Released to toy stores in 2011, two figures (Godzilla 2004 and Mechagodzilla 1974) of a new line of super deformed "collector" toys were introduced to store shelves from Bandai Creation under the title "Tokyo Vinyl". The line did not fare well and currently sit unsold on toy store shelves. This review is for Mechagodzilla '74, a really cool and fun figure and my favorite of the two.
Mechagodzilla 74's extremities are what one's eyes are instantly drawn to with this figure and I love the style. The face is adorned with a really cool toothy grin with metcallicyellow eyes that project playfulness and malice at the same time. The arms are elongated and the finger tips can touch the toes. It's obvious that certain liberties were taken with the design but there are a couple of omissions as well. One is forgivable but the other is just downright puzzling. For the first, there are no circular ridges on either side of the head. They're both flat and rounded. It's a small nitpick but if I had the choice, I'd have preferred them. The other omission is the "MG" logo on each of the arms. It's missing from the figure and has been, until now, on every official Mehcagodzilla 74 figure to date. How this slipped by Toho, and the design team at Bandai is really baffling. You don't notice it at first but when you do, it sticks out like a sore thumb. The rest of the figure however is suit accurate with the cartoonish embellishments thrown in. The vinyl is nice to the touch, especially in the bumpy face and chest area.
Mechagodzilla 74 has five points of articulation. The head can swivel 360 degrees and so can the arms and legs. Because he looks so delightfully sinister, posing him is quite fun.
In terms of the paint job, the figure is simple with no paint slop anywhere. A MINOR nitpick would be that the red paint doesn't cover the circles on either side of the head but it's easily forgivable. He shines a metallic silver and the yellow eyes are perfectly painted. The toothy grin's white paint is applied perfectly as well. You can see the jagged tooth design but that's from the mold and not from the paint. I would have liked to have seen the jagged teeth lines be filled in with black paint to bring the teeth out more. But, maybe Bandai tried it and it didn't look right.
In the end, despite the absence of the "MG" logo on the arms, I really like this figure. It's too bad that this line never caught on. Perhaps it was the wrong market (this is better suited for comic book shops) or the initial price point of $19.99 when it was released. Sometimes cool ideas don't catch on the first time. It's a shame too but because this and Godzilla 04 Tokyo Vinyl's didn't sell very well, other upcoming figures in the line like King Ghidorah pictured here are on indefinite hold. I personally hope that the figures are discovered again (now that the price has dropped to $12.99) and they sell enough to continue the series.
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