RZ-075, Rayse Tiger is a unique Zoid in that it has the ability to absorb energy from enemy attacks via the special panels that adorn its body. Rayse Tiger is one of three Zoids from the "Three Tiger" story line in, which ancient Zoid Cores were discovered and reanimated. Rayse Tiger is an awesome model, first it sports glow in the dark pieces, and second, it is the very first to use the fiber optic lighting system. (The fiber optics were also featured on the Genesis remake of Rayse Tiger: Soul Tiger.) I would also like to take some time in this review to cover the harder to come by upgrade unit for this kit titled: "Ptero Rayse". Petro Rayse is a smaller kit that was released alongside the Game Cube Game Zoids Versus III. Ptero Rayse seems to be more elusive than it's other video game counter parts Sauro Knights and Blade Hawk, and more on Transhawk's rarity level. I was lucky enough to score this small kit on Yahoo Japan recently, and decided to present them both in their entirety. Enjoy!
The back of Rayse Tiger's box features a couple of alternate builds. The first is sort of a heavy arms version of the Tiger. This conversion states that parts from Whitz Wolf and Savinga are used.
The second conversion turns Rayse Tiger into an Elephant type Zoid using parts from Boldguard, Dispelow, and Evo Flyer.
Let's take a look at both Rayse Tiger and the Ptero Rayse units below.
Rayse Tiger consists of:
1 DVD
9 Sprues (1 Glow in the Dark)
1 Motor
1 Pilot
1 Instruction Booklet
1 Sticker Sheet
1 Eye Lens Piece (Glow in the Dark)
1 Battery Port Cover
1 Display Stand and Base Set
2 Fiber Optic Holing pieces (loose)
3 of Fiber Optic Cables
12 Orange Caps
Below: A closer look at the glow in the dark sprue, fiber optic cables, DVD, and stickers.
I began by taking a look at the included DVD.
The DVD featured nothing special, a clip that Rayse Tiger makes an appearance in and a sort of "feature" of a couple regular and blox Zoids where it displays actual dimensions of the Zoid. The title graphic on this review is a screen capture from the DVD main menu. I also took some time to do a few more captures of different scenes from the DVD, see below.
Now primed for the build, we begin with the head.
The head features 3 glow in the dark parts including the eye lens. The complete head is awesome, if you look closely you can see that the blue plastic has a metallic fleck to it, which just makes the blue pieces "pop.+-"
With the head complete, the tail is started.
Complete.
We then move onto work with the fiber optic cables.
It is a bit tricky to position them as the instruction booklet indicates. They are weaved into one of the loose pieces, and then held in place with the other piece.
Finished.
The legs are then started. They start with the foreleg.
Then the rest is completed and held in place with a single cap. Note the single glow in the dark that fits into the top of the leg unit.
The finished leg.
The process is then repeated for the other side, and the front legs are complete.
The hind legs are then started. As with the rear legs the top portion is constructed first.
The rest of the leg is then fixed.
The leg is now finished.
The same process is then repeated for the fourth and last leg. The pair of back legs is finished.
Next, we start the work on the body unit. This includes placing the two neck pieces, dual chest guns, triple chest cannon, on/off switch marker, and glow in the dark chest panel.
Finished.
Back to the fiber optics.
The covered cables are placed into the cavity on the body.
The cables are placed on the left and right sides, as well as strung along the back of the unit. A cover plate is then fitted to hold them in place.
Complete.
Next, a shoulder plate is fitted on each side of the body, and one strand of cable is ran through the opening. There is also a glow in the dark piece that is fitted into each shoulder plate.
This process is repeated on the opposite side.
The cable is then fitted into the slots on each plate.
We then move onto creating the back plate, which houses the remaining cable.
The cable is then fitted into the slot.
It's back to work on the legs. We start with the front leg and assemble the actual shoulder. This is composed of five pieces, with two of them being glow in the dark.
Complete.
The rear leg shoulder is then assembled, it also contains glow in the dark pieces.
. Complete.
The two fully assembled legs are then placed on the body.
Complete.
The shoulder building and attaching is then completed on the opposite side of the Rayse Tiger. The unit can now freely stand on it's own.
Next the head, tail, and port cover are placed.
*Thoughts up to this Point*
Note this unit looks like it was originally intended to have a functional grade up port, but looks like it was abandoned before release. The picture of the Rayse on the box does not show the port cover. It would have really been nice to have a functional grade up port on this Zoid. I also noticed that the head is able to be moved up and down, most likely to activate a switch that was also not included on the final release. Being the last Zoid to be released on the Republic side it's really a shame that more time was not devoted into making this unit what it could have been.
It makes one wonder what caused the sudden rush to production. Could it have been the failure of the line, and perhaps the budget was cut, and it was released as is? I have also read that there was a sort of "back pack" unit that was to accompany the unit that was filled with additional LED's and more fiber optic cables that was intended to plug into the battery port. I did find that the back pack was released (without functional electronics and extra fiber optic cables) with the Ptero Rayse (covered later in this review). At least we did finally see the finished product on the Genesis release: Soul Tiger.
Back to the build. Now the unit is ready to sticker.
The sticker sheet features the normal patterns we are all used to, but does include a nice set of "Zoitec" stickers. Although not shown on the box, I did include a pair on the piece. I did not include the designation stickers, which is a first. I liked the clean look of the unit and thought the RZ-075 stickers would have been way too much.
The unit is now complete and ready for display. Below are pictures of the finished piece.
With Rayse Tiger complete, I wanted to continue the review to "show off" some of it's unique attributes. The glow in the dark features are awesome, but hard to photograph properly. When I finished my display cases, I installed black lights specifically to show off Zoids that have the ability to fluoresce. I took the opportunity to take some shots of Rayse Tiger.
Sitting on the top shelf right under the light, Sturm Tyrann begs to make an appearance.
The Zoids 2 Rhimos is also stunning under the light.
When you turn this unit on, it stomps forward, and without the aid of the UV light, the fiber optic cables that run through the front shoulder and back shoulder plates illuminate. Again, this is harder to photograph, but below are my attempts.
Below is a overview looking down onto the unit.
The back end, with only a single fiber optic tube.
Let's take a look at the Ptero Raye. The Petro Rayse was released in 2004, and is a Blox unit. Like the other special release Blox units it comes in a monotone blue box. The box features the built unit on the front along with a faded outline of the Rayse Tiger.
The back of the box shows Ptero Rayse as a stand alone unit, and also mounted on the Rayse Tiger.
The Petro Rayse consists of:
2 Sprue
1 Blox
1 Back Pack
2 Small loose gun pieces
1 Dish
1 Instruction Booklet
1 Sticker Sheet
The sticker sheet contains the neon green highlights that adorn the Petro Rayse unit.
Let's begin by taking a closer look at the back pack.
Upon inspection, the back pack actually is two pieces screwed together via 3 small and 1 smaller screw.
When the screws are removed, the unit separates revealing 4 fiber optic ports, and a battery storage compartment.
The unit looks to have originally housed 3 triple A batteries.
It's really a shame that this was not finished, although it does not look too hard to actually wire the unit to work as originally intended. I reassembled the back pack and continued the build. Construction starts with assembling the head, which is made up of 2 side facial pieces, 1 eye piece, and a lower jaw piece.
The finished head:
The head is then set aside and work begins on the lower body and feet.
With the feet complete the wings are then constructed.
Complete.
Focus is then switched to the back pack, the two loose guns are placed as is the circular dish
.
Complete.
Next the wings are attached via the Blox and the cockpit is assembled.
Finished.
The final step includes attaching the head, upper body, lower body and feet, and pilot.
The unit is now ready to apply stickers.
After completing the stickers, I though that the unit was missing something. A look at the eye pieces revealed exactly what it was. It was missing glowing eyes of neon green doom, and luckily there was enough extra green sticker to cut out some custom eye piece covers. I disassembled the head, and went to work.
Complete.
The Ptero Rayse is now ready for display. Oddly enough, the back pack is an extra used only to attach the wings of the Ptero Rayse to the Rayse Tiger, lets have a look at the finished unit.
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So what does the Ptero Rayse look like under the black light?
Attaching the Petro Rayse to the Rayse Tiger is accomplished with ease. The wings are removed and then fitted to the back pack, the port cover on the Rayse Tiger is removed, and the back pack is attached to Rayse Tiger.
Finished.
In conclusion, both of these units are worthy investments. The Ptero Rayse is surprisingly large than I had originally thought with a wingspan of over 12 inches, see below.
The Ptero Rayse brings back very fond memories of "Laser Beak", the cassette tape transformer I used to carry around in my pocket as a child. The best bet for locating the Ptero is Yahoo Japan, and it is still going for some very reasonable prices. The Ptero Rayse is more than just "another Blox" accessory, it's a great stand alone, solid, unique unit. I enjoy the fact that one is able to display the Ptero Rayse on it's own, and the back pack can be displayed on the Rayse Tiger without affecting the Ptero. Both builds are fun and intriguing, and I would encourage any avid Zoids collector to actively seek them. Let's take one last look at both units.
This has been a Zoid.US production. No image may be used without permission. 2008 -WIKD