Thus far, the SH MonsterArts line has gotten at least 3 different "Poster Version" variants of existing figures. But this figure, is in a whole different league.
As I explained in my Top 5 SHMA Poster/Color Version Figures I'd Like To See Made, the Mechagodzilla figure I will be reviewing here is based on a design seen on the poster for 1993's 'Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II' designed by the late Noriyoshi Ohri. If you've never had a chance to view any of his work, do a quick google image search and enjoy the eye candy.
The concept for this Mechagodzilla was similar to the Megazords from Power Rangers, a number of large mechs that combine together to form an even bigger mech.
In this case, we have 3: The Garuda, Gundalva and Naga.
The Garuda is a wickedly awesome flying machine. Sleek, ready for battle and very dragon-like in appearance, rather fitting seeing as how it will eventually form the head and tail.
It's also very spiky, so be mindful of that when handling it.
A small flight stand is included for displaying Garuda.
The wings can move up and down at both the base of the Garuda and the mid point of the wings. The rotors on the wings can rotate forward all the way around.
The tail can curve upward and even wiggle from side to side.
Next we have the Gundalva, a small tank equipped with large 4-barrel laser cannons.
This is where the figures start to become die-cast metal, making them a bit more heavy than the Garuda which is just standard plastic.
Gundalva's cannons in addition to simply facing forward can not only move up, but in all sorts of different directions thanks to the amazing 'arm' articulation. I'm not sure weather they were intended to be moved in this way. But you gotta admit, that would have been freakin' awesome to see on screen!
Finally there's the Naga, a more massive tank equipped with what I'm assuming are small missile turrets, a few laser cannons and it's main weapon, the classic Maser Cannon.
The spikes at the front are meant to be Mechagodzilla's toes, but I like to imagine that they would be used as ramming spikes. They gotta use those boosters at the rear for something besides quick getaways.
Unlike the Gundalva which only had static treads underneath it, the Naga has 6 groups of actual spinning wheels, allowing it to roll forward. As someone who used to collect the die-cast metal Thomas and Friends toys from ERTL, this is a detail that makes me smile.
By itself, the Naga doesn't have a lot of articulation except for the retractable Maser Cannon and the 2 side cannons. The base of the Maser Cannon can turn left and right, but full rotation is impossible.
Now that we've looked at the individual Zords-I mean, MECH'S! There's only one thing left to do, bring them together!
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| This is the only real part of the transformation that threw me off. You're supposed to move this one chest panel to the side and push it back. Doing so takes a bit of careful wiggling. |
The transformation/combination of the Garuda, Gundalva and Naga is fairly straight forward. By simply following the instructions with careful handling it should go pretty smoothly. The feet can be a bit tricky to maneuver during the transformation, especially with the tabs. I recommend detaching the tabs while doing so and reattaching when done.
When all is said and done, all 3 pieces come together into the titanic, titan of terror, MECHAGODZILLA!
And I'm just gonna say it, this is how Mechagodzilla should have looked in the 1993 film!
This is an awesome look for Mechagodzilla and it looks much better than what we ended up getting. I love how massive, imposing and ready for battle this thing looks. It looks more like something a military force would actually construct to fight Kaiju.
Even the tail looks more proportionate to the figure despite the somewhat short length.
The coloring in detail on this figure is spot on. I barely noticed any inaccuracies. The gun metal paint on the finger turrets and the cables going through the arms compliment the figure nicely, as does all the oranges yellows and reds scattered throughout. The only thing I could complain about is that I wish the eyes were colored a little brighter.
With Mechagodzilla fully formed, we have access to new points of articulation, as well as much of the same.
The head can look all the way up, it can look to the left and the right, and it can even tilt left and right. As is standard with most articulated figures, the mouth can open, but I don't think the mouth opens as far as some would want it to.
The Gundalva's cannons act as the arms and the movement on them is pretty much the same, but with the wings of the Garuda, full 360 rotation is not recommended.
The main body has no movement what so ever. The closest things we get are the up and down movement of the Naga's side cannons and you can kinda wiggle the Maser Cannon.
The legs can move forward, bend out at the hip and bend at the knee. The feet have a slight pivot can move all the way back for Mechagodzilla's flight mode.
Speaking of flight mode. While it does look really cool, there is no display stand to accompany it. I however was able to get around it by using a standard sized doll stand I purchased from Hobby Lobby.
The Gundalva and the Naga can also be combined together to form some sort of super tank, making it more impossible for me not to make a Power Rangers reference.
Anyway,despite not having the corresponding Godzilla figure, Ohrai Noriyoshi's Mechagodzilla is still a pretty amazing piece to have. If you can find it for a good price online or even at a convention, go ahead and snatch it up.
And take a moment to read the included comic. Even though it's in Japanese, the story still comes across pretty clear to non Japanese readers.
One problem you'll probably have is figuring out how to display it on your shelf. Do you display the fully formed Mechagodzilla or the three Mech's lined in formation?
Or do you go insane and buy 2 of these sets so you can display both?
Look, I cannot influence your decision in anyway, I'm just saying, buy Kaiju figures responsibly. After all, you still need to eat. And it's not like you can eat your figures.
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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This comes with a comic book? That's rad. This figure does look great and I agree that it's what we should've gotten in the movie. I've never been a big fan of the Heisei Mechagodzilla design we ended up with. I own the Ohrai Noriyoshi Godzilla, that's a nice figure.
ReplyDeleteActually there is a foot pivot.its in both the pictures from sh monsterarts and you can actually see the hinge.its underneath the little wheel cover.however that same wheel cover stops the foot from moving.
ReplyDeleteHuh...mine must have been stiff at the time of writing this. Thank you for pointing that out, it works for me now. I'll edit the review.
DeleteUpdate:just got it to work!
ReplyDelete