GODZILLA 1989 - Diamond Select Vinyl Bank Review

Diamond Select has just released its first in a line of 12" vinyl banks: Godzilla 1989. I picked this figure up on a whim earlier this week after seeing some pictures online and running across a coupon that brought it to a very reasonable price...

Godzilla 1989 comes in 2 clear plastic bags (no box for this guy), and he has a tag. The tail needs to be attached, like with all large vinyls, but since this is a bank, there's a twist-lock-mechanism where the tail connects, which allows it to be removed to fish out any change whenever one wishes. The fit is VERY tight, and I really had trouble getting the lock to fit into place. I've read other reviewers complain that they were completely unable to attach the tail, and returned the product as a result. I was able to get mine to fit with a bit of muscle and a lot of patience. No way will I be removing this thing...ever. The entry point for any money is a large slot behind the right shoulder. It's obtrusive and inconspicuous at the same time: the slot is really quite large, but it's in a place where it isn't often seen. I'm not sure why Diamond elected to 1) make this as a bank instead of a straight-up vinyl figure or 2) decide not to include a simple rubber flap that would cover the slot but still allow for money to be inserted if one should so wish.

In any event, this is a pretty cool-looking figure. The sculpt is great and I especially love the dynamic pose. Godzilla looks awesome from nearly any angle. He stands just a shade under 12" tall, and measures about 15" from snout to tail tip. His torso is twisting to the left and his really impressive tail is whipping up and out behind him. He's caught mid-roar with his left arm coming up in a fighting stance. Like I said, the overall look is great - I'm usually a really boring, vanilla-pose kind of guy, but this dynamic one really works.

The detail of the sculpt is good (better than what I've seen from Bandai's American releases), but not quite excellent. Godzilla's arms (especially the left one) seem really long and thin, the claws on the fingers and feet are very plain and smooth, and the snout looks strangely flat and wide from some angles. That said, the sculpt and pose are the strongest points of this figure. 

The same can't be said about the paint. This is probably the weakest part of this release. The paint is very thick and quite sloppy in places. The eyes feature 3 colors (white, yellow then black) but aren't aligned perfectly, so he looks cross-eyed  from some angles. The teeth are sort-of individually sculpted, but the paint is thick and uneven in coverage. There's a tongue in his mouth, and even some faint ridging on the roof of the mouth, as well. It's painted a shade of bubble-gum pink, as are some of the gums, but the pink suddenly stops and becomes gray-green. The claws feature sloppy lines where they meet fingers and toes, the dorsal spines are uneven in both coverage and color (they switch between grey and white with no rhyme or reason), and there are several stray paint marks all over the big guy. But...I still love him.

Let's be realistic here. This is NOT a few-hundred-dollar X-Plus figure. Neither is it a Bandai Creations throw-away (I can't bring myself to buy that 12" Final Wars Godzilla that's been on the shelf at the local TRU for 4 months now, no matter what). What we have here is something in-between. For about $30, I got a large vinyl Godzilla who looks terrific on the shelf and from a distance. I love the pose and he actually looks just fine beside my X-Plus GMK Godzilla. With a little more attention to the paint, this would be a stellar collector's piece. As it is, it's a good initial release to a line that I hope continues for a while. The "bank" gimmick doesn't do anything for me, but as a shelf display piece he's a great find.

LEGENDARY GODZILLA 2014 - Bandai Tail Strike Godzilla

I planned to pass on the two smaller Bandai Godzilla offerings for the new 2014 movie, but once I saw them in the store I just couldn't pass them up.

Tail Strike Godzilla stands 7" tall at the crown of his head, and measures about 10" from snout to tail tip. I like this version, though not as much as the Smash Strike one. It's an entirely different sculpt, even down to the rubbery dorsal spine insert. Tail Strike Godzilla has his mouth sculpted closed. He has the same basic paint apps as the other 2 Bandai releases: white on teeth, yellow on eyes and a tan spray on the chest. This version has the glossier plastic that Atomic Breath uses, while Smash Strike is a bit more matte. There's a weird disruption to the sculpt created by the action feature. There's a "button" at  Godzilla's tummy that connects to the tail from inside. Pushing the button gets Godzilla's tail to "slam" down, while working the button around gets the tail to swing from side to side a bit. That's the "Tail Strike" feature: the tail is done in 3 hinged segments that swing back and forth. Imagine those segmented plastic snakes you can get at the dollar store. It works ok and kids might really enjoy knocking their other toys around with it, but it compromises  the look of a pretty good figure with that giant button up front and center, literally. I would have preferred this sculpt with better articulation and no action feature, but I'm an adult and this is a kid's toy. My version will come in a couple of months...

Tail Strike Godzilla features cut joints and the shoulders and hips, in addition to the swinging tail.

These 2 smaller-sized Godzillas are actually much cooler than I thought they would be. Neither is a collector's version, but they do a decent job of being fun toys for kids to play with. I think both of them had the potential to be better than Atomic Breath Godzilla, but they don't quite pull it off. Each has it's merits, and I don't think I prefer one to the other, but I'm glad that I picked them up...

LEGENDARY GODZILLA 2014 - Bandai Smash Strike Godzilla

I planned to pass on the two smaller Bandai Godzilla offerings for the new 2014 movie, but once I saw them in the store I just couldn't pass them up.

Smash Strike Godzilla stands 6 and 3/4" tall at the crown of his head, and measures about 9 & 1/4" from snout to tail tip. There's something really appealing about this version's look, despite the huge (and weird) torso split created by the action feature. Let's get this out of the way first. There's a "button" at the base of Godzilla's tail that connects to the upper torso from inside. Pushing the button gets Godzilla to lean up and back, while working the button around gets the upper torso to swivel a bit. That's the "Smash Strike" feature. It doesn't work too great and it really compromised a pretty good figure with that horrendous gap at the waist. I would have preferred this sculpt with better articulation and no action feature, but I'm an adult and this is a kid's toy. My version will come in a couple of months...

The sculpt on this guy is soft, but in many ways is preferable to Atomic Breath Godzilla. I think the shape of the head, face and snout are all better here, despite a slight underbite. The proportions overall also seem a bit better, especially around the thighs. Details that show up clearly in the larger Deluxe Atomic Breath version are very basic here (the gills are just a few curves at the base of the neck, for instance). He's still got the alligator scales, more pronounced on the arms and legs, and the dorsal spines are rubbery enough to bend slightly. The tails juts straight back, but isn't nearly as long as the tails we have seen from NECA or JAKKS Pacific's versions. There's cuts at the shoulders and hips, and pin elbows, but they are so floppy I think it's meant more as a part of the action feature: bend his elbows and close his mouth (yeah, there's a hinge in the jaw), then "Smash Strike" and watch his arms swing down and his mouth open! It's kind of lame- I'd (of course) have preferred real joints for the elbows and the jaw.

And that's about it for Smash Strike Godzilla. He won me over in-person, where he looks a lot better than in the preview pics. He's also a fun little toy, sans electronics. I paid about $12 for this guy thanks to a couple of coupons, so I'm pretty pleased. Now, I need to find that Giant Sized JAKKS!

LEGENDARY GODZILLA 2014 - Atomic Roar Godzilla Review

I managed my first Godzilla 2014 toy this afternoon. It's Bandai's Atomic Roar Godzilla from the new Legendary Studios film, due out 2 months from now. As a collectible, it's pretty awful, but as a toy it's actually quite cool...

Atomic Roar Godzilla stands 10 & 3/4" to the top of his crown, and runs about 14" nose to tail. He is posed with his tail curled around and pointing forward. The sculpt is soft and doesn't feature any intricate details, but gives you the general sense of the beast. For example, in the beautiful picture on the right hand side of the package (which is actually doing a lot to get his new design to grow on me - I really didn't care for it at all at first), we can see a series to ridges running from Godzilla's jaw hinge down the side of his neck, where they meet some pretty angry looking spikes above the shoulder. The toy has some light bumps along the outside of the neck, but that's about all. The scales all over his skin aren't very deeply cut, and the dorsal spines look more like a 6 year old's idea of a mountain range than anything fearsome. There's also a pig-like upturn to the snout on the toy that's more curved on the image.

The toy is cast in a greenish plastic with a light spray on the chest (tan?). The only other colors are the tiny spots of yellow in the eyes and the whites of the teeth. It looks like we will have screw holes on the right side of the toy, and there's a series of openings in the chest for the microphone. This version is articulated with cut shoulders and hips, nothing more (well, except the split in the head, but we'll get to that next).

There's a play gimmick with Atomic Roar Godzilla that I thought was pretty ridiculous at first, but which I've seen my 8 year old really enjoy. Lift Godzilla's tail until he's nearly horizontal (head to tail) and his skull splits apart a the jaw line allowing his "atomic breath" to shoot out and light up as he roars. The roar is great - long and loud. The breath looks ridiculous, but it lights up a cool glowing blue and shoots out really far. Like I said, my son can't stop playing with it, and that's a big reason why I say this is a pretty cool toy.

This is no X-Plus figure. It's a cheaply made toy (that's overpriced at $34.99, in my opinion), but unlike X-Plus's statues, which are meant for staring at, this is one you can put your hands on and really have fun playing with. He's much better suited to the sandbox than the shelf. 

I'll wait for NECA and Tamashii Nations to give me my true collector versions of the new Godzilla, but I just couldn't pass up the chance of getting my first 2014! Bandai's other offerings don't do much for me, and I'll most likely pass on them. JAKKS Pacific's Giant Size is a definite for me, just because of his sheer size. And as far as this guy goes, I like him for what he is: a fun toy that kids are going to love. That's great news in my book, because anything that gets Godzilla into the hands of the kids is a plus...

UPDATE: Ok, I've had this guy for 24 hours, and he's been out of his package for half that, and he's encountered 3 kids, none of whom could stop playing with him. Two boys (aged 8 and 7) and a girl (age 10) absolutely love playing with him, and the action feature is sounding off his roar non-stop. So, I guess the verdict is in- as a toy he's terrific. Detailed enough to get the job done, durable and with a super-fun play action feature. Don't collect him, play with him!

Lots of screw holes on the right hand side...

Much better from this angle!

Size comparison with SH MonsterArts Godzilla 1994

Size comparison with X-Plus GMK Godzilla 30cm

GODZILLA 1964 - Y-MSF Vinyl Figure Review

I've read a bit of negativity with regards to Y-MSF figures, but I was happy enough with Megalon to go ahead and order a Godzilla. I chose the 1964 version because 1) he was available, 2) the price was reasonable and 3) it's a suit version that I like. I have the S.H. MonsterArts '64 and I've pre-ordered the X-Plus Previews '64, so I figured he'd have a decent place on the shelf, even if he wasn't well-done. As it turns out, I'm actually pretty pleased with this Y-MSF version overall.

Y-MSF's 1964 Godzilla stands right about 6" tall to the crown on his head and measures about 8" long to the tip of his tail. He comes in 2 pieces- his tail to be attached with the help of a hair dryer (which I also needed to use to soften and bend his feet into place, as they came with a severe inward bend). The tail has an upward sweep and clears the ground by a large amount, which helps to offset the instability of Godzilla's forward lean. In all, it makes for a pretty neat and fairly dynamic pose - he looks like he's been captured just as he's about to step forward with his left leg.

'64's head is sculpted with a downward curve, so he tends to look better on a shelf that's at eye level or higher. The sculpt is good, without being exceptional. It's a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. The skin texture details are there, but they seem a tad soft to me. Oh, it's better than Bandai vinyl offerings (especially the American releases, which are just awful), but nowhere near the quality that you get from X-Plus.

The seam lines are prominent at the legs, tail and elbows (which are cut to allow the forearms to tilt in and out, which does add a neat variety of posing looks, actually). There's also a large plug for the dorsal spines that has a fairly poor fit around the bottom.

The paint is ok, but comes off as a little sloppy in that there's (intentional) overspray at the toes, claws and dorsals. It also seems really thick on the underside of the tail, even obscuring some of the sculpted detail. The head and face are nicely done- especially the eyes (I wish my SH MonsterArts' eyes were this even!). The mouth is very red and the teeth have a little added detail, though it's not perfect. Oddly enough the sculpt of his nostrils seem to be a bit off-center. The chest and knees have a tinge of spray, as well, and (again) it doesn't come off too great, looking more like butterscotch than highlighting.

Despite my complaints, Y-MSF Godzilla 1964 is a good figure. He looks great on the shelf, especially with other 6" scale vinyl kaiju. He's got some issues that I'd take exception with if he was an X-Plus figure, but which I can live with from Y-MSF. Godzilla 1964 will run you a bit more money than an average Bandai would, but a LOT less than you'll pay for an X-Plus.

That said, I personally think all of the Godzilla vinyls are overpriced and way over what I'm mostly comfortable with. I also don't seem to enjoy them as much as the S.H. MonsterArts  versions, so I'll probably be sticking with those for the most part, with an occasional vinyl of my really favorite suits if the price is right.

Y-MSF Godzilla 1964 with Y-MSF Megalon

MEGALON - Y-MSF Vinyl Figure Review

I remember my Saturday afternoon treat, growing up, was watching insane Kung-Fu movies or monster battle epics, and chief among them was "Godzilla vs. Megalon". There was a little boy's weird peddle duck thing getting sucked into a pond-swallowing crack in the earth, a mute robot who could change size at will named Jet Jaguar, and a titanic 2-on-2 monster throw down at the end. As a kid, what wasn't to like? As an adult, I can recognize that this is one of the worst Godzilla films in the franchise, but that doesn't keep me from thinking that Megalon is still one bad-looking dude. Even now, he may be my favorite kaiju design ever. But, I must be in the minority, because it's really hard to find toy versions of this guy. There's a Bandai 9" (I don't like the drill hands on that one), an X-Plus Large Scale (it's beautiful, but REALLY expensive), a couple of "deformed" or "gashapon" mini versions, and then there's this: Y-MSF 6.5" vinyl Megalon. I've never owned a Y-MSF figure before, so I really had very little to go on when I decided to purchase this, other than that IT'S MEGALON, and it was less than $100. So, is this guy worth the cash and effort it takes to get him? Let's find out...

I'll say this for starters: I think they nailed the sculpt. This is exactly how I remember Megalon. He stands 6 & 5/8 inches tall to the top of his star, and measures about 6 inches from the points of his drills to the end of his tail. He's made of an incredibly lightweight vinyl. It's striking how feathery this figure feels. He weighs in at 3 oz. (compare this to the Bandai Godzilla '68 in the picture below, who's 4.3 oz). He just feels...thin, I guess is the word I'm looking for, and not really up to hard-core play.

That said, he looks fantastic. The proportions are spot-on, and the entire sculpt exudes a variety of textures. His smooth star transitions to a fine pebble-grain for his head. The yellow markings on his torso and wings are sculpted, and the mouth looks like a separate piece (I believe there's an "open-mouth" version of Megalon out there, as well). The arms and legs have large overlapping plates/feathers/scales, and the drill hands look great both on the interior and exterior. Megalon's tail has fierce thorns atop it, and completes the pebble-texture begun at the head, though here it's rougher and more...icky.

The wings have some additional raised lines to suggest overlapping transparent pieces, while the feathered armor continues down his legs until the feet become pebbly again and end in 2 wicked claws on each foot. The paint is good, though not exceptional. The yellow on the wings is muted and inconsistent in coverage, while the body fares a bit better. The eyes suggest the honeycomb texture with a light gold spray over top, The drill hands, tail thorns, mouth and toenails are silver, and mostly very clean. The toes are the exception, with some overspray onto the foot, though it seems that may have been intentional. There's a bit of tan on the antennae and a hint of silver to the star and horn. Megalon himself is a sort of dark charcoal with a light greenish tint. In all, he's a great looking figure with plenty of neat detail and a sufficient paint job.

Megalon's pose is interesting. He's kind of leaned forward from the waist up. I wish he could be raised up a little more upright, but it's not possible despite some limited articulation. There's cuts at the shoulders and crotch which allow the arms to be raised a bit, and the legs adjusted just enough to get the feet to lie flat. The tail has 2 cuts, I believe and the head can be adjusted a tiny but, but I don't think either of those are really meant to be posed significantly. So, he's relatively static, as most vinyl kaiju are. Which means his look depends largely on whether or not you like the sculpted pose. The Bandai Megalon stands much more erect, and I don't much care for it. The X-Plus Megalon looks as though he's in the midst of a battle swing. This Y-MSF version is somewhere in-between. I like the general look, but he really needs to be displayed at eye level or higher to be appreciated due to his hunch.

On a side note, he seems to be posed slightly asymmetrically. His stance is just a shade deeper on his left that his right, which causes him to lean slightly to his left. It's a small thing, but it does bug me a bit.

Foot and toe details

Drill Hands

Y-MSF's Megalon looks great on the shelf. Whether it's beside his baddie ally Gigan (shown is the Bandai America 6.5" Gigan), or facing off with Godzilla. I don't personally have an in-scale '73 Godzilla, but he looks pretty good opposite Bandai's Godzilla 1968. I have no regrets about purchasing him, and would gladly do so again. I may try to track down a reasonably priced X-Plus Megalon, but until that happens I'm happy to have this version terrorizing my shelf. In fact, I'm so happy with him that I'll be keeping my eyes out for more Y-MSF Godzilla toys to add to my collection.

On a side note, I understand that there is another version of this Megalon done in a brown color scheme. I'm not sure how the color variants and the mouth variants match up, but I believe the sculpts for the rest of the figure are the same.

S.H. MonsterArts GODZILLA 2000 Millennium figure review

Since his inception, the Godzilla I identify with has been a slow, lumbering behemoth. This is due, in part, to the realities imposed on an actor working from within a heavy rubber suit. He stomps, slowly, standing mostly upright. He's not built for speed, but with various levels of thickness about the thighs (depending on the suit), he portrays a triangular forward silhouette: he's a mountain brought to life. His deliberate and methodical plod has contributed a great deal to what Godzilla represents. He is an unstoppable force of nature. He sweeps in like a storm- you can see him coming, and there's nothing you can do to alter the destruction you are about to be subjected to.

But here...we have something a bit different. This is a Godzilla for the new Millennium. We are all, go, go go, and now it seems that Godzilla is, too. S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla Millennium 2000 sports a truly hunched pose, and that's how he's meant to look. He's lunging forward, almost like he's about to break into a sprint. As such, his eyes are sculpted/painted as staring up and forward through his brows. His ears are pulled back and his fangs are bared in a snarl that reminds me of a hissing cat. And, oh, the spikes all over this guy! Handling him is like hugging a rose bush- there's just no pleasant way to do it. Those qualities work together to make this one of the most unique and interesting Godzilla designs I'm ever likely to own. If only this was what the new Godzilla 2014 design was like, I'd be a truly happy camper (and, no, I'm not a huge fan of what I've seen of the new movie Godzilla...).

Godzilla 2000 looks oddest to me when viewed head-on. With his severe hunch, his eyes get lost, as does most of his upper torso. Personally, I think he looks best when viewed from a 1/4 side angle. The sculpt, articulation and paint are all top-notch. That is, after all, what you are paying for (this guy comes bare-bones, no accessories at all). His asphalt body has a greenish tinge in the right light, and there's a few highlighted spots of light brown. The finger and toe nails are awesome, with wicked hints of striations and paint in darker gradations as the nail joins the appendage. The dorsal and tail spines are just as threatening in an absolutely real sense: the spikes are sharp and hard, with a lovely shimmering purple hue to the blade-like edges. The image of "oversized sharp edges" carries throughout the sculpt, from the huge dorsal spines and enormous claws, through the elongated fangs (which, unfortunately, aren't as sharply sculpted as they ought to be), the tremendous tail, and even throughout the rough bark-like skin, whose texture is emphasized with deep trenches between scales. Everything about this Godzilla is X-treme...

S.H. MonsterArts Millennium Godzilla 2000 stands just under 6" tall to his hunched head, though his spikes might get you a bit more of an inch. He measures around 13" to to tip of his tail, depending on how you choose to pose it. He poses fairly well (certainly better than any previous MonsterArts Godzilla incarnation), even for an amateur poser like myself. His joints have a pretty good range of motion, and are more intelligently designed than they have been previously (the feet, ball-jointed hands, head/neck and tail are all vastly improved).

His huch is difficult to alter due to the way the dorsal spines are layed out, combined with the weight they carry. Personally, I can't get him nearly as upright as the photos on the back of the box suggest. I also can't get the tongue to hinge out of the way to close his mouth completely. I'm not thrilled with the way the teeth are painted. Whether intentional or not, there's a lot of red slop on mine. I wish they were cleaner. Otherwise, this guy is darn near perfect. The gaps at the joints have been resolved (see Burning Godzilla 1995 for the issues I refer to) very well, and he does a fantastic job of being aesthetically pleasing while also being a heck of a lot of fun to mess around with and pose.

From what I've read, people seem to be very pleased with this newest version of Godzilla, and it's with good reason. He's got a dynamic sculpt, despite it being nearly the complete antithesis of the previous "best" Burning Godzilla, who exudes smooth curves, a nearly completely upright posture and thick, deliberate slowness. 2000's feline predatory look is ferocious and fully threatening, while suggesting motion everywhere. Don't expect any accessories and you won't be let down by their absence. Know what you are paying for: a top-notch sculpt and paint work, with excellent articulation and terrific engineering. You likely won't be disappointed- I know I'm not...