There
was no good reason for me to buy this toy.
I mean,
it’s a new Godzilla toy from a company that has never made Godzilla
toys before. And it was a new find in the local Toys R Us. And it
looked big and awesome.
I
already own the massive JAKKS Godzilla and I have NECA’s
larger, 24” head-to-tail figure preordered from BigBad (coming in
June). Between those two I’ll have the largest figure available
(important when collecting the King of Monsters) and the one that
will be closest in scale to NECA’s Pacific Rim figures. Well,
according to this, anyway:
I hardly
needed a smaller version. But I just could not help myself.
First,
we recorded Episode 23 of the Needless Things Podcast.
We were discussing the history of Godzilla and not the new movie, but
I couldn’t help but get excited while talking to those guys. And
then Johnny Danger – sweet fella that he is – sent me this
message after he saw the movie Monday night:
“Hey buddy. No
spoilers but Godzilla was pretty great. I know you were concerned
about letting the lil’ one see it...off the top of my head, there
were two times someone says "shit", though it isn't very
noticeable...people die but there isn't gore or anything...typical
monster violence, with a spectacular violent finale to the fight.”
Seeing
Pacific Rim
in the theater with my family was an awesome experience and Lil’
Troublemaker loved
it. My one sticking point with Godzilla
was wanting to be able to take my son to see it. As soon as I got
that message I bought three tickets to see it at the IMAX in 3D
tonight. It’s an awful lot of money to see a movie, but 1) It’s
quality family time, and 2) It makes me very happy to know I have
created special theatrical experiences with my son. I don’t know if
he’ll have the same love for movies that I do as he grows up, but
the more special things like getting able to see The Day of the Doctor in 3D
in a theater we can do, the happier I’ll be. So seeing the King of
Monsters on the biggest screen possible in 3D is definitely one of
those experiences.
Now if
only they’d do a marathon of 60s Godzilla on the IMAX screen…
So
anyway, despite myself I am hyped beyond belief for tonight and when
I saw this figure there was no way I wasn’t buying it.
Side
Note: Toys R Us also had the new NECA Dawn
of the Planet of the Apes
figures in stock. They look fantastic and I really want them for my
Monkey Shelf, but they were $22.99 apiece, which seemed ridiculous.
If they had had any of the original series figures I would have
bought one, though.
FIRST
GLANCE
This
is a big, heavy figure for a 7” scale (or whatever) figure. The
first thing I thought when I saw it was that the large JAKKS version
really is quite an accomplishment because it still looks good even
after seeing this one.
However
– this one looks amazing and the second thing I thought was that I
cannot wait to see NECA’s classic Godzilla figures and buy every
single one of them. The first one – 1994 Godzilla – comes out in
July. Supposedly NECA has the license to do a lot – if not all of –
Toho’s monsters. I believe King Ghidorah, Mothra, Rodan, and Gigan
were confirmed by name, but don’t hold me to that. I can’t
remember everything I see on Twitter. Or anywhere else, for that
matter.
PACKAGING
Godzilla
comes packed in a giant clamshell. There’s just no way around this
being the only packaging solution for heavier, smaller scale figures.
A window box wouldn’t be practical and the weight of the figure
would pull it right off of even the best-glued blister card.
***POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THE BIO***
The
graphics on the insert are eye-catching and exciting. They say
“DESTRUCTION”. They caught my eye all the way from the far end of
the aisle – I knew what was hanging there. Of course, the size of
the package draws the eye as well. The only thing larger in that
section are the NECA 2-packs.
Like
the Pacific Rim figures, this Godzilla was created from digital
models, so there are no creator credits; which are typically my
favorite thing about NECA’s packaging.
LOOKS
The
more I look at the design for this Godzilla, the more I love the
proportions. The legs and the tail make so much sense for a creature
this massive. The tail is going to have to be extra-long for balance
and those legs have to hold up a tremendous amount of bulk – of
course they’re going to be huge. I’d love to see a model of this
Godzilla’s skeleton.
Despite
the small size of the figure, the scales and textures are clear and
well defined. Just handling this guy was an interesting tactile
experience, by which I mean I stabbed myself in the fingers several
times. Godzilla is covered in extremely pointy bits, so when you
attach his tail you are going to endure some pain. I recommend
wearing gloves.
What?
Seriously – his tail comes separate in the package and has to be
assembled. There is a thick, ball-jointed peg sticking out of a
segmented upper portion of tail. The rest of the tail is a thick
rubber with a wire armature underneath. There’s a hole that the peg
goes into to attach it and create a point of articulation. People -
putting that thing on is a bitch.
I don’t mind because it stays attached quite well, but it took some
work and some pain. Also, I forgot to take a picture of the tail and
the figure before I put them together, but I’m not taking that
thing off now.
The
figure’s profile is almost entirely uninterrupted by the
articulation, which I’ll get to in a minute. The fins on Godzilla’s
back are a rubber that is soft enough to bend without breaking, but
firm enough to leave painful little dents in your hands. This toy
isn’t quite as dangerous as Knifehead,
but it’s definitely pointy. The fins retain the basic shapes of the
classic Godzilla fins, but are more random and natural looking. NECA
did a great job with the descending size as they proceed from the
back of the neck to the tail. I’ve seen a lot of Godzilla figures
where the fins change shape in a drastic way once they pass the tail
joint, but these have a natural progression.
Godzilla’s
skin has a subtle paint job that takes the colors of the traditional
Godzilla and blends them into a more realistic look. The base color
is a very dark green that is reminiscent of the 1954 Godzilla (though
he seems to be grey more often than not, in the movie he is
practically black). There are washes to bring out the scales and
textures, as well as a lighter green, almost silvery color running
from his chin all the way down his belly and tail. It’s beautiful
paint work worthy of a larger collector piece or a statue.
The
fine details on this figure are striking for how much they stand out.
The eyes, teeth, mouth, and claws all have their own paint decos and
really jump out of the figure.
Oftentimes on something scaled this
small those kinds of details can be lost. The eyes are a brilliant
yellow and are clearly visible even from a distance. Moreover, they
have tiny pupils painted in the centers. The teeth are individually
painted with a bright white. The interior of the mouth is a fleshy
pink with a darker tongue in the middle. The claws on the hands are a
glossy black and the foot claws are a lighter, glossier green than
Godzilla’s skin.
All
of these detail decos are applied with tremendous accuracy. The eyes
and teeth are especially impressive. I can’t help but feel like
NECA put a little extra effort into this one, perhaps because it is
the first in what they are hoping will be a long line of toys for an
important new license.
Side
Note: Johnny Danger had a number of very interesting facts about the
very strict guidelines Toho enforces for Godzilla licensees – the
shape of his head, the number of toes and fins; that sort of thing.
I’d list them all, but it’s much more interesting to hear Johnny
talk about them. So go and listen to the Needless Things Godzilla Podcast.
ACCESSORIES
***POSSIBLE
SPOILERS MAYBE?***
I
strongly feel like Godzilla should have come with an atomic breath
attachment, but I’m not sure if that’s a spoiler. I don’t know
if it’s common knowledge that he has the breath in this movie. If
it is sort of a secret, then I totally understand NECA not including
that. And if that is
the case, then I hope to see a future repaint with lit-up fins (if
that happens) and an atomic breath attachment. And I will buy that
one, too.
***END
OF POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
FUN
SO.
MUCH. FUN.
Look
– this is a Godzilla figure. A small one. Due to the design of
Godzilla there’s only so much movement to be expected. And because
of the size there’s only so much articulation that could reasonably
be worked in.
NECA
has surpassed all of that.
As
I said above – the joints are worked into the figure so well that
they do not interrupt the profile at all – not even when they have
to work with the fins. Since this is an entirely new style of figure,
here’s a rundown:
Jaw
– hinge
Head
– ball joint
Neck
– ball joint
Shoulders
– sliding ball joint (I don’t know what to call this – it has
the range of a ball joint, as well as the ability to sort of slide
back and forth)
Elbows
– swivel/pivot
Wrists
- swivel/pivot
Waist
– ball joint
Hips
– same as shoulders
Knees
– swivel/pivot
Ankles
– swivel/pivot
Front
of tail – a series of three ball joints
Back
of tail – wire armature
The
range and functionality of these joints is unbelievable. I bitch all
the time about the points of articulation on collector figures being
restricted – whether by thicker portions of the sculpt or by
overlapping pieces. The people that designed this Godzilla have
overcome both of those conditions and created a truly amazing action
figure.
We
recorded an episode of Earth Station Who
the night that I opened this figure and I literally could not put it
down the whole time. It’s not necessarily that you can achieve a
ton of wacky poses, but that each joint has a subtle but wide range
of movement and that when you work all of them together you can
create any pose that a creature of this size and scale might achieve
and then some.
I
wasn’t going to bring up Bandai’s SH MonsterArts line because
that is a whole different world and I don’t want to sound like I’m
bashing the line just because I can’t afford them, but I feel like
NECA has taken the concept of that line and cleaned it up to an
amazing degree. Not one of these joints is ugly. There is no open
space visible. As a matter of fact, I think you’d be hard-pressed
to identify every joint without having this guy in your hands.
OVERALL
This
Godzilla is, quite simply, a masterpiece. I bought it solely because
I wanted a new Godzilla toy and I have poor self-control, but it has
turned out to be somewhat of a revelatory experience – the sort of
figure that raises the bar for anything even remotely similar. I can
tell you right now that there will be many
instances in future toy reviews where I will look at paint or a joint
and thin, “Well, that NECA Godzilla got this right”.
Buy
this toy. If you’re a Godzilla fan or just a toy collector. Buy it
and see what NECA can do. Now the trick will be to maintain this
extremely high standard as NECA’s Godzilla line continues on.
I
cannot wait to see their King Ghidorah.
5
out of 5
Just
buy it. Now.:
I skipped anything that said SPOILER and just ran to Toys R Us and picked this guy up. I'm hoping to see the movie tomorrow, if I can talk my wife into going. It was your breakdown of the articulation that sold me.
ReplyDeleteMy TRU also had the ape figures, and I really like the way they look; but Caesar and Koba don't have bicep swivels, so I'm going to have to wait and see if the shoulders have great articulation to compensate.
On another Neca note, did you ever break down and buy some of those bootleg ninja turtle figures? I hear they have good QC. Although I have the single card figures, and the B&W boxset I just broke down and ordered some with the cartoon colored headbands. I'll let you know if they are a good buy for the $40 I spent.
I just got back from the movie, and glad that I skipped the SPOILERS sections, because I did not know he was going to have atomic breath, and got all excited when his tail started to glow.
DeleteUltimately I liked the movie, it was a fun escape for 2 hours. It wasn't perfect, and it's not one I can see myself watching over and over, but it was a fun ride.
I don't know if you listened to the Godzilla episode or not, but I'm getting the same crew together again to talk about the movie. I was supposed to see it again today, but I just had too much to do here.
DeleteNo - I never ordered any of the Chinese Turtles. I still want to, but It's just a matter of priority. I'll be curious to see how your multicolored ones turn out.
I listened to the Godzilla episode this afternoon. I had never listened to a podcast, any podcast, ever before; so this was a new way to pass time while working today. I really enjoyed it, and will be listening to episode 24 tomorrow at work.
DeleteAwesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it. I plan on doing a lot more, and more frequently. Well, not more frequently than 23 & 24. That just worked out that way.
Delete