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