HIYA'S KONGS | Figure Reviews

When Hiya Toys put their foot in the ring of producing high quality, articulated MonsterVerse figures, their initial figures showed much promise, but came with their own share of shortcomings.
Their first GvK Godzilla figure was overall well received by collectors, aside from distracting exposed joints on the jaw and the neck pieces. Hiya would take note of these shortcomings and release another Godzilla figure (this time based on the KOTM design) and since then, every consecutive Godzilla figure has been an absolute banger!

As for Kong, that's a whole different can'o worms...

When Hiya's first Kong figure was teased, I wasn't very optimistic about it. The sculpt didn't look exactly like the film model, but still I braved through the initial craze of these figures and managed to find one at my local comic book store along with the new Mothra figure.

And when I opened up the Kong figure and started handling and examining it, I didn't hate it, but I had a hard time believing that this was supposed to be the same character from Godzilla vs. Kong. The body looks too much like a body builder as opposed to the more broad, stocky body in the movie, this figure's body looks more like the 'Skull Island' Kong's body. (Don't worry, we'll get to him later...)
I'm also not a fan of the exposed joints on the wrists and crotch. 
I did like the paint work on the figure though. 

The head sculpt is decent enough, but I have to tilt my head at the size of the neck. Specifically how it doesn't fill in the back of the head and looks awkward, it does allow Kong to look up, but why would they not add an extra joint at the shoulders?

While we're on the subject of articulation, it's pretty standard for a Kong figure and if you work it right, you can get some unique poses, but it still feels limited and tight in some areas. I wasn't expecting a hyper articulated figure like SH MonsterArts, but I feel like we could do better than this. 

As Hiya continued to release and tease figures, we would eventually get a remade GvK Godzilla figure that fixes the issues the initial release had.
Did they do that with Kong?
No. They didn't.

But we did get a figure for the "Skull Island" Kong, and this one, to me, is a debatably worse figure.

Let's start with what I like about it: The head looks pretty good, the fur detail and paint looks alright, the arms and legs move pretty decently (despite the fact that the left arm always pops off when ever I try to move it) and the tree accessory is pretty cool.

The problem with this figure and what kills it for me is the body. Ironically, these 2 Kong figures have each others bodies. Skull Island Kong doesn't have a dad bod! Unfortunately, that one detail distracts me from all the other positive aspects about this figure

I even took both Kong's, separated their upper/lower halves, swapped them with each other and that looked sort of better. But due to their inherent sculpt, it's still not a permanent fix. 

But even that's not even the real worst part of the figure. The worst part of this figure is...

What in the shrunken, Hank Hill, ugly ass is this?!
2/5 Thanks, I hate it. 

If any figure from Hiya needs a redo or a 2.0 version, this one does yesterday. 

Now listen, if you happen to like both of these figures, then please don't take this as me trying to tell you that you shouldn't. Maybe you think these figures are amazing, and that is valid.
But in my opinion, both of these figures may make decent gorilla figures or a proxy for King Kong, but they are far from great MonsterVerse Kong figures.

Which brings us to now. Hiya Toys has a new Kong figure on the market, based on his GxK appearance, minus the B.E.A.S.T. Glove. The initial promo pictures looked really good and promising, but would this figure actually prove to be good once collectors got their hands on i-YES!

This figure looks AMAZING! I finally feel like I'm actually looking at the MonsterVerse Kong in figure from. The proportions look right, and the sculpt and detail is on point!

Look at this head sculpt that puts the other Hiya and even the MonsterArts Kong's to shame! It's not just the details on the face, the eyes give this figure so much life. 
Also, the neck is sized appropriately and it looks great from all angles. See? That wasn't so hard.

The body is perfectly sculpted, truly fitting the physique of a king. I love how the fur looks, the coloring is nice and I kind of appreciate how it's not overly greyed like some other GvK Kong figures. The chest has some battle scars on it which looks cool and the back has a big gash on it from being hit by Godzilla's atomic breath.

Hiya's previous Kong figures had some decent articulation, but this Kong has great articulation.

Kong's head can look all the way up, left/right and rotate at the neck. 

The arms can move in/out and rotate at the shoulder, we have a double bend and two points of rotation at the elbow, and the hands can bend and rotate at the wrist.

Kong's torso has a wonderful middle piece that can let him lean forward/backward and tilt side to side. The body can also rotate above and below the waist.

The legs can move forward/backward, make a full rotation and move in/out at the hip. There's rotation at the thigh, a nice bend at the knee and the feet can rotate and pivot.
However, here's a point of contention. While I've praised this figure a bunch, one unfortunate hurdle is that it isn't always the best at standing up. Kong has some weight to him so that doesn't exactly help.

You may have to do some work and a lot of micro adjusting, but with practice you can get some pretty cool poses!

Most of Kong's accessories should be familiar at this point.

Along with the holding hands attached in box, we also have knuckle walking hands, closed fists and open hands. 

The right open hand not only has nicely applied scars on the palm but the back is coated in a purple-ish coat to give it a frost bitten look.
This isn't a complaint against the figure as a whole, but I would've liked if we had a hand without the frost bite effect.

Out of the box, Kong has a neutral expression face, and you also get a growling and roaring face, complete with titanium tooth. But is it just me or do the upper teeth on the roaring head look smaller than they should be?

And finally, Kong comes with his trusty battle axe. 
This is one of, if not, the best battle axes to come with a Kong figure. The handle and blade are made of a soft translucent plastic which gives it a nice glow effect with the right lighting.
While Kong's hands are fairly soft, I'd still recommend using a hair dryer on the hands to soften them and get the axe into them much easier. 

Seeing This Kong next to a Hiya Toys Godzilla 2019 fills me with so much delight.
I'll compare it to Godzilla Evolved when I get my hands on the B.E.A.S.T. Glove figure which I am very much looking forward to. 

Do I need to say anymore? I love this figure!
Unlike Hiya's previous Kong's striking out, this GxK Kong is a solid home run. Everyone else has said it and now I'm saying it. Even with the shortcomings I mentioned, they're very minor in comparison.
I look forward to obtaining the B.E.A.S.T. Glove Kong. 

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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