SH MONSTERARTS MFS-3 MECHAGODZILLA TYPE-3 KIRYU (SHINAGAWA FINAL BATTLE VERSION) - Figure Review

Wow, that's a mouthful.

Unlike most reviews of this figure you’ll most likely see, this is my first time actually seeing and holding an SH MonsterArts Kiryu. Kiryu is my favorite incarnation of Mechagodzilla so my expectations for this figure were pretty high. Fortunately, they were met with flying colors.

I got much of the same reactions I had when I first saw 2002’s “Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla”. Simply put, this is how a character named “Mechagodzilla” should look. Similar proportions, not too bulky and a tail that isn’t laughably short.
Kiryu's sculpt and details are outstanding! This is one impressive looking figure and the amount of work that went into making it look this good should be commended to the highest extent possible. I especially admire the look of the inner wiring of Kiryu, the black colors work with his overall metallic silver body perfectly. This Kiryu figure also comes with several black smudges around the body, most likely sustained from battles. The ones on the dorsal plates I can tell may have come from being hit by Godzilla's atomic breath.

What else is cool about this figure is the inside of the mouth. You can see the individual teeth of the original 1954 Godzilla, one of the best features of Kiryu in general. And the maser cannons are a nice touch.

Kiryu’s head and neck can be moved to make him look up, down and to the left and right. But unlike other Mechagodzilla's, this one cannot rotate his head all the way around.
His arms can rotate and bend at the shoulder and the elbows. And his hands rotate at the wrists. Overall, the arm movement is pretty free and loose. Much better than that other figure…
Waist articulation is a bit tricky. Kiryu can move forward a tiny bit, but there is this loose back piece you gotta wiggle around to make him stand up straight. But you should have no problem turing Kiryu’s body left and right. On the chest are 3 panels that open up to reveal the Absolute Zero Cannon and the boosters on his back that can move around.

When moving Kiryu's legs forward, you’ll notice a wire connecting to the hip which will move along the hip as the legs go forward and back. Just don’t move it too much or you might risk popping it out. Otherwise the knees bend and the feet move around pretty well. The legs even have side panels that open up to reveal more boosters.
And the tail can move around pretty well.

Now let’s look at Kiryu’s many accessories.

Kiryu comes with 2 alternate eye pieces: a second pair of yellow eyes for normal function and a pair of red eyes for when he goes berserk.


But with Cosmetics out of the way, let's look at the real fun stuff: the firepower!

We got his rocket, missile backpack rocket rocket fire! (Kudos if you understood that reference) and a pair of twin laser cannons with attachable blades that fit into the front slots.
Attaching these pieces requires the removal of a few pieces on Kiryu.

For the backpack, you’ll have to take off the pictured dorsal fins before attaching it onto Kiryu’s back.

The laser cannons attach to the side of the arms easily. But for the wires, you need to pull out the knob looking piece on the elbows and attach the end on the wire into the hole.

And with that Kiryu is ready for action!

But it wouldn’t be a true SHMA re-release without some new accessories.

For the new Shinagawa Final Battle Version, 3 brand new pieces have been included.
A battle damaged arm, battle damaged Absolute Zero (spoilers?) and an Absolute Zero effect piece!

Both of the Battle damaged pieces look pretty good and can be swapped out without failure.
Fun fact: At one point, I was gonna make a list of SHMA figures that should be re-released and I was gonna give some ideas as to how certain figures could be released. One of them was Kiryu and I figured it could have been released with these very same battle damaged parts.

The Absolute Zero piece is the icing on the cake, it looks fantastic. It actually comes in 2 pieces. Simply wiggle the long piece loose from the large end and you have a piece for when the beam is charging.

The only thing that would make this better is if it came with a piece for the Maser Cannons in Kiryu’s mouth.

If this review didn’t make this obvious enough, this Kiryu figure is amazing, I recommend it wholeheartedly and it should be bought immediately. Especially if you have the Godzilla 2002 figure. If you missed out on the other SH MonsterArts Kiryu figures like I did, now is the time!

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/

SOFVI SPIRITS SHRIKETHORN | Figure Review

The second figure in the Sofvi Spirits Pacific Rim Uprising line is the Kaiju, Shrikethorn

Shrikethorn is one beastly figure. I gotta admit though, I wasn't all that impressed with it when I first took him out of the box. But as I really started to examine it, he began to grow on me.

The sculpt is good. The head in particular is pretty wicked looking. I especially like the plating around the arms and legs. From head to tails, Shrikethorn has some nicely textured skin. And the spikes all over the body really make this Kaiju stand out.

On it's own, Shrikethorn would be a boring looking Kaiju if it weren't for 3 things: The face, the dual tails and the spines.
And the coloring on this figure helps with that as well. His mostly light brown body is adorned with red for the face, orange on the limbs and shades of blue everywhere.

Looking at him from the front, you'll see a few luminescent lines common on most Kaiju from the series.
I feel like there could be a little more blue shading in the tail spikes though.

Like the Sofvi Spirits Raijin, Shrikethorn doesn't have a great deal of articulation. We do get arm rotation below the shoulders and at the elbows.
He can rotate at the waist and his tails can turn slightly as well.

This Shrikethorn figure makes a great addition to the Tamashii Nations Pacific Rim Uprising line and looks great when posed next to the other Jaeger figures. 
However, I think Bandai might be charging a bit too much for it. Raijin went for about $40 and Shrikethorn is presently going for over $60. 
I'd probably try to find this figure for cheaper than that.

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/

SH MONSTERARTS GODZILLA 2002 - Figure Review

I was happy to see this figure announced. Not only did I long to see a more movie accurate Millennium Godzilla made into an SHMA figure, but it also presented the possibility that Kiryu, one of my most wanted SHMA figures would be re-released to go along with it. Turns out it will be and I am super excited about that!

As of late, most SHMA Godzilla figures have been suffering a few quality control issues, specifically having mismatched eyes. When most collectors got their hands one this figure, most of them had their eyes mismatched.
As for mine...

It does have mismatched eyes. But it doesn't bother me a whole bunch. Well it does, but let me explain: I swear this figure is possessed in some way, sometimes I look at it and the eyes don't look that bad and some days I do notice how one is slightly off center. But then I think it's just how the eyebrows are sculpted and then my head hurts and I feel like vomiting banana oil.




I apologize for putting that image in your mind.

The last Millenium Godzilla figures (with the exception of 2001) were based on concepts by sculptor Yuji Sakai. I like that design enough, but I prefer the final design used in the films and this figure is a great representation of it.

Aside from the eyes the head is really good. The mouth might look a little bent to some, but watch Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla again. The teeth look pretty good as well.

If there's one thing Tamashii Nations is great at capturing with their Godzilla figures, it's his skin. This Godzilla has a very rough and sharp skin texture and it looks great here. I especially love how they captured the ridges on his neck.
The claws and toe nails look to be painted evenly.
The dorsal fins have a very nice sculpt down from the neck to the tail. I like the faded appearance and rough texture on them.

The first time I was examining this figure and I saw that unusually sized dorsal fin, I thought it might have been a mistake or factory error. But just to be sure, I watched Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla and sure enough, that was a feature on the suit. And I still find it weird.

Godzilla's head can look up and down. His neck is separated into multiple segments that let him look up pretty high, which also puts him in a good roaring position. His mouth can open and close as usual, but there's also something this figure has that most SHMA Godzilla's haven't had in a while: Tongue movement!

Arms move in and out and can rotate at the shoulders, bend and twist at the elbows, and basically have full range motion.
Unlike a certain other figure...

It'll take a while for me to get over that.

I should also mention that the hands rotate at the wrist and mine like to pop off while I do that. So be mindful of that.

The waist can bend forward, turn left to right and tilt side to side. And there's not an annoying fin gap. Noice!

Legs move forward and backward, as well as move in and out at the waist. The Knees bend and the feet can move up and down, turn and pivot.

And to finish off, Godzilla has a terrific, articulated tail. It's tightly jointed enough to where it can move around easily and hold it's position.

Long story short, despite the eye thing, I think this is a fantastic Godzilla figure! Even with the issue with the eyes, I would still absolutely recommend buying this figure. It is a perfect piece to add to any figure collection and would make a perfect companion to any Kiryu figures you might own.
Like the "Shinagawa Final Battle Version" coming out pretty soon, which I will probably be reviewing next!

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/