NECA Godzilla Discussion Thread - 2nd Edition

[godzilla1541]

The “CG assets vs not” thing is an excuse and nothing more. There is plenty of reference online. Hell GMK Godzilla literally has orthographic views online. A skilled artist could make a movie accurate sculpt with just that easily (speaking as a 3D artist in the games industry). But they didn’t, they settled for “meh, it’s alright” and looks shoddy. Either get a new artist, pay them more, whatever, but as with any other company when a product doesn’t live up to the brand standard they need to re-evaluate. Their Godzilla line, with the exception of 1954, is sorely off the mark. Illustrated immaculately by their Shin.

Dude you think their going to go through that much just for a line that only a few people actually buy(relative to the other lines I mean). Godzilla isn’t an established name in the states like Alien, Predator, ninja turtles, and the other brands Neca makes toys of. We’re lucky this line is even getting new releases as it probably doesn’t sell that good and all the trouble Toho makes with Neca this line could have been canned.


Ok please give detailed examples on what is wrong with shin. Give photos and don’t just keep saying the same crap over and over again. What are you seeing wrong with the legs, arms, ex... like what is specifically wrong with it in comparison to the movie design. Also think back to oct 2016 when the sculpt was basically finished, look at what references they had to go off of. I know damn well that we had little to nothing on what the FULL BODY looked like in detail.

[UltramanGoji]

Dude you think their going to go through that much just for a line that only a few people actually buy(relative to the other lines I mean).

Looking up pictures of the suit online is not "going through much". And yeah, I would expect NECA to actually try and research they product they paid the license for if they want my money. And what does it matter if Godzilla isn't one of their top-sellers? That's not an excuse to half-ass product.

There's no reason some of these figures look as off as they do. There's hundreds of reference pictures out there on the internet. Alright, maybe for Shin it's a different story as that was a wholly brand new design at the time and they most likely didn't have a lot of film references. But for the GMK and especially the 1985? There's no excuse.

It's not like Toho is standing over their shoulder and watching their every move as they research materials to sculpt these things. I really hope their next Godzilla sculpt is a huge improvement over the older releases. I'm not expecting Sakai/MonsterArts-level of detailing, just something that doesn't look like a stylized Marmit or M1 figure.

[ZombieFriedChicken]

Provide images? Google shin Godzilla, open images, then google NECA shin Godzilla. One is the actual suit and then other is a charicatue of said suit.

You want in depth critique?
-the heads silhouette as a whole is off, it’s too long, too crunched, the brow is too prominent and it does not round off at the back like the actual design.
-the neck is too short, squat, and round.
-the torso is generally okay but if I’m gonna really nitpick the chest is too wide and the waist not correctly shaped.
-the hips are way too thin and tucked into the body.
-the legs are too theropod. The rolls on the lower leg bunch up around the top of the foot, not so in the figure.
-the feet are again too theropod and the toes are incorrectly proportioned.
-tail tip is all off.

The whole point is the NECA brand is film accurate generally. Their Godzilla line as a whole varies from serviceable to bad fan sculpt.

They’re hiring a sculptor to do this, so hire a sculptor to do it right then. Like I said, If their whole brand is film accurate and this line is not, then it’s not living up to their brand reputation and needs correcting.

[Fermix]

Ok please give detailed examples on what is wrong with shin. Give photos and don’t just keep saying the same crap over and over again. What are you seeing wrong with the legs, arms, ex... like what is specifically wrong with it in comparison to the movie design. Also think back to oct 2016 when the sculpt was basically finished, look at what references they had to go off of. I know damn well that we had little to nothing on what the FULL BODY looked like in detail.

Perhaps Steven's video comparing the NECA to the SHMA (which used digital assets) will suffice?
https://youtu.be/pxKkxEDQgvU

EDIT: It occurs to me that this link might be seen as me trying to say NECA Shin is better than the SHMA. Really it's just the only video I know offhand of having the two side by side.

[Kaiju no Kami]

Truly spoken like somebody who doesn't read the thread for months and then comes back just to complain.

Well duh. This is the first time I have been in this thread in a while as I just remembered NECA claims to do Godzilla toys. However, you can not honestly tell me you would not be pissed to come back to a topic after at least 6 months and learn that there isn't a new figure coming out at all soon.

NECA has been having trouble with Toho approvals; as a result their atomic Shin with split jaw and purple beam (which was supposed to debut at SDCC) was canned. So, they've been working on a new sculpt in both the 12" and 24" scale. And re: Alien and Predator as was mentioned not even 5 posts above this, they have digital assets from FOX to make those sculpts. Randy has mentioned before that the extent of their resources for working on the Godzilla line is DVD and BluRay footage.

I don't give a damn about NECA's excuses, only the final product. They haven't released jackshit in a long ass time. Also, Shin with a split jaw is NOT new. I'm talking about NEW toys, not repaints or retooled ones. Meaning Godzillas they haven't already done.

Also, whoever Randy is does know books exist with Godzilla images in them, right? There's also trading cards. Oh, and this lovely thing called the internet.

[Maritonic]

I must be the only person in the Neca thread that likes Neca.

Hahahaha

Neca, Vinyls, SHM, X-plus, Banpresto,..it's all good.

Nah, you're not the only one. I love NECA. This is pretty hilarious.

[G1985]

Provide images? Google shin Godzilla, open images, then google NECA shin Godzilla. One is the actual suit and then other is a charicatue of said suit....The whole point is the NECA brand is film accurate generally. Their Godzilla line as a whole varies from serviceable to bad fan sculpt....If their whole brand is film accurate and this line is not, then it’s not living up to their brand reputation and needs correcting.

Have you considered the possibility that Toho's license terms or sculpt approval process might require NECA to go "charicatue" and not be screen-accurate for the Godzilla line? We don't know the terms of the agreement, but you're making the case for such an argument.

[darthzilla99]

Also, just because it's on the internet to see does not mean Neca can use it as reference material. For example, http://www.geocities.ws/godzillauniverse/GMK_G2.JPG

they might not be allowed to use that image right there because it's a random internet page. They would need to find it on a scene on their Blu-ray and Dvds in their collection material. Copy right issues and stuff.


While Randy can be an A-hole at times, if I were Neca I would stop trying with the Godzilla license what with all the bull crap red tape from Toho and the entitlement attitude some of the fan boys have.

[Godzillian]

Also, just because it's on the internet to see does not mean Neca can use it as reference material. For example, http://www.geocities.ws/godzillauniverse/GMK_G2.JPG

they might not be allowed to use that image right there because it's a random internet page. They would need to find it on a scene on their Blu-ray and Dvds in their collection material. Copy right issues and stuff.


While Randy can be an A-hole at times, if I were Neca I would stop trying with the Godzilla license what with all the bull crap red tape from Toho and the entitlement attitude some of the fan boys have.

How difficult it is to find stills of a movie online for reference, truly something no human can dare hope to discover

[Fermix]

Truly spoken like somebody who doesn't read the thread for months and then comes back just to complain.

Well duh.

NECA has been having trouble with Toho approvals; as a result their atomic Shin with split jaw and purple beam (which was supposed to debut at SDCC) was canned.

I don't give a damn about NECA's excuses, only the final product.

Not much left to say I suppose

[KingKaiju]

Does anyone know how well the Godzilla figures have been selling? As much as I’d love to see more figures, it seems like their options are pretty limited, and it would be pointless for them to just spit out new sculpts for the sake of new sculpts. I’d imagine that with the limited number of new sculpts they can do, they’re going to want to milk it and make the most money they can out of them, before throwing out anything new. I believe I read that the ‘54 figure sold really well, which if why he saw a lot of production. I’d imagine that there’s decent demand for the Burning and Heisei figure as well.

[Grunkle Sans]

Was the 2014 Godzilla recently re-released? My TRU put a load of them on the shelves a couple days ago.

[Maverick Centigrade]

Probably just old stock. NECA has made no mention of a re-release over Twitter.

[darthzilla99]

Also, just because it's on the internet to see does not mean Neca can use it as reference material. For example, http://www.geocities.ws/godzillauniverse/GMK_G2.JPG

they might not be allowed to use that image right there because it's a random internet page. They would need to find it on a scene on their Blu-ray and Dvds in their collection material. Copy right issues and stuff.


While Randy can be an A-hole at times, if I were Neca I would stop trying with the Godzilla license what with all the bull crap red tape from Toho and the entitlement attitude some of the fan boys have.

How difficult it is to find stills of a movie online for reference, truly something no human can dare hope to discover

Dude, how dense how are you? I'm talking about Neca needing permission from Toho to use different references. Toho may allow them to use scenes from their blu-rays and DVDs, but Neca might not have permission from Toho to use random internet pics for reference material.

Hypothetical example situation 1: They pause a scene from a GMK dvd at the 50 minuate mark on the dvd and use that as reference. Toho approves.

Hypothetical example situation 2: They find a random internet pic that is the exact same shot on the dvd from my previous situation above but it is taken from the internet this time. Toho says no and sends in lawyers on Neca's doorstep. That is simple business bureaucracy red tape bull crap regulations 101.

Is that simple enough for you? This is all speculation of course.


Now as far as sells of the figures, we know 54 and legendary sold well as well as the big legendary since they want to do more big figures. Since hesei and burning are getting reissues those must have sold well. Shin got generally positive reviews and they tried to make their own spit fire of it so that must have sold. GMK got a reissue with 54 as well as an atomic breath variant so GMK must have sold well enough.

These are my thoughts but I still think Neca will transition to big figures only eventually. The big legendary was well received, and Randy said he wants to do a big 54 so theres that. Toho might be less restrictive because it would mean Neca would not be competing as much with Bandai since it would be different scales (unless Bandai decides to make their KKK line bigger scale just to cut into Neca's business and Toho starts doing red tape on Neca again). They could also do more gimmicks like lights and sounds.

Now that I think about it, maybe instead of Atomic breath accessories for their repaints, Neca should focus on glow in the dark variants for their repaints since Reactor glow Godzilla was somewhat liked and Bandai has not done glow in the dark repaints.

[GFAN198423]

I don't think Toho has a say on what reference NECA uses to produce a sculpt, and it'd be very easy to lie as well, which would make it almost pointless for Toho to care.

NECA's sculptors could nab every reference they want off the net, then when Toho shows up to see what was used, show them only approved materials, how would Toho really know whether that's true or not? They couldn't.

Toho cares about the product that collectors are going to by, the only hand they'd have in reference is controlling what materials they personally provide NECA. Yes, their sculptors could search the net and DVDs, etc., but Toho has access to archival material that's probably never even seen the light of day outside their organization, whether they want to share such materials or not is another matter.

Reality is, we are never going to know why NECA's Godzilla sculpts do not reach for the quality bar set by their other licenses which strive for insane levels of accuracy, and at this point, if they ever do, then welcome the surprise, and if not, you can either accept it and find something worth in owning in the quality of figures they do durn out, or you can't and buy other products.

I understand for some it's frustrating that regardless of what any other company produces for Godzilla, NECA isn't producing figures to their highest quality, but as many figures into the line as we are, I think it's safe to say this is the status quo for the line, with the '84 just being a huge miss.

[Kaiju no Kami]

Does anyone know how well the Godzilla figures have been selling?

I can't speak for other stores, but the TRUs around me are always selling out of them. The 54 figure lasted about a month. The 84 one about two weeks, if that. GMK was gone in a week and Shin's second shipment lasted about a month. They just got in new cases of the 2014 and 54 figures to go with blue barf GMK.

As for the argument about Toho may not be letting them use websites, that is no different than what others were saying. You don't have any proof that Toho said they can only use DVD/BD for references, just like no one has proof that they can. It's all speculation. Either way, like I said, the end product is what counts, and if the end product is shit, it is a shitty product and insults the fans of the franchise.

[GFAN198423]

Either way, like I said, the end product is what counts, and if the end product is poop, it is a shitty product and insults the fans of the franchise.

But that's a matter of perspective, some will call a product shitty and insulting while others call the same thing the most treasured piece they've ever owned.

The only way I'd consider NECA's work insulting is if Randy came out and said we give the Godzilla line every bit of attention to detail for accuracy as our other lines, that would be insulting because it's clear they don't and it'd be lying to collectors.

[Godzillian]

Also, just because it's on the internet to see does not mean Neca can use it as reference material. For example, http://www.geocities.ws/godzillauniverse/GMK_G2.JPG

they might not be allowed to use that image right there because it's a random internet page. They would need to find it on a scene on their Blu-ray and Dvds in their collection material. Copy right issues and stuff.


While Randy can be an A-hole at times, if I were Neca I would stop trying with the Godzilla license what with all the bull crap red tape from Toho and the entitlement attitude some of the fan boys have.

How difficult it is to find stills of a movie online for reference, truly something no human can dare hope to discover

Dude, how dense how are you? I'm talking about Neca needing permission from Toho to use different references. Toho may allow them to use scenes from their blu-rays and DVDs, but Neca might not have permission from Toho to use random internet pics for reference material.

Hypothetical example situation 1: They pause a scene from a GMK dvd at the 50 minuate mark on the dvd and use that as reference. Toho approves.

Hypothetical example situation 2: They find a random internet pic that is the exact same shot on the dvd from my previous situation above but it is taken from the internet this time. Toho says no and sends in lawyers on Neca's doorstep. That is simple business bureaucracy red tape bull crap regulations 101.

Is that simple enough for you? This is all speculation of course.

That is literally the dumbest thing I have ever read, do you even know how illogical that sounds?

[KingKaiju]

Does anyone know how well the Godzilla figures have been selling?

I can't speak for other stores, but the TRUs around me are always selling out of them. The 54 figure lasted about a month. The 84 one about two weeks, if that. GMK was gone in a week and Shin's second shipment lasted about a month. They just got in new cases of the 2014 and 54 figures to go with blue barf GMK.

As for the argument about Toho may not be letting them use websites, that is no different than what others were saying. You don't have any proof that Toho said they can only use DVD/BD for references, just like no one has proof that they can. It's all speculation. Either way, like I said, the end product is what counts, and if the end product is shit, it is a shitty product and insults the fans of the franchise.

Hmmmmm if that's true across the board, then that's a good sign!

[GFAN198423]

It depends G14, ‘94 and ‘85 were peg warmers around me, but I chalk up ‘14 to overproduction and I think NECA toned down after.

‘54 has been seen least around me, with GMK and Shin probably lasting equal to each other and somewhere between ‘54 and peg warming.