This is Diamond Select Toys' first full figure bank for the Godzilla franchise that isn't based on the King of the Monsters himself. The inspiration here is the 1974, original Mechagodzilla.
Details
Diamond Select Toys' loves the original Mechagodzilla, as this will be the third entry from them on the character following a Minimates version and the previous Mechagodzilla Vinyl Bust Bank.
In total, the bank measures 12 inches in height. Like the other banks from Diamond Select Toys, its very light due to the hollow nature, although without the long tail on this one its especially easy to hold.
The finer details placed into the bank are up to Diamond Select Toys normal standards. This includes minute details such as the various bolts all across the body. The toy is film accurate as well in terms of the placement of hinges and other small details. That said, I do have a couple of complaints with the figure. On the small side of things, the legs are too upright. In the film, the legs are always slightly bent and seeing them here as straight pillars feels slightly off. Second up, like the Bust Bank, the fingers are way too small. They are short little stubs here while the movie version has long, deadly looking fingers.
Finally, and most important, the head just doesn't quite look right. It's way too narrow, like someone squashed it. This detail really stands above the others that could have been improved. While it looks better from the side, head-on it's not a great look.
Paint
For a character whose paint job can be described as "silver", there is nice attention to detail here. There are a couple of shades of silver used to give it some variety, such as in the joint areas. There are yellow dots on the chest and also the MG logo on its arms, which are correctly colored in red. The eyes could have used a little more work, though, to give them that glass-like reflection that they had in the film rather than a single tone yellow like they are here.
Bank Function
The coin slot for the bank is located on the back of the figure. It's parallel to the shoulder area and is discreet in its location, making it easy to ignore this is a bank and treat it like a figure if one so chooses.
To retrieve the coins, you have to remove the head of the figure. It's easy to get the coins out, thanks to the fact that they can't go into the leg or arm area, but it doesn't hold all that many coins for a bank this size.
Articulation
Unlike the other banks, this one does have some minor articulation to it. This is seen mostly in the arms, which can swerve almost 360 degrees if not for the legs.
Speaking of, the legs can slightly move as well. I use the term slight as its only about 45 degrees that they can be moved. Still, its enough to make the figure stand totally upright or slightly leaned over.
Finally, the head can also move as well. While I wish it did a cool 360 spin, to simulate the way the character could attack in two directions, it only moves about 90 degrees including both directions.
Packaging and Assembly
The figure bank is composed of seven parts, This includes the head, arms (two), legs (two) and the main body pieces (two). Of these, only the main body pieces have been glued on, which is why there is limited articulation in some of the other areas.
In terms of assembly, only the head comes loose in the packaging. Both the head and main body are sold in a large plastic bag. Assembly is very simple, not requiring a ton of strength to attach or remove the head as needed.
As a cool side note, with the head being the removable part, it opens up some cool possibilities. The most obvious of which is having Godzilla yank it off.
Overall
The bank looks good, and functions well as either an actual bank or as a normal figure. Sadly, I really wish the face was better. It looks solid from the side angles, but dead on its a miss. If this was the only issue I could overlook it a bit, but the stubby fingers also are a sore thumb as well. Still, even with those issues, its a solid release and does retail for around $30, versus the $40 that the Godzilla banks do (although they are much longer too thanks to their tails).
In closing would also like to thank Diamond Select Toys for sending this in for review.
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