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S.H. MonsterArts Nargacuga


 My latest import figure to arrive is the Tamashii Nations Nargacuga monster from Monster Hunter World. I'm really not familiar with that game, but when I saw that this figure was up for pre-order, it looked cool and I figured it would make a nice enemy kaiju for my Ultramen and Godzilla/Gamera figures. And since MonsterArts isn't releasing any new Godzilla kaiju this year (with exception of Biollante and GMK Goji repaints), this will be the only new articulated kaiju figure released this year besides the other dragon figure (Rathalos) from this game being set to drop in October (Figuarts hasn't revealed any upcoming Ultra kaiju either).






Nargacuga comes with 2 extra tail segments (cut tail and open spiked), an alternate head (one has highlights that are more red/angry), a little plastic warrior holding a blade to cut the tail, 2 extra wing segments that plug into the middle of the arm for a more full wing, and wood prop with plastic stand. Like I stated, both heads are the same, minus the shade of red. They both are nicely detailed, as is the little plastic man and even the wood prop and tail segments. The sliced tail segment resembles a grapefruit where it's cut. You can switch it out by pulling off the 3rd tail segment and popping in the cut piece to the ball peg, and the spiked tail by pulling off the 4th tail segment and replacing it. Both of these parts are fairly easy to swap out, as are the heads. The paint, shading and details on this kaiju are really nice. I especially like the pinkish shading on the wing segments. Everything on this figure is done well.







The articulation on Nargacuga is really good. Nothing pops off easily, which is a an issue that can be common in certain MonsterArts figures. His heads are on ball joints with hinged mouth, his neck is on 4 different ball joints that allow it to look up, down and to the sides, ball jointed upper torso and waist can crunch forward and to the sides quite well, 6 ball joints on the tail that allow it to move up, curl inward and to the sides, hinged ball jointed arms, hinged elbows, ball jointed thighs, knees and lower leg, and his paws are also on ball joints. In addition, his spiked wing segments at the end plug into joints and can move in and out, with the smaller one on the inside being able to move far out and in. And the extra segments that plug into a hole in the arm also allow for extra movement and doesn't get in the way of the articulation. Honestly i'm quite impressed with how flexible this kaiju is. I would say this figure is more in line with Figuarts' quality, which tends to be better than MonsterArts. One of his knees is slightly loose, but that can be fixed by simple placing it in the right position. This figure can stand well on it's legs with support from the tail while having the wings held up. 







This kaiju is really cool and i'm very pleased with it. It turned out better than I imagined. I had a lot of fun posing him alone and with various figures and kaiju, amid cityscapes, etc. I did not pre-order Rathalos, the other Monster Hunter World kaiju. Even though he looks cool, I noticed that he comes with 2 extra stands to hold up the very large wings, and I immediately thought of KOTM Ghidorah, which turned out to be a big, clumsy chore (based on many reviews I watched). Just by looking at Ghidorah I had a feeling those oversized wings were going to be an issue, and I got the same vibe from Rathalos, so I passed. 






As far as Nargacuga is concerned, he's absolutely worth getting. A unique looking monster that has a great sculpt, paint, articulation and a good amount of accessories. I would put him in the category of pleasant surprise figure of the year, he really is that good. Now if MonsterArts could just commit to giving their Godzilla figures the same attention to detail and quality, that line might justify the high prices they tend to charge at times. 







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