So, Shin Godzilla (2016) came and went. But the hype of Japan’s resurrection of the nuclear menace was far from short lived. No matter your opinion of the film, you can’t deny that it has left its mark on the franchise. For better or for worse depends on your point of view. But with Anno leaving his fingerprint on the modern interpretation of the monster king, Shin Godzilla made a roaring return in Universal Studios Japan’s Godzilla vs. Evangelion ride. And not only Shin Godzilla, but a new Shin Ghidorah!
For those of you not counting at home, this marks not one, not two, but three new iterations of the three headed monster in the year 2019. First came the animated one found in the third anime film: Godzilla: The Planet Eater. The second, and most well known of the three, found in Legendary’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters. And the third, found in this ride.
This version of Ghidorah seems to be more or less a updated take on the classic, Showa design. Before I begin, let me just say I rather like the basic design in videos I’ve seen. However, I do feel they should have given “Shin Ghidorah” more traditional wings and legs. The legs of this Ghidorah just look… stumpy. And I’m just not a fan of these wings.
Details
First off, sculpt. King Ghidorah is sculpted entirely out of soft vinyl. The heads (not the necks), wings, legs and tails are all separately sculpted. The tails themselves are actually made of two halves. However, all parts are glued in place except for the legs (more on that in the articulation part). The figure is molded in a golden vinyl. The strongest aspect of this figure is its sculpting detail which looks absolutely amazing. Well, almost amazing anyway. I feel like the heads could have been done better, especially around the Showa-esque horns and mouths. The primary horns are also really thick, something I just don’t understand why considering other Bandai Ghidorah’s were able to make the horns look appropriate and not look more like nubs.
The tails are easily my favorite part of this Ghidorah and figure in general. Each looks extremely thick and powerful, as if it could crush the life out of a victim like an anaconda’s constriction. The wings are also pretty well done, though I admit I wish it had more traditional wings like Showa or Heisei King Ghidorah. However, the “grate” pattern on them is slowly growing on me. I can’t fault the figure for following this design trait of the Ghidorah, however.
How does it scale with other six inch figures? Well, not very well. He’s short. Ridiculously short.
Articulation
For a King Ghidorah, the articulation on this figure is downright sad. The only part capable of rotating are its tiny, poorly designed (not the figure’s fault but actual design of the kaiju) legs. Why this is, I haven’t a clue. There’s really no reason the heads and tails couldn’t rotate, what with them being separately sculpted. However, they are glued tightly in place.
Accessories
Like most other Bandai vinyls, this King Ghidorah merely comes with an attached tag.
Paint
For being such an exclusive and somewhat rare newer release, the paint on this figure is sourly lacking and a huge let down. Thankfully, the base color of the vinyl, which is a golden color, does look good. But the only painted details are a dark brown-ish color around the base of the heads, its beady eyes colored with dots of yellow, and a shade of lighter gold on its chest and front necks. Otherwise, there is no more color to be found. The color used on the eyes and chest/necks is hard to even make out in natural light. It is really just a shame they couldn’t even have been bothered to paint its claws, teeth, or inner mouths.
Overall
Blah. That’s what I have to say: blah. The GvE King Ghidorah, or “Shin Ghidorah” as some fans have come to call it, is a design that I feel could have been so much more if it had more traditional legs and wings. But even with that failing, the lack of basic articulation shared by most other vinyl figures and the lazy paint application just makes this release a miss for me. The sculpt detail is nicely done, but that’s really all this release has going for it. This is a cheaply made, somewhat expensive cash grab to entice fans to spend on what will eventually be a rare figure once the ride is gone from Universal Studios. Sadly, you won’t find this figure for much less than $70. And considering it’s a specialty figure, this price is destined to go up. To make matters even worse, the figure doesn’t scale well at all with any typical six inch Godzilla figure.
I wouldn’t bother with it unless you’re a hardcore collector. There’s plenty of better Ghidorah vinyls out there that you can snag for about the same price (and many A LOT cheaper) if you know where to look. Unless you just HAVE to have this specific incarnation, I recommend skipping.
So in recap: the only thing this figure really has going for it is sculpt detail. Not enough to warrant a $70+ price tag when everything is said and done.
**Below are several bonus images, including some size comparisons and shots from various angles.**
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