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...

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