Tag Archives: Godzilla

#3198: Jet Jaguar

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

JET JAGUAR

S.H. MONSTERARTS (BANDAI)

As someone with only really a passing knowledge of the Godzilla franchise, I can tell you that there are two things I am very definitely a fan of, despite my limited knowledge.  The first is Mechagodzilla, because, I mean, come on.  It’s all in the name there, right guys?  The other one?  Jet Jaguar.  Why?  Well, simply put, because I love Ultraman, and Jet Jaguar?  Pretty much just Ultraman.  I mean, yeah, there’s more to that, but, I mean, come on.  I’ve got plenty of Ultraman love in my collection, especially in the Figuarts-style range, but now I’m finally hitting up the Godzilla side just a little bit.  I snagged a Mecha earlier in the year, and now, thanks to an updated appearance in Godzilla: Singular Point, I’ve also gotten a shot at a sweet new Jet Jaguar!  Jet Jaguar!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Jet Jaguar is part of Bandai’s S.H. Monsterarts line, and has been showing up domestically in the last month or so.  In Japan, the figure is a web-exclusive, but in the US, we were fortunate enough to get him as a standard release.  Or, at least as standard as any Monsterarts release can be here.  As mentioned in the intro, the figure is based on Jet’s appearance in Singular Point, specifically his third, fully advanced form, and follows up on the Godzilla from the same source, with was released earlier in the year.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 34 points of articulation.  While the figure is certainly very mobile, I did find that there was just a little bit of a learning curve on working his articulation properly, so as to not risk breaking anything.  Thankfully, it’s not anything too crazy, and after messing with him for a little bit, I was comfortable enough to not worry about damaging anything.  The range is generally pretty solid, but I did find some slight sponginess on the shoulders and hips, largely due to how they are constructed.  It’s nothing terrible, but I do worry just a little bit about how some of the joints are going to hold up over time.  Jet Jaguar’s sculpt is an all-new one, and it does a quite respectable job of recreating the character’s animation design.  The mechanical detailing on the head and torso is especially nice, and very crisp.  Some of the detailing on the legs is a little softer, but still not bad.  I’m not a fan of the use of rubber for the jacketing on the shoulders, but that’s about my only real complaint when it comes to this figure’s assembly.  Everything else is up to the usual SH standards, and he’s just a really slick looking figure.  Jet Jaguar’s color work is fairly basic for the most part, but as far as actual paint goes, there’s some rather nice weathering on the torso and head, and I really dig the clear blue for the eyes.  I also quite like the bright color palette, which really helps him to stand out amongst the other Monsterarts.  In terms of accessories, Jet Jaguar is pretty well loaded.  He’s got three different sets of manipulators (in gripping, splayed, and pointing), the Anguirus spike spear, three different styles of back attachment, with one set of just the “handles”, the back pack, and the full flight pack, an alternate set of “extended” antennae, a minifigure of Yun Arikawa, a chair for Yun which swaps out for one of the plates on Jet’s back, and a stand.  The spear is rubber at the top, so it was a little warped on mine right out the box, but I do appreciate that it splits in the middle to make it easier to get it into Jet’s hands.  The flight pack is articulated, which is fun.  It makes Jet a bit top heavy, but the stand sort of helps with that.  It’s not as useful as one of the stages or anything, but it can at least aid in keeping him upright.  Yun is actually articulated, which is fun, but lacks any sort of paint, so he’s just blue.  So, there’s that.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite having a very limited amount of any *actual* interaction with Jet Jaguar in media, I have this undying love for the guy.  When this figure was announced, I was pretty much immediately on board, and I was definitely plussed at being able to get him through All Time.  The figure’s not quite what I was expecting, I think, after messing with other Monsterarts, but that’s not a bad thing.  He’s still a lot of fun, and just a really nifty design overall.  I’d love to also see a classic Jet, if perhaps that’s on the table, but we’ll just have to see, I suppose.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#3084: Mechagodzilla

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

MECHAGODZILLA

S.H. MONSTERARTS (BANDAI)

Just over a year ago, Godzilla Vs Kong premiered on HBO Max for streaming…and was also in theatres, I guess, but I was still avoiding them, so, you know, I wasn’t tracking such things.  I really enjoyed the movie, though, since it delivered on pretty much everything I had hoped for in a movie called “Godzilla Vs Kong.”  It had Godzilla, it had Kong, they were versus-ing, and, more importantly, it also had Mechagodzilla, Godzilla’s robot doppelganger, and my second favorite thing about the Godzilla franchise.  I picked up Playmates’ movie-inspired version of the character last year, and was pretty happy with that one, but you can always use just a little bit more Mechagodzilla, right?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mechagodzilla was released as part of Bandai’s S.H. Monsterarts line, hitting retail domestically at the end of February of this year.  He’s the third figure in the Godzilla Vs Kong subset, joining the Kong and Godzilla figures released last year to more closely tie-in with the movie.  The figure stands about 7 1/4 inches tall and he has, like, so much articulation.  Just many articulations, you guys.  The tail is almost entirely segmented into individual joints, and the pistons on the hips are designed to work.  He’s got an articulated jaw, he’s got butterfly shoulders.  About the only things missing are finger and toe movement, but at this size, that’s far from an issue.  They’d probably be at risk of breakage anyway.  As it stands, the current articulation scheme gives this guy a pretty solid range of motion.  The elbows are notably a little restricted, but beyond that, it’s impressive, especially that tail.  Mechagodzilla sports an all-new sculpt, based on his appearance in the movie.  Obviously, at this price-point, the sculpt is a lot more involved than the Playmates equivalent.  Everything is much sharper, and I do mean that literally; you gotta be careful with that tail.  Everything is very crisp, and convincingly mechanical, and there’s a ton of really great detail work on the inner mechanics of everything.  He’s also got a little bit of diecast metal worked into the legs and feet, which not only gives him a little extra heft, but also makes him very stable on his feet.  Mechagodzilla’s paint work isn’t too terribly involved, at least in terms of coloring, but it’s at least consistent.  The silver is all painted, which looks quite nice, and the handful of red accents do a good job of breaking things up just a little bit.  Mechagodzilla is light on the extras, but not completely without.  He gets two different sets of hands, one set open, the other closed, in order to add some extra variety to his posing.  It might have been nice to get a blast effect for his atomic breath, or possibly even some damaged parts, but ultimately, it’s nice that we got anything at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I like Mechagodzilla a fair bit, but the nature of his release meant that I wasn’t expecting to have an easy time getting ahold of this one through my usual means.  I was also pretty content with the Playmates figure, which is surprisingly good for its price-point.  That said, when one of these rolled through All Time, and I was able to snag him for a pretty solid deal.  Coupled with a general slow down in what I’ve been picking up, he just felt like the right thing at the right time.  This figure’s really solid, but in like a subtle way.  There’s a lot going on with him, but he’s not overly showy.  He’s just a really cool figure, and I’m glad I picked him up.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website.

#2760: Mechagodzilla

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

MECHAGODZILLA

GODZILLA VS KONG (PLAYMATES)

“A robotic apex predator with unstoppable powers of laser destruction, Mechagodzilla was created in secret to destroy Godzilla and end the reign of monsters.”

On March 31st, we finally got the conclusion to what Legendary’s Monsterverse has been building up to for a few years, Godzilla vs Kong, which was a movie that was, unsurprisingly, about Godzilla and Kong having a little bit of a spat.  It’s a big, fun action movie, which very much delivers on the promise of the title, and I really quite enjoyed it.  After being rather on the quiet side in terms of merchandising, this movie was a Monsterverse film that actually got a pretty well-formed tie-in line of toys, giving us a couple of variants of the two title characters, as well as some of the more antagonistic threats that they face within the movie.  The film’s biggest antagonist is definitely Godzilla’s robotic doppelgänger, Mechagodzilla!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Mechagodzilla is part of Playmates’ basic Godzilla vs Kong line, which is, as of right now, a Walmart-exclusive line of figures, which started hitting shelves a couple of weeks before the film’s release.  He was one of two items that leaked the character’s appearance prior to the film’s release, although we all had a sneaking suspicion even before that.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  He’s actually one of the best articulated figures in the line, with most of the basics covered, as well as a few extra joints.  I was a little bummed by the lack of elbow joints, but otherwise he’s pretty posable, especially given the price point.  The figure’s sculpt is so far unique to him, although it’s possible it might be picked for a repaint later down the line, like the basic Godzilla and Kong sculpts got.  Whatever the case, it’s a pretty decent one.  It’s not quite to the level of Bandai Japan or NECA, with the general detailing being a little on the softer side than the more collector-oriented stuff, but there’s still a lot of detailing going on there.  Like the rest of the line, he boasts “Battle Damage Reveal!” which in his case means that the panel on the center of his torso comes off, revealing some more mechanical details beneath.  It doesn’t really track directly with anything from the film, but it’s still kind of a cool gimmick.  Additionally, while it doesn’t do much for the figure on his own, the interior of the mouth has a spot that’s compatible with the atomic breath effects piece designed for the standard Godzilla.  We still don’t have said piece in red, of course, but it’s still nice from a cross-compatibility stand-point.  Mechagodzilla is rather basic on the paint work stand point, mostly being molded in the proper colors.  There’s a few small spots of red, but that’s really it.  It’s not particularly involved, and does look somewhat devoid of detail in some spots, but, again, for the price point, it does make some sense.  While Mechagodzilla doesn’t include any sort of effects pieces of his own, he does include a miniature version of the HEAV, or Hollow Earth Anti-Gravity Vehicle. Mechagodzilla doesn’t actually ever directly interact with the HEAV, but it’s a nice way of at least getting the piece out there.  It’s also just a pretty nifty little piece all on its own.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

While I’m hit and miss with Godzilla himself in regards to the toy world, I do like me some giant robots, and as such, Mechagodzilla is very definitely a thing that makes me go “wow, I want that.”  That’s ultimately what I said when, after Max picked up one of these for himself.  Thankfully, he was more than happy to keep an eye out for a second one for me, and boom, here we are.  Mechagodzilla is a really fun figure, and very hard to beat for the $10 asking price.  Playmates did a great job with this line, and I’m very seriously tempted to pick up a few of the others.

#0495: Godzilla Minimate Set #2

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

ATOMIC GODZILA, MECHA GODZILLA, HEDORAH THE SMOG MONSTER, & JET JAGUAR

GODZILLA MINIMATES

CREEEEEEEEEONK!!!!!!!!!!!! Did you hear that? That’s the sound of a Godzilla. I know it is, cuz that’s how it’s written out in all the comics! Do you know what that sound means? No, it’s not actually Godzilla. That’s the dumb talking. Obviously, the only thing that sound could possibly mean is that I’m totally about to review some Godzilla Minimates up in here!

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

This sets makes up “series 2” of the Godzilla Minimates line, which is being handled through boxed sets, at least for the time being.

ATOMIC GODZILLA

First up, it’s the title character, Godzilla. This is the second Godzilla in the line, which isn’t surprising, given there have been two sets. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall, with 14 points of articulation. This Godzilla, like the last one, is something of an amalgamation of a few of the “classic” Godzilla designs. The main difference between this Godzilla and the last one is that this one represents Godzilla when he uses his atomic ray, which is one of his most distinctive attacks. The figure is built using the standard Minimate body as a starting point, with a unique head, hands, and feet, as well as add-ons for the torso/tail and upper thighs. All of these pieces were used on the previous Godzilla, which is a sensible re-use. The pieces are pretty well sculpted, although the fact that the arms and legs are just basic Minimate arms is a little goofy looking. The torso piece is also a little on the simple side for Godzilla, especially when compared to the other figures in the set. The head is very well sculpted, though, so it’s definitely got that going for it. The paintwork on the figure is generally pretty good. It’s pretty straight forward, but it’s nice and clean. Plus, his back spines are molded in clear blue, which is just plain cool. The figure includes an atomic ray piece and a clear display stand.

MECHA GODZILLA

You can’t have Godzilla without having his mecha counterpart, so here it is! Mecha Godzilla is 2 ½ inches in height and he has 14 points of articulation. I’m pretty sure he’s based on the first version of Mecha Godzilla, though there were more than a few versions of the concept. The figure uses the basic Minimate body as a starting point, with a new head, hands, and feet, as well as an add-on for the torso. The pieces are all new to this figure and they are incredibly well sculpted. All of the details are nice and sharp. Just look at those rivets! Amazing! The figure’s paint is a little bit more detailed than Godzilla, with some more fine detail. Everything is nice and clean, and all the line work is really sharp. Mecha Godzilla includes a clear display stand.

HEDORAH THE SMOG MONSTER

Okay, so I don’t actually know anything about Hedorah. He’s apparently a smog monster, so there’s that. I’ve gathered that he’s one of the more minor Godzilla foes, but you have to get a few of them in to keep the line going. The figure is about 2 ½ inches tall and he has 13 points of articulation. He has unique hands and feet, as well as an add-on for the head/torso/tail. When fully assembled, the figure is really quite large. Like, so large that the package had to be specially shaped just to accommodate him. I’m pretty sure that’s a first. The sculpt is certainly unique, and very gloopy. He does look like a smog monster, so that’s a plus. As far as paint goes, Hedorah actually pretty lax on the paint work. For the most part, he’s molded in a dark green plastic. He’s got some detailing for his eyes and a few spots of brighter green. The paint is cleanly applied, and the detail work is pretty sharp. Hedorah includes a clear display stand.

JET JAGUAR

Jet Jaguar! Jet Jaguar! So, um, Jet Jaguar. How about that. See, I don’t know a whole lot about Jet Jaguar, but he’s one of my favorite parts of the Godzilla mythos. And that’s mostly because he is literally just Ultraman. And that’s totally okay. The figure is 2 ½ inches tall with 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the same body as the others in the set, with a unique head and an add-on for the shoulder piece. Both pieces are new to Jet, and they’re both pretty good translation of the Jet Jaguar design, so that’s good. Jet probably has the most complicated paint work in the set. With the most room for error, Jet does end up with a few more issues with bleed over. That said, most of the work is really great. The colors are bold and bright, and the line work is clean and sharp. Just look at that awesome grin! Jet Jaguar includes a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I ended up passing on the first set of Godzilla Minimates for a variety of reasons. However, when it was announced that both Mecha Godzilla and Jet Jaguar would be in the second set, I was immediately on board. I picked this set up from my favorite Minimate retailer, Luke’s Toy Store. I really like this set a lot. The figures are definitely unique looking and very well put together. I may even go back and get the first set now!