Skip to main content

S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version


The latest Godzilla figure I pre-ordered from the S.H. MonsterArts line has arrived. It is the 1991 Shinjuku Decisive Battle version, to go along with the Mecha King Ghidorah release from earlier this year. While the suit is almost the same as the one used in 1989's Godzilla vs. Biollante, they made some slight adjustments. Compared to the BioGoji figure, this one is much thicker, therefore, he does look different from that other release.









His sculpt is the classic 90's era Heisei look, with small head, thick thighs, large dorsal spines and a long tail. Like all the other Godzilla suits of that decade, he has a cat-like face, both cute and menacing. While the King of the Monsters has had multiple looks throughout his 50+ years, it's the Heisei era that seems the most iconic. Artwork, toys, comics, etc, have all utilized this particular design. Similar to the 89 suit, this 91 figure has a small set of dorsal spines, followed by a much larger one, and then gradually getting smaller as they go down the tail. Starting with the 92 suit, the dorsal spikes started small, gradually grow bigger, then getting smaller until the end of the tail. This particular change is what distinguishes 89 and 91 suits from the rest of the 90's ones.


This figure is bulkier than the much slimmer BioGoji figure. The neck, thighs and torso are much thicker. He's painted in his classic charcoal grey, with yellowish nails, lighter grey spines with darker shading in the middle, and yellowish red eyes with black pupils. The paint on the teeth is decent, not as sloppy as some past releases. I did notice a small paint chip at the end of one his dorsal spines, but it's small, so it doesn't stand out. The eyes are done well and perfectly aligned. He's different enough from the 89 figure that you notice it when they're next to each other.







His articulation includes head and neck on 3 ball joints, ball jointed lower jaw, ball joint shoulders and thighs, single jointed elbows and knees, upper arm cut, ball joint waist, ball joint wrists and ankles, and multiple ball joints on his tail. His head can look far up and turn to the sides, his mouth can open wide, his arms can spin fully around and come up a little less than 90 degrees, he sports a bit of an ab crunch and can twist from side to side, his legs can kick forward and out to the sides, his tail can curl up and to the sides, his knees can bend and straighten, and his ankles can tilt up and down and pivot to the sides. Since the figure is based on the bulkier Heisei era Godzilla, he won't move as well as the very flexible Final Wars Goji. This 1991 is more like a brick of destruction, smashing through everything in his path.





One thing that does stand out about this figure is that his mouth cannot fully close due to the way it's designed. I guess this Godzilla has a case of TMJ dislocation. It was clearly built to be posed with the mouth wide open, letting out a mighty roar. I would have preferred the ability to close his lower jaw more, but I can live with the slightly ajar look.



Godzilla 91 continues the now expected tradition of not coming with any accessories. No atomic breath piece, no buildings, not even a Futurian spaceship from the movie. At this point, I don't expect Bandai Tamashii Nation to give us any extras with their Godzilla figures. At least his companion figure, Shinjuku Decisive Battle version Mecha King Ghidorah, came with lots of stuff. It's a good thing I have a decent art app on my phone to give him a nice atomic blast in photos and stop motion flicks.








S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1991 is a nice looking Gojira figure. If you're a fan of the 90's suits, then it's worth picking up. And considering that they've now given us 4 different Heisei sculpts (1989, this 1991, 1994 and 1995, which is available in multiple-colored variants), collectors have a good amount of options to choose from. I happen to own all 4 sculpts, so it's safe to say that I am a big fan of those bulky 90's suits.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Titanic Creations Yongary 1967

This figure was released in late December, and I got it about 2 days before the New Year, so I'm counting it as a 2025 release. It is the Titanic Creations version of the Korean kaiju Yongary, Monster From The Deep. The film was released in 1967 as a Godzilla ripoff, with several ideas copied from the Gamera series, such as his tusks, his ability to fire a stream of flames from his mouth, and even firing a laser beam from his horn, similar to the slicing one used by Gyaos. The film is pretty goofy, but Yongary, like most of those Asian monsters, was pretty cool (to me, at least), so I was psyched that someone finally made a figure of this lesser known kaiju. When Titanic Creations put it up for pre-order, they announced a series of tiers, where they would add accessories when a certain number of orders were met. Enough fans ordered him, so that Yongary ended up with a shit ton of stuff, making him absolutely worth the price. In addition to the kaiju, you get a flame breath effect, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

RicSan Custom Toys Kyōrū Kaiju (Titanosaurus)

My latest kaiju figure purchase is the Titanosaurus made by Ricsan Custom Toys. I own and love the Varan & Gabara, so of course I had to preorder this one when it was available. He was delivered earlier this week. This kaiju hails from the last Godzilla film of the Showa era, 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. The Black Hole aliens are back, rebuilding their robot in another effort to take over the planet. They enlist the help of an ostracized Earth scientist named Mafune and his daughter Katsura, who are able to control an aquatic dinosaur named Titanosaurus. They plan to use both kaiju and mecha to attack Japan. Titano was a cool monster, with his tail that opened into a fish fin, and he would use it to create whirlpools in the sea, and high winds on land. I'm hoping that S.H. Monsterarts makes one for the 50th anniversary of the film, but when I saw this Ricsan Custom version, I couldn't pass it up. Titanosaurus (called the Kyōrū Kaiju), comes in a white box, with its n...
Post a Comment
Read more

Help Me… I’m Possessed (1974) / #Missingcouple (2024)

I've watched some weird, obscure horror movies throughout my life. I can now add this lurid 1974 schlockfest to that growing list. In a castle in the desert, Dr. Arthur Blackwood runs a sanitarium filled with mentally disturbed patients (as well as staff). He claims to be working on finding a way to cure people of any violent tendencies they have, and brags about his younger sister, innocent, child-like Melanie, as evidence that his treatment works. When she was a child, their parents had to keep her locked up and chained in the basement, to control her violent fits. Now that he's cured her, Arthur has his wife Diane come to the castle to meet Melanie, so that they can be one big, happy family. Diane begins to grow suspicious that something is amiss after a Sheriff shows up investigating the murder of 2 local teens, and sets about on her own investigation, hoping to uncover the sinister secrets that she feels her husband is hiding. Help Me... I'm Possessed is an outrageous,...
Post a Comment
Read more