MEGALON - Y-MSF Vinyl Figure Review

I remember my Saturday afternoon treat, growing up, was watching insane Kung-Fu movies or monster battle epics, and chief among them was "Godzilla vs. Megalon". There was a little boy's weird peddle duck thing getting sucked into a pond-swallowing crack in the earth, a mute robot who could change size at will named Jet Jaguar, and a titanic 2-on-2 monster throw down at the end. As a kid, what wasn't to like? As an adult, I can recognize that this is one of the worst Godzilla films in the franchise, but that doesn't keep me from thinking that Megalon is still one bad-looking dude. Even now, he may be my favorite kaiju design ever. But, I must be in the minority, because it's really hard to find toy versions of this guy. There's a Bandai 9" (I don't like the drill hands on that one), an X-Plus Large Scale (it's beautiful, but REALLY expensive), a couple of "deformed" or "gashapon" mini versions, and then there's this: Y-MSF 6.5" vinyl Megalon. I've never owned a Y-MSF figure before, so I really had very little to go on when I decided to purchase this, other than that IT'S MEGALON, and it was less than $100. So, is this guy worth the cash and effort it takes to get him? Let's find out...

I'll say this for starters: I think they nailed the sculpt. This is exactly how I remember Megalon. He stands 6 & 5/8 inches tall to the top of his star, and measures about 6 inches from the points of his drills to the end of his tail. He's made of an incredibly lightweight vinyl. It's striking how feathery this figure feels. He weighs in at 3 oz. (compare this to the Bandai Godzilla '68 in the picture below, who's 4.3 oz). He just feels...thin, I guess is the word I'm looking for, and not really up to hard-core play.

That said, he looks fantastic. The proportions are spot-on, and the entire sculpt exudes a variety of textures. His smooth star transitions to a fine pebble-grain for his head. The yellow markings on his torso and wings are sculpted, and the mouth looks like a separate piece (I believe there's an "open-mouth" version of Megalon out there, as well). The arms and legs have large overlapping plates/feathers/scales, and the drill hands look great both on the interior and exterior. Megalon's tail has fierce thorns atop it, and completes the pebble-texture begun at the head, though here it's rougher and more...icky.

The wings have some additional raised lines to suggest overlapping transparent pieces, while the feathered armor continues down his legs until the feet become pebbly again and end in 2 wicked claws on each foot. The paint is good, though not exceptional. The yellow on the wings is muted and inconsistent in coverage, while the body fares a bit better. The eyes suggest the honeycomb texture with a light gold spray over top, The drill hands, tail thorns, mouth and toenails are silver, and mostly very clean. The toes are the exception, with some overspray onto the foot, though it seems that may have been intentional. There's a bit of tan on the antennae and a hint of silver to the star and horn. Megalon himself is a sort of dark charcoal with a light greenish tint. In all, he's a great looking figure with plenty of neat detail and a sufficient paint job.

Megalon's pose is interesting. He's kind of leaned forward from the waist up. I wish he could be raised up a little more upright, but it's not possible despite some limited articulation. There's cuts at the shoulders and crotch which allow the arms to be raised a bit, and the legs adjusted just enough to get the feet to lie flat. The tail has 2 cuts, I believe and the head can be adjusted a tiny but, but I don't think either of those are really meant to be posed significantly. So, he's relatively static, as most vinyl kaiju are. Which means his look depends largely on whether or not you like the sculpted pose. The Bandai Megalon stands much more erect, and I don't much care for it. The X-Plus Megalon looks as though he's in the midst of a battle swing. This Y-MSF version is somewhere in-between. I like the general look, but he really needs to be displayed at eye level or higher to be appreciated due to his hunch.

On a side note, he seems to be posed slightly asymmetrically. His stance is just a shade deeper on his left that his right, which causes him to lean slightly to his left. It's a small thing, but it does bug me a bit.

Foot and toe details

Drill Hands

Y-MSF's Megalon looks great on the shelf. Whether it's beside his baddie ally Gigan (shown is the Bandai America 6.5" Gigan), or facing off with Godzilla. I don't personally have an in-scale '73 Godzilla, but he looks pretty good opposite Bandai's Godzilla 1968. I have no regrets about purchasing him, and would gladly do so again. I may try to track down a reasonably priced X-Plus Megalon, but until that happens I'm happy to have this version terrorizing my shelf. In fact, I'm so happy with him that I'll be keeping my eyes out for more Y-MSF Godzilla toys to add to my collection.

On a side note, I understand that there is another version of this Megalon done in a brown color scheme. I'm not sure how the color variants and the mouth variants match up, but I believe the sculpts for the rest of the figure are the same.

S.H. MonsterArts GODZILLA 2000 Millennium figure review

Since his inception, the Godzilla I identify with has been a slow, lumbering behemoth. This is due, in part, to the realities imposed on an actor working from within a heavy rubber suit. He stomps, slowly, standing mostly upright. He's not built for speed, but with various levels of thickness about the thighs (depending on the suit), he portrays a triangular forward silhouette: he's a mountain brought to life. His deliberate and methodical plod has contributed a great deal to what Godzilla represents. He is an unstoppable force of nature. He sweeps in like a storm- you can see him coming, and there's nothing you can do to alter the destruction you are about to be subjected to.

But here...we have something a bit different. This is a Godzilla for the new Millennium. We are all, go, go go, and now it seems that Godzilla is, too. S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla Millennium 2000 sports a truly hunched pose, and that's how he's meant to look. He's lunging forward, almost like he's about to break into a sprint. As such, his eyes are sculpted/painted as staring up and forward through his brows. His ears are pulled back and his fangs are bared in a snarl that reminds me of a hissing cat. And, oh, the spikes all over this guy! Handling him is like hugging a rose bush- there's just no pleasant way to do it. Those qualities work together to make this one of the most unique and interesting Godzilla designs I'm ever likely to own. If only this was what the new Godzilla 2014 design was like, I'd be a truly happy camper (and, no, I'm not a huge fan of what I've seen of the new movie Godzilla...).

Godzilla 2000 looks oddest to me when viewed head-on. With his severe hunch, his eyes get lost, as does most of his upper torso. Personally, I think he looks best when viewed from a 1/4 side angle. The sculpt, articulation and paint are all top-notch. That is, after all, what you are paying for (this guy comes bare-bones, no accessories at all). His asphalt body has a greenish tinge in the right light, and there's a few highlighted spots of light brown. The finger and toe nails are awesome, with wicked hints of striations and paint in darker gradations as the nail joins the appendage. The dorsal and tail spines are just as threatening in an absolutely real sense: the spikes are sharp and hard, with a lovely shimmering purple hue to the blade-like edges. The image of "oversized sharp edges" carries throughout the sculpt, from the huge dorsal spines and enormous claws, through the elongated fangs (which, unfortunately, aren't as sharply sculpted as they ought to be), the tremendous tail, and even throughout the rough bark-like skin, whose texture is emphasized with deep trenches between scales. Everything about this Godzilla is X-treme...

S.H. MonsterArts Millennium Godzilla 2000 stands just under 6" tall to his hunched head, though his spikes might get you a bit more of an inch. He measures around 13" to to tip of his tail, depending on how you choose to pose it. He poses fairly well (certainly better than any previous MonsterArts Godzilla incarnation), even for an amateur poser like myself. His joints have a pretty good range of motion, and are more intelligently designed than they have been previously (the feet, ball-jointed hands, head/neck and tail are all vastly improved).

His huch is difficult to alter due to the way the dorsal spines are layed out, combined with the weight they carry. Personally, I can't get him nearly as upright as the photos on the back of the box suggest. I also can't get the tongue to hinge out of the way to close his mouth completely. I'm not thrilled with the way the teeth are painted. Whether intentional or not, there's a lot of red slop on mine. I wish they were cleaner. Otherwise, this guy is darn near perfect. The gaps at the joints have been resolved (see Burning Godzilla 1995 for the issues I refer to) very well, and he does a fantastic job of being aesthetically pleasing while also being a heck of a lot of fun to mess around with and pose.

From what I've read, people seem to be very pleased with this newest version of Godzilla, and it's with good reason. He's got a dynamic sculpt, despite it being nearly the complete antithesis of the previous "best" Burning Godzilla, who exudes smooth curves, a nearly completely upright posture and thick, deliberate slowness. 2000's feline predatory look is ferocious and fully threatening, while suggesting motion everywhere. Don't expect any accessories and you won't be let down by their absence. Know what you are paying for: a top-notch sculpt and paint work, with excellent articulation and terrific engineering. You likely won't be disappointed- I know I'm not...