One of the figures that I’ve been most anticipating this year has finally arrived. It is none other than the OG Jet Jaguar from the Godzilla series. This is one guy that I’d always hoped would get a highly articulated release. For his 50th anniversary, Bandai finally delivered him to us, in all his goofy, awesome glory!
Jet Jaguar hails from the 1973 film Godzilla vs. Megalon. By the time this movie came out, Godzilla had gone from being a threat to Japan’s hero, always appearing on cue to save Tokyo from the latest kaiju threat. Megalon is one of the goofiest entries in the entire series. With a lower budget than their 60’s heydays, the flick turns into a long wrestling match, as the underwater kingdom of Seatopia declares war on the surface world after nuclear tests threaten their peace. You would think an aquatic civilization would have a fish-like monster as their defender, but no. Megalon is a giant beetle with drill hands. After a bunch of silly but fun shenanigans, the robot Jet Jaguar inexplicably gets a will of his own, grows giant, and starts fighting the rampaging bug until Godzilla can arrive to join the battle. The Seatopians call in the space monster Gigan to help their oversized cockroach, and the fight becomes a hilarious tag team of monster punching glory. Godzilla vs. Megalon is wickedly delicious b-movie gold.
Bandai did a great job of accurately sculpting this groovy robot, with his very early 70’s color palette of yellow, blue, red and silver. The bright paint scheme of Jet Jaguar makes him standout from the usual red and silver shades that most of the Ultraman and 70’s tokusatsu heroes sported. He appears to be wearing leg warmers on his forearms and shins, with a pointy head equipped with folded antennas, and that irresistible goofy smile. His accessories include 3 pairs of hands (fists, karate chop and grappling), an extra right one giving a thumbs up, a tiny silver statue, an extra lighter blue eye visor, extra pairs of antenna for when he flies, and a little plastic stick to help switch out the eye visors. The directions included in the box (see above) demonstrate how to switch out the antenna and eyes. It’s fairly easy to do, just be careful, as the antenna pieces are small and delicate, so take your time in switching them, so as to not risk putting too much pressure when trying to insert them into the holes in his head and snapping them. Jet Jaguar had no beam attacks, so there wasn’t much more they could’ve included with him. I’m satisfied with all the extras he came with.
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The articulation was surprisingly better than I had anticipated. His head and neck are on ball joints, allowing him to twist to the sides, look down and up a bit. Due to his thick collar, it somewhat limits the range. Due to slight butterfly joints and swivels, his arms have a very good range, as does his waist. His thighs can drop down, allowing the legs to kick up farther. His knees don’t have as much bend as one would hope, a bit less than the elbows, but his ankles have a great range of motion. Jet Jaguar’s articulation isn’t as expressive as the newer SHF Ultraman figures, but he’s still able to achieve many cool, fun poses.
Ultimately, S.H. MonsterArts Jet Jaguar is a great release, especially if you’re a fan of this lovable robot. He’s sculpted and painted well, the articulation is good, and he has all the necessary accessories to make him complete. He’s much thicker and taller than the SHF Ultraman figures, but scales well with Gigan and Godzilla 72. I’m happy that they finally gave us a Jet Jaguar for his 50th anniversary. I’m still kinda bummed that the title monster, Megalon, hasn’t been announced, and at this point, who knows if they’ll ever give us one. I highly doubt they’d ever release the 1973 suit of Godzilla, but I’d bet on that one before Megalon. It makes me wonder what they’ll give us and won’t give us for the 50th anniversaries of the final two Mechagodzilla films of the Showa series.
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