S.H. MonsterArts Destoroyah (Tokyo Waterfront City Decisive Battle Version)

My first new figure of 2026 is the S.H. MonsterArts Destoroyah re-release. This figure came with accessories and a different paint job. It was released in Japan at the end of December, but since they pretty much shut down for New Year's week, it wasn't shipped and delivered until after the first. That being said, I opted for DHL shipping and it took 4 days to get to me, so that was quite cool.

Destoroyah was Godzilla's final foe in the Heisei series. He was a crustacean-like beast that was born from microscopic, mutated prehistoric marine creatures as a result of the Oxygen Destroyer weapon that was used to kill the first Godzilla in 1954. Destoroyah resembles a scaly red demon, with large bat-like wings and lots of horns and spikes. He had several evolving forms before his final demonic transformation. He was a tough opponent who gave Godzilla a challenge, before finally being defeated by the JSDF's freezing weapon as Godzilla went into meltdown. Destoroyah is one of the more popular kaiju of the Heisei era.

The sculpt is great, accurately capturing his chunky, hard-shelled glory. He sports 2 pairs of wings (large and small), spikes on his head, face, shoulders, arms and legs, three tusks on each side of his mouth, and three fingers and toes. Destoroyah is quite an imposing kaiju, and Bandai did an impressive job capturing his appearance. Being the third release, this one sports more vibrant red paint throughout the body, with the scales on his chest a brighter yellow. The horn on his head is a translucent soft amber that looks very striking when the light hits it. His eyes are bright yellow. I know that the very first release of Destoroyah had dark red eyes, which never made sense, since his eyes were never that color. They corrected that for the special color version, and I'm glad they kept it for this release. The accessories this version comes with are 3 separate energy effects that are cast in a translucent yellow and fit on the sides of his head and horn. He also comes with a translucent, swirling breath beam. It fits nicely in his mouth and is supported by a clear stand. While these days it's considered pretty lucky to get an S.H. MonsterArts figure with a beam effect, I think I would have preferred newly sculpted, interchangeable wings. An open pair that's a solid piece (more on that later), and a pair of folded wings. But since he actually came with extras, I guess I can't complain too much.

And now for the articulation. This is where the level of excitement for this figure starts to drop. Considering this is a re-release, they're using the same, outdated engineering as the first Destoroyah that dropped over 12 years ago. Considering how amazing the articulation has been on some of their recent offerings (Godzilla 2000, Anguirus, King Ghidorah 72), this one is quite stiff. The head and neck can look up and turn to the sides. The jaw opens well, with the side tusks having a little movement. The waist hardly moves at all. The shoulders can spin around, and the elbows and wrists can bend a bit. The thighs can kick forward and back, with the knee joints being able to twist just a little bit. The ankles can tilt, but not far. The multi-segmented tail can twist up and to the sides, but is not nearly as fluid as Godzilla 2000's glorious tail. And finally, those wings. They can move up and down, but not a lot. The joint on the right shoulder where the wing attaches was quite stiff. I applied a bit of shock oil to help loosen it up. There is one joint in the middle of it but the range isn't much. The inner membranes of the wings are all separate, hard plastic pieces that are attached via small ball joints. I didn't bother messing with them as they've been known to easily snap off with the older releases. This is why I would have preferred newly sculpted wings that are one solid piece. Considering how bulky the sculpt is, it's a wonder they were able to get anything other than standard swivels out of this figure. Still, with the advancements in engineering we've seen in the last few years, I can't help but wonder what Destoroyah's articulation would have been like if he had just been produced now, instead of over a decade ago.

S.H. MonsterArts Destoroyah Tokyo Waterfront City Decisive Battle version looks really good, with vibrant, arresting paint. But the outdated engineering offers limited range when posing it. Here's a funny thought: for the last several years, whenever a new SHMA figure would drop, anytime anyone posted about it on social media, there was always at least 3 people in the comments that would say something like "I'll just wait for the Hiya". Every time I'd see those type of responses, I'd find it annoying and roll my eyes. However, now that I own a few Hiya figures, I can say that I get the hype. And I can't help but think what Hiya would do with Destoroyah if they were to produce one. Their Godzilla and King Ghidorah 91 completely blew SHMA's versions out of the water. That being said, this Destoroyah is nice. It’s just not great.