Vault Review: S.H. Monsterarts
Fire Rodan

Next up is the alternate Mechagodzilla head.  This is Mechagodzilla’s resulting look after Rodan attacked him physically and destroyed one of his eyes.  The head itself is the exact same piece as the original.  The eye piece has a new sculpt though and I love that you can see a darker spot in the center.  This piece isn’t necessary, but it’s still a cool option.

The last accessory is another new effects piece that goes with Godzilla.  This new heat beam is a bit less than eight inches long, while the original was only five and a half.  This new piece also has a sculpt which better resembles fire.  This is only enhanced by the added tendril-like bits the spiral around the outside.  The translucent orange and red plastic also gives it a much better feel than the mostly plain and constant color of the original.

Rodan also comes with three extra stands and two adapters.  All of them are the classic flat Bandai base.  All three are translucent plastic with gold glitter added in to give them an interesting look of floating cinders.    One of the stands is labeled “Fire Rodan” and has a picture of his silhouette.  The second stand has a pterodactyl image with the words “Pteranodon Forever, Kazuma Aoki”.  This is a reference to one of the characters in the movie who made a tiny readable pterodactyl.  Yes, I’m entirely serious.  This wasn’t really necessary, but again it was a nice touch.  The last stand has no writing or pictures.

As for the adapters, one is designed to hold the figure in a standing position just slightly above his base. The other holds the figure in a flying position.

This super long heat breath is my favorite accessory in the set.  But all three extra pieces really go a long way in making you feel like you got your money’s worth.  That’s what really counts, especially with a smaller figure like Fire Rodan.

I want to jump back to Rodan’s paint job, which is really nice.  Most of his body seems to be molded the appropriate color, but there are so many really nice highlights that accentuate the curves of his armor or the thinner skin of his wings.  My camera couldn’t even pick up slight details like the wispy blue veins that are painted on his wings.  They even made his eyes a bit metallic so they’d have that glossy look.

Last but not least is Rodan’s articulation.  His mouth and wing flaps use hinged joints, while all the others are made up of swivel/hinges or ball joints.  The most go to his neck (which has three), and his tail (which has eight).  The wings also connect to his body with ball joints, so moving them for various positions is easy.  His hands, hips, knees, and ankles are made up of the swivel/hinges.

Rodan’s not really my favorite character, but the figure is definitely well done and I think fans would appreciate the work that went into him.  But even if you aren’t interested in the character, those extra accessories for Big G and Mecha G are definitely nice to have.  Rodan’s also the cheapest Monsterarts character so far, retailing at about $35.  This makes splurging on the character a lot easier to handle.

-Vault

6 thoughts on “Vault Review: S.H. Monsterarts
Fire Rodan

  1. Saw a couple of these at the toy show I was at back on the 9th. Prices were doubled on them though.The only film I didn’t see of this era. Gotta say from the mold of the toy makes me think the actor in the suit was a woman. Just guessing on that though. This line has been cool just wish could afford one and I second Jet Jaguar too.

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