Here's another look at Zemo, considered by many to be the rarest of the Zeroid range.
It was originally produced in three colours - yellow, aqua, and red.
At first glance it's obvious that Ideal have simply mixed and matched parts from the first three Zeroids using Zintar's head, Zerak's torso and Zobor's lower section and tracks.
However, there are subtle variations that give Zemo some of it's own originality.
I
find Zemo and its history quite fascinating, raising one or two
questions. I’ve read that Zemo was only produced by Ideal for its
overseas market and wasn’t intended for sales in America. If
that was the case it might help answer another question about a total
lack of advertising for the robot in the States or anywhere else come
to that. There’s another question about why only some of the
toys carry the name ‘Zemo’ on its waist while others don’t, and
apart from the word Zeroid no other name appears on the header card.This header card omits robot, Zobor's name, but shows the Cosmobile. My Zemo came with it's own Cosmobile. Judging by the rear of the header card, Zemo also might have been packaged with Zintar's Lunar Slad.This example, presumably for the Japanese market shows Zemo packaged with a Solar Cycle.So what are the subtle differences? As
can be seen in the
photo showing Zintar and Zemo, although it’s Zintar’s head
alright, the radar on top is from Zobor, and the plastic detail under
the clear dome on Zemo is all silver, rather than silver and blue.
Zemo’s
torso detail, although the same layout as Zerak uses a different
colour scheme, with red, yellow and black behind the clear plastic
strip on Zemo, while Zerak has just a light green.
However,
it’s the lower section that carries the most subtle differences. On
Zobor the grills on each side of the track covers and the front
valance are moulded into the plastic, while on Zemo these are
separate casts. But the
most noticeable difference
is the clock face. On Zobor it’s five past six, and on Zemo it’s
five to six!
As an addition, I've been contacted by fellow Zeroid collector, Dave Dryden, who owns a fine Zeroid collection including a rare turquoise Zemo complete with it's name on the middle section.
Dave kindly supplied some photos of his Zemo, and his collection. Enjoy!
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