S.H. MONSTERARTS GODZILLA 2019 | Figure Review

There have been quite a few 2019 Godzilla figures released this year from companies like Jakks Pacific, NECA and Bandai. But as good as those figures may be, the one I looked forward to the most was from SH MonsterArts. When that figure was revealed in December of 2018, I knew I had to have it.

This Godzilla figure simply amazes me. Unlike the last 2014 figure, which took a few liberties with the design of Godzilla's head, the 2019 figure is pretty movie accurate. The eyes have the traditional yellow and black look from most Legendary Godzilla figures, this looks way more natural than the NECA figure and from my end they look to be aligned...not perfect, but not too horribly either.

The upper row of teeth aren't sculpted as well as the lower row, I'm having a debate with myself as to weather or not I should take my X-Acto knife and cut out gaps in the teeth to make them look better. But at least the inside of the mouth is completely painted, I love the mix of black and a more crimson red.

The body is very nice overall. You'll probably notice the gills on Godzilla's neck aren't as pronounced as the 2014 figure.
All throughout the body from head to tail you get a nice mix of natural looking reptilian skin as well as the keloid scar bumps Godzilla is known for.
The chest and lower torso stands out with it's lighter grey color, I just wish it would have continued under the tail.

There is an issue with my figure that I've noticed is pretty constant with other collectors 2019 Godzilla figures. Godzilla's right leg doesn't quite blend into the hip like the adjacent leg.

Dorsal plates are very nice. They look appropriately sized and are very beautifully sculpted.


Godzilla 2019's articulation is pretty stellar. The head and neck is the standout part. The joints allow Godzilla to look left, right, down and straight up in the air, higher than any SHMA monster could before. And the mouth can open pretty wide.
The body can lean forward, turn and tilt left to right.
Arms can move forward and backward. They may be a bit stiff out of the box so have a hair dryer on standby. Elbows can bend and twist. Hands can rotate and wiggle.
Legs move forward and backward, the knees can bend and the feet can move up, down and pivot.
Tail can move around pretty well.

The accessories included with Godzilla 2019 are a mixed bag to me.

Included are an extra lower jaw piece with a slot to attach the atomic breath piece. This holds the atomic breath without the need for a stand and recreates the epic moment when Godzilla comes out of the water and shoots his atomic breath into the sky.

But if I'm being honest, I think instead of reusing the 2014 breath effect, they should have just made a new one to better resemble the beam used in the movie.
Or something else I just thought about while taking the photos for this review: What if instead of just a slot to insert the breath piece, the lower jaw piece just had a whole atomic breath attached to it? That would have been pretty awesome.
As for the function, it works very well and It holds up decently. AND, this is a Godzilla figure that comes with a beam effect whose MSRP isn't almost $100.
No, I'm not over that.
I ordered my Godzilla 2019 from Big Bad Toy Store and the total cost plus shipping was about $74.

Left to Right: SHMA Godzilla 2014 (Spit Fire Ver.), SHMA Godzilla 2019, NECA Godzilla 2019 & NECA Godzilla 2014

Aside from the accessories that don't exactly wow me, this is (in my opinion) one of the finest Legendary Godzilla figures ever made. At least in terms of 6 inch, articulated figures. I love this figure so much that if Bandai announces any repaints with glowing blue dorsal fins and especially a "Fire Godzilla", I may buy them without question.
I give the SH MonsterArts Godzilla 2019, my highest recommendation.

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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NECA MOTHRA 2019 & V2 "Poster Version" | Figure Review

I can't begin to describe my excitement when I found out that NECA had been thrown a bone and given permission to produce more figures in their Godzilla line that weren't Godzilla. And who better to start with then the Queen of the Monsters herself?

Mothra has the most radical redesign out of the main four Titans. Godzilla may have gotten bigger, but Mothra got smaller. You've probably seen pictures of this figure online and they make Mothra look bigger than she actually is. From head to abdomen her body measures just under 1.5 inches. She's only a little bit bigger than an actual Moth!!!
Actually, I like that about this figure and it does fit in accurate scale with Godzilla.

Despite being so small, the sculpt and paint on Mothra is pretty good. Her head details are minimal and I feel like NECA could have added a bit more black for the mouth, but I still think it looks nice. Let's be real here, at this scale, fur would be difficult to sculpt. Plus, I'm surprised her eyes look as good as they do. Her antenna are sculpted into the back of her head, which was probably the only way they could be added without having them stick out and risk getting damaged.

The rest of her body is very nice, the legs are painted very well and the abdomen has a nice sculpt. As I said before, I feel like I'm looking at an actual insect.

Mothra's wings are absolutely what will grab most peoples attention. Her wingspan is about 12.5 inches and the wings themselves look beautiful, an awesome update to the original design. The patterns don't exactly match, but I didn't expect them to, honestly.

Part of the wings are made from a translucent plastic which looks really cool when hit with light.

Articulation on Mothra is very minimal.

4 of her legs can move forward and backward. And should they pop off while doing so, it should be no problem to reattach them.

And her wings can move up and down as much as I show in the pictures. They cannot rotate at the joints, I tried (very carefully, mind you) to twist them and they would not go. And I don't recommend you try either.

Mothra comes with a flight stand. In order to get her on it, you'll have to wedge her waist into the gap on top of the stand like how I'm showing in the pictures I've included.

Once you have her in, Mothra stays in place. I do wish we had gotten more of an adjustable rod to get some really dynamic poses for Mothra.

 The base of the stand is nice though.

She may be quite smol, but NECA'S 2019 Mothra is a big surprise. Another great release in their King of the Monsters line. I really think NECA should release another Mothra figure with her wings painted blue to imitate her hatching scene. Maybe that one will come with a larva this time.

UPDATE - September 9, 2019

NECA MOTHRA 2019 V2 ("Poster Version")

While I'd love to give myself bragging rights for predicting this figure, it was pretty much an inevitable release. 
Still no larva though...

This Mothra figure is based on both her character poster and her hatching scene in 2019's 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' and while it captures that appearance very nicely, it also makes Mothra look a lot more edgier than usual. Just sayin', I can't look at this figure and not hear a heavy metal version of Yuji Koseki's theme playing. 
Or maybe Evanescence.
I especially love how the eyes stand out. 

V2 Mothra retains the translucent plastic from the first release and look great with the right lighting. 

The joints on this figures wings seem to be tighter than the original figure. 

The included base is pretty much the same as the first Mothra figure, however the egg is in a different position and features a darker paint scheme. 

Overall, I think this figure is a fantastic companion piece to the original Mothra figure and a welcome addition to any King of the Monsters figure collection. 

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!


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NECA GODZILLA 2019 | Figure Review

NECA has been rolling out their King of the Monsters figures starting in May with a standard Godzilla.
I know this has taken a little while for me to get to. Hell, I'm expecting the NECA Mothra to show up at my lair any day now. The reason being I needed to take a bit of time after I saw 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' 3 times in theaters, collect my thoughts and get that review done.
(Which you can read RIGHT HERE)

But now that that's out of the way, lets get to NECA's latest offering of the Big G!

 

Back when NECA released their first Godzilla figure from the Legendary Pictures movie in 2014, I liked it overall, but it left me wanting in certain areas. In some ways the 2019 figure improves on those issues and it also doesn't.

 

Let's start with the gorilla mammoth in the room. The head.

Eyes for the most part look aligned pretty well, but I think it's a little off putting that the majority of Legendary Godzilla figures I've seen have yellow around the pupils where this one has white, making it look like weird fish eyes. It only gets weirder if you look at them really close up, from a distance however it's not that terrible.

The mouth is the biggest shortcoming of the figure for me. The paint on the lower lip is a bit sloppy and the teeth (or lack thereof) are really distracting to me.
Admittedly, this was also a problem with the 2014 figure.
The fact that all of the inside of the mouth isn't painted is also off putting to me.

However, the rest of the figure is pretty solid. Despite initial fears that this figure would simply be a modified 2014 sculpt, this is an entirely new sculpted figure.
From head to tail, Godzilla's skin detail looks really nice and the lighter grey skin tone with a light brown wash really makes it pop. 

The dorsal fins looks a lot better than the 2014 figure, just because there is actual texture to them. A few people are actually saying the dorsal fins are oversized, maybe a bit but not distractedly though. 

Godzilla's articulation remains largely unchanged from the 2014 figure, but with one major exception.

Godzilla's head can look down slightly, move left and right. It can't look up to shoot atomic breath unfortunately. 

The neck has rotation, but is hindered by the sculpt of the dorsal fins unless you move it forward before turning.

The arms have a great range of movement, and a new hinge has been added for the hands.

The body can move forward at the waist but it requires a bit of effort, effort that could also lead to puncturing your hands.
It can also rotate.

The legs move forward and backward, bend at the knee and the feet can rotate and pivot.

To go off on a bit of a tangent: I know most NECA figures have peg holes in the bottom of the feet to insert their figure stands for better balance, but I've never understood why the Godzilla figures need them. Who needs figure stands when you've got a large tail balancing your body?

Speaking of tails, NECA has continued to add multi jointed tail pieces in place of rubber bendy wire tips, a change I and many other fans appreciate dearly. The tail has 10 points of movement and flows very nicely.

 

The instructions included with the figure recommend you dip the tail piece in warm water before attaching it. Personally, I didn't need hot water or even a hair dryer, I just pressed and wiggled the tail in with no problem.

Godzilla comes with no accessories unless you count the backdrop inside the box.

As much as I'm very much looking forward to the SH MonsterArts figure, I rather like the NECA version it a lot. At around $22, it's worth all those pennies despite the head issues. For Godzilla fans on a budget (or not), or NECA collectors in general, this is a pretty solid figure.

BTW, what happened to making more 24 inch Godzilla figures?

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!

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