SH MONSTERARTS & NECA GODZILLA 1962 | Figure Reviews

So...it's been a while hasn't it?

Between the crazy hours of my actual job, working on the movie reviews and life in general, it's a miracle I'm now able to get to these figures. And I figure I better do them now before I receive the NECA King of the Monsters figures.

Let's compare both of them in one review, shall we?

These 2 companies just keep releasing the same Godzilla figure, this time we get one of the more popular suits of the series from 1962's 'King Kong Vs. Godzilla' which has been nicknamed KingGoji.

Right off the bat you'll notice that both of these figures look very different, so I figured that one of them was less film accurate than the other. But looking at scenes from the movie and behind the scenes photos, they are more or less on point. The SH MonsterArts figure seems to put more emphasis on the hunch the 62 suit has while the NECA one maintains a more traditional upright posture. It can be moved to give it more of a hunch, but more on that later.

The sculpt and paint work on both of these figures is overall great, but there are a few areas where one figure does one thing better than the other.

Both of the heads look great and carry the same happy/threatening expression the suit is famous for. The eyes are in an upwards position, the SHMA versions eyes might be a bit misaligned (but what else is new, right?) It's impressive to me how the inside of the mouths were painted, all the teeth and gums are painted with no splotches. There is a noticeable break in the NECA's tongue though.

The main bodies on both are sculpted and painted nicely as usual. Looking at the NECA figure for a bit, you'll notice the claws are painted a bone white color. They may have some scratches on them but I would argue that actually makes them more realistic.

But at least NECA's claws are actually painted unlike the SHMA claws. They retain the same color as the entire body, it makes me wonder if I somehow got a prototype figure.

Godzilla's dorsal fins look nice as always, but I think I prefer how they look on the NECA figure. Something I noticed on a closer examination, the paint on the fins from the back to the tail on the SHMA figure has the same consistent paint job. On the NECA figure, the paint is consistent until you get the tail. It's nothing you should lose sleep over though.

OK, articulation.

I gotta say, the SHMA articulation feels very stiff to me at times.
The head and neck joints can look up. But if you try to move it to look down, to the left and to the right, you're going to feel some resistance.
The same can be said for the arms, they move in and out nicely but cant move forward or back very far. The arms bend at the shoulders and the hands rotate and wiggle at the wrists...when the they choose not to pop off.

The body can lean forward, not much to complain about there.

Legs can move forward and back a bit, the knees bend and the feet can pivot and move up. The upper part of the legs have been sculpted in a way that they fit around the tail, which causes some restrictions for movement.

Ya can't stop him from doing the Spread Eagle though!

The tail has the usual motions you'd expect from the SHMA figures.

As for the NECA, it's almost the same but most of the restrictions from the SHMA are absent here.
The legs only seem to rotate at the hips and can't exactly move forward or back much.

But now lets focus on this tail. Gone are the days of bendy wire tail pieces, we finally get multi-segment tails and it is fantastic! It may not have as many joints as the SHMA, but it still flows beautifully. Good on NECA for this much appreciated change!

Both figures do come with Atomic Breath pieces.
If you're familiar with SHMA figures, you'll recognize the piece is the same one from the Godzilla 1964 Emergence Version. However this one lacks any sort of blue tint. I like the SHMA one enough, but I gotta give this point to the NECA piece. I prefer how that one looks more like a misty stream, which is more accurate to the Showa Godzilla's. I kinda wish it had a light blue tint to it. The NECA figure also has a hole inside the mouth so you can insert the piece and it'll hold it nicely without the use of a stand. You can also use the Atomic Breath piece that came with the Godzilla 2001 Atomic Blast figure. Also, the 62' effect looks great with the NECA 1954 figure.

I don't normally talk about packaging, but I gotta give serious props to NECA for their figures box. It looks awesome! The front uses the original Japanese poster, the window box packaging is immediately eye catching and inside the box is a nice backdrop of Mount Fuji. The back of the box is also interesting since the captions on the back are actual taglines from the film. Except for the one that says "Featuring...Heat Ray Blast!"

I like both of these figures, but if you had to force me to pick one to recommend over the other (if I didn't make it obvious enough), I'd have to say I like the NECA figure more.

It's not just a price issue even though I do feel that the SHMA figure is overpriced. (Past SHMA releases came with a figure and breath piece and retailed for $60-$70, what makes this one almost $100!?)

The NECA figure retails for about $25 and comes with a few more surprises, so that's why my vote goes to that figure. With their usual great sculpt, the new tail piece and fantastic packaging, this is a HUGE step in the right direction for NECA's Godzilla line. And it looks like they are continuing that with the new 2019 figures I can't wait to see what they do next.
If you still want the SHMA version, I'd say wait for a price drop if possible or if you find it at a comic book store or convention, see if you can haggle the price.

Now if only both companies could release a 1962 Kong figure...

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and thank you for joining me here in my lair.

So long...

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