S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 2014 makes its way into the family of super articulated figures. How does he fare? Read on!
Design wise, this was created from working with a photo of the model of the Godzilla 2014 design. This is a different approach versus usng the digital files the way NECA did with their 12 inch HTT (head to tail) version. The result is a cool looking yet stylized version of Godzilla 2014. The feet look a little different with the toe spacing for example. One thing that stuck out to me as strange is the middle section between the legs. It looks lopsided. Those quibbles aside, it's a nice looking figure. The tips of the backplates curve inward slightly which looks pretty cool. The figure has a nice weight to it and seems to be the same flexible material that the S.H. MonsterArts 2000 Millennium Godzilla is made from. I must put out however that my figure did not arrive to me in the best condition. There were quite a few dings on the backplates and figure itself which left white circular marks. I don't like having figures I'm supposed to review be damaged from the getgo. Hopefully, this was just a onetime occurrence.
For accessories, Godzilla 2014 comes with no accessories whatsoever. This is somewhat of a letdown since a beam effect was mentioned in my interview with Tamashii Nation's Tsubasa Utsumi a year earlier. Something would have been nice seeing as how this is the 60th anniversary figure (why no S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1954 was produced during the anniversary year is a mystery to me).
The paint on Godzilla 2014 is atrocious when it comes to the head. As you can see in the photos, the red paint from the mouth is, for some reason, on the front of Godzilla's nose, teeth, and jaw. I've seen some other figures have this and it wasn't as noticeable. As you can see in the photo, this figure seems to be the worst case scenario. There have also been figures with crooked eyes and while these aren't perfect, they're not cross-eyed and I do like the black pupil and dark green/yellow color to them. The chest and arms is colored with a nice light green paint and the toe nails have somewhat of a darker green to them. The teeth and the inside of the mouth aren't done very well though. Aside from the red on the front of the face, the teeth weren't painted with much care and there's quite a bit of red paint run over inside the mouth. When you open the jaw, on each side is skin from the outer jaw. It's painted nicely here for the most part but it looks like it's not quite finished since it's only painted to the edge and you can see the green from the mold underneath.
For articulation, Godzilla 2014's hands, shoulders and elbows can all rotate 360 degrees and the head can move up and down and the jaw can open and close. What's interesting about the mouth is that the tongue is articulated and can move up and down as well. Be careful though, too much pressure can damage it. The feet, upper thighs and ankles can rotate 360 degrees but not the knee caps themselves. The head and neck do have gaps in them but you can either adjust them so that the gaps disappear or you can pop the head off at the neck or make your adjustments that way. When I got the figure, the jaw was crooked (see photo) and I thought it was stuck like that and I got a defective head. I later learned that the jaw was on a ball joint so I popped the head off and adjusted it. Finally, the tail has a nice bit of articulation in it and it reminds me of Godzilla 2000's tail with its fluidity. One thing to note however is that the tail end of the tail can pop off if you're not careful. If it does, you can just put it back on. It gets kind of annoying.
Overall, if you're a fan of the Godzilla 2014 design (or Sakai's version of it) or are a completionist, I'd say pick this figure up. With all the dings that mar the figure, possible cross eyes, and bad paint it's tough to recommend. It does have one redeeming quality though: under the right conditions, it makes for some pretty cool photographs!
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