NECA GODZILLA 1964 | Figure Review

Back in October 2015 when I was just starting out, I made a list of Godzilla figures I'd like to see made by NECA. My number 4 choice was the 1964 design known as "MosuGoji", a name that I embarrassingly made a typo on in my original post. I wonder if I should update that list?

Lo and behold, NECA's latest release is just that. 
Upon the initial reveal, I and many others were excited but couldn't help but notice that something about the figure being shown in the pictures was off...
Of course, this was more than likely a prototype being shown to generate hype. When you take the figure out of the box, it looks a lot better. You'll notice the grey wash is different.

The sculpt we have for this figure is really good. The MosuGoji sculpt is one of the most popular suits of the series and most of it's signature features are greatly represented. 
I say most because I'm not sure that the mouth is as big as it should be. It's sculpted in a way that the mouth doesn't open as wide as other NECA Godzilla's or close all the way.

But even that doesn't make this 64 Godzilla's death stare any less intimidating. 

But everything else about Godzilla's face looks great, the infamous eyebrows are sculpted and displayed very prominently. The teeth are very nicely sculpted and the inside of the mouth looks great, regardless of the questionable size.

The rest of the body seems to have the usual details you see on your typical Godzilla figure. The proportions from head to tail look very accurate, the dorsal fins are a nice size and don't overcome his back at all. and skin detail/color is all on point.
The body is a nice standard charcoal black with a nice grey wash to help the skin texture stand out. 
The claws on his hands and feet as well as the tips on the dorsal fins are grey. I've heard that they should have been more of a boney yellow color, but I personally think the grey color does look good. Plus if I wanted to, I could get a brush and do it myself. 

Most of us should be familiar with the articulation of a NECA Godzilla figure, but here's a quick rundown just in case:

The Head can look up, down, rotate and tilt side to side. The mouth opens and closes. The neck can rotate, bend forward and tilt side to side.
The arms can rotate, move in and out. There is a bend at the elbows and the forearms can rotate. The hands can rotate and contain moveable hinges at the wrist and knuckles.
The torso can rotate and tilt forward, left and right.
Legs move forward, backward, rotate at the hip and move in and out. Knees can bend and rotate and the feet rotate and pivot.

Like the more recent NECA Godzilla's, the tail is made of several joints connected segments that can bend and curve very nicely. (6, if you're curious)

Part of the tail is detached from the figure in the box and according to the instructions, you're supposed to stick the tail in warm water for about 20 seconds. Me? I just held mine over a hot stove for a few seconds while I was cooking lunch and had no problem popping the tail on. 

An Atomic Breath piece is included with the figure. It looks similar to the effect from the 2001 Atomic Blast figure, but colored white. It looks OK, I kinda wish it had a light blue tint to it. The one downside is that unlike the last NECA figures, this piece doesn't rest in the mouth and can only rest between the teeth while being held up by whatever surface Godzilla happens to be standing on.

If you have any figure stands this shouldn't be an issue for the included piece as well as any other atomic breath pieces from past NECA Godzilla figures

While it may not be the most accurate looking, I think you can't look at this figure and think it looks nothing like the 1964 Godzilla. This is a fantastic figure that I highly recommend you go and pick up for your collection. 
Ya know, seeing as how this version of Godzilla actually appeared in 2 movies released the same year, I wouldn't mind seeing this figure re-released but instead of 'Mothra vs. Godzilla', they use the 'Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster' poster for the box. It seems like a smart decision for NECA.

I feel like I'm forgetting something about this figure though...

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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SH MONSTERARTS MOTHRA AND RODAN (2019) | Figure Review

The reveal of the designs for 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' certainly raised a lot of eyebrows, both excitedly and confused. As Godzilla and King Ghidorah made their way to shelves, many fans wondered when Mothra and Rodan would be released. They were announced as a two-pack. YAY! But would only be available as limited pre-orders. Oh boy...

As soon as the pre-order first popped up on BigBadToyStore, I jumped on that and got my order secured, some weren't as lucky. At the time of me writing this, Mothra and Rodan are still available to buy. But are they worth it?

Ladies first. 

 Mothra is more or less the same size as the NECA figure and is pretty well sculpted. A lot of the finer details are going to be found on the main body, particularly the abdomen. Sadly some of the smaller details on her legs are lost to the size of the sculpt, but Bandai did what they could to keep it in scale with the other figures. The wings appear to be a good size compared to the body of Mothra and have a very nice textured sculpt.

Speaking of, the paint on the wings is absolutely spectacular! To me, this more than any other 2019 Mothra figure is the one that gets the wings 100% right.
And now....the body, the one thing everyone agrees is the worst thing about this figure. And, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I share that opinion. I could accept that if it was the prototype colors, but for the final release the amount of orange was way overdone. The only part of Mothra's body that stands out are her eyes and antennae.
If they had just added some white around the eyes, upper body and then applied some light brown wash to the rest of the body, it would have been much better. 

Articulation for Mothra is minimal. The larger legs can move back and forth and twist. The inner legs in the front can twist as well. You may need to apply a small amount of heat to the legs to approve the movement. I held my Mothra over a hot stove for a few seconds.
Mothra also comes with a waist joint which lets the abdomen bend and twist.
The wings are attached via ball joints allowing them to bend and rotate at the body. Just use the utmost care when moving the wings as Mothra is small and the wings can be very delicate to handle. When displayed, the wings are able to hold their pose nicely.

Now let's look at Rodan. 

The Fire Demon has an amazing sculpt! From his spiky, ridged body to the hardened magma texture on the wings, Rodan looks great. The paint definitely helps the fantastic details pop out. I love burgundy body with touches of black weathering so much, I don't mind the lack of any paint emulating Rodan's fiery nature.

I love Rodan's head. The colors of his beak, horns and face are clearly pronounced. His eyes look great and you can even see his tongue. 

I also really, really like how Rodan's legs look.

I'm equally impressed by Rodan's articulation. 
His neck has several joints allow him to move forward, look left and right and rotate. And unlike the NECA figure, Rodan's mouth can open and close. Not very wide though. 
The wings can move forward, backward, up and down.
Rodan comes with a few waist joints allowing the body to bend and rotate.
The legs can rotate and move forward, backward, in and out at the hips. The knees can bend slightly. Feet can also bend, rotate. The feet on mine have a nasty habit of falling off though.
Rodan's leg articulation allows him to stand on the ground when not in a flying pose.
Even Rodan's tail, with the correct shape, is attached to a ball joint where it can swivel and rotate.

This set includes effect stands for both Kaiju. Nothing fancy, just typical Tamashii Nations figure stands. 

Mothra has her own attachment piece for her stand that hooks on to her waist.

Rodan has two attachment pieces, one specifically molded to have him rest on top of for a standard flying pose and the other is a claw piece that can hold his body in place for some more dynamic poses. 

Like most reviewers, I find this set to be a mixed bag. Rodan is great, Mothra is just okay and the stands are stands. I feel like this set shouldn't only be available as a 2-pack. If these figures had been released individually, more fans may be inclined to buy them but instead we have to pay the price of 2 figures of mixed quality. Some of you may not mind that, but that's just how I feel. I don't regret purchasing them though as I am somewhat of a completionist and I am glad to have the whole King of the Monsters cast. 
(Minus the other Titans, feel free to prove me wrong Bandai)

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!
https://www.facebook.com/TheGryphonsLair/