NECA Legendary GODZILLA 2014 - 12" Head to Tail Figure Review

Well, it took what felt like forever, but my 6" tall, 12" Head to Tail Godzilla 2014 arrived yesterday from NECA, and quite honestly it was absolutely worth the wait. This is now my current favorite Godzilla figure, and it ranks right up there with Burning Godzilla (1995) and Millennium Godzilla 2000 from SH MonsterArts as my favorite Godzila figures, period. NECA's Godzilla is beautifully sculpted, well-articulated and just plain tons of fun to play around with!

Modern Godzilla (2014) is the first of a new line of 6" articulated Godzilla figures that NECA is planning to release (Godzilla 1994 is due this summer, and Godzilla 1985 is expected by year's end). Modern Godzilla comes on a standard (albeit thick) NECA clamshell. The package design matches the Godzilla image used in all of the other toy product releases from Bandai and JAKKS so far. The plastic is thin and bows between creases for those MIB collectors, but it's fairly easy to pop back into place. Godzilla is clearly visible, with his head turned slightly outwards and the main portion of his tail detached. Out of the package, I found attaching his tail to be quite difficult, actually, and needed to heat the end with a hairdryer before applying a good deal of force to seat it properly. Once mated to it's ball, the tail works (and looks) marvelously well.

From the side and slightly above, NECA's Godzilla looks amazing. The figure is made of a heavy hard rubbery plastic, which feels solid and playable. Godzilla's proportions look screen accurate, and he's got plenty of fine detail built into the sculpt. The spines on his back are rubbery and pliable, and while accurately shaped, seem mostly absent of texturing. The tail is terrific, as is his head and face. There isn't a ton of paint here: the body is cast in a very dark charcoal or green. The throat is a different shade than the head, but only by a smidge. The plastic is mostly matte, though there are sections of the torso that have a glossier sheen. The toes and claws are glossy black. The eyes are yellow, with tiny pupils and there's lots of red in the mouth (mine actually has a lot slopped onto the teeth, so check yours in-person if possible). There's no light tan shading on this version's chest, like there is in the Atomic Breath, Destruction Pack or Giant Size versions.

Godzilla's articulation is really excellent in an odd way. None of the joints have a terrific range of motion, but they work pretty well together to create a nice variety of poses. There's a swivel head, and another at the base of the neck. The jaw is hinged to open and close, though it doesn't close completely. I would really have liked to be able to have him look up more, but he's got some slight downward ability. There's a joint mid-torso to allow for some twist. The arms have joints at the shoulders, elbows and wrists, with enough inward/outward movement at the shoulders to allow him to bring his hands together in front of him. The hips have the same in/out tilt-ability, and there are joints at the knees and ankles, as well. The tail is jointed (4 ball joints from the base), then switches to a rubber bendy for the thinned end half. The parts rotate and tilt well - it's not "MonsterArts" tail flexible, but it gets the job done.

NECA's first Godzilla is a really great figure. I don't think any figure of this version of Godzilla has managed to capture this ferocious pissed-off look of his face from the movie, and this version especially looks very awkward viewed head-on. But this is the first legitimate collector's figure released based on the new movie design. In fact, it's the best Godzilla made from this film so far. JAKKS has this one beat for sheer mass, and his head sculpt is great, but this one's the whole package, and I'm guessing would be much easier for any kid to manage for play than that massive one is.

At around $20, this is the Godzilla to have. He looks great, poses well, is solid, and he scales great with S.H. MonsterArts figures. The newly shown MonsterArts version looks like it's got crisper details and a sharper sculpt around the eyes, but the general shape and articulation looks really similar to this one (probably for about 3 to 4 times the price). After seeing the movie, I'd really love for NECA to release a couple of MUTO figures (scaled properly and with/without wings as appropriate), and I think another Godzilla with blue glowing spines and atomic napalm breath would be awesome. I also can't wait to see how the 12" tall 24" Head to Tail figure comes out - I'm sure the level of detail will blow me away! I'm so happy with what NECA has delivered here and am eagerly looking forward to their next Godzilla release - bring on the '94!

MonsterArts '64, '94, '95, TM Zilla '98, 2000 and NECA 2014

GIANT SIZE GODZILLA 2014 - JAKKS Pacific large size figure review

The new Godzilla film opens in just over two weeks, and I couldn't be more excited. My favorite movie-related collectible released so far is easily JAKKS Pacific's Giant Size Godzilla. It really took some work to track down, but he was well-worth the trouble!

Giant Size Godzilla comes in a great box. The colors are striking, the graphics are awesome, and the size is just fantastic. There's a terrific black cardboard insert above the head, and his feet are fitted nicely into a couple of holes cut into a water-design insert. The tail is roped off to the side in two pieces. The box is heavy, and does an amazing job of showing off the figure while still protecting it. There are a lot of open edges and interesting shapes that can easily get bent or creased on the shelf or in shipping for MIBers, though.

The box actually makes Godzilla seem bigger than he is. Don't get me wrong, he's big. Just not quite as big he he first seems, boxed.

The figure itself is great. The sculpt does a nice job of capturing the look of the new design, though the head, legs and tail seem to have more intricate detailing than the torso and arms do.

The head sculpt is closer to the screen shots I've seen than any other toys released so far. The mouth opens, and there's a prominent tongue in there (though it's painted a vivid shade of Hubba Bubba pink) along with only about 20 teeth. The eyes are yellow with tiny black pupils, set deep amidst some great wrinkling. There are scales sculpted on the sides of the head and top of his neck, but they don't look like gills the way the Bandai toys do. Besides the opening mouth hinge, the head swivels at the base of the neck.

The torso is made of a very hard plastic that feels and sounds hollow. It really reminds me of the Clash of the Titans Kraken toy I had as a child. There's some lighter browning shading on the front, but the detailing over all of the torso isn't as defined or plentiful as it is elsewhere.

You'll find screw holes on one side of the figure and some prominent seams holding the figure together. The undersized dorsal plates are rubber and the arms have cut joints at the shoulders and wrists. There isn't a great range of motion, and the cuts make it so things look a little disjointed the farther you get away from how the basic sculpt fits together.

There's some more great detailing on the outside of the legs and the feet look way better on this version than on any of the Bandai figures. There are cuts at the hips and ankles for some fine-tuning.

The tail is absolutely immense. This version measures about 21" to the top of his head, and his tail extends back about 40". The thickest main portion attaches with a rotating lock that I had no trouble with. There's a (largely useless) hinge about midway back that allows for a little swinging motion, but it really can't be "posed". The last portion involves a couple of swivel/cut attachment points that don't really fit as well as the other pieces. Altogether, it's quite impressive!

The main selling-point for JAKKS is the "giant size", and Godzilla really lives up to that billing. Finding a place to display him is a challenge, and moving him around is a real trick for anyone, especially a kid. He's not highly detailed, he's not very pose-able. The paint is minimal and the electronics were never completed (there's a speaker opening in the torso and a sealed battery compartment inside the tail, but no actual working electronics), but this is the Godzilla toy that every kid would want to have. Combine that with a very reasonable $50 price tag, and this guy has stolen the toy show so far. I'm still waiting on NECA, Tamashii Nations and X-Plus to show their hands (with NECA promising their 6" version some time this month), but in the mean time Giant Size Godzilla is a real joy to add to the collection...

S.H. MonsterArts BATTRA Figure Review

Battra should come to you in a plain cardboard box with a prominent barcode and a simple "Battra" on the outside. Since this is a web-exclusive figure, I would assume this is the "mailer box" that Tamashii Nations would ship the figure in. The colorful packaging box is inside. There's no window, but there is a beautiful (larger than full-size) shot of the figure, along the typical (and hilarious) MonsterArts mantra (if anyone can translate what their statement about "pursuing character expression" actually means, I'd love to hear it - my own translation is "these are really good monster figures that are more art than toys"). The back of the package has 5 shots of the figure in various poses (2 of which I found impossible to achieve with the actual product). It's a fairly long box at 13 & 3/4" long, while it measures  8" tall and about 5" deep. The box I received had been opened and re-taped closed, which I assume was to check the contents before shipping, on Amazon's part. The figure inside was pristine.

The figure is sandwiched between 2 clear plastic trays. There is no assembly needed, outside of a small baggie taped underneath which includes the base and display arm. There are some directions included for removing Battra, and for attaching the base. Battra's legs are very fragile. They come with a protective shell, whose removal the directions attempt to explain. Despite following the directions, my figure has one leg that consistently falls out with the slightest movement. My understanding is that this is typical of the figure.

Right out of the package, Battra is a beautiful figure. S.H. MonsterArts is the ONLY line of toys I collect where I regularly catch my breath in awe when I first take them out of the box. Battra is no different. Sporting a bright yellow and fire orange/red on black paint scheme, she's a striking figure. Battra measures about 13 & 1/4" from wing tip to wing tip, with the rearmost points nearly 7 inches behind the foremost curve. The head and torso measure about 4 & 1/2" long, depending on where you choose to measure. The sculpt is exceptional - it's the main reason I buy this line. There's an incredible level of detail in the texturing, which varies from head to thorax, abdomen, legs and wings. I will admit that the wings come off looking a bit more plastic and "toyish" than the rest of the figure.

There's a generous bit of translucent plastic used throughout the figure, most notable in the horns/spikes of the head and torso (orange on the head, red on the torso). The eyes also sport a beautiful textured detail as well as a vivid race-car red paint app. Battra is a beautiful looking figure, and looks right at home hovering above or amongst the other MonsterArts figures atop her custom stand.

I'm not as thrilled with the articulation. Most of it is restricted severely, with the head probably possessing the greatest range of motion. The torso parts are very tight, and I'm not able to come close to the pose shown on the back of the box where the rearmost part is curled under nearly vertically. The wings can move up and down freely, with an additional joint allowing the smaller ones to be posed independently. The legs...ugh, the legs. Yeah, one keeps falling out and it's quite annoying. Besides that, they really don't have much of a range of motion - they are all angled severely and feel so fragile that I'm loathe to mess with them much. This is my least favorite part of the figure.

Battra is a terrific looking figure priced about twice what she's worth, in my book. There are no accessories, limited articulation, and she's fairly obscure (having appeared in only one film). If you are an S.H. MonsterArts completist or a huge Battra (or Mothra fan), you'll most likely be pleased. Otherwise, this might be a figure worth passing on...