DIAMOND SELECT RODAN VINYL FIGURE BANK - Figure Review

I have no regrets!

The Diamond Select Godzilla line of figure banks continues with this latest release, Godzilla's longtime ally/rival: RODAN! 

This particular release is based on his appearance in the 1993 movie: Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla II, in which he is sometimes referred to as 'Fire Rodan', and to be honest, I'm glad that Diamond Select decided to just call this figure simply 'Rodan'. I've never liked the name Fire Rodan, it just seems weird to me. This also happens to be my favorite design for Rodan in the entire Godzilla series. 

First off, the size of this figure caught me completely off guard. It's a bit bigger than I thought it was gonna be, especially since in 'Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 2', Rodan is considerably smaller than Godzilla. But I was simply too amazed by the detail on this figure to care about it. Plus I like that they made him a bit bigger. Diamond Select's Rodan looks fantastic, featuring an excellent sculpt and paint job. And the detail on the wings is marvelous, I love how you can see wrinkles all over them. The hands are small, but still very much detailed to look great.

The head is spot on with some great coloring inside the mouth with the gums, teeth and tongue. 

There's some nice detail on his torso spikes.

I also really like the legs and feet, I think they came out looking great.

 Rodan also has a row of spines going down the back of his neck to his tail which look great and luckily aren't sharp at all so you don't have to worry about poking yourself on them. Though you may wanna watch out for his talons.

 Much like the previous 1974 Godzilla bank, there is a coin slot on Rodan's back and his head can be removed for easy access to your coins.

Not exactly an accurate size comparison, but they still look great together!

That's about how they matched up in the Showa series of films.

This would be a great scale for when they eventually meet up.

In conclusion, another great release from Diamond Select and a fine and welcome addition to any Godzilla fan's collection. Find it online or at your local Comic Book Store.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.
So long...

And HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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Thoughts on 'Godzilla: Resurgence' reveal.

Today we got our first real look at the new Godzilla movie from Toho, Godzilla: Resurgence (Shin Gojira). Including this sweet new poster with a release date and our first sneak peek at the big guy's new design. He looks really gnarly, almost like a mix of the original Godzilla and Legendary's Godzilla but with teeth like a Shark and sporting the classic fin design. He looks great and I can't wait to see what the rest of him looks like. In addition, we have a release date of July 29, 2016.

But the surprises don't end there, we also have a little teaser trailer for the film:

The best way I can describe it is...Clover-zilla, it's all a bunch of shaky cam shots of people running and that's about it. I gotta say that it really didn't do much for me. Don't get me wrong, I do like the idea of a found footage Godzilla movie and it does look somewhat promising but I could have used a little more. I would have liked at least a brief glimpse of Godzilla and to hear what the new roar sounds like instead of using the 1954 one.


Hopefully we get some more juicy details on Godzilla: Resurgence as the months draw closer to release.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon
and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

SH MONSTERARTS GODZILLA 1964 (THE EMERGENCE OF GODZILLA VERSION) - Figure Review

At this point, there aren't really any brand new figures in the SH MonsterArts line, only repaints of older figures. Starting with the Spit Fire Godzilla 2014 and now a new take on the 1964 Godzilla. But this works out for me as I did not have a job at the time and wasn't able to add these figures to my collection. And now I can.

In the case of this figure, it depicts the first appearance of Godzilla in the 1964 movie: Mothra Vs. Godzilla, in which Godzilla is washed ashore during a typhoon and buried beneath the ground, only to awaken and lay waste to Nagoya.

In terms of detail this figure has it in spades. It sports the traditional charcoal grey skin color while adding shades of light brown/tan for the dirt all over his body from head to tail and it really makes the figure stand out among other Godzilla figures. The effect also gives the dorsal fins a much more skeletal color shade to them. 

But it doesn't skimp out on the other features this suit design is known for, particularly the death stare as well as the infamous eyebrows.

And the articulation is pretty good. The head, neck and arms have a great range of movement. The legs also greatly move in and out with an added hip joint. There is also an extra bend at the feet for more pose possibilities.

The tail alone includes 14 joints of movement.

The torso is where the articulation starts to get iffy, not terrible but just a little bothersome.
Godzilla can bend forward at the waist but that leaves a large, very noticeable gap between 2 of the dorsal fins.

I think that maybe if they had added more of the dirt coloration beneath the figure it would've matched up better, but as it is now, it looks weird. As does those 2 fins that overlap with one another. I feel as though the top fin should have been moved up a bit and that would have help the gab by a smidge. 

The first release of Godzilla 1964 came with no accessories, but for this release Tamashii Nations added an Atomic Breath piece and a display stand with base. This was a great addition that captures the appearance of the Showa breath and looks great with any other Godzilla figure.

As you can see Godzilla 1964 stands a little shorter than normal SH MonsterArts figures.

He's even small compared to his opponents.

Despite being a repaint of a previous figure with a hiccup, this is still a great release for the SH MonsterArts line. If ya missed out on the first Godzilla 1964 figure, I say you should definitely pick up this fantastic figure.
But for now, I sit here and await the re-release of another previous SH MonsterArts figure that has me very excited.

Till next time I have been your host Gryphon and I hope you have enjoyed your time here in my lair. So long!