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S. H. Monster Arts Monster X


The third figure from the 2004 film Godzilla Final Wars was just released in the S.H. Monster Arts line. It is none other than Monster X, the black and white space creature that gave the King of the Monsters a real fight, after the big G basically wiped the floor with all the other kaiju that were thrown his way. When this figure was announced, I was surprised, expecting any number of monsters before they’d give us X. He looked great in the promo pics, so I pulled the trigger. Now that I have him in hand, he’s a bit of a mixed bag.









The sculpt and paint job is good. Other than his red eyes, the rest of his body carries a two-tone color scheme, though they did add some shading here and there, to bring out the bony parts of his body. The skull like head and 2 side half faces look exceptionally nice, as do the spikes on his arms, and large one on his back. The only accessories he comes with is an alternate pair of hands with the palms open. That’s it. A beam weapon, maybe some more expressive hands (like fists), or even a Xillian ship would have been nice. But nope. 2 pairs of almost indistinguishable hands… groundbreaking!














So now that we’ve established that his accessories suck, his articulation must be great, right? Well… we get another mixed bag. For having a humanoid design, you’d expect him to bend, stretch, twist and move with great range. He doesn’t. His legs can kick high, his knees have enough bend for good crouching poses, and his ankles can twist a good amount. It’s his top half where we run into restrictions. His arms can’t lift too high to the sides, his elbows have a limited range, his upper torso articulation is basically non-existent, and his head can look far down but barely up. The 2 half faces on his shoulders also prevent the head from turning too far in either direction. Double jointed swivel elbows, as well as an upper torso cut and higher range in his shoulders would have greatly helped to give him a much more expressive range in his top half. His segmented tail could have used some improved engineering; the middle joint pops off easily if you bend it too far, though I should note that it would droop and fall off with little effort several times when picking him up and not even touching the tail. Also of note, he’s molded in a softer plastic, so his legs can have some difficulty supporting his top heavy torso. Because of this, one legged kicking poses could only hold for a few seconds before collapsing.










Oh Tamashii Nations…. You took one of the most unique Godzilla foes and instead of realizing his maximum potential, you bogged him down with some sub-standard choices. He looks great, but from the waist up, his articulation is barely better than a standard vinyl figure. Purchasing this figure would only be worth it if you’re a Monster Arts completist. Otherwise, there are plenty of Monster X figures and statues that would better satisfy your X craving.







 

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