Hiya releases another iteration on there already fantastic release of Godzilla as depicted in the movie Godzilla vs Kong.
Details
I’m sure it’s been said before and will continue to be said, but the sculpt of Hiya figures continue to impress. While many may have their preferred versions when it comes to Legendary's Godzilla, for my money though the sculpts Hiya has been putting out are far and away the best for the price. Or at the very least they continue to be my favorite. It’s fun just going over the figure and seeing how much of the detail from the original CG model that they were able to capture in articulated figure form.
Now I have to admit as far as my experience with Legendary’s Godzilla goes in action Figure form, most of my experience lies with Neca, as the last Monsterarts Legendary Godzilla I got was the Poster variation of the 2014 release that was included with the 5 disc Blu-ray set that was an Amazon Japan exclusive. But as far as comparing this to the Neca version of the 2019 design, it’s not even really a contest in my opinion. That’s not to say I don’t keep up with how the more modern Mosnterarts look.
Articulation
Articulation is pretty much what you would expect out of this design, as it doesn’t really lend itself to be all that poseable in the first place. That said, the range of motion is fairly good when it comes to the arms and legs. Just be careful when posing if your figure has stiff joints at first.
Where it’s sadly not the best is the head, neck, tail, and waist. While I will say that some of these may just be an issue with the figure I got, other spots are just limitations when it comes to the joints used, in particular the long dumbbell joint use for the head and neck, as it has a fairly limited range of movement. It’s probably one of the things I’ve noticed is pretty common when it comes to the Hiya Godzilla figures and it can probably be excused due to the sculpt and design.
Where I take more issue with (and I should state it could just be an issue with my figure) is the posability of the second head. Granted, it doesn’t really offer much range in movement by design as it's meant to allow the pose when Godzilla fires his beam directly into the sky. But as you can see in the photos below, no matter what I tried the head wouldn’t go back further than in the pictures. The head would pop off repeatedly if I tried to as it wasn’t that snug of a fit on mine when I could get it on. One aspect I’m less bothered by is that the tail is not as flexible as I would like.
Accessories
Sadly, what seems to be the case with most Godzilla figures these days is that they usually tend to be a bit lacking when it comes to included accessories. While Godzilla certainly doesn’t have a need for many, it would still be cool to see maybe a few different hands like Kong figures tend to get. The accessories we do get in this release are still nice, we get an extra head and neck piece that allow the figure to look upwards and simulate Godzilla firing his Heat Ray in the sky. Sadly, the head is only made for looking up and doesn’t allow a huge range of motion. And while you can attempt to fit the effect piece in the standard head, it’s really suited for the alternate head.
Paint
Paint apps on this figure for the most part are pretty great and I appreciate them not going too far to simulate the glowing effect. You do get the eyes and mouth on both heads painted to give it the look Godzilla has while firing his beam in the film. For the most part, the details are pretty clean on my figure as there aren’t too many spots that appear to look sloppy or untidy when it comes to the paint, especially as it’s going for a glow effect on the eyes and mouth. Also pretty impressive considering the figure is mainly blue under the paint from the translucent plastic used. If anything, the second head may have a cleaner application of the blue paint on the eyes and mouth on my figure.
Overall
This is a pretty good figure for its price range, though I am bummed that mine doesn’t seem to be fully capable of doing the pose its second head is meant to replicate, which is a shame as that’s a selling point for this figure so that does knock it down a bit for me. That aside, it's still cool for the price and does have a nice look to the figure with the use of the blue translucent plastic. Really helps the figure stand out in my opinion. Goes without saying, but it’s probably one of my favorite looking Monsterverse/Legendary Heat Ray Godzilla figures.
**Below are several bonus images of the figure.**
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