Banpresto
is a company that quickly became known for their
large, highly detailed figures. In 2000, they released
a gorgeous figure of the 2000 Godzilla based on
the pose and design used in publicity material.
Later on, in 2002, they returned to Godzilla's
roots and released two figures of the first Godzilla
from 1954. One would be colored black, the color
Godzilla is almost always shown to be in colored
movies, but the other would be brown.
Why brown? Well here's a fun fact: the original
suit of 1954 was brown. Standing at a towering twelve
inches and nearly fifteen inches long, this beastly
figure sports no moveable parts. The appendages
have all been glued tightly to the body. Well, all
except the tail that is. The tail needs to be attached
to the body by the owner. Unfortunately, when put
on, the tail doesn't attach fully and leaves
a crevice just below Godzilla's groin. This makes
it look like… well I can't say it here,
but you mature fans should get the idea of what
it reminds one of.
Aside that one complaint, Godzilla '54 is
a truly awesome figure. Starting with the head,
it's a flawless representation of the famous
titan of terror. The eye placement does look sort
of goofy when ones looks at it from the front, but
it's nothing major. The mouth is properly
painted with white teeth and a red tongue. The shoulders
and arms of Godzilla are just the right size. At
first glance, the arms may seem short, but remember
folks, this is Godzilla '54. He didn't
have larger arms like later incarnations.
The chest and stomach is nicely done with texture
and detail and looks much like that of the suit.
Moving down a bit more, the legs of Godzilla are
also properly done. Once again, at first look, it
appears that the monster's claws haven't
been painted, but they have been. They're
a bronze-like color, as are the finger claws that
blend in flawlessly with the overall paint job of
the figure's base color.
The back is covered in ridged spines, just like
the famous monster. They're painted white
and textured with just the right amount of flesh
to the sides of the spines. Just like in 1954, the
spines aren't made the same in design, an
attribute that would be lost later on in the Godzilla
series. The tail retains the same amount of detail
as the spines shrink and turn into ridges that end
at the tip of the creature's tail.
Overall, Banpresto is an awesome company. While
still a sub division of Bandai, the company has
handled several figures very nicely. Godzilla '54
is only one of their great figures. I'm sorry
to say that I've only ever managed to get
this figure and the 2000 Godzilla, but anybody who
runs into in this figure is highly advised to pick
it up.
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