The Toyseum: LEGENDARY GODZILLAS & MUTO

I recently picked up a trio of 6" scale vinyl Godzilla figures based on Legendary's 2014 film: Godzilla and a MUTO by Bandai Japan and Godzilla by Bandai Creation. They are all neat in their own ways, and though none of the three are perfect, I'm glad I ordered them.

We'll start with Bandai Japan's take on Godzilla. The figure stands just under 6" tall and about 11" from nose to tail tip. There are cut joints at the shoulders and hips, and there's one at the base of the tail (though I don't think that one's really meant for posing). Godzilla is pre-posed in a very standard straight-ahead vanilla pose. Even the tail goes straight back with just a minor curl to give it some personality. The sculpt is mostly good, if not very reminiscent of the NECA 6" tall version. There are some nice pronounced details on the back and legs, and the neck and tail, as well. There's a couple of proportional issues, though, with an unusually small head and really long and thin arms.

There's some tan sprayed on the chest, inner thighs, toenails and half of the underside of the tail. The teeny tiny eyes are orange, and this $12 figure managed to do what the $70 SH MonsterArts version of the character couldn't: the tiny black pupils are aligned correctly. Godzilla has a red inner mouth and tongue and a shockingly white band of Crest Whitestrips...I mean, teeth. He's captured mid-roar, or yawn, and comes with a tag card attached.

In many ways, the MUTO is more interesting. For one, this is the only 6" scale version of the character we have gotten in any form so far. This is the winged Male MUTO, and he stands just under 5" tall and measures about 6" across from wing to wing. He's got cut joints at the shoulders (of the long orange arms) and hips. The wings are incredibly thick and smooth - they don't really look much like wings to me. You'll also find some really obtrusive seams all over this guy: the wings are 2 pieces each, there's one where each attaches to the torso, and there's a seam mid-torso, as well. All that said, this guy is still pretty cool. The head sculpt is neat, and despite the fact that the vestigial arms are curled against the body in one solid chunk (the mouth is also sculpted as a solid piece, with no opening between the jaws), MUTO does a pretty good job of looking like its movie counterpart, shape-wise.

There are almost no details or textures worth noting, other than the face and a little soft stuff on the chest/belly. Besides the orange spray over the front of the long legs, MUTO has a orange eye stripes on its face. The figure is cool, but he's a little too small to scale up with NECA's 12" tall version, and too big for the SH MonsterArts or NECA 6" tall figures. Nevertheless, he looks great on the shelf and it's nice to finally have a larger version of this kaiju than the Destruction Pack gave us.

Finally, we have Bandai Creation's Godzilla 2014. Usually, I feel like the American arm of Bandai produces vinyls inferior to those made for Japan. However, in this case the exact opposite is true. Bandai Creation's Godzilla surpasses Bandai Japan's in every way. This Godzilla comes in an open cardboard package resembling those used for Bandai's Tail Strike and Atomic Roar versions, and no tag. The figure is in much more of an in-action pose, leaning forward into a really angry-looking roar with his tail curling around to the side behind him. This figure is larger, standing just under 7" tall despite the lean, and measuring about 9" front to back, despite the tight curl of the tail. I love the pose. It's the closest any toy Godzilla 2014 has come to portraying the anger and strength he projected in the film, especially mid-roar. It's actually pretty close to the pose found in some of the promotional art when viewed from certain angles.

Godzilla has swivels at the tops of the arms and cuts at the hips. There's no tan highlighting on the toenails for this version, but the chest and entire underside of the tail are painted. The interior of the mouth is left black, but the bright red tongue is painted flawlessly, and the teeth are painted individually, making for a much sharper look. The eyes are yellow and pupil-less and awesome! I love the way it looks - they aren't beady and there's no misalignment to complain about.

There's plenty of detail on this guy, with a little more texture on the dorsal spines than some other versions have. His head is much larger, and his neck thicker than the Japanese Bandai's version mentioned earlier and if I've got any quibbles with the sculpt it's with the legs- they seem a little short and stumpy to me around the upper thigh area. Otherwise, this is a great looking Godzilla. His size, pose and sculpt are enough to really make him stand out on the shelf, and for about $13 he's a great deal.