SH MONSTERARTS KOU KYOU KYOKU GODZILLA 1989 - Figure Review

This is probably one of the most hyped figures to ever come from the SH Monster Arts line, it even got it's own commercial to show that this was nothing like any figure we've ever seen before. But does it live up to the hype?
Well, according to some other Godzilla figure reviewers out there, it doesn't. But this isn't about what they think, is it?

As some of you may know, a 1989 Godzilla figure was shown off in the promotional material for the SH MonsterArts Biollante figure. It left me wondering if maybe it was going to be the next Godzilla figure to be made. Actually, Godzilla 2000 was the next figure after Biollante and 15 other figures later, we finally got a 1989 figure under the new title of SH Monster Arts KOU KYOU KYOKU (Light, Sound, Music)

But did it live up to the hype? According to some reviewers, it didn't

Honestly, I'd have been happy enough with just a highly detailed, articulated 1989 figure, but these added bells and whistles made it seem all the more special and if you've read my reviews, you've noticed that I tend to play Devil's Advocate when it comes to certain issues.
Well, here are my thoughts.

The first thing you'll notice right away is that this is one big figure. It towers over other Godzilla figures and is completely out of scale with other SH MonsterArts figures.

But what this figure lacks in scale, it more than makes up for in it's sculpt and detail.
I feel when most people think of Godzilla, this design is the most popular one that comes to mind and I feel that this figure captures it awesomely!

 Starting at the head, it looks great. I've always liked the rounded, gorilla-like head of this Godzilla. The eye's look really good. The inside of the mouth is painted good and the teeth look nice. The upper part of the mouth is also sculpted with translucent plastic for the effects which I'll talk about in a minute.

The rest of the body is nice and muscular as it should be, he even has his thunder thighs. The paint over all is great, although something I've noticed with past figures is the claw and toenail paint ranges from OK to average.

The right hand looks OK, but the left hand has way too much shading on it. And the toenails have too much shading on the top as well.

 Godzilla's dorsal fins are probably the best detailed feature of the figure, sculpted beautifully with translucent plastic for the ones on the back and regular plastic going down the lower back to the tail.

What some people have a problem with are the outer smaller fins, some claim they aren't painted that great. And to be fair, it's not...if you look at it up close. I find that the paint issues with the claws, toenails and outer fins look pretty good from a distance, which is how most collectors (like myself) are probably going to be looking at it anyway.

What I have a problem with is how the fins start at the top of the head, just sort of stop at the outer row and then pick back up by the shoulder. It just looks very awkward to me.

As far as Articulation for this figure goes, it's very limited. The inner workings for the new effects prohibit any real waist movement. The only way you're getting the waist to move is when you pull the top part of Godzilla's body off to add the batteries.
I guess at least we don't have to worry about a fin gap, amirite?

But as for Articulation that isn't prohibited: 

The head can only move downward and tilt side to side a bit.

The arms can rotate around at the shoulder, but it is very tight. You run the risk of either rubbing against the figure and scraping off the paint or popping it completely off. They can also twist at the shoulder, twist and bend at the elbow. The hands have the standard twist and swivel.

The legs bend bend at the knee, but not very far back. Should you try to bend any further, you risk popping the leg out of it's socket as I did and it's not that easy to put it back in. I spent almost 5 minutes trying to reattach the leg. The feet bend up and down a little bit and can also pivot around

The tail is where most of the articulation is at. It can curve and bend as much as the actual Heisei Godzilla's tail actually did. 
When moving the tail around, some of the segments will twist around making it look really weird. They go back in place just as easily though.

As it is named, the figure incorporates Light, Sound and Music features. 

The Dorsal Fins on Godzilla's back and the inside of his mouth can light up to simulate the Atomic Breath. It's a great effect and has various settings, sometimes the Fins light up and flash to varying levels of brightness and turn off as the mouth lights up, while both can be lit at the same time.

The Sounds include various roars, growls and stomping sounds. However it seems you can only activate the stomping sounds when the music is playing.
The only way I've found to get the footsteps to play by themselves is to hold down the button so that the music plays, push it again to get the footsteps to play and then hold it down till the music stops and only the sound of the footsteps is playing. A roar should follow afterword.

As for the Music, we have 2 pieces from Godzilla Vs. Biollante, they are the themes that play as Godzilla is escaping the volcano and the first piece that plays as Godzilla rampages through Osaka, both of which are great additions.

In my honest opinion, I feel like these effects were handled pretty well. The roars sound great, the fins light up very nicely and I like the idea of having a Godzilla-shaped music box.

I just don't see how that makes it worth close to $200. $140-$150 maybe, but any price over that, I feel is pushing it by a lot.
I'd say, if you can find it for a good price (maybe from someone on eBay who feels the same), then this is definitely an amazing piece for any Kaiju fan's collection.
I gotta give a big thanks to Kaiju Kidd for letting me borrow his figure for this review. Now that I've had a chance to examine it up close, I do plan on getting my own eventually.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

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