Hello, collectors! I'm back at it with the text reviews, and I'm going to kick it off with the newest S.H. MonsterArts figure, Godzilla (2001). The first new sculpt since Mecha-King Ghidorah back in early 2015, many have been waiting for new life in the line. With a fan favorite choice of Godzilla getting released, surely it was enough to breathe new life into the line, right? Well, read on and find out!
Sculpt and Paint
Once again, Sakai was brought on to bring Godzilla to life, and he absolutely nailed this guy. many collectors have already been praising this figure as the definitive GMK Godzilla, even beating the
multiple X-Plus figures. While I do find the figure to be great looking, it is absolutely not without its flaws, most specifically the paint.
Starting with the head, the eyes look fantastic with nicely applied silver and grey paint which really bring out the soulless look this Godzilla was going for, but the teeth... look cheap, let's be honest, no shading at all, just slapped on paint. The likeness, however, was nailed in the sculpt.
As we continue down Godzilla, the arms look nice, with the claws on the hands painted wonderfully. Of note, some owners from Japan have reported either sloppy, like wiped off paint, or none at all, on the claws. This is something to keep in mind when buying used, make sure to get good pictures.
The main body looks nice, with subtle shading and wonderful sculpt to really give it that potbelly look, and between looking at the hands and the main body, you've probably noticed a brown wash... odd choice, because in some areas it pools and it's a bit overboard, as you'll see when we get to the legs.
Moving to the dorsal plates, we see the blueish grey used on the claws used on the dorsal plates, along with the brown, and the sculpt is really cool with lots of bumps and ridges.
What's odd, though, is the dorsal plates are mangled and twisted at the tips, and looking at other figures, it is consistent across figures. While it may be accurate to the suit, I don't personally recall, or even see with current pictures, the plates being this twisted.
And a lovely QC issue here with some pinkish-tan paint. Lovely.
The tail is about the same as the dorsal plates, though not painted as well and features the brown wash very heavily. Doesn't look the best in the world to me.
The legs of Godzilla are nice and chunky, and the feet look big and powerful with the same grey as the claws. Overall, he looks good, though I'm not sure why they went with the odd brown. Why not blue or grey? Still, the sculpt is the strongest point of the figure.
Articulation
What a mixed bag we have here. While the figure has plenty of joints, the sculpt gets in the way and they pop apart VERY easily, almost to the point you don't want to fiddle with some of the joints. He is capable of some neat poses, though.
The jaw is attached to the head on a ball joint, allowing you to open and close it and rock it a little bit. The tongue is on a swivel! Why? Dunno, but it's neat. The head connects to the neck on a ball joint, which is then connected to the body/shoulder on a ball joint. Movement here, when it works, is awesome. Be careful because all of the mentioned ball joints really, really enjoy popping apart.
Shoulder are on ball joints, with a bicep swivel, hinge elbows, and ball join wrists. Unfortunately, the left arm on mine is VERY loose, it can windmill easily. What's interesting is that, unlike G2KM and G14, the wrists don't feature a swivel-hinge combo allowing for greater movement; the piece of sculpt you see is more like a sleeve covering the extra long barbell style ball joints. The wrists, because of this, can pop off with ease.
We have a ball joint for the ab crunch and one in the waist, allowing for neat poses and for you to close the gap many had a problem with. The ab crunch pops apart very easily due to the sculpt causing some issues, so be careful when moving it.
When you combine these two joints with the neck joints, Godzilla can take on some neat poses!
The hips are on ball joints, with the knees having hinges, and the ankles having full ball joint movement allowing for great ankle-rocking poses! SUMO! What's an odd choice, though, the the knee plugs into the thigh on a swivel. This does hinder inward movement a tad, as the sculpt and joint don't allow it too much.
Godzilla can really spread 'em!
The tail is standard here, with many ball joints and only a few pieces of solid sculpt. What's cool, though, is that some of the pieces of sculpt are curved allowing the tail to look as though it's flowing freely.
Accessories
None. Why, Bandai?! For $82.99, that's dumb.
Sizing
Conclusion
So, is this guy worth it? He looks nice, even with random QC issues, but the articulation is... rather middle of the road, to be honest, with joints popping off rather easy it's hard to say the interesting choices are good. No accessories flat out blows for this guy, let's be real here. At the end of the day, I think this Godzilla is... average. This is definitely a pose and leave it figure, at least this one. Try to get it on sale, if you can. Around $70-$75 is a much better price than $83 and up. For some, this figure will click and it may just be your favorite Godzilla, that's what I thought it would be, but for others... It's another neat one on the shelf, that's how I'm now looking at him. It's not a *bad* figure, don't think that at all, just not what it could have been with some avoidable issues.
Now have some fun pictures!
Hahaha that pic of him all disassembled. I'm sorry to laugh at yer misery, Amigo, but that's one hell of a funny pic. ;)
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