This beautiful and meticulously detailed figure is X-Plus' grand slam. At about 50cm's tall, he's as massive as he is gorgeous. But you don't really get a sense for how large he is until you see the box he comes in, or the tail that comes shipped separate from the body. When you finally tear this bad boy out of the perfectly snug Styrofoam he comes packaged in, his width and wonderful sculpt will make your jaw drop. As someone who vividly remembers the joyful feeling of opening the 30cm Godzilla '54, '64' 2003, etc.--there was nothing like the feeling of seeing this bad boy come out of his cardboard prison.
As I alluded to, the sculpt is hands down one of the very best sculpts on a Godzilla figure period. The texture of the skin, the teeth, spines, claws, and the gorgeous looking "burning" areas of his body are top-notch. The eyes are full of character and really get across the feeling of raw anger and power this figure is based upon. One thing to mention with this figure, and in essence this particular X-Plus line, is that it is meant to be more stylized than suit accurate. So whereas the 30cm figures will sculpt Godzilla "baggy" in certain areas or with tiny air-holes in the neck to resemble the suits with actors in them straight from the respective films, this figure is what Godzilla really would be--no humans inside. He's very alive looking.
I also love the stance they put him in. He's very dynamic for a Godzilla figure. He's in a wide stance, obviously in a challenging, aggressive fashion. He's looking down at his fallen opponent and he's mid-roar (and very pissed off at that). He is walking in mid-stride and looking slightly to his 11 o'clock. Just that little touch, rather than him looking straightforward, makes a huge difference, especially since, due to his sheer size, he is not very shelf friendly. But this figure's awesomeness and pure badassery are just too impossible to contain.
X-Plus did not hold back on the paint applications either. Sometimes, in rare cases, I'm a bit letdown by the paintwork on their smaller figures. But his skin looks great, his teeth look so real and natural, and his tongue is heavily detailed. The entire inside of the mouth looks life-like. I was so impressed. The use of the translucent effect and paint apps are second-to-none. I mean, just look at that mouth below and tell me that these guys didn't bring their A-game.
One thing worth noting is this guy is very potent! As anybody who collects these X-Plus vinyl figures, fresh vinyl has a very unique smell when it first comes out of the box. Well, this guy can attract skunks. He smells like fresh vinyl and paint and he's been out of the box for almost a week now and he still smells pretty, uh, interesting. Fortunately, I'm one of those weird people who like the smell (nothing screams brand new like this) so I'm enjoying it but other collectors have aired him out in garages to help get rid of the odor.
Photos do not do this guy justice. I wasn't going to drop the cash on him when I saw the production photos (like the pictures here on Amazon). The colors didn't really pop to me. The sculpt was always great but I didn't want to spend that kind of money without feeling certain I'd love it. But once I saw in-hand pictures of him, I realized just how special this Godzilla is. Now, I wish I did order him at first. I could have gotten the limited addition that came with the Oxygen Destroyer weapon to display and he would have been far cheaper. A fair warning, this guy will rise in price very quickly and steadily. If you are on the fence, I'd try to find a way to make this guy yours as soon as possible!
As fans of the series know, this Godzilla is from the film "Godzilla vs. Destroyah". It's a film famous for killing the legendary beast off after four decades of fighting other giant monsters. But Godzilla goes out like the king that he is and is still going strong to this day, both at the box office and in vinyl form. X-Plus did the king justice and really, truly captured the spirit of Godzilla 1995.
If you want just one figure to represent your love for Godzilla, give this guy serious consideration. While I have rare Godzilla items like the Super Premium Meltdown Godzilla that's about two feet tall, the rare 14" Godzilla '91 vinyl, and other various X-Plus figures, this guy is my grail piece now. He dominates whatever you display him next to, guaranteed. It also helps that he is not only a popular version of Godzilla, but that he also is represented from a very important chapter in the long mythos of the film series. As a grail piece, you want something that looks fantastic on it's own merit but for me I also want it to be a representation of something interesting to the franchise.
So what else is there to be said? I actually found his tail to be rather easy to put on and didn't even have to blow dry it. I do have one little nitpick and it's that they way they must have molded these together has left some visible glue lines at certain parts. They usually are hidden very well but in natural day light (or with flash photography they can really stick out). There is one across the front of his neck, a little less than halfway up, that bothers me from time-to-time. But the unbelievable presence of this figure really speaks the loudest. Despite my nitpick, I have to stick to my gut on this one. How can I say this doesn't deserve 5-stars? I can't.
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