6.18.2013

Inside the Box with Ichab0d presents:

S.H. Monsterarts Burning Godzilla

Good God Damn.



I'm going to start this of by saying you all know I love me some Godzilla, right? Because I do. A lot. Growing up watching VHS of the showa era, then in my early teens stumbling on the heisei era stuff, and on into the millennium movies, all around I love Godzilla. Also this is my first attempt at using a actual lightbox, so excuse the growing pains.
 Look at this highly radioactive king of all monsters right here. All covered in translucent orange and red plastic, and just about ready to rip up Tokyo from its roots, then turn the mess into a radioactive crater that rivals The fields of Ruin on the moon. This sculpt just looks downright mean. Gone is the slightly derpy nature of the first Godzilla Monsterart.
  Not entirely without derp. But his increased range of motion is astounding compared to the First Godzilla release, and even the improved Space Godzilla has nothing on him. I was utterly shocked at what he could do out of box. Also he looks like crap out of box, because all of the joints are in a position of "movement" so he looks like he is filled with gaps, but it can be collapsed down for the most part to provide a better silhouette.
 BAM! Hunched over, ready to fight. This is a pose no other Godzilla Monsterart could ever hope to achieve, and I can't wait to see what else is planned for this line. Every release feels like a improvement on the last, and that's a wonderful thing. He is far more dynamic than before, and the Orange/red are just damn striking.
 He even has a wonderfully functional wait/torso crunch, something sadly missing from the first release. He can menace tiny vehicles now! that rules! Also with increased neck articulation, he can be far more expressive. The tiniest tilt of the head/neck can mean the world when you are posing a toy, and this guy shows off in spades.
 The detail on the teeth, and his blood red atomic eyes is great. His tooth definition, which again was slightly stunted on the first release is far more present here. His permanent look of constant rage and pain is captured here perfectly, in my opinion. This is a Godzilla, literally, on the edge of full atomic meltdown, he is pissed, and he is pain, and this sculpt nails it.
 The Translucent plastic used has a wonderful texture to it, with some of it having this layered look, like there is texture underneath. Also it looks to me like they could cast this in solid plastic and the "Burning" parts wouldn't show, giving us a better "standard" Godzilla. I'm not sure, but looks like solid plastic, with paint. Overall is makes for a wonderful effect.


 His tail fins are painted a more solid white color, but that was how it looked in the movie. I don't mind it, makes the Translucent dorsal fins stand out more. Also he has a huge tail, around 1 TV tray long. Just as posable as the original Godzilla's. I do think it is one of the few shared parts.


 His accessories are few, but awesome. No beam effect, but you do get some calmer hands, as well as two unique maser tanks. Its always awesome to see these things in scale with a monster, and see just how friggen huge they are. The extra hands add a lot of expressiveness to him, I'm really glad they were packed in, honestly.
 With this shot, you can clearly see Burning G almost appears to be the same height, but Burning G is hunched over, while Normal G can't hunch at all. They really went all out and built Burning G from the ground up, instead of a easy repaint. Major props to Tamashii for that.
 As you can see, Burning G's thing is just bigger. I want to say he is around 95% new tooling, and he has to be to accommodate the new range of articulation he has. I'd love to see a Heisei Godzilla with this new articulation scheme put in, and maybe modified a tad.

 The sculpt of the hips and thighs gives away how they went ahead and increased articulation.On Burning G's pelvis piece they sculpted it smaller, putting the hip folds on the thigh instead of the pelvis like the original G. It allows for a much wider range of motion, and at the same time doesn't kill the sculpt or look of the toy.
 And now with Burning G standing straight up, you see he towers over the original Godzilla. Also ignore that black in his pelvis, That is not there normally and I have no idea why it is there now. The new sculpting is amazing, I'm damn impressed with him. His hips are on a weird duel ball joint system, and it allows for a huge amount of rotation, which helps greatly in posing, where as the original G was a single ball joint. Same with the torso/ab crunch on burning G. They Made his torso, abs and pelvis 3 pieces, and the original it was 2. It cuts up the sculpt a bit, but makes for a far more dynamic toy.
 And the tails, are nearly identical, besides the color of the paint used on them. It feels like original G's can move easier, but I think that is just age and use. The connection points are different though. The tail pops in at a higher point on Burning G, but only by a bit.
 See, no giant ugly gaps visible.  The straight out of box pictures of this guy did him a disservice. With just a minor amount of fiddling, you can make him look completely normal. Instead of a gap filled mess, like he appeared initially.
 Some minor QC complaints on mine, his teeth are a bit messy with the gum line, but luckily its pretty minor. My other complaint is the knees. Both of my knees ratchet pretty loudly when bending them. I'm not sure if this is on purpose, or a serious issue. I don't know many people who have this guy, and there isn't anything out there of hobbled Burning Godzillas yet, so that's good. But still, something to watch out for. Also his left hip ball is pretty tough to rotate in the socket, on the pelvis side.
The super tiny and detailed maser tanks! The cannons sort of rotate on mine, but I don't want to force them and have them rip off. And by sort of rotate, I mean they kind of move if I push them, but provide hardcore resistance. so I don't think they move? I'm not risking it. But look at those tiny doors!
These things are solid hunks of plastic, but they are painted pretty well, and definitely add to a Monsterarts display, if only to show off the scale here. I love them and they make me want to get the Godzilla Tamashii pack. Damn exclusives. >:(


I really love this guy. One of the best Monsterarts out, his sculpt is so dead on I can't argue with it. He has amazing poseability, and that means a lot to a Godzilla fan. I'm damn happy to own this guy, and makes me more excited for the future of the Monsterarts line. If you like Godzilla, and don't mind the red/orange bits, get him. Seriously. If you can't stand the Burning part of Burning G? Then hold out hope they revisit Heisei era Godzilla and use what they learned form this version on that one.

6 comments:

  1. Awesome review, and now you have a light box that we can go inside! I hope they reissue this one without the burning, it's a superior toy to the original release in most aspects.

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  2. Nice review Ichab0d!

    I didn't know that Burning Godzilla was basically a new figure

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  3. Fantastic review bro! you're making me want to get into this line more and more

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  4. I love this toy. I've always wanted the Godzilla toy, though it always seems to end up lower on my want list lol. If I'm gonna just get ONE from Godzilla, should I get the original, or wait to see if they make the original with this new sculpt?

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  5. Great toy, great review! I pick up and play with Burning G more than any other toy. The burning color needs to be seen in person, it is very well done. The maser tank turrets can spin 360 (careful), and the longer tank has two rotation points (one for the cannon and one for the missile pods) . Thank you Icha!

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