Knock-Off Zeroids

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zobor and Zerak Fronts

Oscar Wilde is attributed with the quote "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." 

Imperial Toy Corporation No. 7848 Space Fighters Knock-Offs

Imperial seems to be the first company to knock-off the Zeroids with this pair that was part of their "Space Fighters" set of three figures in 1977. These are rubbery bendies that stand about five inches tall.

 

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot Knock-Offs

Perhaps the best of the Zeroid copies that I'm aware of were made in 1978 by the New York company Durham Industries, Inc. who was known for their wind-up toys manufactured in Hong Kong. These are approximately the same size as the original Ideal robots but a bit taller, using a wind-up mechanism instead of the CU-24 motor and batteries.

 

Zerak "Battery Operated Remote Control Robot" Knock-Off

Willis Imports of NYC produced this wired remote controlled Zerak knock-off, probably in the late 70's. It's obviously a Zerak copy sharing body details and the blue Zerak color.

Super Robot Transparent (スーパーロボット 透明) Knock-Offs

These Japanese market robots continued a trend in the early 80's of producing translucent figures - seems there were four different of this model, with a copy of Zintar's head.

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton. 

Zerak "Battery Operated Remote Control Robot" Knock-Off

Frank Novak's Zerak "Battery Operated Remote Control Robot" Knock-Off

I stumbled across this Zerak knock-off  (first image below) many years ago - I should probably have bid on it but was hoping to find one more intact. I don't know much about it but recently found a reference to the same robot in a small image. From a recently surfaced image "Willis Imports Farmingdale NY" with "Made in Hong Kong" so it's probably late 70's.

Zerak "Battery Operated Remote Control Robot" Knock-Off

Zerak "Battery Operated Remote Control Robot" Knock-Off Packaging Variations

It appears to be a fairly decent copy of Zerak, at least at first blush, only powered via a two button remote. From the packaging I'm guessing it's early 80's and probably from Hong Kong and if continued, maybe mainland China. If anyone out there has one or has more information, please contact me. I'm also looking for an example for my collection. Thanks to Frank Novak for the detailed image of his carded example at the top of the page.

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton. 

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot Knock-Off

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zobor and Zerak Fronts

The  best of the Zeroid copies that I'm aware of were made by Durham Industries, Inc., a company in New York specializing in wind-up toys manufactured in Hong Kong. These have a 1978 copyright and are approximately the same size as the original Ideal robots but a bit taller, using a wind-up mechanism instead of the CU-24 motor and batteries. To date, I've only seen two different models, a Zobor-clone and a Zerak-clone, sharing many components but with arm and head details, plus color differences, distinguishing them from one another.

The upper body on both most closely resembles Zobor while the lower body Zerak, going as far as to emulate the two chrome "lights" and the bumper details - however these don't include the trail hitch associated with the original Zeroids. The arms are somewhat retained as are the hands. The best details are the heads which are very close to the original.

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zobor and Zerak Backs

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot  Bottom

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zerak Knock-Off

Durham's version of Zerak comes in a similar color - I originally thought that my loose one had a broken antenna then realized that it came with the unadorned spike when I acquired a packaged one.

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zobor Knock-Off

Durham's version of Zobor comes in a similar color but more of an orange - note the swapped chest sticker which I thought was a misapplication to my loose example but it turns out that's they way they came.

 

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton. 

Super Robot Transparent (スーパーロボット 透明) Knock-Off

Super Robot Transparent (スーパーロボット 透明) Knock-Off from Yahoo Japan Auction

As I recall, I spotted these on Yahoo Japan a few years ago with the title of "Shooting Robots" - the kana translates as "Super Robot Transparent" - I believe they're similar to some other transparent kaiju toys I have, probably around 3-4 inches tall. The trend is to have various figures molded in translucent plastic - these appear to fire missiles from the ends of the wrists.

You can see the Zeroid influence in the chest, featuring the Zobor reel-to-reel, but the most obvious likeness is in the heads, basically a copy of Zintar's head. If I were to guess, these are probably from the late 70's or early 80's.

I'm looking to acquire an example if anyone has one.

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton.  

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zerak Knock-Off

Durham's Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zerak Knock-Off

Some time in the mid-70's (packaging has 1978) Durham produced two Zeroid Knock-offs. These had the basic shape of the robots copied but ran using a wind-up mechanism. As the Zeroid moves forward (there is no reverse) the head rotates left-to-right and back. The complex casting is dummied-down to something very simple with chest stickers (notice that the sitckers are reversed - the Zobor knock-off has the Zerak panel and the Zerak knock-off has the Zobor reel-to-reel tape panel) so the legs and torso are simplified, although for some reason the arms and hands resembled those of the actual Zeroids (though cast without any chrome). The heads are fairly decent copies of the Ideal heads only Zerak has lost the "V" part of the antenna. I should have used a better example of Zerak as the one I shot is missing the "V" part of the antenna, something I've found common to Zerak for some reason.

What I find interesting on these is the card background art - it's very much like the original Ideal art and features Zorr and a Zintar with "Wind-Up Walking Action" in a red splatter. As far as I know these were only molded to resemble Zobor and Zerak. Comparison shot below.

Durham's Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zerak Knock-Off Comparison

Durham Industries, Inc. No. 5758 Sidewinders Star Mission Robot - Zobor and Zerak Backs

 

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton.

Ideal 4773-8 Zintar the Silver Explorer Instructions

Ideal 4773-8 Zintar the Silver Explorer Instructions

These are the instructions from the later Header-Carded ZZintar the Silver Explorer - they're the same as what was printed on the earlier tall boxes.

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton. 

Ideal 4772-0 Zobor the Bronze Transporter Instructions

Ideal 4772-0 Zobor the Bronze Transporter Instructions

These are the instructions from the later Header-Carded Zobor the Bronze Transporter - they're the same as what was printed on the earlier tall boxes.

 

All content, including images and editorial, is Copyright ©1999-2025 John Eaton and/or contributors unless otherwise stated. If there are any comments or objections, please contact John Eaton.