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