The first real "repaint" of the S.H. MonsterArts line is here in the form of Godzilla 2000 Special Color Version. Is this figure worth your money? Read on!
Details
This is the same mold of the previous 2000 Millennium Godzilla release. For those unfamiliar with the earlier toy, it was based on an unused design by Yuji Sakai of the title character for the film Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999).
The figure itself is made of a soft matte material. Because of this, despite its jagged appearance, it actually feels great to the touch. The articluation element does cause gaps to be present, but they can easily be adjusted to hide them.
While some might wish it was based on the actual film version of the character, I feel it's a very cool looking design overall. The details placed into realizing that design for this release, as before, are quite well done too.
Articulation
Like the previous version: 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. The mouth moves up and the tongue can also move up and down as well. It's one of the nice added touches that made this and the original release figure stand out.
The feet can rotate 360 degrees and so can the hands (which also can bend inward slightly). A small downside to the figure-and I think this be just my case-is that the right forearm is really loose. It can still hold it's pose however. The head can move up and down and side to side slightly while the arms bend at the elbows and the shoulders can rotate 360 degrees.
Accessories
Like the original release of Godzilla 2000, this figure doesn't come with any accessories. It's somewhat of a downer too because this would have been a great opportunity to not only give consumers more bang for their buck, but it would have been nice to have a beam or something to make this repaint stand out a little more.
Paint
While I like the backplate color of this version, it doesn't stand out as much as the original release. It makes the figure look more subdued. In fact, it sort of brings to mind the design of the 2002/2003 King of the Monsters from Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002) and its sequel.
The mix of grey/black is very nicely done with no blemishes to be found. I particularly liked the yellowish/brown mix of the toenails/claws. The blend together really well and while there are some spots where there are small brown paint blotches on the nails, it strangely adds to the figure. I'm not a fan of the paint application of the mouth/teeth however. It's blotchy and run together with the dark red paint mixing in with the white on the teeth. While the tongue has a couple of white paint blotches, it looks pretty cool with the dark red paint. The rest of the sculpt has somewhat of a light grey paint application which looks pretty cool which gives it that "aged" look. The eyes, while my favorite part of the figure, are inconsistent. While they seem to be plastic pieces (with really a cool black pupil and dark brown iris), the right eye has a couple of brown paint blotches on it. It's weird to see this happen since there are no areas near it that call for that color.
Overall
Even though it's a re-release of a former figure with a new paint application (and with mixed results in this case), it's nice to see this awesome design return since the original release sold out very quickly and the price sky rocketed in the aftermarket. For those hardcore collectors who are completionists or those who are new to the S.H. MonsterArts line who missed out on the original release, this figure is a must have.
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