Let's Look At: NECA GODZILLA V2 (2019)

As the days have gone on, I’ve grown to dislike the paint on NECA's 2019 Godzilla figure more and more. I didn’t mention this in my review, but I wanted to say that if they took the paint job from the NECA 2014 figure (including the EYES!) and applied it to the 2019 figure, it would be almost perfect.

This Version 2 figure sort of fixes those issues while adding a bit of flair to it.

Godzilla's base paint color is a more traditional charcoal black and the nails are a solid black color, I like that very much. But the majority of the figure is bathed in an Atomic blue color and it looks really cool. This very much looks like a Godzilla that has been supercharged or "juiced!"
Probably the best part about this figure is that you don't have to worry about the eyes being bad because they are a solid color with some blue shading around them.
The lines on the hips are a bit of an odd touch in my opinion.
There's also some blue shading towards the front of the figure as well as inside the mouth to simulate the light coming from his Atomic Breath

Speaking of which, this figure comes with an Atomic Breath piece...and it looks like a big blue Q-tip.
There's actually a hole at the tip to insert Godzilla's tongue into and it holds on decently.
I feel like the white ends don't fit the piece that well. For the part that goes in Godzilla's mouth, it would look better if only the part that fits inside the mouth was white. And as for the other end, why couldn't it just be all blue? But to be fair, I kinda understand why NECA did it this way. It does blend in with the blast effect part.

 Unfortunately the breath cannot be held into the blast without being pressed against anything. On the other hand, it does allow for some great possibilities.

But I have to ask, was there really no way NECA could have included an alternate head piece so we could have Godzilla looking up to the sky while he fires the atomic breath?

For those that might have been unsatisfied with the first 2019 figure, this might be a good alternative to pick up. Just from taking it out of the box, I immediately loved it more than the last one. Even if that isn't your mindset, this is still a fantastic figure to pick up for your collection nonetheless.

Now that being said, I'd love to see what an SH Monster Arts version would look like.
...
Wait, WHAT?!?!!

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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SH MONSTERARTS KING GHIDORAH 2019 | Figure Review

I'm not apologizing

The first time fans got their first official look at the new designs for Mothra, Rodan and everyone's favorite three-headed baddie, King Ghidorah was through the reveal of their SH Monster Arts figures. And golly bob howdy, I could not have been more pleased with Ghidorah's new design. And the figure itself looked amazing, as well as expensive and fragile.

Ghidorah comes with his tails and wings detached from the body so that he may fit in the box. Attaching them is pretty easy. Instructions are also included.

Right out of the box I found this figure to be simply impressive. The sculpt is very nice, everything from the scales, horns and spikes look very nice. Many parts of Ghidorah are very pokey and stabby, so keep that in mind.
The heads aren't too shabby either, the smaller details are pretty well done. The eyes may be tiny but they are still well painted. The inside of the mouths look like they might have a bit too much pink in them.

The heads can rotate at the top of the neck. The mouths can open, though not as wide as I expected.
Don't try moving the tongues. Just don't.

The necks have a wide range of movement. Being able to curve forward, left, right and slightly backward.

The tails look nice and the clubs are really cool, but I noticed something odd. The left club at the end is better detailed than the right one, especially the bottom part.
Movement on the tails is similar to the necks, if not better. The clubs also rotate at the tips

Ghidorah's legs move forward at the hip, bend at the knee and ankle. Feet can also bend up, down and pivot. Positioning the legs can be crucial to balancing Ghidorah.

And know lets get to the wings.
Oh...boy...
I'm sure you know by now that Ghidorah figures in the SHMA line don't always have the best luck when it comes to their wings, even the ones on that bootleg Showa Ghidorah look a bit iffy to me.
2019's wings are HUGE, heavy and they take up a lot of shelf space. But dang do they look cool. The wings can be inserted into the large pegs on the sides. Now, with the right amount of positioning and balance, the wings can stay in place pretty well on their own. But if you so much as nudge or lightly poke Ghidorah, they will fall out and possibly get damaged or broken.

This is where the stands will come in. You have 2 for the wings, both with different height pieces to display the wings spread out or pointed up. Another stand is included to go under Ghidorah's crotch to help him better stand up and stay balanced. With these stands in place, the One Who is Many can stay in some very dynamic poses.
The wings can also be moved back slightly.

One thing I haven't really mentioned is the paint work on the figure overall. I can't quite comment on it's accuracy because in the film we never do see Ghidorah in full daylight (but then what do you expect when you constantly have a storm going on everywhere you go?) The body is mostly a light goldish yellow with some yellow shading on certain spots (maybe a little too much on the feet) and brown shading is present on the stomach and on the back of the body and that looks really good. It's also present on the wings and even though it's a little uneven, the shading looks awesome. 
But why...why in the name of Godzilla are the back of the wings left untouched? I know that figures like this are mostly viewed from the front but come on...

Unfortunately, no Gravity Beam effects are included with this Ghidorah figure and that is a real bummer. And if you're thinking of trying to get Ghidorah into a flying pose...well, may the odds be in your favor.

At the time of this writing, King Ghidorah is still available at BigBadToyStore for $179. That is a lot of money, but I'd say it's a fair price for this beast of a figure. I really love this version of Ghidorah and I dare say that it might be my favorite incarnation of him to date. This figure does him great justice and I like it very much.
I can understand how some people may have reservations towards it, hopefully I've helped to ease some of them but if not, thank you for reading anyway.

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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NECA RODAN 2019 | Figure Review

Today we look at the final character to be brought to NECA'sGodzilla: King of the Monsters line. 

(Followed by one or two (maybe) repaints)

But before we can admire Rodan, there's something you should be aware of. The neck is upside down in the package and you'll need to rotate it the other way. Now we can admire Rodan.

I think Rodan is sculpted very nicely. The head may be small but a lot of the details really stand out. I'm surprised the eyes came out looking as well as they did.

I'm jumping the gun a bit on accessories, but Rodan also has an extra open mouth head. I don't remember Rodan having a black tongue, pretty sure it was flesh colored. The teeth are a nice touch though.

The body has a nice rough texture to it and the torso is appropriately spiky.
The wings are really cool, looking like hardened magma.

One thing I'm a little iffy on is the tail. I thought it should've been a triangle shape, I feel that would look a lot better and make the wings blend a little better.

NECA's Rodan seems to go with more of a brown color with red orange highlights (some figures may be painted differently than others). The main color is present all over the figure and that's sort of a problem. Aside from the edges of the wings, no part of Rodan really sticks out. This coloring would have been appropriate to use for the beak, horns and claws and then maybe use a slightly lighter color for the base of the body.
There's also these yellow spots scattered on the wings. I think they're supposed to be embers coming off of him while he's flying? I dunno...

One really cool thing about Rodan is that if you put a light against his wings, you'll notice that they are translucent to look all fiery and awesome. That's a really nice touch!

The reason this review took so long to get out is because my first Rodan figure had a broken wing, snapped right off at the hand. Now, NECA figures are fragile enough as they are and should always be handled with care and Rodan should be even more so. His wings are very thin and can very easily snap. Avoid the rough play and keep it as a display piece.

There's not a whole lot of articulation on Rodan, given the size of the figure, adding joints to the mouth and legs would have been difficult if not impossible.

But for what we get, it's pretty decent. The head and neck can look left, right, up and rotate
Leg movement is okay, they can move forward and when they are back they can move outward.
The wings are what we are all here for though. Sad to say, they cannot go all the way up, they can move a little bit but DO NOT try to force them up. They can be moved down as well and they can even rotate at the body. The wings can be folded up and when fully expanded, the wingspan is 13 inches wide.

As for accessories, well we already talked about the other head. We also have a very nice display stand meant to look like Isla De Mara's Outpost 32 as it's erupting during Rodan's escape. When placed on the stand, it holds Rodan in place very well and now it falls to you to pose him however you like.

Overall, I do have my nitpicks with this figure in terms of design and paint, but I am willing to give them a pass and say that NECA did do a good job with their 2019 Rodan figure. And he fits very nicely with the other King of the Monsters figures, get him while you can.

Your move, SH MonsterArts.

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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