But it's out now, so lets look at the figures.
GODZILLA
Starting with the king himself, this figure does a good job of capturing the ShoshingekiGoji suit in it's prime. Godzilla's overall sculpt is very impressive. I do have one minor nitpick with the head and it's nothing to do with teeth or eye paint.
The mouth shape can look awkward at certain angles, an issue I feel could have been fixed by adding a small flap at the end of the teeth.
Godzilla sports his signature charcoal grey skin color with some black to better highlight the skin detail. The claws are a light grey with some black shading.
The paint on the dorsal fins doesn't quite match up to the 1968 suit, but I still think it looks pretty good.
Godzilla's articulation is the 5 Points line standard, His head, arms and legs are capable of rotating. Rotating the legs does cause them to rub against the figure.
Godzilla comes with the most accessories, including an alternate head and arms.
All these pieces are greatly appreciated but I can't help but notice the claws on the fists seemed to look fused together.
Inside Godzilla's open mouth head, you'll notice a peg hole which let's you plug in the last accessory, the Atomic Breath.
The piece fits in his mouth perfectly and it looks really good.
The mouth shape can look awkward at certain angles, an issue I feel could have been fixed by adding a small flap at the end of the teeth.
The paint on the dorsal fins doesn't quite match up to the 1968 suit, but I still think it looks pretty good.
The piece fits in his mouth perfectly and it looks really good.
RODAN
Up next is Rodan who looks pretty fantastic which is surprising considering I'm not exactly the biggest fan of this Rodan.
The original 1956 Rodan head had this mean, ferocious look to it. But from 1964 onward, the head always had more of a goofy look to it.
The rest of Rodan's body is pretty solid overall. I especially love the wrinkles in the wings, the torso spikes and even the leg segments look really good.
Paint work is excellent, the body has a nice mix of browns and the beak, claws and spikes are painted nicely.
Rodan has a rotating head, wings and legs.
Rodan comes with an alternate head piece that looks up and seems tailor made for a flight pose.
Here is where things get confusing. Rodan was supposed to come with a forward facing, beak closed alternate head. But upon opening the box I only saw the flying one. The closed beak head is even shown on the back of the box.
What the hell happened?
The original 1956 Rodan head had this mean, ferocious look to it. But from 1964 onward, the head always had more of a goofy look to it.
I will say however, the head on this figure doesn't exactly match the 1968 suit. The beak isn't as narrow and honestly looks better than the film. I don't like it better than the 56 head, but I'll still say this is significant improvement.
The rest of Rodan's body is pretty solid overall. I especially love the wrinkles in the wings, the torso spikes and even the leg segments look really good.
Paint work is excellent, the body has a nice mix of browns and the beak, claws and spikes are painted nicely.
That's where the next accessory comes in, a flight stand, which Rodan rests on perfectly and looks good in flight.
Like the last set, we have square base stands. However we only get 2 but only one is really useful for displaying Rodan in flight mode.
Like the last set, we have square base stands. However we only get 2 but only one is really useful for displaying Rodan in flight mode.
What the hell happened?
ANGUIRUS
To be honest, Godzilla's enemy turned best buddy, Anguirus was the figure that caught my eye first from this set. He looked the most impressive to me and now that I have it to hold, I must say it doesn't disappoint. He is not however without a few small shortcomings.
Anguirus' head sculpt is very well detailed and appropriately fierce looking.
One consistent issue I've noticed is that the way Anguirus is packaged causes one of his head spikes to bend. Fortunately, I was able to force it back into place to were it looked more natural.
The head on my figure also has a few paint mishaps, notably on the horn.
The body of Anguirus is incredibly detailed and painted. The scales look simply amazing, I'm not even sure the pics I'm using for this review do it justice.
The claws are well painted and yes the back legs are...the back legs.
The spiked carapace is the thing that you have to get right with Anguirus otherwise, the whole figure falls apart. The shell has some nice rough detail to it and the spikes are sculpted pretty evenly, I can't imagine how meticulous that process must have been.
As for the paint, you'll notice the spikes have an uneven mix to them. This is fairly consistent with spiked animals in nature like a lizard or echidna. For Anguirus though? It's difficult to say. I watched Destroy All Monsters several times for these reviews to cross reference the details on the monsters for these figures and I've noticed some spikes being multicolored while others weren't. So for the time being, I'm going to say Anguirus' spikey back gets a pass from me.
Anguirus' tail also looks nice. I've noticed the spikes on the tail are more pokey than the back.
Anguirus' head can rotate at the neck, his front legs move forward while the hind legs can move forward and backward. I do not recommend trying to make a full rotation with the hind legs, you'll either rub against the front legs or the spikes.
Anguirus only comes with one accessory, a closed mouth head. It looks pretty good and the horn has a more consistent paint job to it.
One consistent issue I've noticed is that the way Anguirus is packaged causes one of his head spikes to bend. Fortunately, I was able to force it back into place to were it looked more natural.
The head on my figure also has a few paint mishaps, notably on the horn.
The claws are well painted and yes the back legs are...the back legs.
As for the paint, you'll notice the spikes have an uneven mix to them. This is fairly consistent with spiked animals in nature like a lizard or echidna. For Anguirus though? It's difficult to say. I watched Destroy All Monsters several times for these reviews to cross reference the details on the monsters for these figures and I've noticed some spikes being multicolored while others weren't. So for the time being, I'm going to say Anguirus' spikey back gets a pass from me.
MOTHRA
Last but certainly not least is the Mothra Larva.
This fairly simple figure still has a wonderful sculpt from head to stinger. Mothra's body has a great mix of dark and light brown with red eyes.
Mothra also has some fur sculpted at the bottom, maybe a little overdone, but it does help the figure stand upright.
I'm not to sure about the underbelly though. Although I do like the detail, isn't Mothra supposed to have little suction cup-like legs?
I know most of us aren't going to be looking at the bottom of Mothra, however I would have appreciated that detail.
This is a random observation but it sounds like there are small beads inside of Mothra so you could literally shake her like a maraca. That's kinda cute actually.
Mothra only has rotation at the head.
Mothra comes with an silk spray effect part. I think it looks decent, but I'd honestly prefer it be a longer and slimmer stream. The piece we get feels more appropriate for a Kumonga figure.
So I'll admit I love the figures themselves while feeling a bit mixed on half the accessories they come with, I'll still give it a recommendation though.
I feel like these type of sets have so much potential though. Imagine if they made a Godzilla vs. Megalon set, not only would that be awesome, but you could take the Gigan from that set and use it with the figures from the Destroy All Monsters set and have a 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' set.
Two birds, one stone.
Wishful thinking, I know. But it seems only time and sales will tell how far Mezco Toyz wishes to take their Godzilla license.
This fairly simple figure still has a wonderful sculpt from head to stinger. Mothra's body has a great mix of dark and light brown with red eyes.
I know most of us aren't going to be looking at the bottom of Mothra, however I would have appreciated that detail.
This is a random observation but it sounds like there are small beads inside of Mothra so you could literally shake her like a maraca. That's kinda cute actually.
I feel like these type of sets have so much potential though. Imagine if they made a Godzilla vs. Megalon set, not only would that be awesome, but you could take the Gigan from that set and use it with the figures from the Destroy All Monsters set and have a 'Godzilla vs. Gigan' set.
Two birds, one stone.
Wishful thinking, I know. But it seems only time and sales will tell how far Mezco Toyz wishes to take their Godzilla license.
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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