HOW I GOT HERE.

My name is Trey, but you may know me better as Gryphon. If I haven't made it clear enough, I am a huge Godzilla fan. 
Being a part of a few Godzilla themed groups on Facebook as I am, a question that comes up pretty often is how did you became a fan. Well, this is my story...

Now my memories of when I was a kid are pretty scattered, so I will try to recall this tale to the best of my ability.

In my early elementary school days, I knew this one kid who I would play with (Can't remember his name). On one fateful day, he showed me something that would change my life forever...

It was a Dor Mei "Godzilla" figure. I grew up loving dinosaurs and had many toys that I would play with, but when I saw this thing that looked like no other dinosaur that I knew about. I asked this friend if I could borrow this toy to play with and he somehow told me yes. I ended up having the toy for a few days before I finally gave it back.
  
Months pass and I went to visit a local Blockbuster Video store and my mother, knowing about my love for dinosaurs suggested that I check out a Godzilla movie. The movie I ended up renting was called "Godzilla 1985"

I ended up watching one of the more serious and intense movies of the series, I'm honestly surprised I wasn't put off by all the long talking scenes or frightened by Godzilla himself, but I loved every minute of it. 
After that I needed more and the Blockbuster did indeed have a few other movies. The next movies I watched were Godzilla Raids Again and Godzilla vs. Monster Zero. I even caught a few movies playing on television. I still have a VHS tape my Grammie gave me where she recorded 4 Godzilla movies on one tape that AMC played during their old MonsterFest marathons hosted by Roger Corman. I could tell by the quality of the films that they were made before the one I saw, but I didn't care. I loved them and I quickly became a junkie. 

Sadly, not everyone shared my love.
An important anecdote to this story is that I have high functioning Autism. I don't talk very much, I'm an extremely shy person and I am very much prone to anxiety. As such, dealing with bullying was not easy for me. 
Other kids at school would constantly berate and make fun of me for a variety of reasons, my love of Godzilla was just more ammunition for them, especially since I was very open about it.

Now, I'm barely scratching the surface on what a high functioning Autistic person goes through, but one other behavior I wish to highlight is a particular obsession on a certain thought and topic. That was me to a tee when it came to the Big G. I managed to get a hold of several books from libraries that taught me a little bit about the history of Godzilla. I gained even more knowledge thanks to a new thing that I was just starting to get familiar with: the Internet! 
Exposure to even more movies greatly increased with the release of the 1998 Godzilla film.

As far as any collectibles go, I didn't have much. Remember, I live in the United States and there weren't as many toy companies eager to put out Godzilla merchandise. In the early 90's the only hope you had were bootleg toys or Trendmasters. The later actually put out some real quality figures, even if the sculpts weren't always the most accurate. I still remember being jealous of my cousin who got a Trendmasters Mecha-King Ghidorah figure as a gift.
I did manage to get a Godzilla figure from KB Toys as a reward for something good I did (again, sketchy childhood memory).

Sometime in the early 2000's, while I was in middle school, my Dad's company sent him to Nagoya, Japan for some work. Knowing that Japan was the birthplace of Godzilla, I asked if he could bring me back a DVD of King Kong vs. Godzilla so I could see the fabled 'Alternate Ending'. Of course, it wasn't true but that was the least of the problems with that, I learned about the unfortunate concept of region coding.

But what he got me instead more than made up for it, he got me Japanese Bandai vinyl figures of Godzilla Junior, Fire Rodan and Mechagodzilla. To this day, those are some of the figures I treasure most and wouldn't even think of parting with.

Thankfully, collectibles are much easier to come by these days. After I graduated high school, I used what allowance, birthday and Christmas money I could to help build my collection, buying figures, movies, video games and any other odd and unusual stuff. I had a hell of a time trying to get a job but my patience payed off and now I'm with a pretty good company that pays well. I'd like to think I have a good handle on keeping up with responsibilities and feeding my habits. Or as well as I can given my current situation.
If there is any figure I wish I could add to my collection more than any others, it would be the one that started me on this path. That blue, Dor Mei, shark fin Godzilla figure is one that I've been hunting down for years. If anyone reading this happens to have one for sale, let me know.

[UPDATE: August 10, 2020]
I have finally acquired the figure. 

Up until a few years ago, I mostly kept my interest in Godzilla to myself as no one else shared it. I would tell people occasionally, but I didn't really have that one friend who I could really geek out about it with, watch the movies together and have in-depth discussions with. Until one friend I knew from high school told me of his step brother who was also a fan. Why he never mentioned it to me when we were in class, I'll never know. You may know him as the Kaiju Kidd. I wouldn't really get to know him until I learned that he would host screenings of classic films at a local comic book store on Sundays. After I attended a double feature of 'Clash of the Titans' and 'Jason and the Argonauts' I made it a point to start going every weekend. We would watch a variety of different movies and shows ranging from Godzilla, King Kong, Ray Harryhausen, various creature features, Super Sentai/Power Rangers, Ultraman, Kamen Rider and even Big Bad Beatleborgs one day (which we still enjoy doing to this day). Some of my favorite memories from those events, labeled as 'Klub Kaiju', include attending a riff of the 1998 Godzilla, a showing of the original Godzilla before going to see the 2014 film and a month long marathon of 'Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger', the Japanese show that was the basis for 'Power Rangers Super Megaforce.' 
Unfortunately nothing lasts forever. In July of 2014, an unknown store goer decided to report our activities to the MPA (out of spite to our suspicion) and Kidd had to deal with accusations of violating copyright laws even though we were technically not doing anything illegal. We were simply watching movies through a non-profit, community run event. Luckily he wasn't fined or charged with a crime, but if we wanted Klub Kaiju to continue we would have to get licenses to play movies weather we charged for viewings or not. The writing was on the wall and Klub Kaiju was no more. It honestly made me very sad, I was looking forward to an upcoming summer theme month we had planned and I was even thinking of suggesting a dinosaur themed month.

Going back for a bit, during the middle of these events is when I started getting into this thing called social media. My two main sites were Gaia Online and Myspace, I had been posting a lot using their journal functions. They were mostly random posts, occasional movie reviews and rants, which were all the rage back then. Then I tried making my own blog on one of those "make your own blog sites" and I named it 'The Gryphon's Lair' after an old screen name from a website that I don't use anymore. 
Unfortunately I didn't keep up with it and it was soon lost, along with most of my journals, probably for the best as the quality of my writing was nowhere near what it is today. At some point in January 2013 I made a Blogger account (even though I don't remember doing it), but I sort of lost interest in blogging and didn't pick it back up until August 2015 when I decided to make a post comparing the cast list of 2 different Jungle Book movies. I wouldn't find my real edge until weeks later.

I had been watching figure reviews on YouTube and on a whim I tried doing it myself with a figure I had just gotten.
So, on September 8, 2015 I posted my very first figure review and I finally found a blog subject I could keep up with on a semi constant basis. I even got better at writing movie reviews and my good friend Rhiannon was kind enough to offer her services as an editor for me, which I am eternally grateful for.
I might have even inspired Kaiju Kidd to start his own blog.

And that's how I got here.
If you made it this far I want to thank you for sticking with me for this long, I hope you've enjoyed reading my content and look forward to what comes next. I've got some big, big plans for The Gryphon's Lair...

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/

PLAYMATES TOYS KONG 11" | Figure Review

So it's come to this, I'm reviewing a Playmates Toys figure.



I'm sure you've seen the new figures released from Playmates. Most range from 'meh' looking repaints of older Bandai figures.While others are a flaming train wreck where even the survivors with minor injuries are begging for death.


You should have been in that Walmart with me when I saw that Shin figure, I said "Oh my god" out loud, I said it loud enough to where I'm pretty sure someone would have heard me. Needless to say along with the lazy sculpt and paint, Playmates was not making a good first impression.

I soon excepted that these figures just weren't for me and put them out of my mind. A few weeks pass and I just so happen to be looking in the toy aisle at my local Walmart and I saw they had 3 Kong figures and a Final Wars Godzilla. The more I looked at the Kong, the more I started to kinda like it.

I don't think I can look at this figure the way I usually look at figures I review as this figure wasn't primarily meant for adult collectors such as myself. I feel like I shouldn't be too overly critical about it, but I will highlight a few things about it that I find interesting. 

This Kong figure is obviously based on his appearance in 2017's 'Kong: Skull Island' and the sculpt is pretty accurate to that design. The fur doesn't have the deepest amount of detail but it does the job well enough.
Kong has a closed fist and an open hand, so if you wanna try jamming a small girl figure or even a tree branch in there, you could.

Kong's face is nicely sculpted with a very nice roaring expressing with some gnarly looking teeth. I would question why the gums are painted the same color as the teeth, but at this point, I'm just happy that the eyes look good unlike that other abomination...ugh...

I should mention that Kong can feel very wobbly when standing since the feet are not flat. You may have to fiddle with the legs a bit till you can get him to a point where you feel confident that he can stand on your shelf without falling over easily. 

The paint on Kong is good. He's mostly a light brown color while the face and chest are grey and his hands and feet are black . All the colors compliment each other nicely, they even painted a big scratch on the chest. Nice touch.

Kong's articulation is as follows:
Head can rotate at the neck. Arms rotate at the shoulder. Hands rotate at the wrist. Legs rotate at the hips and the feet rotate.

This Kong figure stands at just 11 inches and if you've got the Jakks Pacific 12 inch Godzilla 2019 figure, they look very nice together!

Despite my initial views on the Playmates figures, I ended up being quite pleased with this Kong figure. If you're serious about picking up any of the playmates figures, I feel confident recommending this Kong, he is most definitely the pick of the litter!
Of course this is just the first wave of Godzilla/Kong figures from Playmates, I hope there are more surprises coming soon. And a lot less mismatched eyes...

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/

NECA GODZILLA 1964 | Figure Review

Back in October 2015 when I was just starting out, I made a list of Godzilla figures I'd like to see made by NECA. My number 4 choice was the 1964 design known as "MosuGoji", a name that I embarrassingly made a typo on in my original post. I wonder if I should update that list?

Lo and behold, NECA's latest release is just that. 
Upon the initial reveal, I and many others were excited but couldn't help but notice that something about the figure being shown in the pictures was off...
Of course, this was more than likely a prototype being shown to generate hype. When you take the figure out of the box, it looks a lot better. You'll notice the grey wash is different.

The sculpt we have for this figure is really good. The MosuGoji sculpt is one of the most popular suits of the series and most of it's signature features are greatly represented. 
I say most because I'm not sure that the mouth is as big as it should be. It's sculpted in a way that the mouth doesn't open as wide as other NECA Godzilla's or close all the way.

But even that doesn't make this 64 Godzilla's death stare any less intimidating. 

But everything else about Godzilla's face looks great, the infamous eyebrows are sculpted and displayed very prominently. The teeth are very nicely sculpted and the inside of the mouth looks great, regardless of the questionable size.

The rest of the body seems to have the usual details you see on your typical Godzilla figure. The proportions from head to tail look very accurate, the dorsal fins are a nice size and don't overcome his back at all. and skin detail/color is all on point.
The body is a nice standard charcoal black with a nice grey wash to help the skin texture stand out. 
The claws on his hands and feet as well as the tips on the dorsal fins are grey. I've heard that they should have been more of a boney yellow color, but I personally think the grey color does look good. Plus if I wanted to, I could get a brush and do it myself. 

Most of us should be familiar with the articulation of a NECA Godzilla figure, but here's a quick rundown just in case:

The Head can look up, down, rotate and tilt side to side. The mouth opens and closes. The neck can rotate, bend forward and tilt side to side.
The arms can rotate, move in and out. There is a bend at the elbows and the forearms can rotate. The hands can rotate and contain moveable hinges at the wrist and knuckles.
The torso can rotate and tilt forward, left and right.
Legs move forward, backward, rotate at the hip and move in and out. Knees can bend and rotate and the feet rotate and pivot.

Like the more recent NECA Godzilla's, the tail is made of several joints connected segments that can bend and curve very nicely. (6, if you're curious)

Part of the tail is detached from the figure in the box and according to the instructions, you're supposed to stick the tail in warm water for about 20 seconds. Me? I just held mine over a hot stove for a few seconds while I was cooking lunch and had no problem popping the tail on. 

An Atomic Breath piece is included with the figure. It looks similar to the effect from the 2001 Atomic Blast figure, but colored white. It looks OK, I kinda wish it had a light blue tint to it. The one downside is that unlike the last NECA figures, this piece doesn't rest in the mouth and can only rest between the teeth while being held up by whatever surface Godzilla happens to be standing on.

If you have any figure stands this shouldn't be an issue for the included piece as well as any other atomic breath pieces from past NECA Godzilla figures

While it may not be the most accurate looking, I think you can't look at this figure and think it looks nothing like the 1964 Godzilla. This is a fantastic figure that I highly recommend you go and pick up for your collection. 
Ya know, seeing as how this version of Godzilla actually appeared in 2 movies released the same year, I wouldn't mind seeing this figure re-released but instead of 'Mothra vs. Godzilla', they use the 'Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster' poster for the box. It seems like a smart decision for NECA.

I feel like I'm forgetting something about this figure though...

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 MOTHRA AND RODAN (2019) | Figure Review

The reveal of the designs for 'Godzilla: King of the Monsters' certainly raised a lot of eyebrows, both excitedly and confused. As Godzilla and King Ghidorah made their way to shelves, many fans wondered when Mothra and Rodan would be released. They were announced as a two-pack. YAY! But would only be available as limited pre-orders. Oh boy...

As soon as the pre-order first popped up on BigBadToyStore, I jumped on that and got my order secured, some weren't as lucky. At the time of me writing this, Mothra and Rodan are still available to buy. But are they worth it?

Ladies first. 

 Mothra is more or less the same size as the NECA figure and is pretty well sculpted. A lot of the finer details are going to be found on the main body, particularly the abdomen. Sadly some of the smaller details on her legs are lost to the size of the sculpt, but Bandai did what they could to keep it in scale with the other figures. The wings appear to be a good size compared to the body of Mothra and have a very nice textured sculpt.

Speaking of, the paint on the wings is absolutely spectacular! To me, this more than any other 2019 Mothra figure is the one that gets the wings 100% right.
And now....the body, the one thing everyone agrees is the worst thing about this figure. And, I share that opinion. I could accept that if it was the prototype colors, but for the final release the amount of orange was way overdone. The only part of Mothra's body that stands out are her eyes and antennae.
If they had just added some white around the eyes, upper body and then applied some light brown wash to the rest of the body, it would have been much better. 

Articulation for Mothra is minimal. The larger legs can move back and forth and twist. The inner legs in the front can twist as well. You may need to apply a small amount of heat to the legs to approve the movement. I held my Mothra over a hot stove for a few seconds.
Mothra also comes with a waist joint which lets the abdomen bend and twist.
The wings are attached via ball joints allowing them to bend and rotate at the body. Just use the utmost care when moving the wings as Mothra is small and the wings can be very delicate to handle. When displayed, the wings are able to hold their pose nicely.

Now let's look at Rodan. 

The Fire Demon has an amazing sculpt! From his spiky, ridged body to the hardened magma texture on the wings, Rodan looks great. The paint definitely helps the fantastic details pop out. I love burgundy body with touches of black weathering so much, I don't mind the lack of any paint emulating Rodan's fiery nature.

I love Rodan's head. The colors of his beak, horns and face are clearly pronounced. His eyes look great and you can even see his tongue. 

I also really, really like how Rodan's legs look.

I'm equally impressed by Rodan's articulation. 
His neck has several joints allow him to move forward, look left and right and rotate. And unlike the NECA figure, Rodan's mouth can open and close. Not very wide though. 
The wings can move forward, backward, up and down.
Rodan comes with a few waist joints allowing the body to bend and rotate.
The legs can rotate and move forward, backward, in and out at the hips. The knees can bend slightly. Feet can also bend, rotate. The feet on mine have a nasty habit of falling off though.
Rodan's leg articulation allows him to stand on the ground when not in a flying pose.
Even Rodan's tail, with the correct shape, is attached to a ball joint where it can swivel and rotate.

This set includes effect stands for both Kaiju. Nothing fancy, just typical Tamashii Nations figure stands. 

Mothra has her own attachment piece for her stand that hooks on to her waist.

Rodan has two attachment pieces, one specifically molded to have him rest on top of for a standard flying pose and the other is a claw piece that can hold his body in place for some more dynamic poses. 

Like most reviewers, I find this set to be a mixed bag. Rodan is great, Mothra is just okay and the stands are stands. I feel like this set shouldn't only be available as a 2-pack. If these figures had been released individually, more fans may be inclined to buy them but instead we have to pay the price of 2 figures of mixed quality. Some of you may not mind that, but that's just how I feel. I don't regret purchasing them though as I am somewhat of a completionist and I am glad to have the whole King of the Monsters cast. 
(Minus the other Titans, feel free to prove me wrong Bandai)

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/

Let's Look At: NECA GODZILLA V3 (2019)

Ah, retail exclusive figures...
I'm certainly no stranger to them, it can be nerve racking trying to find them either in the respective store or maybe you get lucky and find someone on ebay who isn't a scumbag. 
This was an unexpected surprise from NECA at SDCC and it was an even bigger surprise when NECA announced that it would be exclusively sold at Target. While some were lucky to have gotten their Burning Godzilla figures early, I was not. I looked at many Targets and had no luck. 
I was one of the few who was lucky enough to order theirs from Target's website. I didn't find it in stores until days after I received it on my porch.  

If you're trying to get one, be patient, scour stores in your area when you can, ask the workers. 
Also, HERE'S A LINK to order it online if it becomes available again. 
At this point you'll probably have better luck obtaining this figure than you will the SH MonsterArts Poster Version of Godzilla 2019. 

This is the second repaint of NECA's 2019 Godzilla following the V2 release. Now comes the "Version 3" or Burning Godzilla if you prefer. While it may not be 100% screen accurate to his appearance in 'King of the Monsters' this figure has a very impressive flair to it!

The figure is made entirely out of a translucent plastic and if you shine light through the body, you can see the hinges and joints used for the articulation.

The entire body is covered in a mix of red orange with black patches scattered about to make the skin pop out. I think the paint looks amazing overall. I don't even mind the random orange stripes going down the side, I kinda wish there were a few more just to make Godzilla look even more like a walking volcano. 
Also the eyes are a nice bright orange color and are nicely aligned with each other. Amazing, right?!

As for the dorsal fins, I think they look great as well and I love how the outer row is painted a differently than the center row, that's a nice touch. But I want to highlight an issue. 
When I opened up the flap of the box, I noticed that on the side I was looking at the outer fins had the lighter orange paint on them, very unevenly as well. 

Turn the figure to the other side however...the paint is a lot more consistent. I ordered this figure online so I guess this is on me, but that'll be something to consider before purchasing. 

Regardless of the minor QC issue, this is still a fantastic figure. It might be my favorite Godzilla 2019 figure made by NECA.
Weather for yourself or even anyone who might want it as a Christmas present this year, if you're persistent enough, this figure can be yours. The MSRP is about $25, that's how much you should be paying for it. DO NOT pay more than twice that cost!

Lord only knows what hoops we'll have to jump through to get an SHMA Burning Godzilla.
...
...
What do you mean it's a wide release?

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/