RMZ-007 Hidocker
And now for something very similar, we have Hidocker, which as you can see, uses the same basic body as Elephantus and Gorgodos. Here again, the pauldrons on the shoulders don’t actually do anything and the zoid’s motion consists of simply moving forward, with none of the additional motions such as flapping ears or flapping wings. It’s perhaps a little disappointing they didn’t remold the pieces to remove the extraneous parts, but oh well. This time, the body is used to portray a brontosaurus, and-- wait....what’s that?
Computer, enhance
WHAT. You’re telling me, YOU’RE TELLING ME, TOMY, that this thing is just a generic dinosaur?! Like, I guess?? Why not just say its a brontosaurs or some other sauropod? In fact, in the European release, Hidocker was renamed Brontozoid! Ugh, whatever, it’s a perfectly nice zoid either way. Much of the criticism of Gorgodos applies here, in that sauropods have hind and forelegs of noticeably different lengths, whereas Hidocker’s are the same length. Overall it has a really pleasingly awkward shape, much like an actual brontosaurus.
The Zoids Wiki says it’s supposed to be an infantry support zoid, though I’m not sure what about it makes it suited for that role. I suppose the weapons could be designed to target enemy infantry and having weapons on the tail would give them a greater range of fire.
Overall I really like Hidocker. Maybe not quite as much as Gorgodos, seeing as it’s not quite as interesting a design, but its a cute model. Although its probably the largest model released so far, compared with later zoids and particularly later sauropods, its very small, which I quite like. I see this guy marching along in a forest, pushing over smaller trees, giving covering fire to allied infantry. 4/5
