To say Hiya has made an impact with Godzilla collectors would be an understatement. As Hiya began to expand the scope of their releases beyond Godzilla Vs. Kong to include the rest of Legendary's MonsterVerse, many began to wonder if we'd get to see Hiya tackle the triple-headed titan of terror King Ghidorah from Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). Once Hiya confirmed they would be releasing a figure of this incarnation of the three headed dragon, he quickly became a highly anticipated release. Now Hiya has released two separate figures of him for their Exquisite Basic Series of MonsterVerse figures and after being kind enough to send in a review sample of their latest figure, I'm excited to take a look at him and to see if their take on Monster Zero can do this false king his due justice.
This is the 2nd release by Hiya of their King Ghidorah Exquisite Basic Series. While both releases share the same sculpt (as best as I can tell) there are some differences between the two. While the original release went with a more natural paint job, this release comes with a brand-new paint job which sees the entire figure coated in a shiny metallic gold. This release also includes 3 brand new accessories which are gravity beams cast in a clear plastic material. Additionally, the first release came in a box which featured the same style of Godzilla King of the Monsters marketing artwork as NECA’s releases based on the same film and this new release comes in a box feature a new art style which makes this release stand out for anyone who prefers to keep their figures in the packaging. However, keeping a figure with a beautiful paint job in the box would be downright criminal in my humble opinion.
Details
The paint on this figure is what separates it from the original release the most as from what I can tell both figures share the same fantastic sculpt. The various patterns of scales running across Ghidorah’s design are all sculpted to both appear and feel different from each other, and the variety of textures on display in this sculpt are incredible. The sculpt also perfectly captures even the smallest aspects of this design. Each and every spike on Ghidorah’s body are nice and sharp to the touch, to the point where I wouldn’t recommend placing a lot of pressure on any of them lest you hurt yourself. The wings have been sculpted with fantastic attention to detail. They have the correct leathery looking texture across the wingspans which is only enhanced by the additional sculpting of veins. When compared to the rest of his body, Ghidorah’s three heads are easily among the smaller side, however the sculpt for them is incredible, particularly on the sculpting for the eyes and foreheads of all three heads, which perfectly capture the sinister grins that we saw on screen. The work on display here is just beautifully done! The MonsterVerse’s incarnation of Ghidorah will always be a favorite of mine because of the wonderful malevolent nature of the character and Hiya have perfectly captured that with this fantastic release!
Articulation
From their very first release Hiya’s articulation has been a highlight of there releases and outside of the S.H. Monster Arts versions of this character, fans have been waiting for a long time for this incarnation of King Ghidorah to receive the level of articulation that Hiya brings to their releases and Hiya has not disappointed! Both the tails are articulated as are both legs. The torso is also articulated as are each of his wings. Each neck and head are also articulated and share the same points of articulation across all three necks and heads. I cannot express how much I love the range of expression that can be conveyed by articulating the mouths on each head and especially with the tongues in each maw! Because of the miniature size of the tongues, you may want to use a small model kit set of tweezers to adjust them. As far as I can tell the sculpt for Gravity Beam King Ghidorah is the exact same one as their first King Ghidorah, however the necks on the Gravity Beam are much easier to articulate and have a slight but noticeable greater range of articulation than the first figure. Again, I do not believe this figure has any new articulation cuts or joints and I believe this has been achieved by other means. Perhaps the crowning achievement for this figure’s articulation is the wings. In order to replicate the traditional up right stance and the “wing walking” poses shown in the 2019 film, Hiya has given this figure an insane amount of articulation on the wings which allows for you to manually change the position of the wings from upright to the wing walking pose without having to swap parts of any kind. All the articulation allows for both dynamically different stances to be replicated by the same wings. This is a marvel of design, and I am blown away by this work. However, I must say that they are my least favorite part of this figure. I was able to switch the figure from upright, to wing walking, and back to upright however I am concerned about the potential for the stress that performing this movement may cause on the joints, especially if one does not follow the exact order provided by the figure’s instructions. I believe I have noticed that one swivel joint appears to have loosened open following my experimenting with these stances, and I am concerned that I may have caused this damage myself. While I am genuinely impressed with this figure’s ability to switch between stances, I do not believe I will be switching from the traditional up right stance ever again. I do find these joints to be a source of concern, and I believe I would have been more comfortable with swapable wing parts instead of these remarkable yet fragile joints.
Accessories
Both figures came with multiple articulated figure stands made from clear plastic which can be used to support the figure from multiple segments. Each wing has a corresponding stand with an attachment in the shape of a tuning fork which the wing sits within and the main body gets a stand which has an attachment shaped to match King Ghidorah’s chest and rests against the top of the torso where all three necks are attached. I greatly appreciate the inclusion of these stands, however, the joints are looser than I would like and I would recommend that you make sure that the figure is posed in a manner which allows for the figure’s weight to be balanced on its feet or tails, rather than relying on the stands to hold up the figure on their own. Thankfully the figure does have strong legs and is more than capable of standing up right on its own without requiring the stands. The standout accessories are the 3 included Gravity Beams which this release gets its name from. Each one is sculpted in clear yellow plastic and all three share the same sculpt. They can be inserted into each of the three jaws and have a hole for the corresponding tongue to fit into on their ends. These are wonderful accessories, and I love them! The Gravity Beams have been the character’s defining weapon since his first appearance, and I am thrilled at their inclusion here. In fact, I would recommend this version of the figure over the original based on their inclusion alone!
Paint
The metallic gold of this version of the MonsterVerse’s false king is an absolute dazzler as the paint catches the light in a spectacular manner! It appears to be the same color gold applied all over the figure as the few differences in color appear to be caused by the use of different materials in the sculpt. When compared to the original King Ghidorah release the differences between the color schemes on each figure become even starker. Technically the first figure has a more varied and detailed paint job. The various different scales are each painted a different color from each other for one example and this helps the figure have a more lifelike or animalistic appearance. Gravity Beam King Ghidorah’s paint job may be less intricate than the prior release, but he stands as a perfect example of how less can be more. The intense gold paint on this release truly makes him a visual treat to behold. Instead of appearing more animalistic, this figure has a wonderfully fantastical if not royal appearance and harkens back to the original incarnations of this character. I personally love how King Ghidorah is a truly evil character, but also one which is embodied by an equally beautiful appearance. While both Hiya releases are great, I have to say that personally I found the Gravity Beam version to be the visually superior figure thanks to its fantastic paint!
Overall
After reviewing my first Hiya figure with their 2022 release of Godzilla from Godzilla Vs. Kong, I began to dream about the possibility of Hiya taking on the 2019 version of King Ghidorah. Now that such a figure has actually been released, I can say that there’s nothing about Hiya’s figure which doesn’t do King Ghidorah justice! I do believe the wing articulation is a source of concern and despite being a marvel of engineering, I would have preferred swappable parts to avoid the possibility of breaking the wing joints, and I urge people to be very careful and gentle when handling them. Those are my biggest issues with this figure. However, on the whole they are outweighed by everything else that this release does so well! While either version comes strongly recommended, I do believe the Gravity Beam version to be the superior thanks to the improved neck joints, accessories, and incredible paint job.
**Below are bonus images of the figure.**
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