I’m almost tempted to just let the pictures speak for themselves. I have no words that can really describe what a beautiful figure this really is. The sculpting is amazing as well as paint. Yeah, it’s an expensive toy and worth every penny.
Godzilla 2000: Millenium was the last Godzilla series to get any airplay in the theaters or on TV, there hasn’t been anything up until Legendary’s announcement of this year’s Godzilla relaunch. I grew up on the Shōwa series (1954–1975) Godzilla movies. These are the ones that were showing on the tube or being released in American movie theaters when I was kid. The Heisei series (1984–1995) was something that I got into during college. The initial ’84 movie kinda passed me by, as did the ’89 release. I did get into Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah as that was fansubbing during my college years. Eventually I lost track of Godzilla after they killed him in ’95.
When Bandai started their Godzilla MonsterArts line I was on the fence about the ’84/’89 Godzilla. It’s an important era in Godzilla lore, but I was holding out for an original Shōwa one. And that’s when I got wind of the 2000 verison. I love this version as it is a great reboot of the Shōwa look building on the bulk, the mass of the Heisei Godzilla. It was a perfect fusion of the two styles. I waited and eventually it popped up on my current handler in Japan Hobby Search.
And I was rewarded. The figure arrived this January and it is amazing. The sculpt is simply one of the best monster sculpts that I’ve ever come across. The paint is spot-on. The articulation, considering all the points and the mass of the figure, is awesome. It’s not perfect and the sculpt gets in the way, but outside of making a figure dressed up in a rubber suit, I don’t know how else to do it. It’s hand candy, it’s eye candy, it’s fun. He romps and claws and stomps and swings his big-ass tail. This figure is too much.
The articulation is out of this world. I really don’t know if I can count all the joints. But I’ll give a whirl:
hinged feet
ball ankles
hinged ankles
double knees
swivel thigh
double ball hips
ball waist
ball abs
ball neck 1 x4
hinged jaw
double ball shoulders
swivel bicep
double hinged elbows
swivel forearm
swivel wrist
ball wrist
swivel hand
ball tail x25
I think. I lost count. That’s a lot of ball joints in the tail. So much fun. And the articulation in the neck is awesome for side-to-side and down-looking poses, but not so good for looking up. But that’s because of all the huge back scales! You know — the ones that light up whenever Godzilla spews his atomic fire onto a crowd. Toy Godzilla doesn’t have any light up feature. Easy killer.
The paint is great on this figure. Very well done, very sharp, very dark. I lightened-up the white balance on these pictures so you could see the figure better, but don’t be fooled — this is a very dark green. The eye paints really sell this figure for me; they bring out that classic Godzilla expression.
I can’t tell you which version of Godzilla to get. Right now the three traditional versions of the figure are available, and you should definitely pick up one if not all three. There is a Godzilla for everyone.
Godzilla is available for preorder at BigBadToyStore
It is showing as available at Amazon.com
And you can discuss this topic further at The Fwoosh Forums!