PART 3: GODZILLA 1962
Marmit has done a lot of different figures based on the 1962 Godzilla, or Kingoji as many fans tend to call it. While most of their figures are really well done, I have to admit that I've never really been a fan of their Monster Heaven version, released in 2002 at the start of that line's production. It wasn't an awful figure, but it lacked a certain something. The people at Gigabrain must have felt the same, since Kingoji ended up being their third Toho figure, released in early 2007.
In my opinion, this is the figure that put Gigabrain on the map. It's an incredible likeness for this type of toy, and I'd probably put it second on my list of favorite '62 sculpts, right behind Bandai's 2005 Memorial Box figure. The head sculpt is a little rough but still captures this Godzilla's personality. I like the hunched over body design, skin detail and sculpting on the finger and toenails. There's no denying what Godzilla this is supposed to be. Even the fat, baggy legs are perfectly rendered.
But what I think is the best aspect of this figure's sculpt - and what puts it far ahead of the 1965 toy - is the way the back fins were designed. On the '65 figure (and like all Marmits and most recent Bandai Godzillas) the entire back fin section is a separate piece which compromises the flow of the sculpt. On the Kingoji however, only the middle strip is separate, the seams hidden by the smaller outer rows which are part of the body sculpt. This assembly looks fantastic and is completely unique to this figure and the Gigabrain 1964 Godzilla, which was released at the same time and will be covered in part four.
This is the very first of many, many releases of this figure. The overall color scheme mimics the 1965 release with the green vinyl just a little bit darker. Combined with the black sprays some of the great detail on this Godzilla gets a little lost and I remember being very critical of the figure when it was first released. Since then I've warmed up to it considerably, though I like several of the variants quite a bit more.
I became a full fledged Gigabrain nut around the time these two figures were released and for a while I vowed to pick up every single version of the Kingoji I could. The glow in the dark one on the left uses a great blue and silver combo and is definitely my favorite of Gigabrain's glow figures, while the translucent one of the right is another good one. Gigabrain always tends to pick just the right colors for their translucent figures and they always look good when held to the light.
But these two figures are my favorite Gigabrain Kingojis by a long shot. Apparently limited to under 50 figures each both figures have the same color paint sprays - black and silver with gold eyes - but are cast in blue and purple vinyl respectively. The color shades chosen for the vinyl are incredibly strong and vibrant and, in the case of the blue version, really stand out against the black paint. In fact, I almost want to display these from the back to get the most out of the vinyl color that shows on the back fins. If it weren't for the '73 Gigan figure these would be my favorite Gigabrains. Period. Very highly recommended if you can find them.
Here are a couple more translucent show exclusives, released in the fall of 2007. Again, the vinyl colors used are well chosen, especially in the case of the blue figure, though blue is my favorite color so your mileage may vary. Two more very cool figures.
Finally, here are two more exclusives, released in the winter of 2008. These are probably the most traditionally colored versions of this toy that Gigabrain would put out. The gold fins on the figure on the left bring to mind the Yamakatsu 1964 Godzilla while the figure on the right has a definite 1990's Bandai quality to it with the glossy black vinyl and silver fins. I might like the original green figure a little more than these, but these are great for someone digging the sculpt but not as appreciative of the sometimes crazy paint schemes these figures often get.
It was at this point, 9 figures later, that I gave up trying to get all of these figures. There have been several more variants released in the past few years (usually metallic painted versions, which seem to be the stylistic preference in Japan these days) but it became impossible to keep up with them, let alone afford them all. Regardless, there were still more great figures to come.
Check back soon for part 4!!!
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