Monday, September 21, 2020

NECA KING KONG 8" | Figure Review

I was beyond ecstatic when I saw the announcement of a King Kong figure from NECA, one with a head that looked like the 1933 version no less!
Now that it's finally out, I have...thoughts. 

First I just want to say that the sculpting on Kong looks great. In a market where 1933 Kong figures are rarely seen, this is a solid job by NECA. But there are some things about it that I have some issues with. 

Out of the box Kong is stuck in this straight, upright position and it looked very unnatural. Now, I know this isn't marketed as being a 1933 Kong figure because of the whole rights issue roller coaster so they have to kind of mish mash different design elements of other Kong's (1933, 2005 & 2017.) But in my opinion, this Kong looks too lanky. There's just something in general about seeing an Ape standing upright that makes me wince
, but Kong's waist and legs might be a tad too tall. At this point, it may as well be a generic Sasquatch design and not Kong.


Fortunately, you can use Kong's articulation to get him into a more familiar hunched position. That makes him look so much better.


I can't give enough praise to the head, the eyes are painted nice and aligned perfectly and I love the detailing inside the mouth. 


The rest of the body is nicely detailed. The detailing of the fur is quite smooth compared to the Mezco Toys Kong but it looks really good, you could squint and think it's real rabbit fur.

The mix of brown and black coloring is also very nice. 

As with most recent Kong figures, you gotta have facial scars. I will say that the scars on the chest look better than the ones on the face.


On the right side of my figure's torso there is some random bits of red paint. Production error or blood drip from a recent fight? You be the judge.

Kong's articulation is as follows:

The head is on a ball joint which allows it to look up/down, left/right and rotate at the neck.

Arms can move out and rotate at the shoulder. There's rotation at the bicep. The elbows are double jointed which makes for a nice bend and both points can rotate. The hands rotate at the wrist and they can also bend a smidge.

The chest can lean forward/backward, rotate and tilt side to side.

Legs can move forward/backward, move in/out and rotate at the hip. Knees are double jointed like the elbows. The feet can bend forward/backward and can rotate/pivot.
Kong comes with a few of the accessories that you'd expect, including a roaring face and a pair of open hands.

In a way, it feels kind of refreshing to not see a Kong figure with an Ann Darrow piece or attachable chains.



Anyhoo, the roaring head has the same great details as the normal head. I have heard reports of some roaring heads having mismatched eyes. When I got my Kong figure at Target, I looked at two different figures to make sure the eyes one them were as normal as possible and as you can see, I think I made the right choice. Hopefully you have similar luck. 

Depending on how you have him posed, Kong can stand anywhere between 7-8 inches.

Unfortunately...that means he doesn't scale well with

HARDLY

ANY

GODZILLA

FIGURE!!!

And that really is a big disappointment. You would think NECA would leap at the golden opportunity to make Kong an appropriate scale with their many Godzilla figures not just for the sake of collectors, but also for some inadvertent Godzilla vs. Kong marketing. 

Once again the Kou Kyou Kyoku Godzilla is the winner in terms of great scaling.  

But even with the scaling issue, I am still quite pleased with this Kong figure. It may not be officially called a 1933 Kong figure, but it's the closest we'll be getting for the time being. If you're a Kong fan, definitely pick it up if you get the chance.
So, who thinks we'll be getting a black and white variant for this Kong?


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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Monday, September 7, 2020

Let's Look At: NECA GODZILLA TARGET EXCLUSIVES - DOUBLE FEATURE

When I first caught a glimpse of these new Godzilla repaints, I seriously thought these were bootlegs. I also found it weird that they were being released so soon after the 1989 and 2003 figures themselves were coming out. 

Nevertheless, these were real and are at this time, the last figures in NECA's Godzilla line. 


1989 "BIOLLANTE BILE"

Our '89 repaint represents Godzilla after getting sprayed by Biollante's Acidic Sap attack. That or he just got done competing on 'Double Dare.'

The sap applied is a very nice yellow-green color.
I will say the mix of paint on the left arm looks a little off to me, but otherwise, I think this figure looks great.
I am a bit surprised NECA didn't add any paint inside Godzilla's mouth.
You can also see tiny specks on the legs.

The body of the figure also has a more glossy paint application. Not just because of the sap. Remember, it was raining before Godzilla and Biollante had their rematch so this is a nice detail.

Speaking of which, this figure is going to look awesome next to the new SH MonsterArts Biollante figure when it comes out.

Sculpted details and articulation remain unchanged from the original 1989 Godzilla figure. I think the eyes are better aligned on this figure though. 


2003 "HYPER MASER BLAST"


Before I talk about the 2003 repaint, I need to bring up one thing about this figure, the poster on the box. 
I'll admit, I had no thoughts about what the box art would look like for both of these repaints. The 1989 figure used the theatrical poster instead of the Orai Noriyoshi artwork poster, but the poster used for the 2003 figure, was completely unknown to me.

To be fair, NECA kinda shot themselves in the foot by using both official 'Tokyo S.O.S.' posters on the first 2003 box.

At first, I thought the poster was designed by NECA themselves. Upon inquiring about it on a Facebook group, I found out it came from an old Japanese website that had downloadable wallpapers. Unfortunately, the site is no longer available but it's neat that they were able to use this unique alternative.

Anyway, this figure emulates the effect of Godzilla getting hit by Kiryu's deadly Hyper Maser. 



The figure is painted very nicely. There's some very nice lighting effects painted all across the body, from the bright yellow on the bottom of his mouth to the more muted shade on his legs and even the bottom of the tail. Even his claws have some paint on them. I really like the lighting bolts all across the body from the main impact area.
Then there's a bit of purple shading all over the figure, I really don't know what that's about. I'm sure there's a reason for it that I'm just not seeing.
Also, the claws on the feet have purple shading on them...production error? 

Regretfully I have no Kiryu figures or some Maser Tanks that scale with this figure. 

But the Maser blast is not the only paint application on this figure. 

Some of the Dorsal Fins also have a blue glow to them. The paint on the upper Dorsal Fins looks great but the lower spines on the tail doesn't look as impressive. 

Unlike my first 2003 figure, the neck flap on my Hyper Blast figure can rotate without any issues.

I would recommend these figures if you are fans of the movies 'Godzilla vs. Biollante' and 'Godzilla: Tokyo SOS' or if you're a NECA Godzilla collector like myself.

When I went to look for the NECA Kong, I asked if they had any more Godzilla's since the selection on the shelves seemed pretty barebones. He went to the back and brought a selection of figures including the 1989 & 2003 repaints and a 2014 box.

They're out there. Ya just gotta look often and don't be afraid to ask an employee about back stock. If you're really lucky, you might be able to buy them from Target's website.
May the odds be in your favor...

Well, that's it. Those were the last of the Godzilla figures we'll be seeing from NECA. It's been a good 6 years, I'm gonna miss seeing the reveals from Toy Fair and the thrill of hunting for them in stores. 

These are not however the last NECA Godzilla figures I'll be reviewing, I still have quite a few that I've not talked about yet and I'll be doing that very soon. 



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/

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