11.04.2013

Inside the box with Ichabod presents:

S.H.MonsterArts Godzilla (1964) from Tamashii Nations/Bluefin!

 MosuGoji in all his Showa glory


 And with a thunderous Roar, Monsterarts have entered the showa era, if only to release one of the best suits from that era, in my opinion. Premiering in Godzilla Vs Mothra in 1964 and used also in Ghidorah the Three headed monster in 1964, it was a solid design, and set the standard for a lot of the Godzilla suit designs featured in the rest of the Showa era.

 His Claws here have a lot of detail, with a slight paint gradient to make them look more like real claws. It's done well, and besides the weird scuff mine has on the one claw looks great. It edges up a bit onto the hands, but it also kind of looks more like the dirt or sand he emerges from and spends most of the movie in. Intentional? No idea but hey, I'll allow it.

 The same gradient effect is used here, including the Sand looking color on his feet. I think it has to be intentional, but once again I could be way off here. I do like the more yellow color of the claws, it sets him apart from the lighter, more bone color used in the Hesei era. 

 The detailing and small spines on the tail are all amazingly well done. It really captures the showa tail perfectly.

 His head, it's a mixed bag. The "eyebrows" look exactly like the suit, and break up the scarred scaly skin he is covered in him. It's well proportioned, though a bit smaller than the actual suit. Or at least it appears to be when I compare it with screen shots. But all means it does not look bad though. The eyes though, are weird. They are covered in a clear plastic, and do look exactly like the suit's eyes, but I'm not sure how well it translates here. I think it makes the pupil harder to see, and which makes them look cloudy. This is the first time out using this type of design, so I will give them a bit of leniency there, in hopes it improves with future releases, like the articulation has.

 The mouth on the other hand, looks amazing. It is one of the best mouths in the SHM line, looking almost wet, I love the paint application used. The tongue, a much darker red, nearly looks burnt due to the radiation breath he uses. And the teeth are all well sculpted and prominent, with a nice tan/yellow paint job on them.

 His spines are all heavily painted, and impressive, though he has far fewer than his Hesei Counterpart. They do have that iconic look, and I really dig them.

 But that gap, between the torso and waist, is rather unfortunate. The waists are attached to the torso, and then the second half is attached to the lower body, but due to the articulation they had to have a gap, it might have been fixed by a separate ring. Though that likely would effect the way the front of the suit looks and that is what I'm staring at more so I'm happier this way.

 Speaking of articulation, he certainly has lots of it. The whole lower body is designed to give a better range of movement, and it certainly accomplishes that. The way the knees are designed prevents a ton of range, but that is the suit and not the joint. He also has a second hip joint, that allows for a bigger range of outward motion, giving him a solid wide legged stance. They ankles are on ball joints, and seem pretty stiff, but they do move to accommodate the hips. The toe joint is there, but barely moves. It would look ok if he was half stepping on a rock. The way the waist area is designed is odd, with large segments there, but I'm not buying a statue, I'm buying a articulated figure, so I expect these types of cuts into the mold. 

 The arms also have a solid range of motion, though once again the elbow is limited due to the design of the suit. His wrists are on a ball-peg, and rotate, but it doesn't move around that much besides rotation. The shoulders move just fine, and have some decent outward motion as well. 

 The neck and head area are actually more limited than expected. He can lean forward, but it prevents him from looking forward while doing so, unfortunately.

 The tail, the glorious glorious tail. Super segmented, and super jointed, allowing for awesome posing. I love MonsterArts tails, I really do. 64's here does not disappoint, thankfully. Though shorter than most of the other tails in the line, it manages to be just, if not more pose able.

 Look at this guy, all charcoal colored and irradiated. The green highlights help to bring out the detail, break up the black, and homage the way the suit appeared on screen, vs the actual color of the suit. It's a nice touch.

 Godzilla can finally do a flying kick that we have always wanted him to do.

 This Godzilla is short, like, way short. He's as tall and Mr.Bugman himself here, but considerably thicker.

 Since I don't have a Ultraman for him to fight, we'll make him jump forward a few years and beat up this guy. Ultraman fought repainted Godzilla costumes, then fought Kamen Rider, so yeah. It make sense. 

 See, he is short. And not in scale. Showa Godzilla was around 50 meters tall, and Godzilla in the Hesei era was around 100 meters. This would Put 64 G at Burning Godzilla's waist instead of around his shoulder. I feel mixed about this, I really do. I don't mind his size, because in scale would be TINY. But why not make Showa G a bit taller, if they aren't worried about scale? It's a weird half size thing they are doing. I guess all Hesei will be in scale with only Hesei, and Showa only with Showa, and well....the millennium line is fucked because none of those movies have any continuity so good luck with all......that.

He has no accessories, not even a breath effect. Which is a bummer. Apparently there is not a lot of demand for those in Japan, so they decided to start excluding them to keep the price point down. I understand this, but c'mon, this is a tiny, bare bones release. I wish it came with something. He looks good with the much much larger Hesei Ghidorah, and I hope they do the Showa Ghidorah. Really, I hope we get all the Showa designs. This figure is essentially their test into the Showa side of things, and if it sells well they will likely revisit it. The lack of accessories is a bit of a bummer, but the paint work, and articulation is pretty great. The price is right around 70 bucks, which is cheaper than the past few releases and with the amount of detail and paint in him, not bad at all. I'm happy to add this little guy to my shelves. 

Check out Bluefin's direct store if this, or any of the MonsterArts interest you. This figure was provided courtesy of Tamashii Nations/Bluefin.

5 comments:

  1. Gotta get this guy, he looks so so nice. I hope we get a 1054 too. OG is my favorite G. Maybe Amazon will have a random price drop around the holidays.

    Also the "scale" same way they handle the Robot Damashii Gundams. Since its a non scale line big suits are "big" and small suits are "small." It works... most of the time.

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  2. Great review, Icha.

    Really need to get this guy now.

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  3. Yeah that was a great review man. I like the pictures as well especially the ones showing scale with the Rider and with Ghidorah and Burning G.

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  4. I love this G. Probably my favorite suit. I do not mind the scale at all. I did not expect to be commenting on the sculpt and paint inside the mouth, but it is really nice. I love the greenish/grey on the spines and chest. I hope they visit this era again soon. Well done again on the review, and the pics are great. Really really looking forward to the next monsterart review!

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