Packaging - ***1/2
The front of the box is
die-cut, with the interior plastic sleeve
set back from it. It makes for an interesting look, but you
might
find that the die cut edges end up taking a lot of abuse.
There's some background on the
character and the film Destroy All
Monsters, and I like the cave-like appearance of the package. The wings
require it to be fairly large, but it's a minor issue, and it is
completely collector friendly - take out the good monster king and put
him back later, no damage, no fuss.
Sculpting
- ***
This figure is intended as a companion piece to the already released
Godzilla, and is scaled to work well with him. That figure was about 6"
tall without the base, and Ghidorah is around 7" or so without his,
allowing him to look down on Godzilla as they battle. If you
included the base, and measure to the very top of his tallest wing,
you'll be closer to 12" overall.
Like
Godzilla, this sculpt is very detailed, particularly in the scaly
texturing of his skin. The wings have a leathery look, even in the gold
color, because of the way the wrinkles are sculpted. There's also a
nice, uneven roughness to the scale patterns, making the figure look a
bit more real and a bit less like a guy in a rubber suit.
I do
have a bit of an aesthetic, personal taste issue with the design.
The third head, with the closed mouth, just seems at an odd
and
awkward pose. It's placed closer to the top head, leaving
quite a
gap between the top two and the lower third head. I would
have
liked something a bit more balanced in terms of the location of the
three heads, but it's a minor nit.
I also would have liked a less
obvious attachment line between the wings and the body. A bit more of a
smooth transition would have bone a long way to making this appear more
like a high end statue.
Paint - ***1/2
Much like an Asian ceramic statue, Ghidorah has that bright gold paint
color. In person, it has an almost plated look, and it's extremely
clean and consistent. I don't think it was cast in this color, but
rather painted, based on the tactile feel of the surface.
The other paint work is on the
eyes, mouths and teeth. There's a little slop on a few of the teeth,
but the eyes are surprisingly even and clean, with a smooth cut line
between the eye and the gold skin.
The base is a bit on the dull
side, much like the one that came with Godzilla. It could
have used a little sprucing up, particularly with some paint details,
but it's a minor issue.
Articulation- Bupkis
While this is a non-existent feature, I won't be hitting them up too
hard for it since there wasn't an expectation of 'action figure' with
this collectible. On top of that, the light up features tend
to
preclude allowing the necks to move.
Still, some folks would be wondering if there were any joints, so I
didn't want to assume you'd know that there were none.
Accessories
- *1/2
The only accessory here is the small "MO" section of the eventually
"DESTROY ALL MONSTERS" logo. Each monster will come with a
chunk
of letters to complete the full logo.
Usually, the base would be an
accessory too, particularly if Ghidorah could stand on his own.
However, the electronics that connect from the monster to the
base make that impossible, and require that the entire figure and base
remain one piece.
Light up/Sound Features - ***
The figure has both lights and sounds, both activated by pressing the
single button on the base.
Ghidorah
roars just like he does in the film. I'm assuming it's a sound clip
directly from the movie. It's fairly loud and clear, and the
speaker and batter compartment are in a fairly decent location on the
base.
The lights include both open
mouthed heads on the dragon.
The center head has a light deep inside the throat that's a bit
difficult to see, due to the downward position of the head.
In
fact, unless you have most of the lights in the room off or are looking
directly down his gullet, you won't notice it lighting up.
The
lower right head has the addition of the plastic flames coming out of
his mouth, and this makes the light much more obvious. It
travels
down the flames fairly well, lighting them up brightly.
Because
of the location of the lights (right at the base of the head where it
attaches to the neck), there's also a section of the neck that lights
up, particularly in a darkened room.
The features work pretty well,
especially when put together with the previously released Godzilla.
It's a monster fight!
Fun Factor - **
Without any articulation, he's not much of a toy, but that's probably
not a surprise. This line is designed for the adult collector who's a
big fan of the old films. Kids will give the light up and
sound
features an 'oooo' when they first see it, but that's something that
quickly becomes less interesting for them.
Value - *
The Godzilla released previously was a bit smaller than this, and at
$50 I was pretty hard on it in this category. That's a lot of
money to spend on a unarticulated plastic statue, even with the light
and sound effects. This one, although larger, is even more
expensive at around $70, and I've hit it even harder in this category.
Far
East Monsters is a very small company, and these figures are being done
in a very small production run. These issues tend to drive up the
costs, but collectors have to be aware that they aren't getting a great value for their dollar.
Things To Watch Out For
-
Not a thing.
Overall - **
For the big Godzilla fan, these figures are some of the nicer produced
in recent years, particularly here in the US. The fact that this figure
works well with the previously released Godzilla (I tried to find mine
to take a shot of them together, but I have been unsuccessful...) adds
quite a bit to the desirability, but my big issue is with the price.
A $70 price tag is quite high,
and is likely to be something difficult for many collectors to accept.
If you're lucky enough to have the disposable income so that the price
point doesn't even make you blink, then you'll be happy with this guy.
If you're working off a stricter budget, you might want to
consider your options.
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