GCrusher wrote:SuperSaiyan4Godzilla wrote:GCrusher wrote:
Manda is cool, but a lower tier character more so than a primary character like the big 5; Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah, and Anguirus. I would even go as far as saying not even is Manda a second tier character as those would be; Gigan, MechaGodzilla, Kong, Minya and maybe Gorosaurus.
Manda just hasn't appeared in enough film for me to care about him, but that's not saying he's not collectible.
I'm not sure collecting wise, but popularity wise, MechaGodzilla is in Toho's Big 5.
The classic Mechagodzillas are my personal favorites, though always thought Anguirus was more popular. Maybe it's the Big 6!
Buying Manda, who isn't as well recognized, is almost like buying Magama or Komunga or Ebirah. They resemble real-life animals or insects too closely in their design to justifying the punrchase. I can buy a rubber spider and put it in a bag with a header card with Komunga printed on it and call it a day. X-Plus needs to put more into their designs, pose and accessories with some of the common looking characters. Ebirah is a good example here. X-Plus should have placed some speared fishermen in his claws or something. Look at the Marmits, they aren't as detailed but are often better presentations.
X-Plus has some great figs, but they can still make adjustments.
Angurius is well-liked, but Mechagodzilla is a staple Godzilla character. Any doubts about that...count how many films MG, KG, and Mothra star/feature in vs. Anguirus.
As for Manda, I have to say I completely disagree. X-Plus is obviously catering to a particular dedicated Godzilla fan since they run on average 2 to 3 to 4 times as much as your average designer vinyl item from Marmit. At that level I
expect them to produce characters outside of the Big Five (Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Rodan, and MechaGodzilla). Ebirah has never been released in a "realistic" sculpt before, and I can tell you that the monster heaven ebirah doesn't hold a candle to the x-plus one. There's no need to add gimmicks to classic characters like Ebirah to get collectors to buy them. At the price point x-plus is at, characters like Ebirah and Manda will mostly likely sell out much faster than any Godzilla figure. the point is not how "popular" the figure is. The point is that the figure is underrepresented in the medium and is about to be released in a line that stresses a realistic style which clearly holds no reservations about producing any given character, no matter how obscure or esoteric (Magma).
This kind of popularity thing only is a factor in lower end lines like bandai creation or bandai japan. At that price level there are tons of alternates and substitutes. A realistic style showa Ebirah or Manda? Absolutely no alternates.
