NECA’S Godzilla 2003 is the closest they've ever come to making a figure that looks like it belongs in the S.H. MonsterArts line. How is it? Read below!
Details
The design of this figure looks really close to the Godzilla 2002 release from S.H. MonsterArts. What's interesting about this piece is that there is one solid piece that is the neck, which wraps all around to the back of the head to the back plates. The bad part is, the front of the neck doesn't quite match the chest area in terms of mold color and it sort of stands out. The chest wound looks nice, although I've never seen it so brown looking. The rest of the figure looks really cool and very scaly.
Articulation
For articulation, Godzilla can move at the waist 360ﾟ and so can his legs. The legs can do the splits, but not very far it seems. The legs can bend at the knee and the feet rotate 360 degrees as well. The arms, because of the solid neck piece, can move 360 degrees, but when you move them higher, it raises the fold on the neck piece and it looks weird. I also want to note that the last section of the tail has bendy wire and it's been a minute since NECA did that. It's almost as if it's a callback to when the line first started and that’s how the tails were done.
Accessories
No accessories come with Godzilla 2003, which is a shame. With the abundance of included beam effects lately, I figure one would be an easy inclusion.
Paint
The paint on Godzilla 2003 is ok. Black paint blemishes are on the teeth, including a big black dot on the right side fang. The mouth, including the tongue, has a dark red color and it looks pretty cool as it adds some cool detail. The eyes look great, but I wish there was the film accurate golden iris were used instead of a dirty white color. The backplates that are colored look great with a mix of black and white paint. However, not all the backplates are painted so it looks a little unfinished. The chest wound has a dark brown color which looks great with no paint blemishes. The claws and toe nails look to be quickly painted on the toes, and the paint doesn't look to be fully applied. Finally, there's a bit of a white paint wash over the figure for added detail. It's really prevalent on opposite sides of the neck and it does look pretty nice.
Overall
Overall, this is a great figure and I really love how you can get so many expressions out of the face just by tilting the head. I can only imagine how many creative videos and photos people will use this figure for. At the end of the line’s life, it’s nice to see a fan favorite be released!
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Addendum: 2003 "Hyper Maser Blast" Godzilla - Target Exclusive
Quickly after the release of NECA’s Godzilla 2003 comes a variant/repaint version. Like the variant/repaint version of Godzilla 1989, there’s no context as to why Godzilla is painted this way. Given that it’s a paintjob to a very specific scene in the 2003 film, if you haven’t seen it or don’t have the film memorized, you’re not going to get the reference. To let everyone know, it’s from when MechaGodzilla fires his Chest Maser Cannon at Godzilla, and this is how Godzilla looked getting hit by it. And there you go, a whole figure is based around that. No MechaGodzilla '03 (with or without beam effect) was ever made in the line, so you’re only really getting half the story. Now that THAT’S out of the way, let’s move on to the addendum review!
Paint
For the most part, the paint on this figure looks pretty cool. The yellow burst on the chest looks great and I like how it dissipates over the rest of the body, and the lightning bolt effects look great! One thing I thought was sort of odd was how the right side toenails were painted a purple color. Then I looked at the right side claws and saw that the outer side was painted purple as well. The only thing I can surmise from that is that it’s supposed to be a shadowing effect. The left side toenails and claws have the same “quickly painted and mold showing through in parts” paint job, which is disappointing. Yellow highlights were added to each toenail to emulate the Maser beam lighting. It looks ok. The rest of the body, and even under the tail (stretching under the whole tail but fading out as it goes), for some reason, has sort of a yellow “beam lighting reflection” going on. The teeth are actually painted correctly this time with no blemishes on those or inside the mouth - and the eyes are still crosseyed. What I REALLY like are the backplates. The mix of blue and purple look absolutely awesome and it really makes the figure stand out. They’re very eye catching - especially when you stand back and look at the figure as a whole and see how they mix in with the paint on the rest of the figure. The rest of the backplates are actually painted better here than on the original release, too. Finally, I do like how bright the yellow paint is under Godzilla’s chin. It’s a little out of place because the paint on the neck just below it is faded, but it looks great. The white paint effect on the chest could have been applied a little better because it’s rather spotty, but it mixes in with the yellow/purple paint mix (which also extends to the shoulders).
Overall
This is a pretty awesome figure and one that you can take many creative photos with. Try varying lighting setups and you should get something awesome. HIGHLY recommended!
**Below are a number of bonus images for the original and repaint.**
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