, which makes it tricky to get the legs posed back while keeping them flat on the ground. That said, the joint strength is set very firmly for the kit's size, so you won't have to worry at all about poses holding — if anything, it feels almost a little stiff to move. But that's still better than being loose.

The various gimmicks are all faithfully reproduced — the canopy, E-Shield Generators, Completion Refrigerators, rocket boosters, and Laser Blade deployment mechanisms are all there. On top of that, effect parts for the Laser Blades are included, letting you pull off some pretty flashy action poses. You also get a 5-strand head mane and one extra pilot figure as bonus parts.

It's hard not to compare it to the Kotobukiya HMM Blade Ligerfrom 2007. It's smaller and more manageable than the 1/72 HMM, with sturdier durability and cleaner molded colors. That said, in terms of detail and gimmicks, the larger-scale HMM still has the edge. And while the HMM had a parts count that was waaay too high for its size and made assembly a bit of a slog, the Realize Model has a much more streamlined parts count that makes it a lot easier to put together.

The assembly feel, though, is on the stiff side — similar to early Kotobukiya kits — so it doesn't have that smooth, flowing feel you get with Bandai. And the HMM's original release price was ¥4,800 despite having what looks like four times the parts, while this kit is ¥4,500 — so the difference isn't that big. (Inflation over the years, I guess...)

All in all, this is Takaratomy's ambitious new Zoids plastic model lineup kicking off in 2025, and the 1/100 scale really works in its favor. It doesn't have quite the same smooth feel as a Bandai kit, but in terms of molded colors, durability, and ease of assembly, it's a step above the Kotobukiya HMM series. Either way, if you're a Zoids fan, this is a very welcome new Zoids model kit after a long wait — with plenty to be happy about. :-)

Blade Liger | 2025.2 | ¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.