Takara Tomy Zoids Wild Tanks

Tanks (aka Gannontoise in the Japanese dub) is a tortoise type Zoid who’s armored shell gives it very high defensive capabilities. In battle, the shell also acts as a protective wall for the rider. When it’s Wild Blast is engaged, it’s shell opens to reveal a powerful laser cannon that it uses to bombard it’s opponents. Tanks may be slow, but what lacks in speed, it makes up for with defense.

This is the Takara Tomy Zoids Wild Tanks (aka Gannontoise in the Japanese dub). I picked this up from the good folks over at TFSource for $19.99, which is a pretty good price for this Zoid. Building this, I was definitely able to find differences between it and the Hasbro one. Both do have a lot of similar pieces, but this one has more pieces than the Hasbro one. Unlike the Hasbro one, the Takara Tomy one has a bit of a skeleton underneath the shell itself. It also has the opening hatch on the shell that Tanks has in the anime. The one made by Hasbro doesn’t have the opening hatch. The Takara Tomy ones use a slower motor, so if you wanted this one to go faster, you could swap out the motor with the one from the Hasbro Tanks, but honestly, I like the slower motor in this one because Tanks isn’t supposed to be fast. He’s a tortoise. And the slower pace seems to make him more stable while moving. I have to say, between the two, I like this one better. It’s much more... Tanks, you know? In any case, factoring in painting and panel lining, this Zoid took me about three hours to build. So you can definitely do it in one sit down if you want. If you order him from the site I got him, he won’t cost you anything more than the Hasbro one. If you’re looking for something more true to how Tanks appears in the anime, than I definitely recommend the Takara Tomy version.