Zeroids

[Rachel]

Do the toy Zeros and 101s speak at all? You know what I mean, with some character toys you can pull a string, or press a button, and they will reel off some of their catchphrases. I wondered if the zeroid replicas did this?

[Shane]

I've got a boxed action Zeroid toy but unfortunately it doesn't talk. I guess back in the early Eighties the little sample chips that you find in most toys today were a little too expensive to produce. The toy did have a neat trick, where you could place him on his stand, and wind him up. Pressing the trigger would make the little Zeroid fly off the stand and then roll around the floor in a really demented fashion.They really went to town on his little black and white instruction sheet, giving the Sgt. Major's stats and a background story:Rank : Sergeant MajorGenetic type : Zeroid (Type AA)Date of origin : Oct. 2018 (Batch 873/TH)Place of origin : Made in JapanSecurity rating : ZZ subject to testColour : SilverWeight (max) : 100 tonsData bank : 180 kPower source : IraniumRe-order No. : 8851996"The power nucleus of this Zeroid is a unique Iranium Crystal from the planet Jupiter. Hiro, who designed and built the prototypes believes that this power source has induced "emotions" normally associated only with humanoid life forms and Sergeant Major Zero constantly confirms his agreement with this diagnosis. He desparately wants to be human and likes to make "decisions" which infuriate Dr Ninestein and tend to provoke sympathy from Mary."Love his data bank stats: 180 k that must have sounded like a grand amount back in the early Eighties, what with the little 32 k home computers that were knocking around then. If only they knew what was around the corner. Shane.

[AndyThomas]

Ah. That sounds like either the annual borrowed from the manuals, or vice versa - one of the annuals has lots of very good tech spec stuff for the majority of the vehicles and the "unique" Zeroids. I think I had a small sergeant major, but as Shane says, in those days the technology wasn't really there to make them all that exciting. They had the eye shutter things though, although that was about it really. That said, the other toys were Bandai, I think, and they were pretty well done - Battlehawk included a drop-able Battletank etc...