Simply
stated, X-Plus is one of the premiere developers
in terms of the market for kaiju toys. This release,
done a few years after they tested the waters in
2000 with releases for the Showa Gamera series,
is based on the title character from Gamera:
Guardian of the Universe (1995) and maintains
the company's strong attention to detail.
This figure is very impressive from all angles.
The face is fantastic, with great detail in the
mouth and with eyes that fairly represent the way
the suit looked in the movie. The beast does look
a little awkward head on, due to the way the eyes
look, but this is a problem with the suit as well
and is only caring over this aspect. Plus, the folds
and wrinkles found here all do well to breath life
into its facial stance.
In terms of the rest of the body, it's all well
done. The hands in particular look great, with lush
detail and are also sturdy despite looking rather
thin. The feet also look great, and capture the
rather alien appearance that they displayed in the
movie. The monster's stomach in particular also
looks stunning, complete with the plate-like pattern
found in the film.
Moving to the back, the toy's shell is also stellar.
It's great not only in detail, but also in proportion,
as is everything about this figure. The tail of
the toy also looks impressive, especially from a
side angle.
In terms of the paint job, the figure gets high
marks across the board. Mouth, eyes, hands, and
more all look picture perfect. In particular praise
should be given for the varying green paint job
applied to the body, which has several tones to
it. This deserves praise as it far surpasses similar
techniques from Bandai, such as on their 1998
release of Mechagodzilla '93, as it breaks up
the monotony that an all green figure would have
had but at the same time looks very natural unlike
Bandai's "highlight" method.
On the downside, though, this release is less a
toy and more a model. If one really pushes the hands,
they can move them a little, but otherwise the figure
is immobile and limited in that regard. As a side
note, the figure also comes unassembled. I note
this as I recall it being quite a pain to construct
mine as I had to heat the plastic for quite awhile
under a hot blow dryer in order to finally get it
soft enough to fit the pieces together.
Overall, this is a great release, and my favorite
toy dedicated to the fire breathing turtle, regardless
of the version being discussed.
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