HIYA TOYS MUTO (Female) | Figure Review

When I collect Godzilla figures, I like to have complete sets of characters from the movies I love the most. Back when the 2014 Godzilla film was new and the merch was becoming more readily available in stores, I had to get my hands on as much as I could. By far my favorite figures came from NECA, their 2014 figure was a knockout to me and I was anticipating more, including Godzilla's opponents from the film. Months turned to years and the Muto's were nowhere to be seen. 
NECA wouldn't do it, seeming to only favor figures of the Big G himself.
Bandai made smaller and less detailed plastic Muto's, but seemed to scared to introduce them into their SH MonsterArts line, save for a severed head. The Muto's have been my most wanted SH MonsterArts figures for a long time and after a while, it seemed like I wouldn't get my wish for SOMEONE to make detailed, articulated figures of these unique creatures.

And then Hiya entered the scene and was like: "Fine, I'll do it myself"
At least, the female one for starters. 

Out of the box, this figure looks very impressive. 
Hiya appears to have knocked it out of the park when it comes to the sculpt of the Female Muto.

The texture work all over her body looks incredible and is accentuated nicely with the various weathered coats of black and grey paint with a nicely applied red streak for her eyes. 

Muto has a great head sculpt with an appropriately sharp looking beak. One nice touch that I love is when the mouth is open, her tongue looks like it's sticking out during a roar. To me, she looks plenty fierce whether her mouth is open or closed. 

Luckily, the Muto's don't have traditional monster claws, so no need to worry about paint bleeding over the fingers.

On her belly you can see what appears to be her egg pouch. Despite it not all glowy, it's still nicely detailed. 

Before we get to articulation, I'd like to point out that my figure came out of the box with the majority of it's joints super stiff. If yours is like this, it might be time to whip out the handy hair dryer to get them nice and loose. Carefully, of course.  

Muto's head doesn't offer much movement other then being able to move up/down and an opening mouth. 
I do like how the back is sculpted so when her head moves up, the back looks folded up.

Both of her front and mid forearms can fully rotate at the body (provided you maneuver the other arms accordingly.) the front arms can move in/out somewhat, not too much and the mid forward can move forward/backward. Both sets of arms can bend and rotate at 2 sperate points and her little hooked feets can bend forward/backward and rotate. 

Muto also has a set of smaller arms beneath her forearms that can move forward/backward and in/out at the body while her hooked appendages can bend forward and rotate freely. 

The body of the Muto can be moved forward/backward and we even get rotation at the waist.

Her legs can make a full rotation and slightly move in/out at the hip. You once again get 2 points where you can bend and rotate her legs and her hooves can only bend at the ankles. 

The Muto's have a weird anatomy, I know, but I think her possibility is still really good. 

No accessories for Momma Muto.

This has been a dream figure of mine for years and I would say Hiya Toys has met my expectations. 
In my opinion, at least when it comes to MonsterVerse figures, Hiya Toys is definitely the superior company.
Now we just need her mate and the 2014 Godzilla coming out soon, and I'll finally have the set I've been wanting for a long time. 

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and thank you for joining me here in my lair.

So long...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. 

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SH MONSTERARTS JET JAGUAR (1973) | Figure Review

A lot can change in 9 years, like my posting frequency. 
In October of 2015, back when I was starting this blog and trying to find my footing, I made a Top 5 list of Godzilla monsters I wanted to see get made into SH MonsterArts figures. In the 9 years since that list, only one has managed to materialize itself into existence: Jet Jaguar.

I've only reviewed a handful of Jet Jaguar figures, the last of which was the Playmates Toys one and after that dumpster fire, surely things can only go up from here?

I mean, just look at this figure, it looks fantastic!
There are a few area's where the sculpt isn't quite suit accurate, e.g., the hips are slightly thiccer than they should be. I also think the neck should be a tiny bit more extended, but none of that kills the figure for me and I still think the sculpt is very well done.
The paint work is also spectacular, brightly colored and evenly applied with no major bleeding. 

Jet Jaguar's head looks wonderful and the details all look great. The eyes are a clear plastic piece with sculpted circles.
And that smile? Perfection. 

The main body including the chest, arms, waist with his trademark emblem legs and feet (Air Jaguar's anyone?) looks overall great.
Aside from the hips, nothing else looks too off to me. 
I also really like how the back seam blends into the back of the figure. 

Being a character known for striking a variety of poses, you'd expect a figure of Jet Jaguar to have good articulation, right?

I mentioned the neck should've been extended a bit. As it is now, Jet Jaguar's head movement is restricted by the neck.
It can still move up/down, turn left/right and tilt side-to-side, but maybe not as much as some would like. 

The arms can rotate and move in and out at the shoulder, bend at the elbow (with rotation at both ends) and a piece of the upper arm is separated to help with articulation.
The hands can rotate and bend at the wrist.

The body can lean forward, backward and side-to-side very nicely. The waist of this figure is actually made of rubber, nice touch. 

The legs can move forward/backward and in/out at the hip.
There is a double bend (kind of) at the knee. While there is a basic bend, you'll have to pull the leg to access a double bend. Also the leg can rotate at the knee, something I don't think was necessary, especially since it misaligns the blue pattern on the leg.
The feet can rotate, bend and pivot.

While the articulation can be a bit awkward in some areas, you can still get Jet Jaguar in some fun poses. 

Jet Jaguar does come with a few accessories:

You've got your standard set of alternate hands: Open, closed and grabbing. And obviously he comes with a thumbs up hand because there would probably be riots at Bandai HQ if it weren't included. 

We have a piece to emulate Jet Jaguar's brighter eyes. To install them, you simply remove the head, then remove the eyepiece with an included plastic piece also included, then place the new piece in.

Next we've got antenna pieces for Jet Jaguar's flight mode.
Now, both the standard and flight antenna pieces are tiny (ESPECIALLY the standard center one!), and I have larger than normal hands. So while removing and replacing them can seem scary, it actually ended up being pretty easy once you get used to it. 

If for whatever reason you lose the center antenna pieces, this set comes with extra replacement parts.

And if you've got an appropriate stand, Jet Jaguar looks pretty dang good in a flight pose.

And finally we have a mini Jet Jaguar figure which...is fine. 
I get why it was included but it feels largely unnecessary. 

Overall, is this a perfect figure? Not really. Is it a cool figure? Hell yeah it is! His mother may have never love him, but I do.
I've been wanting a posable Jet Jaguar figure for so long and this scratches so many itches for me, enough for me to give it a recommendation. 

Next time, I review another figure I've been wanting since forever. Stay tuned...

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and thank you for joining me here in my lair.

So long...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. 

Thanks for reading!

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SH MONSTERARTS RED-EYES BLACK DRAGON | Figure Review

On June 15, 2023, Tamashii Nations announced a new series would be added to the SHMA line, with a teaser image showing a very distinct background with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Everyone guessed right away, Ancient Egypt + monsters = Yu-Gi-Oh!

Now I am on old school Yu-Gi-Oh fan who fell off the series around the time the first anime ended it's run, I don't know anything about synchro summons or XYZ/pendulum whatchamacallit's...but I do have a fond nostalgia for the classic series, so I was naturally curious about this upcoming figure line. The first figure revealed was the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, a staple monster of the series. Personally though, I was a bigger fan of his counterpart. I even made a post on Facebook that said if they were to announce a Red-Eyes Black Dragon figure, I would pre-order it without question.
Sure enough, only a couple months later, I got my wish!

Being my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh monster, I may have had high expectations for this figure and I'm happy to say that most of them were met!

This figure looks incredible! It's been awhile since I watched the show, but Red-Eyes looks pretty spot on, none of the proportions look off and the sculpt lives up to the reputation of being a ferocious dragon with a deadly attack. 

You know what else if ferocious? Just how spiky this figure is. From the beak, horns, claws and the body in general, there are various pokey bits on this dragon so be mindful of that. 

The only real nitpick I have with the sculpt is regarding the feet. The talon on the back (which I believe would be called a Hallux(?)) is sculpted in a way that makes standing Red-Eyes up without any support stands a bit tricky. It can be done, but that may run the risk of bending the talon too much 

As for the paint? Well, it's black dragon and he does in fact have red eyes, what more do you need?
Well, OK, there is a bit more to it than that. The inside of the mouth along with the teeth and the tongue are painted quite nicely. 

Remember those pokey bits I mentioned? Many of them are coated with a silvery dry brushing from head to tail and it looks great.

So Red-Eyes looks amazing, no question, but how does he move? Well, let me just play my Articulation card. 

His mouth is double jointed allowing it to open pretty wide. The head can rotate and the various neck joints let him look up/down, left/right and tilt side-to-side. 

The arms have unique ball joints that you'll have to fiddle with in order to get their full range of movement. But when you do the arms can rotate and move in/out at the shoulder, bend/rotate at the elbow and the hands can bend/rotate at the wrist.

The body of Red-Eyes doesn't offer a lot of movement, but you can have him tilt side-to-side and only the slightest lean forward/backward. 
Again, the pokey bits may or may not hinder your ability to move this dragon around. 

The wings are able to flap at the back and can rotate slightly. 
They also have a point of rotation and are separated into pieces that can be made to looked spread out wide for flight or folded closed. However you choose to pose your dragon, the wings are going to give it some presence. 

At the waist, the legs have the same hinged ball joints the arms do, some work will need to be done, but once you get a hold of it, the legs can move forward/backward and move in/out. The knees are double jointed, and have a decent bend. The feet can move up/down, rotate/pivot and you even get a bend at the toes and back talon.

But the back talons on Red-Eyes' foot aren't the only things that'll prohibit the dragon from standing, what also doesn't help is how loose the joints are in the legs. They have trouble dealing with the weight of the figure as a whole. 

And finally, the tail. It's everything you want in a SHMA tail, multi-jointed and fluid with tight joints that hold it's pose.

If you can get past the pokey bits, Red-Eyes is quite posable and will look great if you can get creative enough-
OH, look at that! You activated my Accessories card!

Red-Eyes comes with a variety of stands that can be attached to the included base. 

If you ask me though, the wing tip attachments are a bit superfluous at best. I've had my Red-Eyes held up by just the crotch holding piece and it's worked out pretty well so far.

You also get a pair of more open hands if that tickles your fancy.

We even get an effect part meant to emulate the dragon's signature attack: Black Flame Bullet. (or Inferno Fire Blast, in America!)

This is a great effect part to place in Red-Eye's mouth, and the lighting bits are made of a softer plastic so you don't have to worry too much about them breaking unless you're actively trying to do so. 

In the end, while this Red-Eyes Black Dragon may come with it's own unique hindrances, I still love it very much. Tamashii Nations did my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh monster justice and I can't wait to see where this line goes from here. You know they'll have to do the Egyptian God Monsters at some point.

Also, if they consider doing an Exodia figure, I dare them to release it as the individual pieces that you have to buy separately. 

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and thank you for joining me here in my lair.
So long...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. 

Thanks for reading!

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SH MONSTERARTS GODZILLA (1972) | Figure Review

With so many anniversaries of the Showa Era films coming up in recent years, it makes me giddy seeing Tamashii Nations putting effort into making figures based on the characters from them. Weather it's making my dreams come true with a Showa Gigan and FINALLY giving us a Jet Jaguar figure.
But what of the Big G himself from those respective films? Most Godzilla figures coming out have ranged from the Heisei era to the more recent MonsterVerse films and Minus One.
Where's my Minus One review you ask? I'll tell ya when the Blu-ray comes out in the US.

And then this figure came out!


When it comes to Showa Godzilla figures in the SH MonsterArts line, we've had two 1964's (MosuGoji), a 1954 (ShodaiGoji) and a 1962 (KingGoji). While they're all good figures in they're own right, I think it's safe to say some liberties were taken with the designs, weather it be size or sculpt.

For this 1972 Godzilla, or SoshingekiGoji, I'd say the sculptors did a damn good job capturing the appearance of this suit.
I mean, I could be pedantic and say "If this is supposed to be the 1972 suit, where are the tears on the arms and dangly pieces as a result of this suit being used and abused in 4 consecutive films?" But I'm willing to believe this was done to make it an all purpose SoshingekiGoji suit as well as to help it pair better with the recent Gigan figure, which it does!
Admittedly, this isn't my favorite Showa Godzilla design, but still, the sculpt is pretty great.

The head looks appropriately fierce, the eyes are painted nicely and the teeth look so good. I know some people would have preferred it if this figure's mouth could close all the way so we couldn't see the teeth, but me? I'm more than happy to see those chompers out!

The rest of the body looks great and the paint is once again on point with the charcoal grey with a greenish tint applied to it. 
The claws have an appropriate boney color to them and look nice. 

And we can't forget about Godzilla's iconic dorsal fins that in the later part of the Showa series always looked poofy to me. Sculpt and paint is very nice!

Before we get into articulation, let me answer your first question:

Yes, he can! And it is GLORIOUS!

Head and neck can move up/down, look left/right and tilt side to side. 
Godzilla's mouth can open up widely enough, but when the mouth is closed, you'll likely notice this gap between the Jaw and the neck. Could the really not have added some more material there to make the gap less noticeable?
Yet another reason why I keep the mouth on this guy open.
DON'T. TRY. MOVING. THE. TOUNGE! Just trust me on this!

Arms can fully rotate and the shoulder and move in and out. When the arms move out, you'll notice some extra pieces inside to avoid an awkward armpit gap.

Godzilla's body can tilt side to side and is able to lean very far forward thanks to that mid torso joint that I love very much. Helps with the fin gaps.

Speaking of the fins, the fin you see above is on a hinge that can move back and forth. I don't know if that was necessary, but it is a commendable addition. It doesn't have the tightest connection though, so keep that in mind. 

Legs move forward and backward, as well as move in and out at the waist where we once again have extra pieces to prevent thigh gaps. The Knees bend and the feet can move up/down, rotate and pivot.

I'm sure you've seen the flexibility of the tail, it can do all the things you'd want an SH MonsterArts tail to do.

And the joints on this tail are so tight that not only can they hold their position no problem, but you can stand this figure up on the tail and it will support the weight! How amazing is that?!

Surprisingly, this Godzilla figure does come with an accessory. An extra head with blood paint on it to mimic the aftermath of Godzilla getting smacked on the head by Gigan's hooks. 
The head is cool, but at this point, I think we're overdue for an updated Atomic Breath effect. 

When it comes down to it, I'd say this is the best and finest Showa Era Godzilla figure in the SH MonsterArts line. 
I only hope future Godzilla figures can follow the standards set by this guy. I'd love to see a MegaroGoji figure announced in the near future with this same level of engineering. 

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and thank you for joining me here in my lair.

So long...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and if you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, be sure to give my Facebook page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. 

Thanks for reading!

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