Ricsan Custom Toys Final Wars Lizard (Zilla)

Let's take a look at my latest purchase from Ricsan Custom Toys. It is one of their newly produced figured: Final Wars Lizard (aka Zilla, Goji's American counterpart, first introduced in the 1998 Tristar film).

Ricardo based the sculpt on the monster's appearance from the 2004 Toho film Godzilla: Final Wars, where aliens from planet X attack the Earth with an army of giant kaiju. The sculpt is pretty accurate to what Zilla looked like in that film (he was entirely CGI). He resembles an iguana with a large head and mouth, with a patch of spikes on his back. The figure is painted in various shades of blue, with tan running along the underside of his belly, down to the tail, bone white for his teeth, black for the finger and toe nails, and light pink on the insides of his mouth. The very small eyes are yellow with red pupils, and for being so tiny, they're painted fairly well. For an accessory, a hollow, silver Xillian spaceship is included. It's a cool extra that goes well with the figure, with its sculpted lines and rivets, and long, triangular shape.

The points of articulation include his head, neck, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, thighs, knees, ankles and multiple segments in the tail. He uses string articulation in lieu of ball joints, so just move things carefully and all should flow smoothly. I own quite a few Ricsan Custom Figures, and thus far, I haven't run into any issues. The mouth is the only part that is on a hinge, and opens and closes fairly well. Zilla can balance on both feet, as well as do sitting, running and body twist poses.

The figure turned out really nice. The sculpt is accurate, the paint apps are clean, and he moves well enough. The figure fits in nicely with my other Final Wars kaiju. I'll admit, I hated the 1998 Tristar Godzilla film. I recall watching it in a theater on opening night with my nephew (he's also a Godzilla fan, thanks to my influence), and when it was over, we both walked out of the auditorium quite pissed. Instead of the strong, unstoppable titan we were accustomed to, this film turned him into an oversized lizard that ate fish and ran away from the military. However, they eventually made a cartoon based on the monster, and it was actually good. Then, when Toho decided to feature him in their film Final Wars, they turned him into a fearsome threat, during his brief rampage in Sidney, Australia. That is, before he got obliterated by the real Godzilla in about 2 seconds, later in the movie. Anyway, I've since grown to appreciate the monster, despite his disappointing beginning. I'm happy to own a figure of this dude.

Here's a stop motion short I did with the figure, pitting him against FW Godzilla.

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