Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire - Playmates Toys action figures

I've only watched one trailer for the new upcoming Godzilla x Kong movie, and I hated it. Mind you, this was in the midst of the masterpiece that was Godzilla Minus One, which I think is one of the best Godzilla movies ever made, so maybe my impressions were tainted. GxK looks silly and childish to me, and my initial reaction was, "I don't think I'm going to even bother going to see this one." Then a funny thing happened: the toys came out, which were largely unimpressive to me...at first. But today, walking through the action figure aisle at Wal-mart, something different happened. I got pretty happy. Why? Because there are Godzilla toys on the pegs and shelves, right there among billions of Transformers, wrestlers, Jurassic dinosaurs and DC McFarlane's! It was kind of awesome. And it made me remember something: Godzilla was kind of stupid, and I loved it as a kid. I still do as an adult, but that period of 1970's films that I adored so much when I was younger - the ones with Minila being incredibly whiny and annoying all the time, Godzilla dancing with Jet Jaguar while fighting Megalon, Godzilla literally flying backwards while shooting his atomic breath as propulsion - were all pretty goofy. It seems like that's the direction the MonsterVerse is taking: appeal to the kids. And how can I fault that? 

Playmates Toys Godzilla figures are not collector quality figures by any means. They are cheap but colorful, soft in sculpt, mediocre in articulation and absent of accessories. The Giant version repeats those awful and plentiful screw holes all along one side that the giant GvK Godzilla had. But...they are Godzilla toys on the shelves! And man are they meant to be played with! Much like the TMNT figures they cut their teeth on, these Playmates figures look perfect in the hands of a kid, being carried around on long car rides or hidden in backpacks. And that's what I love about them! They take me back to a time when I would have stuffed that Evolved Godzilla into my lunchbox to show the guys at school, and for $10 a pop (for the basic figures) I think that's a very reasonable ask. I'll wait for Hiya to make the adult-version collectibles. 

Incidentally, I work at a school and the other day a Kindergartner walked by with a Godzilla figure in his hand. I went, "Hey! That's Godzilla Ultima!" He looked at me like, "Yeah?" and said "I know." Duh. He brought it in for show-and-tell. Remember show-and-tell? That's what these figures are perfect for! 

I picked up the large Giant 11" Godzilla Evolved (at $25 it's honestly kind of pushing it - this should be $20 and not more) along with 3 basic 6" figures: Kong with B.E.A.S.T. Glove (good heavens - that's as bad as the H.E.A.V.), Godzilla Evolved and Godzilla with Heat Ray. That last is a re-release of the one they made for the last movie GvK, complete with the removable battle damage plate in his chest. I do like the paint scheme on the dorsals though (they look better than the ones on the S.H. MonsterArts version), and the heat ray blast fits into his mouth better than I remember the last version doing. Evolved Godzilla has a peg hole in his mouth for a heat ray blast as well, but none is included. Kong looks way better than he did in the GvK release, and the stupid glove is really well done with some tiny print on it for detailing. I honestly have no idea how this upcoming movie is going to go. I did not really like Godzilla vs. Kong and feel like they might have hit their high point with King of the Monsters. But for now, I've decided I'm going to ride the wave of excitement that a new Godzilla movie brings and watch the kids be excited for it, as well. These toys are fun and are reasonably priced for what you are getting. Seeing them on the store shelves makes me feel young again, and for that I'll go ahead and be grateful...

This is the Giant Evolved version, which features a much better paint job than the basic does...

Gandalf the Wizard - Knickerbocker Toys Lord of the Rings movie figure

My first exposure to the world of J.R.R. Tolkein and Middle Earth was an animated movie of The Hobbit, produced in the late 1970's by (I think) Xerox and Rankin/Bass. I adored that movie and even still have the small vinyl record and storybook combo (though I don't have anything to play the record on any longer). Shortly thereafter (I'm guessing somewhere around 1979?) I remember going to the theater to see the animated Ralph Bakshi epic animated Lord of the Rings. I was a bit less enamored with that film, as I was around 8 years old at the time and it was much slower, much more difficult to follow, and ended abruptly after the battle of Helm's Deep (the climax of The Two Towers), with very little in the way of explanation. Later, RankinBass did release an animated Return of the King film, but it was stylistically drastically different from the Bakshi film and hugely different in tone from The Hobbit. So, Middle Earth was quite a hodgepodge that didn't get properly re-done until Peter Jackson came along 20 years later. 

Knickerbocker released a set of action figures to go along with the Bakshi film, and I had most of them. But amongst them all, my favorite was Gandalf. Nearly 45 years later, and a little worse for wear, he's still with me, sans staff and sword. I do still have the hat (no idea how that managed to say along for the ride!). Gandalf only has 2 points of articulation: swivels at the shoulders, but I couldn't care less. He's the coolest character ever and he was a huge piece of my childhood adventures. The figure is actually pretty close to how he appeared in the film, blue robes and hat and all...

Gandalf the Grey - ToyBiz Lord of the Rings action figure

Gandalf has always been one of my most favorite characters in all of literature. As a very young kid, I carried my Knickerbocker Gandalf around with me everywhere I went. In fact, I even remember having that figure on my side table at the hospital when I had my emergency appendectomy in 3rd Grade. I still have that figure, and it holds a dear place in my heart. But, let's face it, there have been a ton of much better Gandalf figures released over the years. 

The new preorder for the Hellcat 1/12 scale "Grey Wizard" action figure is something I've wanted ever since Mezco released their first One:12 Collective action figure years ago! At that moment in time, I begged for a line of fabric-clothed 1/12 scale Lord of the Rings figure, with Gandalf at the very top of that most wanted list. Nearly a decade later, it seems like it's finally going to happen (I'm actually really happy it's not by Mezco, too, as I find the heads on their figures to be way out of scale with the bodies)! Here's to hoping that the actual figure comes close to the images shown of the prototype! 

That got me reminiscing about my old (hugely extensive) ToyBiz LOTR collection. So, I pulled out one of those figures (hard to believe it's considered about "vintage" now - seems like they came out just yesterday, in many ways): a rectangular-carded Gandalf the Grey. Now, ToyBiz released about a billion different versions of Gandalf in several different packaging configurations. This particular one is interesting. It features a removable rubber hat, and the articulation features swivel cuts at the biceps and vertical hinged wrists on both hands. There's very little (meaning, none) articulation below the waist other than swivels forward and back at the hips. Glamdring sits sheathed on his left hip, and he comes with a version of his staff. It strikes me as a bit short, and doesn't sit well in the hand, which is opened just a tad bit too wide. 

The top of the shirt is sculpted with wrinkles in a twist to one side, suggesting movement, with the lower portion continuing the curve, but a bit more gently. There's a rubber cape in the back, sculpted separately. The face sculpt and paint are excellent, especially considering how old the figure is. In fact, I think it might be right up there with the pictures I've seen of the newer Diamond Select figure (which I have not purchased) or even the upcoming Hellcat Grey Wizard. 

Articulation-wise, the arms don't come down close to the torso far enough for my liking, and the legs have no posing ability, other than to get him to stand. He's awkward to pose, but I think the overall figure is great. I lean heavily to the aesthetics for my figure preferences, and he looks great just standing in a basic vanilla pose . Sure, the hat is a bit too tall, and the staff is a smidge too short, but this is overall a neat looking Gandalf, right up there with their terrific Gandalf the White, which he will stand beside on my shelf...

Beside Blade Master Weng

ASURA the Red Demon - VToys Studio 1/12 scale figure

Asura the Red Demon is an original-design figure from VToys. Done in 1/12 scale, the figure features fabric clothing, is fully poseable and includes a nice array of accessories. I loved the look of this figure as soon as it went up on pre-order. Knowing nothing about VToys, I decided to take a chance on Asura. During the interim, I caught a sale for another VToys action figure, The Knight of War, and added it to my collection. I was honestly pretty disappointed by that figure, and it caused me some trepidation as I awaited my Asura. I found the Knight of War to feature gorgeous detailing and a pretty nice paint job, but the plastic felt very cheap and the joints were so floppy and loose that working with the figure was a miserable experience. I did manage to finally get it into a standard vanilla pose with the shield on one arm and its enormous sword in the other, and it's going to stay that way for the foreseeable future. For that reason, when the green LACC version became available, I decided not to order it, instead opting to wait out my red version's arrival. 

Asura the Red Demon arrived just before the end of 2023. The packaging is minimalist, yet classy - matte black background covered in gloss black embossing to make it look like flames and a demon's face.  There's very little writing in simple white on the front and sides. Inside are two clear plastic trays with the following: Asura figure, six alternate hands, wine jug, hat, knife and scabbard, enormous sword, scabbard, scarf, and the removable pommel end for the sword. Through the packaging, the figure looks fantastic. The clothing is immaculate and the face detail looks like it comes close to the prototype pictures, though the shading around the eyes looks a bit dark, and the wash over the forehead looks light.

Once out of the shell, the figure does not disapppoint. The joints are tight and fluid, and the plastic doesn't feel cheap or hollow like I felt the Knight of War did. The clothes are nicely tailored and fit well, though the fabric does feel a bit rougher in texture than some other clothed figures I own do. The paint work is excellent, with precise details (especially the gold) of rivets, ropes, wraps and tiny red highlights over the armor of the shins and forearms. The face is terrific, with the tiniest pupils I've ever seen immaculately centered in the eyes (including the third eye in the forehead). The hair could use a bit of a dark wash to bring out the detail, and the transition from face paint to beard isn't as clean as I'd like. But those are nitpicky criticisms. Overall, this is an excellent looking figure, worth staring at on any shelf. The belt and buckle alone are amazing works of art.

I don't get into crazy posing with my figures, but it seems Asura has all the standard joints he needs to hit fighting stances. There's a nice ankle rocker (another thing I missed on the Knight of War figure, as I had lots of trouble with his ankles). One thing I am noticing right away is that the arms don't come down to the sides as far as I'd like. The vest seems to ride right up into the armpit a bit, so I'm not sure if that's keeping the arm from coming down or if it's the sculpt that's at fault, and I'm not finding a butterfly joint there either.

In terms of accessories, I don't care for the fit or look of the hat. I much prefer the snug fit on Blade Master Weng or on the Nottaa Collection Yaomo figures. This one flops around, the string is too long to get it tight, and it doesn't have the natural/weathered look I'd like. I'm fine leaving it off. I haven't messed with the scarf (my Sun WuKong has a blowing scarf going, so I don't need another scarfed figure beside him), and the sword is truly immense, especially in his hand. The hands pull off easily enough, but I did have a bit of trouble getting the swapped ones onto the tiny pegs snugly. Once on, they look great.

Overall, Asura is a terrific addition to my collection. He looks right at home on the shelf beside my other 1/12 scale fantasy figures, and I'd glad to have him!

Mezco Conan, Nottaa SunWukong, VToys Asura, Nottaa Yan