Love it or hate it, you can’t deny Toho’s latest live action Godzilla feature wasn’t a massive success. For the first time since the Heisei era, a Godzilla craze has swept the nation of Japan. New merchandise seems to be appearing almost daily. New films are in the works and the franchise has successfully been rejuvenated, thanks to the combined works of Legendary’s 2014 film and Toho’s Shin Godzilla. As expected, Bandai was quick to release a six-inch vinyl figure of the latest incarnation of the nuclear menace. What wasn’t expected, however, was that a retooled version would get a premium release sometime later in 2017. Initially available only through online retailers, this release was extremely limited and generally fetches a price of roughly $50 (as of 2017), depending on where you find it.
But is it worth it…?
Details
This release is virtually a reissue of the original Shin Godzilla but with a new head sculpt. That means it shares the same flaws as the original release. It isn’t bad for what would originally be a $12-$20 release, but $50 seems a bit much. The sculpt isn’t bad by a long shot, but it just feels so simple. There’s plenty of grooves, bumps and folds in the monster’s body. The mouth and spines are easily the best parts with the insides of its gapping muzzle wonderfully sculpted. The spines, which are a separate piece that has been attached to the figure, look great. Additionally, the “face tail” is more apparent on this release compared to the original.
As for scaling, Shin Godzilla looks pretty good when compared to Bandai’s other six inch figures. It even stands higher than the other Godzillas, which makes sense due to this being the biggest one yet.
Articulation
This guy has your basic vinyl articulation, so don’t expect anything major. The arms and legs are all on swivel joints so they can rotate a full 360 degrees. Surprisingly, neither the tail nor the head can rotate.
Accessories
Shin Godzilla came with no tag and was instead sold and shipped inside a big, white box. Thankfully, the box does look pretty cool with some nice black and white images of the toy on the sides.
Paint
As I said before, for a $50 release, it is lacking. Godzilla is sculpted entirely in charcoal vinyl with the only red paint applications to its chest. This is very off-putting considering the look of the creature in the film was reminiscent of a mountain of walking lava. There are purple highlights on its neck/gill to replicate the appearance of Godzilla charging/firing his atomic ray. Finally, this same purple glow can be found on the tail. The inside of the mouth is painted the same purple hue with numerous, tiny teeth also painted. The eyes have been painted completely white to show Godzilla using his flash protection membrane. Lastly, the claws on the foot are all given a quick spray of white.
The spines are where the paint really shines and looks absolutely amazing. They’re sculpted a translucent purple with painted highlights that really capture the look of Godzilla utilizing his atomic ray. If the whole figure was painted as nicely as these spines, this release would have knocked it right out of the park.
Overall
Is it a bad figure? No. But it could be better. It’s only a slight step above the original release but with a price of double it, if not more. As an exclusive item, this release will most likely blow up in price in the coming years. If you’re a hardcore collector or that big a fan of Shin Godzilla, I’d recommend it. But if Shin isn’t your cup of tea and you just want a basic vinyl, go with the cheaper, original release.
**Below are several bonus images, including some size comparison and articulation shots.**
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