Go, Go, Godzilla! Actually, it's die, die, Godzilla. Crap. Okay, see, some background. Godzilla isn't Godzilla, except when he is. The original Godzilla died in the original movie. Through the '50s '60s, and '70s, it as a second monster. In the '80s Japan rebooted the series with a new second monster, though keeping the first film in continuity. The '00's saw several reboot films again - and, in fact, the 2014 movie fits in the theme, too.
Anyway, in 1995, Toho made the decision to kill Godzilla in a movie and end the series, opening the way for the 1998 American film. of course, they then started a new Godzilla series in 1999 because the American movie sucked.
In Godzilla Vs. Destoroyah, the Big G suffered a nuclear meltdown. Throughout the movie, his body glowed bright orange and he burned things he touched, culminating in a tragic scene where he literally melted and exploded. Poor, poor Godzilla. The meltdown suit contianed so many little lights that the suit actor passed out repeatedly from the heat, though apparently he was able to stay awake whenever the power cord in th esuit's tail shorted out and shocked him.
Anyway! NECA Toys has been using their Godzilla license for all it's worth, including today's feature: BURNING GODZILLA.
PACKAGING: **** Godzilla comes in a big plastic clamshell, and the figure itself is nestled in... wow, I botched this picture. Sorry. I got too excited about the toy inside.
SCULPT: **** Fun factoid: Apparently...probably... Godzilla was meant to mean "Gorilla Whale", which does make sense, seeing as how Gojira looks like Go-Jira (Go from Gorilla, and Jira meaning Whale). of coure, he's actually a stegorannosaurus rex, but who's counting?
And this figure is fantastic. It looks like the sui from the movie, whether it's in Godzilla's attitude-filled face or his paunchy belly, this toy's sculptural quality is good enough to stand toe-to-toe with the expensive imports that have gotten popular late.y The attention to deail blows NECA's 2014 Godzilla out of the water, as there is actual depth and texture. NECA consistently makes good toys, and this is clearly one of them.
If it has a flaw, it is that the neck and head joints look a little awkward, especially from the side. But that seems to be the only problem.
PAINT: **** Burning Godzilla is certainly more visually interesting than expected, and that is due to the color palette. He isn't simply black with orange splotches, Godzilla's burning rash (wow) follows a specific pattern, Of special note, Godzilla's dorsal plates are also colored perfectly, just as they were before they melted.
And he glows! Sorta. Like most (but not all) Burning Godzilla figures, this toy is sculpted in translucent orange and painted over with opaque paint. Because Godzilla is really big and thick, he does not serve as an easy light pipe, but you can shine light through him pretty easily. It also helps his burning patches to look like the heat goes deep into his body, and is not merely on the surface.
ARTICULATION: **** Godzilla has a ball-jointed head, neck, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, torso, hips, knees, feet, four ball-jointed tail segments, a hinged jaw, and hinged hands.
Let's begin with the tail. Although it isn't 100% segmented like Otachi's, Godzilla's tail is a nice balance between ball-jointed segments and a bendy section. It is poseable, but to a realistic extent. You can't tie Godzilla's tail into knots, but you would be surprised with how well you can pose it.
Tail aside, Godzilla is insanely poseable. It really feels like NECA managed to approximate the man-in-suit motion, and there are all sorts of little details, like his hinged hands. Godzill can open and close his hands with no problem... or taunt, or fight, or whatnot.
ACCESSORIES: **** NOTHING. Godzilla needs no accessories! Skree-Onk!
Actually, he could have used some atomic fire. Maybe in a future release?
VALUE: **** Godzilla is roughly comparable to a $60 import, but should cost you half that.
THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR: I don't know, Godzilla is one of NECA's sturdier designs.
WHERE TO BUY: Like all of NECA's product, Toys R Us is a great bet.
OVERALL: **** Burning Godzilla is pretty much everything I wanted it to be. As much as it represents a depressing part of the fiml franchise, it is so visually unique and interesting that any figure of it is a must-have, and this one is extreely well-made. If not for that one awkward neck joint, it would easily be better than those overpriced import toys. As it is... it's still better, dude. Way better.
