SH MONSTERARTS GIGAN (2004) + GREAT DECISIVE BATTLE Ver. | Figure Review

There's 2 things about me that should be obvious, most of my figure reviews are reissues of old figures and I love Gigan more than any sane Godzilla fan should.
But now I find myself in a situation where I was actually able to buy the original release when it came out and now I have the reissue. So I guess we're reviewing both! 

I wouldn't start collecting SH MonsterArts figures until late 2015. After getting a few of the recent releases at the time, I decided to see about getting some past releases. I managed to get a King Kong 2005 from Toy's R Us, I found a good deal on ebay for a Mothra 1992 and I was super excited when I got my boy Gigan 2004 off of Amazon for less than it's MSRP. 

I'm gonna try not to be too bias here, but this Gigan looks amazing! From head to foot, Gigan is super detailed with his cybernetic appearance, the entire body has what look like veins on it that really stand out. 

The sculpt is overall great, but I don't know if it's just me, but Gigan looks thinner than he actually is in the film.
The paint really helps the finer details of Gigan stand out. His body is painted a dark blue with shades of black, his armor and spikes are silver and his visor and wings are red. 

Gigan's head is very impressive, the visor is a clear plastic piece that looks great with the right lighting. He can open his mouth, but because of his teeth he can never fully close it and he always looks like he has this sadistic smile at all times. I really love that, it fits his character well.

But looks aren't everything and Gigan does have his share of shortcomings. While most SHMA figures are easy to handle, Gigan is not. There are spikes all over his body and they are quite sharp.
Gigan's blades, or Bloody Triggers, which should be the sharpest parts are actually not that sharp unless you really try and hurt yourself with them. (please don't)

Getting into the articulation:

Gigan's head/neck and look up/down, left/right and lean side to side. One point that needs to be addressed is Gigan's back spikes. Because of his neck articulation they tend to overlap and there is the risk of them snapping off.

Because of the buzzsaw on his torso, any movement there is all but impossible. The most you get is a tiny bit of a side to side lean.

Gigan's arms can move in and out at the shoulder and make a full rotation. And the shoulder pads are moveable to allow for better movement. There's a nice bend at the elbow and the Bloody Triggers can rotate at the wrist and have a pivot.

Gigan's legs move forward/backward and move in/out a tad. They also come with a sleeve to hide a hip gap. Knees can bend. Curiously there is an extra bit of rotation and pivot between the knee and foot. The feet can rotate and bend. 

Gigan's back fins can also move. The center fin moves up/down and the side fins move in and out. The fins move to simulate Gigan flying. You're going to have to get creative to even think about displaying Gigan in a flying pose though.

That brings us to the tail. The tail can move and curve well enough. However, the spikes on the tail are more numerous than the neck and are even more of a risk. The way they bunch up makes me very nervous about moving the tail too much You can also rotate the spiked tip on the end if you want to.

Gigan comes with the accessories that turn him into Modified Gigan. A new horn, pair of mandibles, extra neck piece and of course the BLOODY CHAINSAWS!!!! 

In order to complete the transformation, I suggest holding Gigan's sides with your thumb and index finger while wiggling/pulling the neck off carefully. Remove Gigan's horn and mandibles before removing the head.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the top piece of the neck will become loose after removing the head, so make sure you're doing this in an area where you can easily keep track of the pieces. 
Carefully attach the new neck piece, attach the head, add the new horn and mandibles. Finally swap the scythes for the chainsaws. 

Now you have Modified Gigan! 
All these accessories are amazing. You can even move the spikes on the chainsaws as they are made of rubber. 

 

GREAT DECISIVE BATTLE Version

Had I not already bought the original release, I would have gotten this figure regardless. But the prospect of getting those extra accessories and having both standard and Modified Gigan SHMA figures on my shelf made this an instant pre-order for me. 

As far as sculpt and paint goes, It's the same ole' Gigan 2004 figure. Even comes with the same accessories to make Modified Gigan. the only real difference I found were tighter joints and it was a lot cleaner than mine, I've had this thing for over almost 6 years after all.

The big selling point for this release would be the extra accessories. 

Let's start with the laser beam or "Gigarium Cluster" as it's officially known. The piece itself is pretty cool, the stand is fine. It doesn't stick, it just sits so getting it balanced can be a chore and the stand itself has no articulation. I would have preferred a standard Tamashii Nations stand.

Another point about the beam is that the end pieces feel delicate and probably will break off unless you handle it with the utmost care. 

For the other new accessories we need Gigan back to his regular mode as he comes with a new set of Bloody Triggers which you can attach Gigan's new F**king Anchors Hooking Anchors, basically grappling hooks.

To attach them, you need to remove the side hooks, a process that can be a little difficult at first. Just do some wiggling while you pull, be sure to hold the whole piece carefully while doing this and then maybe do it again a few more times to make it easier the next time. 

Once the hooks are removed, you may attach the new hooks which are attached to 20" bendy wires. The cylinder pieces can also be moved up and down the wires to your content, I honestly don't know why. Shouldn't they each be in one place? 
The wires can be a bit of a hassle, but with a little patience and creativity, you can make some very nice displays. 

There's never been a good enough time to buy the SH MonsterArts Gigan 2004 figure. Overall, while the spikes are an issue, I still really love these figures. They look great, the accessories are great and both have some killer shelf presence.
And hey, now that we finally got a full reveal of the SHMA 2004 Godzilla, you know that's going to look amazing next to Gigan.

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 GODZILLA (1989) | Figure Review

BioGoji, the 1989 Godzilla design has had an interesting history in the SH MonsterArts figure line. It first appeared in a display next to the upcoming SH MonsterArts Biollante figure in 2013, but BioGoji wouldn't get an official SHMA release until 2016 where it was the first and so far only figure under the Kou Kyou Kyoku label.  
It was a great figure, but it didn't have the correct scale when compared to Godzilla's opponents. Now with the release of the new Special Color Version of Biollante, the collectors started clamoring for a new BioGoji figure in the proper scale to compliment her. Well, Bandai has granted our wishes and released such a figure. 
And I have....certain opinions about it...

Look!
Listen!
OK? Just hear me out, please...

Appearance-wise, this figure nails the look of the 1989 suit without a doubt, looking just as great as he did when he emerged from Mount Mihara. The sculpt, detail and textures are all masterfully done and whether or not this is just a shrunken version of the Kou Kyou Kyoku figure is kind of up for debate, but if you look at them side by side there are a few subtle differences. 

The scale should be obvious. However, this figure is just barely under the standard 6 inch scale that the other Godzilla's in the line are. He isn't as short as the SHMA 1964 figure,  though I feel like there should have been like an extra centimeter added to the legs because whenever I look at them, they feel shorter than they actually are. Or is that just me?

At this point with SHMA Godzilla's, you'd have to actually TRY and screw up his skin color. It's in the finer details of the body where the most care should be taken. 

Luckily, the eyes look amazing and are perfectly aligned. 
The teeth seem to be the area where the most QC issues with this figure come from. Mine are painted decently.

The claws on the hand are pretty good, the feet are a bit questionable.

As for the dorsal fins, I think the patches on them should match the color of Godzilla's skin as opposed to being all brightly colored.  

Godzilla 1989's articulation is as follows:

Godzilla's head can look slightly up and with the neck joints can look straight down. The head can also turn to look to the left and the right, but doing this will expose a gap in the sculpt of the neck pieces. Finally, the head and neck can tilt side to side. Also the lower jaw is on a ball joint which can cause it to be misaligned at times.
Pro tip: don't try moving the tongue. Trust me on this.

The arms can move in and out and make a full rotation at the shoulders, there's rotation at the biceps, the elbows bend and twist, and the hands can rotate and swivel.

Legs can move forward, backward and can even move out at the hip, bend at the knee with some rotation and the feet can rotate and pivot. The hips also include an extra piece to hide any potential gaps in the articulation.

The tail has a great range of movement. Much like the Kou Kyou Kyoku figure, the tail segments like to twist and look awkward, but if ya work it just right they'll stay in place.

You may have noticed I didn't mention the body articulation, why? Well, because it's the part of the articulation that I have the most to say about. 
The past few Godzilla releases have come with a separate belly joint that helps expand the movement of the figure. This 1989 figure however has no such joint, limiting it's articulation to only a slight forward and side to side lean. 
Separate belly joints should be the gold standard for SHMA Godzilla figures going forward, in fact, that may also help improve the height of this figure. 

This $90+ Godzilla figure comes with no accessories, you're gonna have to get creative, like me.

If the point of this figure was to make it in scale with their Biollante figure, then Bandai did a pretty good job. It also scales well with the Heisei King Ghidorah figure. 

With all the criticisms I've made, let me make this crystal clear: I love this figure. It's probably one of the better 1989 figures out there, all my issues can be seen as minor at best but still worth pointing out. 

I am more than comfortable giving this figure a high recommendation. 

Alright, time to go back to waiting for that 2004 Godzilla to never be revealed...
That Hedorah figure looks sweet 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!

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