Now THIS is something many, many fans (myself included) thought would never happen. The Hanna-Barbera Godzilla cartoon briefly aired on TV after it’s run in the late 70’s/early 80’s and for a little bit in the early 2000’s. A three volume DVD set was released years and is now long out of print (fortunately, Toho is uploading episodes to their Youtube Channel). The simple fact this statue now exists as an official release is nothing short of a miracle. Anyway, let’s check out it out!
Details
Although Godzilla looks like he’d be more on the heavier side, the statue is surprisingly light, which I like. The pose itself is that of a “battle ready” pose, which looks great from all angles, too. The tail comes separate in the box and is attached via magnet, which is something I haven’t seen until this point. I couldn’t get it to fit flush, however. If I push forward on the tail, there’s a gap in the back. If I push back on the tail, there’s a gap in the front. Thankfully this won’t be noticeable when on display, but it still kinda bugs me. The single row of dorsal plates look great and are accurate to the cartoon. Godzilla’s face is in a friendly yet challenging expression, which looks great. The statue itself leans back a little bit so it has a slight wobble, but he can still stand up. I don’t know why the statue just can’t stand flush with the surface. One knock against this release are dings. There are dings on the statue (one right on Godzilla’s face which actually looks like a slice mark), and a big one on the stand.
Articulation
None.
Accessories
Included is a name plate, which looks great no matter where you put it, and a hexagon stand. The stand has the various logos on the bottom and on the top, and has a deep groove-cut Godzilla logo. It looks cool but I feel that it should have been painted in the grooves a white color (or possibly the same green as the statue mold). It seems kind of naked the way it currently is. Weirdly, the base, like the statue, can also wobble is you move it slightly.
Paint
Godzilla’s body and backplates aren’t painted, they’re just the mold colors and they compliment each other very well. Godzilla went from light to dark green in the series and from my memory, I don’t remember him being this light shade of green, but he still looks great! I really like how the dark blue of the backplates pop against the green body. The “definition line” paint is great for the most part. There are a couple of missed spots on the toenails and fingernails but at a glance, I didn’t notice them. Combined with the mold, the definition lines help make this look less like a statue but more like a live cartoon. As far as accuracy, the mid section definition line would appear and disappear in the series.
Overall
This is a stellar release of a design that I thought would be lost to time and only in the minds of the most hardcore. Now that the Godzilla franchise is at the most popular it’s ever been thanks to the recent films and flood of merchandise in the past eight years, I’m glad that Mondo made this piece.
**Below are several bonus images of the figure.**
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