Though
Godzilla always was, and I'm fairly confident always
will be, the number one giant Japanese monster,
his "supporting cast" definitely added
to the franchise as well, as 25+ movies of the same
monster going on the same rampages over and over
again probably wouldn't hold up like the last 50
years of spectacular kaiju battles have. Some of
Godzilla's friends and foes have risen to become
almost as famous as the king himself over the years.
The way I see it, you had the "A-Team"
(no, not Hannibal, BA, Face and Murdock.) of King
Ghidorah, Mothra, Mechagodzilla, and Rodan....the
B-Team which includes many favorites such as Anguirus,
Gigan and more...and then, well, you had what I
will affectionately refer to as the "underdogs",
lesser known kaiju who have recently been enjoying
an increased fan-base and more vocal support from
the kaiju community, such as Varan, Baragon (though
Baragon's standing has certainly been improved since
his appearence in Godzilla,
Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out
Attack), and the focus of this review, Gorosaurus.
First appearing in 1967's King
Kong Escapes, Gorosaurus served as little
more than a suitmation replica of the original stop-motion
brawl between Kong and a T-Rex in the original King
Kong. I don't recall if he was even named in King
Kong Escapes, and despite a speedy kick
that managed to catch Kong off guard, Gorosaurus
was dispatched by the primate only to return in
Destroy
All Monsters (1968), allegedly only due
to the ragged status of the Baragon suit at the
time. Despite being a "minor" kaiju, Gorosaurus
was fairly instrumental in DAM, being the one who
knocked Ghidorah off his feet with a powerful kangaroo
kick that would lead to his ultimate downfall.
Despite that, Gorosaurus is often over-looked in
the film due to his numorous co-stars. The classic
Bandai Gorosaurus suffered similarly, being released
in 1993 along with Baby Godzilla, Godzillasaurus,
Fire Rodan, Godzilla (a re-issue of the previous
years Batto-Goji), Hedorah, Jet Jaguar, King Kong,
Jaiger, Kamacuras, Viras, King Caesar, and G-FORCE's
Mechagodzilla. However, as an aside, Gorosaurus
enjoyed a spot in many of the vintage lines of kaiju
toys, appearing in various colors in the Bullmark
and Marusan figure lines.
The Bandai figure stands under 7 inches in height
and around 11 inches from nose to tail. Gorosaurus
is painted with a pleasing aqua-ish color over most
of his body, with a yellow-green underbelly. Claws
on the fingers and toes are silver, teeth are individually
painted white, and his tounge, naturally, red. Despite
being a well-made figure, Gorosaurus differs slightly
from his on screen appearence.
The actual suit was a bit darker than the toy,
with lighter spines along his back, and seems differently
proportioned than the toy. In particular, the arms
looked a bit stubbier on the suit when compared
to the longer ones on the toy, and the toy has a
shorter and thicker tail. Speaking of the tail,
some of the more recent Gorosaurus toys depict the
dinosaur kaiju with a spike on the top of his tail,
this particular figure does not. This doesn't really
bother me as the spike never really figured into
any of the movies, if it was actually a part of
the suit at all. The one thing that is rather distracting
to me is Gorosaurus' tongue. I know, it's an odd
area to fixate on, but it seems to be strangely
protruding from the middle of his mouth, and I've
just got to believe he would've looked better either
with no tongue or with it attached to his lower
jaw instead of just oddly suspended.
Despite Gorosaurus' rising popularity, it can be
hard to re-create any of his battles in figure form,
simply because there just weren't that many. Luckily,
most of his Destroy
All Monsters allies are available in various
forms, or if you have the one Toho Kong figure Bandai
released, also in 1993, there's always that....although
the Kong toy is based off of the suit from 1962's
King
Kong vs Godzilla, who I personally believe
is a different creature altogether than the one
who fought Gorosaurus....but, hey, making sense
of that isn't my job. I just handle the toys.
Gorosaurus isn't as widely available on eBay or
from online dealers as some of the other classic
Godzilla figures, but if you really want to add
one to your collection you'll find him from time
to time, usually in the $80-$100 price range, which
is actually about the same price he went for in
the golden age of Godzilla collecting in America
in the mid 1990's. Gorosaurus has never been re-issued
by Bandai in any of their memorial boxes or in 6
inch form, nor was he a part of Bandai Creation
or Trendmasters' US Godzilla figure lines, so that
likely drives his price a bit higher than figures
released of other, more popular kaiju during the
same time period. Just a little extra information
there, free of charge. Of course.....it's all free,
because I don't get paid....but I'm doing what I
love, so I can't complain!
All in all, Gorosaurus is a decent toy, but unremarkable,
earning him three and a half out of a possible five
stars. Despite never again appearing in a Godzilla
film after Destroy
All Monsters, I'm a big fan of Toho's other
Big G, if you will, and I hope we see him again
soon, be it in toy, movie, or video game form.
How 'bout all three, Toho?
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