NECA SHIN GODZILLA - Figure Review

Let's be honest, this latest incarnation of Godzilla has not had it easy when it comes to being represented in toy form, weather it be weird sculpts or questionable paint work.

When 'Shin Godzilla' premiered at an Alamo Drafthouse theater in New York, NECA also had a table with all of their Godzilla figures set up, including one based off the newest incarnation from the film. For the most part, people got really excited about it, myself included. 

As the months went on, more pictures were released showing off the figure in all it's detail. And people began to be skeptical about it, claiming the head was disproportionate, the paint was off and just general comments about how NECA is somehow inferior to SH Monster Arts. 

One comment you may have heard from other reviewers and collectors is that this figure looks a lot better out of the package and they're right. After opening the package, assembling the tail and really examining it, I really like this figure. 

Like I said before, this is a hard design to duplicate and nowhere is that more evident then in the head. In the movie, Godzilla has multiple rows of teeth going in all kinds of directions and sometimes not even from the gums. You can see a lot of teeth sticking out and while there may not be a lot of them, I still think it looks pretty good and the head is pretty decently sized. 

And the rest of the body ain't to shabby either. 
But the big thing that stands out is the paint work. Godzilla here looks to have a good balance of red orange spots throughout the body and the figure itself has a wet glossy look to it.

The dorsal fins are sculpted nicely although I think some of them may have too much red on them. Although that's something I can probably fix myself. One thing unusual about this figure is that the second rows of dorsal fins are not symmetrical, this was probably a creative choice on NECA's part.

As for the tail, this figure is advertised as a 12 Inch Head-to-Tail figure, except it ain't. I'd say more 16 Inches. The tail looks good for the most part, the problem comes from the tip though. The way it's sculpted, you really cant  see the supposed face on the end. I think it should've been a lighter color and the black paint on it does not fit. Also there are these weird yellow paint patches on the underside, I have no idea what that was about.
I consider the tip of the tail to be the weakest aspect of the figure overall. However, clever collectors have found a way to get around this issue by repainting it themselves. I myself might try it sometime.

 Time to talk about Shin Godzilla's articulation.

The head can be made to look up and down, look left to right and rotate. You may end up popping the head off of the neck while doing this, luckily you can easily reattach it to the conviently attached ball joint. The mouth can open super wide too. 
Godzilla's neck can tilt from side to side and move down to emulate the scene where Godzilla first prepares to fire his atomic breath. The neck can also rotate.

On my figure, I can rotate my figure at the waist and I can sort of bend him forward but he doesn't go very far. 
Godzilla's arms can rotate and bend at the sholders, elbows and wrists.
His legs can rotate at the hip and can move outward and inward slightly. This figure probably has the easily bendable knees I've seen on a NECA Godzilla figure so far. The feet rotate, bend up and down a bit and pivot from left to right.

Godzilla's tail is made up of 5 different segments and all of them can be positioned left to right and down. Moving the tail from left to right looks alright but having the tail completely down on the ground just looks awkward. I personally like to keep it in the upright position.Also the bendy wire in tail does not hold.

 Unlike the SH MonsterArts figure, the NECA Shin Godzilla figure is your standard 6 inches which is in scale with the other NECA Godzilla's

 As well as your 6 inch Bandai figures.

 And you can't forget SH MonsterArts.

With a very good looking paint job, minor issues I could easily fix myself, I'd say this is now my third favorite NECA Godzilla figure. (My second favorite is the 24 inch 2014 Godzilla and the first is the 1954 Godzilla).

If you would like to own this figure then you could look for it at Toy's R Us or BigBadToyStore. 

Or if you want to add a little more Godzilla/Kaiju related awesomeness to your life, then you should definitely consider backing the second KAIJU BOX! 
Not only will it come with the NECA Shin Godzilla, but a bunch of other Godzilla/Kaiju related goodies, if you want an example of what could come from the box, be sure to check out my previous Kaiju Box post:
http://the-gryphons-lair.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-first-kaiju-box-opening.html

This is truly a unique opportunity and trust me when I say that it's well worth it. You can find the link to the Kaiju Box IndieGogo page below and join the destruction
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kaiju-box-2-neca-shin-godzilla-figure#/

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

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SH MONSTERARTS DESTOROYAH (SPECIAL COLOR VERSION) - Figure Review

DESUTOTORIAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

There, I said it. Moving on...

This one was certainly a surprise to me. The original SHMA Destoroyah figure was released 5 years ago and right from the start I was excited for this re-release, because I loved the paint job on this figure A LOT more than the original. I especially love how the eyes are more visible. In fact, in low lighting the eyes really stand out and it looks really creepy, but that's awesome.

I absolutely adore the darker crimson red tones on this figure, it makes Destoroyah look more evil and badass. It also helps his horn, wings, white spikes and chest piece stand out a lot better.

The finer details all over Destoroyah's skin are very nice, it feels like I'm looking at an actual crustacean with the red skin, rough grooves and a whole lot of randomly placed spikes.

I wanna bring attention to the mouth, I noticed that the upper jaw looks a bit uneven, is there like some Peter Jackson King Kong thing going on here? 
But other than that, the teeth look good and the upper jaw even has an extra row inside the mouth.

SH MonsterArts Destoroyah's articulation is interesting to say the least. 

For starters the neck and head can be positioned to look really high up. This would work great for those who may want to pose Destoroyah as if he was flying, though you may have to get some heavy duty figure stands in order to do that.

Arm movement is pretty standard, the hands can rotate at the wrist and you can even make his claws move in and out. Destroyah's huge shoulders can also move forward and backward.

Waist movement is pretty much non-existent, I can only get it to wiggle slightly.

The legs move forward and backward. The knees can bend slightly but I would advise against trying to force their movement. And his big feet can rotate and pivot to help with possibility.

The large wings can rotate at the shoulder and move up and down slightly. The wings also come with a bend at the mid point, the flaps can be moved to avoid any unnecessary gaps. I don't have much to say about the smaller wings, I can get mine to rotate and I can get only a tiny bit of a bend on mine.

The tail comes as a separate piece that can be easily attached to the butt. Movement is pretty fluid, but the further down you go, the more fragile it feels. The pincers on the end can also move a little bit.

The last thing to talk about is the accessories that come with Destoroyah. We get 4 Maser Freeze Cannons and Maser Freeze Tanks. These were previously available in 2 different Toho Weapons sets released by Tamashii Nations.

The Tanks themselves look alright and the top parts can rotate. The only problem? The packaging can bend the top part of the tanks.
I personally would have loved if they added an effect piece that emulates Destoroyah's Laser Horn attack. Think about how awesome that would look.

I think it's needless to say that this is a Destoroyah figure that should be in any Godzilla/Kaiju fans collection. Assuming of course you have a bit of extra scratch. (SRP is about $159.99)
Regardless, not only do others who missed out on the first release get a second chance to own it, but you get a figure with, in my opinion, the best paint job I've seen on Destoroyah by far. That alone was enough to sell me on it.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.
So long...

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Top 5 SHMA Poster/Color Version Figures I'd Like To See Made.

Not only are we getting a really cool looking SH MonsterArts figure based on the Poster Version of Mechagodzilla from 1993's 'Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla', we finally get some confirmation on a rumor that Tamashii nations were working on a "Spit Fire" version of the "Birth Version" Godzilla. It was revealed that this figure is a "Poster Version" of Godzilla from the same poster as the Mechagodzilla figure. It's unknown weather or not this version will come with an Atomic Breath piece, only time will tell weather or not collectors will have to ask themselves the dreaded double-dip question.
All this got me thinking about idea's for other repainted versions of figures based on posters I would like to see, hence the creation of this blog post you are currently reading. These aren't necessarily ordered from which ones I want more than others, I just put them in the order in which I thought of them.   

Rodan 1993 - Poster Version

This seems like a bit of a no-brainer, don't it? This is also the poster from which the aforementioned figures were based on. It was illustrated by Japanese artist, Noriyoshi Ohrai, who also designed many other stunning Godzilla posters. It just makes sense to complete the set, seeing this depiction of Rodan brought to life as a detailed, articulated figure would be absolutely wicked!

Godzilla 1995 - Color Version

Another poster done by Ohrai. I debated actually putting Destoroyah's poster look on this list, but the more I thought about it, it just looked too close to the actual Destoroyah. The poster version just has smaller wings and more forward posture. On the other hand, Godzilla himself has a very cool color scheme on this poster and I would not mind having a 'Birth Version' Godzilla with it. 

 Godzilla 2000 Millennium - US Poster Version

Most of us living in the United States probably have Godzilla 2000 on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray of this film with this awesome cover. I could see this either being made from scratch or even taking the 'Birth Version', re-tooling some parts of it, adding the new Dorsal Fins and finishing it off with the black and orange color. 

Spacegodzilla - Color Version

Back when Trendmasters were the ones cranking out Godzilla toys in the United States, their Spacegodzilla figure sported a color scheme very similar to another one of Ohrai's posters. I feel that a Spacegodzilla figure with the same colors made by Tamashii nations would be a huge seller.

Godzilla 1954 - US Color Version

When many people think of the original Godzilla film, this poster usually comes to mind. Who can blame them? It's a pretty iconic poster, and since there is already a SHMA 1954 Godzilla figure, why not make a variant with the above color scheme? Lips and all! And a yellow Atomic Breath effect for good measure.

Are there any Poster/Color variants that you would like to see? Feel free to leave a comment.

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.

So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!
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MY FIRST KAIJU BOX OPENING

Nowadays, there seems to be Loot Crate type subscription boxes for everything from movies, comics, anime and video games. But what about us Kaiju fans?

Well thanks to a man named Salvatore Lomedico and his Indiegogo fundraiser, we have KAIJU BOX! The worlds first and only Kaiju themed subscription box.
Upon hearing about this I instantly pledged as soon as the money was right. I got the Signature Edition of the first box and this is what was inside:

This box was originally going to include the NECA 2001 Godzilla figure, that ended up not being the case due to some issues. But we did get another NECA figure, a solar powered Body Knocker of the 1954 Godzilla. Think of it like a reverse bobble head figure, the head stays motionless while the body sways back and forth. I've thought about getting this a few times in the past and now I have it. Pretty cool.

One of the main reasons for me getting this box was for this exclusive print by Godzilla comic artist, Matt Frank. I really love this piece and I'm glad I actually have something signed by him now. Now if only he could come to one of my local conventions so I could have him sign some other stuff.

There were 2 shirts that were gonna come with this box, one of which parodies the WWF's NWO logo, only instead of "NWO" it said "GMK". While I would have liked to have that shirt, I'm happy that I got the shirt I wanted more with King Ghidorah on it.

Now onto the smaller stuff:

Normally I'm not that into small mystery packs like these, I left that behind after the WizKids Godzilla mini-figures. But these still neat little finger puppets, I just have no desire to pursue collecting them. This is where my only gripe comes from this box, the figure that I ended up getting (The GMK Godzilla) was one I already had. No ill will towards the box itself though.

There was also a NECA Scalers Godzilla figure. Scalers are figures that you can attach to charging cables and headphones. I already had one before this, but now I have one new in box. ^.^

I don't know if I've ever made this clear, but I'm a huge Pacific Rim fan. I've always wanted something to wear that says "Kaiju Groupie" on it. Now I got a rubber wristband that says it. Though I have no idea if it's going to fit my huge wrist or not.

These are some pretty neat stickers. I especially love the Hail Cthulhu one. I don't think I'm gonna stick them onto anything though.

PINS!!! Fun fact, the one on the left says "Kaiju". And I agree with another unboxing video by Youtube user GreenwitEvil that says that the Mascot Kaiju needs a name. 

I have no knowledge about this card game other than: It's a card game and it's called Kaiju Assualt. That is some nice artwork for Hedorah though. 

As far as the first Kaiju Box goes, this is a pretty cool offering and I hope to see it continue. If you'd like to have a box like this, simply visit the Indiegogo link here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/kaiju-box-2-featuring-neca-shin-godzilla/x/15746474#/

I mean, if you're a Kaiju fan why wouldn't you? It's a guaranteed way to get the NECA Shin Godzilla figure and a whole bunch of other monstrous goodies. Check it out and JOIN THE DESTRUCTION!!!

Till next time, I have been your host Gryphon

and I hope you've enjoyed your time here in my lair.
So long...

If you would like to see more from The Gryphon's Lair, Be sure to give my FB page a 'LIKE' to see updates and other related stuff. Thanks for reading!

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