From eBay I picked up a 3rd party articulated Showa King Ghidorah figure. The company that made it calls itself Legendary Creations.
Some are calling this an S.H. Monsterarts bootleg, but considering that there isn't an official Showa King Ghidorah released by Tamashii Nations (at least not yet), referring to this as a bootleg, at least for the time being, is debatable.
For a 3rd party figure, it's surprisingly solid. The sculpt is good, with every one of his scales molded nicely. The wings have the detailed membranes on the outside, with spiked ends. The heads accurately capture the details of the face, with the crescent moon shaped spike on top of each one, as well as the "fuzz" on the sides of its heads (and tails).
This figure does have some issues, though. I immediately noticed a smudge of white paint on one of the wings. I was easily able to remove it, though. When I was messing around with one of the mouths, the tongue popped out of its socket, though I was able to pop it back in with some thin pliers.
The biggest issue, however, are his wings. They slide into these square shaped pegs, that articulate in and out. They don't completely cover the joint once they're in. On my figure, the right one clips in fairly snug, but the left one is loose and can slide off and fall out more easily.
The other issue with the left wing is that the clip doesn't articulate in and out all the way. The photo above shows how far it can move out. By looking at both joints, it appears as if the left was placed on backwards as the little round part is facing outward, while on the right wing, it faces inward. I watched a review on YouTube and it appears that someone else noted the same issue on their figure. Oh well. It's a 3rd party / "bootleg", so you can't really complain about imperfections from a knock off.
As far as the rest of the joints, those are surprisingly solid. One of the joints on the tail pops off, but goes back in with ease. The rest of the joints on the tail are quite good and fluid. The big surprise for me was how well the necks move. I expected joints to pop out left and right and that did not happen. He can look in all sorts of directions without anything falling off. That's quite impressive, especially considering that so many have issues with the necks of the official Tamashii Nations releases.
The upper torso can move forward and side to side a bit, and the legs have decent joints, though the right leg is more stiff and has less range (again, a common issue on others' figures as well). The mouths are a mixed bag, with some opening wider than others. And the tongues don't really move, as I learned when I accidentally popped one out.
As for the paint apps, this is also a mixed bag, The eyes on mine are all painted quite well, with varying degrees of which direction they're looking. There's nothing glaringly derpy on mine. The spikes on his head are painted pretty sloppily, as are the teeth and insides of the mouth, though nowhere near as glaring as the head spikes. It has some dark shading on the outsides of his wings, down his back and a little on his knees. There's no shading on the fuzzy parts of his heads or tails. It could've also benefited from some shading along his spikes that go down each neck. Other than the darker highlights listed above, the rest is this dull brown that looks to be the same color as 2019 Ghidorah figure, not the gold that Showa is supposed to be. And finally, there's some excess plastic on the toes that could've benefitted from some shaving down so they don't look like plastic toy feet.
The only accessory it comes with is a stand that's a copy of the Monsterarts Heisei release, and since it was designed for that figure (which has a sleeker body), it doesn't sit too securely on it, so I'd be wary of posing it like this. Plus, the wings are a hard plastic, so one fall from a shelf could result in breakage.
As for his size, he's large, about the same size as the Monsterarts Heisei Ghidorah, so he scales well with most Monsterarts Godzilla figures and Figuarts Ultras.
My final verdict, this guy is worth getting, though it's important to keep in mind that it's a 3rd party / "bootleg" / knock off, so you should expect varying degrees of QC issues, as most of these figures tend to be a roll of the dice. I think I lucked out for the most part. I've seen a few videos of others buying knock offs that completely fell apart, arrived broken or missing parts, or ended up getting something that was not as advertised. It'll be interesting to do some stop motion with this guy, to see how well he holds up. But for now, I'm pleased with my Showa King Ghidorah.
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