The S. H. MonsterArts series is one of your more "high end" lines of figures and is not intended for anyone under 15. Godzilla 2000 from the series not only represents a shift for the better in the S.H. MonsterArts line, but it's also the first figure to be based on an unused film creation. How does it measure up? Read on.
Godzilla 2000 is based on the unused design of Yuji Sakai's concept version of the character for the film Godzilla
2000: Millennium (1999). It's an interesting design and is a little more hunched over in stance than its film counterpart. Its famous, besides being found in models, for being the basis for the art poster for the 1999 film and has a mild cult following. What stands out the most is the quality of the sculpt material. Rather than having a bunch of visible gaps in the sculpt (see Godzilla 1995, aka Burning Godzilla for example), they have been well covered up this time around. Godzilla 2000 is made of a soft matte material and it feels great to the touch. It's a better feeling on the hands, but it does seem to hinder the articulation in the tail.
Speaking of, the articulation is very well done with fluid like movement in the head and tail. The tail is very poseable but when you try and have it standing straight up, the weight makes it droop a little. It's not a big deal but you can't get that "magical pose" you want. The mouth, as usual, moves up and down but what's cool is that the tongue can also move up and down as well. It's one of the nice added touches that make this figure stand out. The feet can rotate 360 degrees and so can the hands (which also can bend inward slightly). Like the S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1964, Godzilla 2000 can do the splits but rather than having a triangle shaped gap for this pose, Godzilla 2000 is equipped with sort of a plastic sheath cover to hide gaps created by this pose. Speaking of gaps, they're pretty well hidden on this figure which a welcome change from past Godzilla figures in the S.H. MonsterArts line. Side note: Godzilla 2000 will make a lot of "noise" when you handle him. This is normal.
Godzilla 2000 doesn't come with any accessories which is a shame because this figure would look really cool with Godzilla 2000's (film version) beam for example.
The paint on Godzilla 2000 is very well done for the most part except for the claws where the blending could have been a tad better. That said, the claws are a nice mix of yellow and dark green. The teeth, which are painted very well, are a mix of yellow and white. A deep red color is inside the mouth which on the roof of the mouth is blended with white paint. It's hard to tell if this is just a painting error or if it's the design of the character. There's no way to check because again. This is an unused concept design. The eyes look nice but they seem to be plastic accessories just glued on to the sculpt so it's hard to really rate them. The backplates are a really cool mix of deep purple and dark green and if you look closely enough, and under the right lighting conditions, you'll notice tiny bits of glitter smattered throughout the backplates. It's a pretty cool effect.
Overall, Godzilla 2000 represents a definite shift in quality for the S.H. Monsterarts line. If you hold Burning Godzilla (still one of my very favorites) in one hand and Godzilla 2000 in the other, you'll notice a huge difference in quality. It is a shame that the change in materials used for the figure seems to have resulted in a tail that can't hold its pose very well however but it does not detract from how cool this figure is. This figure is the first "must own" in the line and truly earns the word "Art" in the S.H. MonsterArts name. In my opinion, If there's a must own Godzilla to start your S.H. MonsterArts collection with, this is it.
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