Toy Spotlight: Gigabrain

[ebirahsmeg1]

The GB Gigan 73 figure along with the Marmit MH Gigan are the best damn Gigan figures ever IMO.

[RedZillaKing]

There's a crazy green Gigabrain Hedorah ending in 10 or so minutes on ebay. 1 bid.

[Godzilla 2000]

Someday, that GB Gigan will be MINE.

Then my life will be complete.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Hey Legion, hope you don't get pissed at me for this I am posting Part 6 of your Gigabrain overview from CT:

PART 6: MONSTER X...?

I thought Gigabrain was on a roll after their last few figures. I thought we'd see all sorts of terrific Showa-era Godzilla figures from them after that. Angilas, Megalon, Gabara, Varan, King Ghidora...the possibilities were endless. Their Gigan figure set the bar amazingly high and many wondered how they were going to top it. As it turned it they weren't even going to try, at least not very hard.

Since 2005 Marmit had been releasing figures based on the Godzilla: Final Wars versions of the Toho monsters. They were doing figures Bandai had done (Godzilla, Gigan, Angilas, Rodan) and ones they didn't (Hedora, Kumonga, Ebirah, Kamakiras, Manda) and eventually stopped making them by the middle of 2007, leaving only a handful unreleased. So in 2008 Gigabrain followed these releases up with probably the least desirable character they could have chosen.



Gigabrain's first Monster X figure was this glow in the dark version released in the winter of 2008, so it will be the one we start with. The overall design is not too much different from the Bandai toy, leaving one to wonder why they bothered if they weren't going to do something unique. The Bandai figure was no great shakes (I believe it was modeled after concept art and not the actual suit) and since the Gigabrain version smoothes out the details and goes for a blander pose it's not much of an improvement. It's really a figure for the completist as I don't know many people clamoring for a Monster X figure. Except maybe kids who are fans of GFW and they're not really the target market for these toys. Again, it makes me wonder why this was released.

Anyway this is a pretty middle of the road glow figure as far as these types of toys are concerned. The green/blue paint sprays are appealing but that's really all this toy has going for it.



This next pair of exclusives were released in the Spring of 2008. These are a lot nicer than they look in photos but they still can't compare to the more eye-catching and elaborate paint schemes or earlier Gigabrains. Again, nothing really special unless you need them all.



You'd think by now Gigabrain would have released a standard-colored version of this toy. Instead we got this gold colored version that Summer. To be honest, this is probably the best of the Monster X figures because at least the gold paint gives the figure a regal appearance. But it still feels like no one cared about putting out something cool. Which makes me ask again: why did they bother with this particular monster?



Finally, here's the standard colored figure, released later that Summer. Unlike the Bandai figure - which painted the bone-like sections of the monster a flat white, this one goes for a dark gray with some subtle tan highlights. Definitely more true to film, making this the figure to get if you want an alternate to the Bandai toy. And for reference, here is this figure with the Bandai.



Gigabrain ran out of gas by this time, just as fast as they had picked up steam. It's just a shame out of all the figures in the Toho universe they had to pick one of the worst ones from the worst Godzilla movie. I'm still wondering what they were thinking.

Anyway, check back soon for part 7!!!

[Rody]

Legion, will you be continuing this soon? I really enjoy reading these!


As a side question, I'm interested if anyone could show me how the Gigabrain Goji '62 & '64 compare with their Monster Heaven counterparts, for future reference.

[Legion1979]

PART 7: ZONE FIGHTER

Probably influenced by a DVD release compiling episodes of Toho's Go! Godman and Go! Greeman TV series of the early '70s, Gigabrain released a trio of figures late in 2008 featuring both these giant heroes, as well as Zone Fighter from the 1973 Toho series Ryusei Ningen Zone. The half hour Zone Fighter series is well known in this country because of appearances by Godzilla, King Ghidora and Gigan, while the more obscure, five minute Godman and Greenman series are also known for recycling old Toho monster costumes. However, those series are infamous for the fact that they used these monster costumes (including Gabara, Gorosaurus, Sanda, Gairah, Kameba and Minya) despite the fact that all of them were obviously - and depressingly - in the later stages of decay.

I chose not to buy all three figures and only picked up Zone Fighter, so that's the only I'm going to talk about. Regardless, here's an official photo of all three of them:



Zone Fighter - as well as the other two - is nothing like Gigabrain's Jet Jaguar in terms of overall design and execution. The figure is far less articulated but there aren't many ways to pose it since the stance is so stiff. The arms can turn, allowing the figure to be posed as if Zone Fighter is about to fire his Meteor Missles at an unfortunate adversary. The paint job is cool too, especially the red lighting bolt design on the chest and the two-color boots.



There's really not much more to say about this figure. After this Gigabrain would be quiet for quite some time, with no Toho releases in sight. But they weren't quite done yet.

Check back soon for part 8!!!

[ebirahsmeg1]

Here is my Monster X figure, which I found 1 year ago (believe it or not, but the "regular" color scheme is rather difficult to find. I have seen this figure a gazillion times throughout Tokyo, but always in odd, unappealing color schemes.




Speaking of Gigabrain, my GB King Ghidorah figure should be arriving soon!

[Rody]

That Monster X just looks hideous. But maybe that's it's charm?

[ebirahsmeg1]

That Monster X just looks hideous. But maybe that's it's charm?

Rergardless of whether you like/don't like Monster X, this figure is still the most dead on/accurate representation of this particular kaiju in figure form (it blows the 8 inch Bandai figure completely away)...

[leunames]

The Gigabrain Monster X is the best representation by far of the character.

But Monster X is a character that a whole lot of collections could honestly do without. It's boggling that Gigabrain decided to release monster x out of the litany of other options. It compliments marmit's MH final wars releases but wow, talk about an underwhelming and unnecessary/wasted release.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Posting this on behalf of Legion

PART 8: HEDORAH

Time to put this baby to bed. I hope everyone enjoyed this thread. EDIT: Hey I'm a poet and I know it.

By the time of Marmit's latest release I had seriously cut back on my spending. Not only was this new figure going to be really expensive (the exchange doesn't help) but it was going to be yet another Hedorah, a figure I had more than enough of. Buying just one seemed pointless, let alone multiple variants. The Monster X figure figure taught me that it was insane to buy multiples of a figure you don't like. So I skipped Gigabrain's Hedorah.

This was last year, and I always regretted it because it was the only Gigabrain Toho figure I still didn't have and as of now they still haven't announced anything new, making it obvious that they only went back to the Godzilla series because of how popular Hedorah has been. There are at least five different variants of this figure so far, probably more. It's hard to find many pictures of this release. I've found pictures of the green and grey (see below for both) versions on the internet, but I can't find photos of the amazing-looking blue and purple variants. Since the store I picked mine up at wasn't selling it cheap, there was no chance of me picking up more than one, and it's doubtful I'll get another. If anyone has pictures of the blue and purple Hedorahs please post them.

I spent at hour at Toy Tokyo in NYC just trying to convince myself I needed this figure and most of that time was spent just trying to chose the one I liked the most, as they had all but the gray one. In the end I bought the black vinyl version as it's probably closest to how Hedorah looked on film. And the damn thing is just cool as hell.



First of all, this is probably the most accurate Hedorah figure out of all the toys ever made out of this monster in this particular style. And that's saying quite a bit. From the front this thing is just dead on. The eyes are perfect, with even the edges of the eyelids being sculpted on the outside of each eye. The distinctive crack across the top of the smog monster's head is carved nice and deep and I like how the front of the head flows over the body and combines with the detail on the body to give Hedorah's rubbery "scales" a sense of depth. That's something most stylized Hedorah figures have a hard time with. Unfortunately, this level of detail wasn't retained on the back of the head, which just settles on a simple joint line instead of overlapping sculpted details. Other details such as the long arms and pollution sack are faithfully reproduced. The tail is also very long and curves nicely, unlike the Marmit kit, whose tail rested completely on the ground.



And this thing is huge. It's in the standard 8-9" Marmit/Gigabrain scale, but it's sized to match the Godzillas in the line. That means this figure is a full foot tall and is just about 15" long. This is one huge, heavy chunk of vinyl, far bigger overall than the Pilot Ace version. It's no wonder this thing came boxed.



But the paint job brings this figure over the top. The vinyl itself is glossy back, it's shine accentuated by moderate silver sprays on the body and stronger sprays on the tips of the arms, feet and tail. This is an awesome look, as it sort of makes the figure look like it's molded in silver and painted black instead of the other way around. The head and body are sprayed with matted green/yellow and red, which contrasts nicely with the black base vinyl. Twin red sprays run down the tail. But the best is definitely the incredible zig-zag pattern painted on the back. This is on the suit and the Marmit kit does the exact same thing, but this is so much cooler here. In addition, the underside of the arms are painted an insanely strong yellow and that's what made this figure catch my eye as it was on a much higher shelf than the other Hedorahs Toy Tokyo was selling and I could easily see under the arms (the photo immediately below approximates this). It's a little strong, but still incredibly cool. And of course, the eyes have the trademark star pattern. I'm still wondering how the hell Bandai left it off their 6" version.



In all this is a damn cool toy and I highly recommend it if one feels like splurging on one. Lastly, here are photos of the gray and green versions, nowhere near as nice as the black one.

I am looking forward to contributing to part 9 when I get GB King Ghidorah later this month

[TokyoVigilante]

Pardon my ignorance, but how much would that Gigabrains Hedorah cost a person?

[Jomei]

Probably $150 with shipping I'd say. Maybe a little more.

edit: the price I'm looking at for one might be on the low end. Another color variant is listed at around $170 w/o shipping so...

[Legion1979]

That black one cost me over $300 in August of 2010...

[Jomei]

That black one cost me over $300 in August of 2010...

So if I know where I can get one for under $150... should I get it and flip it? lol If the shop hasn't already sold it, that is.

[king_ghidorah]

That might be my favorite Hedorah ever actually...

[Cimmerian Dragon]

^ This is great, but I give the nod for my "favorite" to the 10" CCP standing Hedorah.

[ebirahsmeg1]

It's now April 1st in Japan....and still no GB King Ghidorah Wish it was an April fools joke, but it's reality. If I don't receive it by the end of the week, I will be emailing or calling Gigabrain to find out what the hold up is (this has happen with some Marmits I've ordered, so I'm not worried....just impatient as I really want this thing ASAP!

[UnCanny Studios]

It's now April 1st in Japan....and still no GB King Ghidorah Wish it was an April fools joke, but it's reality. If I don't receive it by the end of the week, I will be emailing or calling Gigabrain to find out what the hold up is (this has happen with some Marmits I've ordered, so I'm not worried....just impatient as I really want this thing ASAP!

We've all got our fingers crossed with the recent details.

And Mike, you better write about this sucker when you get yours!

[ebirahsmeg1]

BWWWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!











Sorry, but the lighting in my apartment is strange (it's also night time and raining outside), and I just plain suck at photography in general, so I took several photos with and w/o flash.

The ol' "Pictures don't do it justice" cliche was invented specifically for this figure. Holy mother of Christ is this thing awesome! Just a fantastic, gorgeous figure :drool: Can't stop staring at it. This figure represents everything I love about this hobby and why I waste money collecting these things. It captures showa King Ghidorah *PERFECTLY*. I am no longer looking for any more KG figures (Pilot Ace? Xplus? Marmit MH? Bandai SH??? Puhlease! )....this one is officially the king of mountain as far as I'm concerned, and has set the bar ridiculously high.

As you can tell from the photos, it's a *BEAST* of a figure too....very large. I have no idea how I am going to display this in my tiny Japanese apartment It's similar to GB's massive Hedorah figure in terms of height, weight, and density. I will be posting some pics in the "What Toy did you just buy?" thread next to some random Marmit and Xplus figures to give everyone an idea of its scale.

The only minor quips I have....nothing really. I was a little surprised that the head joints are not articulated and cannot be posed (of course, the necks are fully articulated, as are the legs and tails)...but honestly, who cares? Also, the wings were a b*tch to get on (seems to be a pre-requisite for all KG figures)...but a hair dryer fixed that problem.

Thank you Gigabrain!