Let's Look At/Review: SH MONSTERARTS MECHAGODZILLA (1993), GARUDA & FIRE RODAN - MAKUHARI DECISIVE BATTLE Ver.

7 years ago, I reviewed the SH MonsterArts Super Mechagodzilla, a figure I ended up selling in order to pay a bill that I had. Ultimately, I loved the figure and I always told myself I'd buy it again when I was a bit better off. 
Months passed, prices went up and I kept watching and waiting. 
Then this set got announced... 

MECHAGODZILLA & GARUDA

Aside from the more obvious differences, these 2 are more or less the same figures from the Super Mechagodzilla set. Same great sculpt and same good articulation. The paint looks the same but the silver parts also seem to have a slight bluish hue to it. Also, the eyes are colored to appear more orange, I appreciate this detail. 

The same accessories from the Super set are included, but this set has a few extras. 

The first Garuda release included a set of G-Crusher parts that attach to Mechagodzilla's wrists.

The G-Crusher parts included with this set are way longer than the original pieces.

The last new accessory is a damaged eye piece for Mechagodzilla. It's small but it still looks very nice.
For this figure, instead of removing the entire head, all you have to do for this one is first, remove the horn piece on the back of the head (which is really loose on mine) then remove the current eye piece and replace it with the other.

Now Mechagodzilla looks like he got his eye pecked out by a large irradiated Pteranodon. 
Speaking of...

FIRE RODAN

The point I actively decided to pre-order this set was when I saw the Rodan figure included with it.
I love the Heisei Rodan and I do own the original SHMA Fire Rodan figure from 2012. I'm not going to do too much compare/contrast between the two versions aside from the paint and just review the figure we got from this set. 

That said, the figure we got looks incredible. Fire Rodan is going to be smaller then what most SHMA collectors may be used to. That said, the details are great! 

The head looks good with an appropriately fierce expression. I need to do something to fix the lower part of the beak on mine. 

The chest spikes, one of Rodan's signature features, are all nicely sculpted and detailed. 
From the back of his head to tail, Rodan's horns and spikes all look good, they're made with translucent plastic to emulate them lighting up as Fire Rodan fires his Uranium Heat Beam.

Rodan's legs are small but still sculpted well. Something I noticed is that one knee piece is slightly bigger than the other. An odd sculpting choice to say the least. 

As for Rodan's wings, of course they look great! The edges have some wonderfully rough details applied to them that make this figure look alive.
But while the wings are also the stand out feature of any Rodan figure, it can also be an Achilles' heel. 
Most articulated Rodan figures seem to have a hard time managing the gap between the body and the wings. The SHMA Fire Rodan seems to handle it the best, but you still have the gap in the right wing that never really wants to stay firmly in place.
The problem comes from the fact that the shoulder pieces have different sculpts. If the right one were more like the one on the left, I feel this problem would instantly be solved.

Now about the paint. While the first figure seems to have a more movie accurate color scheme, this Rodan has more of a night time color scheme which I love. The crimson red mixed with the shading on the wings and the white chest looks amazing. The veins on the wings are also a nice touch.

One major change from the previous figure is that the MDB version is mostly made of translucent plastic parts. At first glance, you'll immediately notice the horns and the spikes, but with the right amount of light, you'll begin to see through the figure. With the right amount of lighting, you could get some really dynamic shots of Rodan. 

Before I get to articulation, please keep in mind that this figure is small and he will feel fragile, so exercise extreme care before handling him.

Head and neck can look up and down and tilt side to side. The head can rotate at the neck and the neck can rotate at the body. 
No torso articulation.

The wings come with some hinges giving us some nice flapping movements. At the shoulder the wings can move in and out and they can even rotate.

Legs can rotate at the hip and can move forward and backward somewhat. Knees can bend. The feet can move up and down for flight poses and they can rotate and pivot. 

Rodan's tail is very posable, but it feels like the most fragile part of the figure. Again, handle with care!

Unlike the first Fire Rodan figure, that came with a bunch of cool accessories, the MBD version only comes with a basic flight stand and Rodan specific cradle. 

For this set, we also get 2 new flight stand parts that attach to Rodan's wings, similar to the 2019 King Ghidorah wing holders. 

While it can be used in combination with the previous flight stand, both options work well for displaying your Rodan figure. 

All in all, this is another re-release, Decisive Battle version, re-paint, whatever you wanna call it set that Tamashii Nations has knocked out of the park! I'm happy to own a Super Mechagodzilla again and the Rodan is a nice plus. It's not going to replace my original SHMA Rodan figure anytime soon, that was a birthday gift a few of my friends chipped in to get me, but something about owning 2 Rodan figures just feels right.
Definitely don't sleep on these figures this time around if you're thinking about picking them up!

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/