Mezco has entered the rapidly growing number of western companies who've begun to produce a flood of Godzilla items readily available to western Godzilla fans, and today we're going to look at an entry in their primary Godzilla line, The 5 Points XL Godzilla Vs. Hedorah (1971) Three Figure Box Set!
As indicated by the title, The 5 Points XL is a larger sized version of Mezco's long running 5 Points line, with the 5 Points referring to the 5 points of articulation each figure has consisting of swivel joints at the legs, arms, and head. This series has featured characters such as Superman, The Crow, and Popeye all at the industry standard size of 3.75 inches. The 5 Points XL takes the same articulation scheme and blows it up to 4.5 inches tall.
Details
First up is the box which contains this set! The back gives you a great reference for what comes inside the box and I love how the film’s title is written on the top of the box in its native language! While not a negative, one aspect of this set I find strange is that the cover art for the front and top lid of the box is a piece by artist Bob Eggleton but not an original work produced for this release. Rather it’s the cover from 2013 and issue #11 of IDW’s Godzilla ongoing series. The art is fantastic no doubt but I don’t think it fits this set very well. For one thing, it features the distinctive Godzilla design of the early 1990’s which is obviously strikingly different from the Godzilla figure included in this set. I really feel that not using the original 1971 film’s poster or promotional materials was a missed opportunity. All that aside, let’s go on to what really matters about this box and that’s what awaits inside it! The set comes with 3 figures. Godzilla with his wounded eye right out of the film this set is based on, adult Hedorah, and flying Hedorah. Before looking at the figures individually, it should be clear that all 3 monsters feature fantastic sculpting and detail work! I really appreciate how they not only captured these characters well but were so clearly trying to capture the specific designs from the 1971 film. Additionally, each figure is very solid and well made. While these are collector's items primarily, I feel like these could serve as children’s toys very well, however these figures are surprisingly heavy and I would be concerned about what harm could happen if a child were to throw it at another child.
Articulation
The sculpts are just top notch. We’re used to more “stylized” figures when it comes to Western toy industries and their take on Godzilla, but Mezco has made figures that look so fantastic that I wouldn’t be surprised if any G-Fan saw them outside of the box and assumed the figures to be from any number of Japanese toy companies!
A lot of these figure’s attractiveness stems from the attention to detail each figure exhibits. For instance Godzilla does have his left eye swollen and slimed shut right from the film! The half eyed and closed mouth on this figure may not make it the most visually grabbing of Godzilla figures, but this little detail does so much for a fan like myself who knows the intricate details of every Godzilla design. Godzilla is articulated with 5 swivel joints as the line’s name implies. One is at the neck, and the remaining four are on his left and right arms and legs. There is no tail swivel and I think it should have been given one in order to help balance the figure properly. As I mentioned in the accessories section, without his black stand Godzilla will fall back onto his elevated tail. Not a deal breaker by any means of course, but I would have appreciated this inclusion.
Adult Hedorah has a slightly different articulation scheme. His head and arms can rotate but only his left foot is articulated, and the 5th and final swivel is located on his tail. Hedorah is such a heavyweight character and figure that the leg swivel feels unnecessary as it doesn’t make the leg swing up and forward but just rotates in place. Odd but it doesn’t hinder the figure’s ability to stand up right with or without his black stand. The head articulation is simple but wonderfully effective. Having Hedorah looking at his left or right allows for some great staging options. I really appreciate the arm and tail swivels as they allow me to get a look at aspects of Hedorah’s design I never noticed before, particularly the bony looking tail hidden underneath the top layer of slime.
The last figure here is Flying Hedorah who has no articulation but that suits the design and abilities that this form of Hedorah displayed on film. However, this figure does feature the biggest drawback of the entire set. The clear flight stand plugs into a hole on Hedorah’s underside and is an awesome feature (as I’m sure you can tell from my photos!), however the hole the stand pegs into is a bit too tight and too shallow for Hedorah to comfortably rest on the stand. Every time I place the figure on it, I feel more like I am trying to pull off a balancing act, rather than using a display feature as intended. In fact when pressing down harder to make Hedorah properly attach to this stand, I actually caused the flight stand to break. A small fracture in the base of the stand appeared and I’ve included a photo of it here. If you want to use the flight stand (and you should as it looks awesome on it) then be prepared to play the old hot water/hair dryer trick or practice your balancing skills. With the set’s biggest issue now covered, I want to end this on a high note and there may be no higher note for this set than Flying Hedorah’s sculpt. Flying Hedorah is probably the best sculpted out of all the figures in the set. I was holding the figure upside down in both of my heads to see the fantastic sculpting on the (organs?, glands?, tumors?) located on Hedorah’s underside, when I legitimately had a small mental, almost instinctual urge to let it fall from my hands. As though I was holding a decaying crab in my hands and my primal fear of such things triggered a small but memorable reaction to this figure. Considering the goal of this sculpt is to recreate a living piece of filth, I really don’t know if there is any better praise that I can give it!
Accessories
The accessories include 1 removable left eyelid for adult Hedorah, 1 laser beam for adult Hedorah, the 2 spheres Godzilla rips out of Hedorah's defeated corpse (which Mezco has labeled Poison Orbs), 4 miniature buildings, and 3 stands one black for Godzilla, one black for adult Hedorah, and finally one clear stand with an additional clear pole sticking up for you to mount the flying Hedorah figure on. While the foot peg seems to be positioned in different locations on the two black stands, there is no real distinction between the two black stands. No names to determine which belongs to which figure, for example. While Adult Hedorah stands perfectly fine on his own, Godzilla will fall back on his tail without his stand, meaning you will want to keep Godzilla on a black stand if you want Godzilla to be standing up right properly.
The removable eye laser beam can be inserted atop the left or right adult Hedorah's eyes and looks fantastic! I wish the set had a 2nd one to have both eyes firing at once but that's just a nitpick. The closed eyelid also works very well and contrasts with the eye beam quite well! The Poison Orbs are also wonderfully dirty looking! My one critique of them is that they are not molded in a manner that allows Godzilla to hold them in his hands, although you could consider that a weakness of the Godzilla figure. The 4 miniature buildings are quite simple but, in all honesty, may be my favorite part of this entire set! I absolutely love having some buildings to place around any Godzilla figures! They instantly provide a sense of scale that is eye grabbing and makes for a fantastic display! While it's logical that none of these kinds of miniatures were included in Mezco's 2 Destroy All Monsters sets, I really hope Mezco continues to add miniature buildings into all their future Godzilla sets, assuming it isn't a city-less setting like Planet X or Bamboo Island.
Paint
Paint work on all 3 figures is wonderfully done! While Godzilla is definitely covered in muted or drabber colors, I absolutely love how much this reflects the color scheme displayed on Godzilla in this film! Hedorah also looks great in both Adult and Flying forms. Adult Hedorah does feature more paint than his flying form with blended colors ranging from yellow, red, and silver, however both forms of Hedorah share the same near impeccable paint work for the eyes on each figure, perfectly capturing Hedorah’s sinister and all too human stare!
Overall
While the set may have a few drawbacks, I have no doubt that this will be a huge hit with Godzilla fans and quite honestly it deserves to become a fan favorite! As of this writing, it is available on the official Mezco website and store for $65. When you consider just how much you get in this set with its 3 lovingly detailed figures and 11 accessories, all of which are either perfect or nearly there, I’d be VERY hard pressed to think of any possible reason not to encourage any die hard G-Fan or regular toy collector to pick this up! The high level quality of these figures and accessories plus the die hard pleasing attention to detail, Godzilla’s wounded left eye for example, make this set a stellar release! I’m thrilled not only with this set but to see what else Mezco has in store G-Fans, and as for myself I fully intend to buy and review both Destroy All Monsters sets next! Mezco has me hooked as a customer and I don’t really know anything better to say about this release than that!
**Below are several bonus images of the set.**
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