9.04.2013

Inside the box with Ichabod presents:

S.H.MonsterArts Kong from Tamashii Nations/Bluefin!


 MONKEY MONKEY MONKEY MONKEY

Yeah, I know he's a ape. So we have a Kong! Not a King Kong because peter Jackson's Kong was a damn travesty. God forbid we give the ape his royalty status back. I never liked this movie. it was to long, filled with dumb stampeding dinosaurs and bad CGI. Seriously, go watch that movie now and look, the CGI is awful. But hey, we're here to talk about toys. And this is, by every definition a toy. Why? Because he is so much fun.


 Look at him there all surly, being a giant ape. Tooth sticking out and just looking like he is the unhappiest Kong in the world.

 Hey, he can stand pretty alright. It does take a bit of posing to get him like this, but it is doable. And he looks all surly and mean. He has a decent center of balance, and isn't too top heavy. The forearms do look way to big, but that is not present in person. Plus they are giant ape forearms, they should be big and bulky.

 The detail here is superb. The cuts and scars in his chest, back and shoulders are given a nice deep red almost looking to fresh. This Kong was a battle scared beast, and it translates well to MonsterArt form. The fur and skin look great. This impressed me a lot, as sculpted fur can turn out awful. His feet are not only sculpted well, but also highly articulated. And he's got a Tattoo on his left foot in case he forgets who he is.

 The many faces of Kong. All of them have great eye detail, and the scarring is well done, again.
They eye paint is also exceptionally done. MonsterArts have had a slightly sordid history with eyes, but these turned out great. One complaint I do have is the head articulation. He can move from looking forward to looking up, or in a quadruped position, looking forward. But there is virtually zero side to side head movement. 

 Two of the three faces, all on display. The teeth and mouth on the roaring head is damn well done. Swapping them is easy, you just pop them it off, and pop the new one on. Really, one of the easiest head-swaps I've done. Also one of the creepiest. Looks like a big robot or something. I don't know why it just creeps me out.

 The faces really change the entire emotion conveyed by the toy. 

 And he looks great beating his chest, or....

 .....throwing a tantrum.

 But this is my favorite face. He just looks so harmless and goofy here. 

 But Kong, you looked so happy earlier, now you have your little girlfriend and you look so displeased. 

 Oh. Yeah, so Ann Darrow here is looking kinda of.... rough. She is just not detailed, at all. Her hair is blond, her dress is pink, even her shoes are white, but her face looks like DC's The Question is trying to play undercover and bust Kong for some illegal acts. Also she is forever trapped in that hand, his is preferable. she'd likely fall out a lot otherwise.

 But he also has some holding things hands.... that don't have a blobby Ann Darrow in them.


  He can hold his log! He has a little brown log that looks vaguely log like? Once again, this accessory looks like crap. It fell out of the tray and I though it was a torn piece of cardboard until I picked it up. Seems like they sculpted it by twisting some brown plastic and adding a knot. Eh. You can do better, guys.


 He can also hold other things, like a bottle of vodka.

 Oh Kong, at least you are less angry about the stick and Ann Darrow now.

 He also comes with a stand, and very long Tamashii clips. It can't really support him off the ground, instead just supporting poses he can't support on his own.

 When posed exactly right, you can make Kong fly. Or fall to his death, I guess. I don't even know why they included it with him, except maybe to support some standing poses. I like getting stands with my figures, but... this seems weird.

 He looks great getting ready for a fight, that's for sure. Since I don't own any good t-rex looking things that he fights in the movie, have him beating up a sandtrooper and a alien.


 Yay Kong!

 He is around the same height as Burning Godzilla, meaning is is slightly taller than regular Godzilla. They were never meant to be in scale, obviously.  He has more mass, and a similar jointing scheme. He has ball-joints everywhere, and is definitely more pose able than Burning G. But that is due to him being a large monkey and not a giant irradiated lizard in a suit. But MonsterArts generally get better and better with every release when it comes to articulation, which is one thing I can't complain about.

Kong is a solid release packed with weird, weak accessories. He has a bunch of hands, including knuckle walking hands, splayed open, fists, and the holding things hands. That's pretty solid for a MonsterArt. The best accessory for me, is the happy ape face. It just makes any picture instantly goofy. I love it, and it was pushing me into wanting this figure, when I hate the movie he came from. If you love King Kong, in general or the 2005 film, this is a easy buy and I highly recommend it. If you love taking goofy pictures, you need this in your life. I almost hate to say it, but he is, currently one of the best MonsterArts toys out there.

He is available at every major US online retailer, and local comic book shops upon request. Head on over to Superpowercollectibles.com to snag some MonsterArts yourself, and get in on the fun. This toy was provided courtesy of Bluefin/Tamashii Nations.

2 comments:

  1. Ok yeah, robot head thing is creepy as fuck. I'm surprised you like the arms. In most of the pictures the forearms look unnaturally bulked up or like an extra extention was added between the bicep and forearm. It just doesn't blend well in my eyes because it is such an unnatural shape and the wrong anatomy. Do you understand what I am talking about? Not sure I am putting my thoughts into words correctly.

    The scarring does look pretty great, especially on the face sculpts. Those props are ridiculously stupid. Well not the vodka. I liked your dorky fight and flight pictures. So your flair.

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  2. you know it's a good toy when it creeps the fuck out of Ichabod lol

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