This guy just arrived on my doorstep an hour ago, so please take into account that I'm still in the midst of a Honeymoon period. That said, I'm going out on a limb and saying that this new NECA 24" Long Head-To-Tail version of Godzilla 2014 is my favorite Godzilla toy of all time...
Godzilla (also know as 12" Tall Godzilla) is a heavy beast. He comes securely strapped in a heavy-duty box. There are a half dozen twist-ties to snip, and the tail comes separately wrapped in plastic. It attaches the same way that the smaller version's did, via a ball-joint at the base. Be forewarned that the largest spines on Godzilla's back may come bent from the plastic shell he sits in, and the left knee on mine looked precariously bent in-package. The spines will need a little hot water to straighten, and the knee still seems a little "off", but neither is a major issue.
The box is attractive enough, and does a fine job of protecting the contents, while also showing them off. The graphics match everything else released for the Legendary film version so far.
There's a small plastic tab at the base of the tail that needs to be removed, and one of the smaller spines can be pushed to summon a very loud version of Godzilla's roar. I compared it to the Atomic Blast Bandai version, and yes, this one is louder. It works beautifully, and sounds totally awesome.
As far as the figure goes, if you liked the look of the 6" tall version, you'll like this one, as well. The sculpt is indeed a 2-up of the mini, but the details are deeper, sharper, and more intricate. Keep in mind that the pictures really fail to capture the in-hand awesomeness of this guy. In fact, I think it would be really hard to tell the two versions apart at all through pictures, without any comparison shots to help.
The details along Godzilla's legs and back are particularly striking, as are the gills along his neck. There's a couple of very visible seam lines (one splits his snout and another cuts across the tops of his arms), but the sculpt is otherwise excellent. NECA's Godzilla has all of the detail that the JAKKS Pacific version was missing.
The paint choices on Godzilla are interesting. NECA decided to carry over the blue dry-brushing that some of the smaller version sported. It's fine for bringing out the details, though it really doesn't show up well in most of the photos. It runs over his back, legs and arms, but is absent from his torso front. It kind of looks of odd from the front (and in-package) - almost like he's wearing a green tank top. The teeth (much like in the smaller version) are disappointing to me. They are small, rounded and poorly painted. They fail to make him look as ferocious as he did in the film, and they really pale in comparison next to another 12" figure like the X-Plus GMK I have sitting beside him. The eyes are painted cleanly with their single-line black pupils, there's a dirty pink inside the mouth and tongue.
Besides, my only other disappointment is with the lack of detail on the dorsal spines. It's the same level as what we got on the smaller version. I can't remember the movie well enough to know whether or not there should be more, but the upcoming SH MonsterArts version looks a lot more detailed!
Like the 6" tall version, 12" Tall Godzilla can be posed pretty well. The articulation mostly matches, with a couple of notable exceptions. My Godzilla's shoulders seem to be more cut-joints than ball joints. As a result, I can't get the inward/outward tilt that I could from Junior. As I mentioned earlier, mine's left knee looks odd. It's almost like it's not pushed in all the way, so there's a gap behind the knee. I can't get it in any further, and the right one doesn't look the same, so I can't say if it's a production thing or just an oddity on mine, but he stands just fine. Yes, the hips have that inward/outward motion, by the way.
Many of the joints otherwise match, but they seem to have a greater range of motion on this big guy. His head and neck joints can turn more freely, there's more bend at the elbows and the wrists are on excellent ball-joints. The tail has a TON of joints (I count 13), and replaces the bendy wire from Junior with MonsterArts-style ball-joints along its length. It's really excellent!
My Godzilla had one other issue worth noting. Along his spine, where the torso joint and the pelvis joint meet, the dorsal doesn't have much room to wiggle. As a result, he's pretty hard to rotate, and I have to lean him forward, slide one dorsal over top of another, and then bend him back. You'll see in some of the pictures that there's a gap (almost like on the MonsterArts Godzilla 1964) as a result of this.
So, what else is there to say? The most obvious question at hand is: How does he scale up to other figures? I'll end with several comparison pictures to try to help answer that question. He's bigger than my X-Plus GMK Vinyl, while he towers over the Pacific Rim 7" Jaegers and Bandai's Atomic Roar. He still looks comically small beside JAKKS Pacific's Giant Size version.
In sum, if you've been waiting for the ultimate version of Godzilla 2014, this is probably it. NECA's 12" tall version has the weight, detail, paint, articulation and SIZE to make it "the one" you'll want to have above all others. It's not as large as JAKKS Pacific's, and not as detailed as SH MonsterArts promises to be, but this guy is plenty big enough, and detailed enough to get the job done. Oh, and he ROARS!!!
 |
| Beside X Plus GMK Vinyl |
 |
| Striker Eureka, Godzilla and Gipsy Danger |
 |
| Bandai Atomic Breath Godzilla 2014 & NECA 12" Tall |
 |
| NECA version & JAKKS Pacific Giant Size Godzilla |
 |
| Gap |
 |
| NECA 24" Long Head-to-Tail GODZILLA 2014 |
