As a Godzilla cosplayer and Kaiju suit maker, I was excited to hear that Mondo was producing their own line of Premium Scale Godzilla Statues; much more when I found out that they were working on their very own KiryuGoji, based on the 2003 film Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S.!
I’ve been a KiryuGoji cosplayer for almost 7 years now, dedicated to studying and recreating Shinichi Wakasa’s work from Head to Tail. (I'm confident to say I know the suit from the number of spines to the sole of his foot (haha)!) So having a Mondo Statue be placed along with my collection is a must.
First things first, make sure you have space in your room of choice, cause this packaging is HUGE; about 29.5”x 23”, and for good reason.
I am personally not into keeping boxes… but that art done by Francisco Francavilla & Gabe Chicoine would be a nice wall mural!
Details
Assembled, the statue stands about 16” tall, 20” if you replace the tail with the Mothra attachment, and weighs well around 15 pounds, made of a polystone and resin.
Gotta give props to Tommy Hodges who sculpted this amazing work. The statue, while in Mondo’s stylized art direction, captures the KiryuGoji suit’s proportions and details rather seamlessly & accurately! Complete with the iconic Tokyo S.O.S. chest scar. Godzilla here is posed in a dynamic & imposing upright stance, with his tail curled to the right in a spiral fashion.
An interesting personal observation I had though was that the sculptor may have used some reference from the previous 2002 KiryuGoji suit as a baseline. Using the side (S-2) spine as an addition to the middle section at the base of the tail instead of a completely new sculpted tail-base spine akin to the 2003 suit.
The Mothra twins are sculpted very neatly & accurately, with one resting in between Godzilla’s tail and right foot, while the other is curved in a “C” shape as if struggling to hold on; this one is meant to be placed as an optional accessory to Godzilla’s tail, replicating the iconic tail-biting moment, but can also be placed elsewhere on the statue to your liking.
The base of the statue is also incredibly detailed with buildings on the sides, vehicles and a detached Kiryu arm-railgun on the front side of the display.
I will say, I personally would have preferred to have had the vehicles be at a larger scale, as this incarnation is rather small compared to their Heisei counterparts. But on the other hand, this does invoke a poster-like aesthetic to the entire piece which I also welcome.
Each piece has metal rods & magnets to easily attach the statue together. Be delicate and patient about it, though, as one slip up could risk snapping a piece here and there.
Articulation
This statue has no articulation.
Accessories
Apart from Godzilla himself & the Mothra Twins, accessories include 3 lower jaw variations: Closed, Open & Lower jaw with a Mothra Imago leg being chomped on. A swappable head with a semi-transparent Heat Ray and a swappable Tail tip to display Mothra biting down on it.
Paint
Painting was masterfully done by Hector Arce with great precision. Dry brushing can be seen across Godzilla’s scales and the city/debris which make their details really pop.
Airbrushing is carefully used on the deeper areas of Godzilla’s muscle, claws, as well as the charcoal to gray gradients on Goji’s spines & between the segments of the Mothra Larva.
Godzilla’s eyes were also painted to be more expressive with visible dark irises, an interesting and stylistic choice. The Mothra Larva were also painted to feature red eyes to invoke their rage-fueled retaliation upon their mother’s death.
Overall
This Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. Statue was masterfully crafted from head to tail by Mondo’s talented team. It's always refreshing to see proper & respectful interpretations of these iconics characters recreated by artists outside of Japan. Really hope to see more of KiryuGoji made by Mondo. Personally, it is worth every penny.
**Below are a number of bonus images of the statue.**
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