Kaiju Battle Review : Jakks Pacific's Giant Godzilla

After searching high and low, far and wide, ok maybe at a few local Toys R Us, I found Jakks Pacific's Giant Godzilla. Seeing it in person I was like wow it's huge, the box looks interesting appearing if Godzilla is standing in water. He is package with his tail separated, it comes in two piece the end pops into the larger part which you twist onto the body. Once together there is no doubt he is giant, he stands 21" plus inches tall and over 4 feet from tall to head (the advertised size on the box is if you measure him straight from front to the tip of his tail). He looks pretty awesome as well, he does resemble the some of the Bandai toys including packaging, even though he is not technically part of that line. Parts of him, main body, arms, and legs are hard plastic while the rest is rubber/vinyl material overall they go together well and look pretty good. He has a number of points of articulation most are what you expect but one stands out to me, there is a point in the tail that allows it to move side to side but it doesn't move much and there is a relatively large gap caused by it. As I read elsewhere there are slots in the lower part of his abdomen and a sealed battery door under where the tail attaches it's believed he was supposed to have sound not sure why they didn't go through with it but I'm sure some customizers will fix it. Overall he looks awesome especially for the price, $58 isn't bad for a figure this size. I highly recommend picking one up as long as you can find him and have someplace to display him.

Yes he is almost as long as the server he stands on.

Handsome fella.

Kaiju Battle Review : Pacific Rim Series 3 Knifehead, Cherno Alpha, And Coyote Tango

We reviewed the Pacific Rim Trespasser figure from NECA a few days ago now here is the rest of series 3.

First up Knifehead, he was released as part of series 1 but he was out of proportion with the other figures so NECA decided to release him again in a larger battle damaged version. As we mentioned in the Trespasser review he and Knifehead are based on the same design, the lower part, and arms of Knifehead is the same except for different paint scheme. Where the major diffence is with the main part of the body and head, the body is similar but they added a section to the neck and shoulder area, the neck has a longer look. The back plate is similar to the series 1 figure and not as pronounced as Trespasser's is. Also obviously is his head is different. Knifehead stands as the tallest kaiju almost seeming to big, not that we are complaining, he has a very good paint job including his blue blood splatter if there is an issue it is with articulation of the head and neck. Most of the figure is the same as Trespasser and better then the series 1 version except the neck seems stiff and kind of hard to move as the jaw seems to be articulated like the previous version but you can actually move it to a different position. Overall all another great figure.

 Now on to the Jaegers Coyote Tango and Chreno Alpha, both are similar to the previous Jaegers, they have great detail and have a sort of worn look like they have been through battles before, I felt the first Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka were to clean you can say. Coyote Tango does seem to stand a little odd giving him a top heavy look, his legs are also stiff and hard to pose. Cherno Alpha is the brute of the bunch and it shows the biggest gripe with him is his head seems slightly off from his body it is not a big deal. One thing I did notice that is interesting is his fist they open and they extend out a nice little touch. Both make fine additions to the assortment. Overall this is a great series I truly hope they continue it.

Kaiju Battle Review: Pacific Rim Trespasser Figure

Trespasser one of the many kaiju of Pacific Rim and one of the first to appear in the film, attacking San Francisco as well as other cities. Now it is an awesome figure Trespasser is bigger then the two previous kaiju released by NECA like Leatherback released in wave 2 Trespasser has quite a few points of articulation and plenty of detail. Trespasser is very similar to Knifehead in style with two large arms and two smaller arms but both are articulated unlike wave 1 Knifehead in which the smaller ones were not (wave 3 Knifehead is different which we review in the near future), they also share a similar color scheme. The figure looks great but there is one thing that I was not crazy about which was the tail that is curved, due to the packaging, and is hard to move to a different position. The figure has a solid feel and is easy to pose overall joints are all firm but not to hard to adjust into different poses. The paint job on it is very good with one exception there are a few mistakes on one side of the figure's abdomen it is not horrible but it is slightly noticeable. Overall it is an great figure slightly better then Leatherback in my opinion, which is a great figure as well. This figure is part of wave 3 which includes Battle Damaged Knifehead, Cherno Alpha, and Coyote Tango, although the kaiju are definitely my favorites.

Trespasser And Leatherback

Kaiju Addicts Review: X-Plus 30cm Gamera 1999 Figure

With the recent release of X-Plus’ 30cm Series Gamera 1999 we now have all three Heisei turtles represented. And I think it’s safe to say that this is easily the most impressive of the bunch.

I have to admit I was surprised to see Gamera 1999 with such a small head. It didn’t look that way in the movie, did it? Yeah, it did. It’s just a lot more obvious on the figure with no fire and smoke and shadows from the film getting in the way. (This is why I’m worried about upcoming Godzilla 2014 figures with super obvious elephant feet.) Well, small head aside, this is one amazing vinyl!

Not only is this figure a good likeness, it’s pretty big! It stands significantly taller than the Gamera 1995 and especially the Gamera 1996. And without a crouched pose like the other two have to varying degrees, the 1999 figure looks… grand.

One thing I really love about the Gamera figures are the shells. They’re so un-Godzilla-like and shake up the status quo on the X-Plus shelves. The shell on the Gamera 1999 figure is especially impressive. I’m not talking about the sculpt but the suit itself. This time around those armor plates get more jaggy and radiate outward making for a more menacing appearance. And, yes, the sculpt captures that. It’s a shame the wall gets to see it more than I do.

Click here to check out the full review!

My Review Of Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim is a must see and a film I plan on seeing again. (May contain spoilers.) The film does take a little bit to get going but this is a necessary evil otherwise the film would have been much longer, the film starts off with a back story of the kaiju arrival and tidbits of the start of the Jaeger program, sort of fast forwarding from when it all started, we are then introduced to some of the main human characters, jaeger Gipsy Danger and the infamous kaiju Knifehead. This is when the film starts to develop we learn more about the characters, who they are and there backstory. The acting is done well not oscar worthy but more then acceptable. The kaiju and jaeger battles are amazing, very well done if I had a bone to pick with them most of the battles are at night or in the water. This was probably done to hide any imperfections with the CGI which happens even with all the tech used to make it. The story also moves and develops well, there is some humor and a bit of romance but not to much to take away from the story. The point when the film hits its stride is when the focus is on the last ditch effort to stop the kaiju with the remaining jaegers and crews, it makes you feel for the effort and hope for victory. Pacific Rim is a great film done very well, an action pack thrill ride action film it easily out does the last american Godzilla film and goes toe to toe with Man of Steel, del Toro has a big fan in me, I only hope next years Godzilla movie is as good.