Vault Review: S.H.
MonsterArts’ Mechagodzilla 2

Something I found interesting is that Mechagodzilla’s articulation is so much more extensive than Godzilla’s.  But like Godzilla, he still only has the amount of movement that the character did in the movie.  His jaw and toes are hinged.  Although connected with a ball joint, his neck can only swivel.  His shoulders are double ball joints, but they’re still limited by his sculpt.  His wrists, upper and lower torso, hips, and ankles are all ball joints. Lastly, his elbows and knees are double hinges.  Compared to Godzilla, Mecha G’s articulation makes him a break dancer.  But I’m still a bit disappointed in the limiting factors of his sculpt.

Mecha G also comes with more accessories than Godzilla.  I’m not sure if all of them will be exclusive to the first release, but I’m pretty confident his Mega-Buster ray and stand will be.  The ray itself looks great and is sculpted with wide and narrow parts to the beam.  It was molded translucent and painted with a clear satin rainbow of red, blue, and yellow.  It really looks great, and harkens back to the original Mechagodzilla’s beam.  It does fit his mouth a bit snug though and I’m worried some of his teeth may become casualties if it gets jarred in any way.

The beam is held up by a clear arm which attaches to a chunk of rocky green earth.  The sculpting is good, but a bit ho-hum when compared to the energy wave of Godzilla’s.

Mecha G also comes with a trove of alternate body parts.  He has two sets of hand: one with the fingers straight and the other with a more natural curved look.  There are two tails: one is slightly curved for standing while the other is straight for flying.  Mecha G also comes with an alternate neck piece so you can pose his head looking up for flying mode.  He also comes with an alternate waist piece that shows off the circular beam emitter.

Bandai was also thinking ahead.  One of their upcoming exclusive Tamashii website releases is the Garuda jet and G-Crusher cables.  They even made his back plate removable so he could combine with the Garuda to create Super Mechagodzilla.  Unfortunately, since this is a Tamashii exclusive, you’ll need a middleman to get it from Japan.  It’s up to you on what you think this set is worth, but personally I think you’re getting a raw deal if you spend more than $50 on it.

I’m pretty happy with this figure, even at his more expensive cost.  Die cast pieces are always a nice touch, and I love that he can move more than Godzilla.  Personally I’m a fan of the Tokyo SOS version, but this guy still looks fantastic on the shelf with the rest of my kaiju.

-Vault

14 thoughts on “Vault Review: S.H.
MonsterArts’ Mechagodzilla 2

  1. Excellent review, excellent pics, dang nifty product, as always. Mixed feelings about this line you’re covering. Sad that I can’t own them myself, glad that I won’t have to spend money on them or find space for them.

    Incidentally, are you going for a psychiatric / talk show theme on these Japanese monster toys? “This week on the Kaiju Kouch . . . .” Or are you just reliving by proxy the post-binge catatonia of Thanksgiving, collapsing on the sofa chock full of tryptophan? Man, living in England now, I sure as Hell miss Stove Top stuffing, cornbread and pumpkin pie . . . .

    1. Thanks Beedo. Sadly, Mecha G’s metal feet are so heavy that none of my stand would hold him, and his own leg joints weren’t strong enough either. So instead of flying mode I had him lay on the couch, and I put him in the chair so everyone could see the textures on the bottom of his feet. But I like your ideas better.

      I didn’t know they didn’t have any pumpkin pie in England. It’s definitely a crime not to get Stove Top stuffing though. If you’re craving it, give me an email (dan.messer@itsalltrue.net). I can set you up with a care package. 🙂

      1. Most kind of you, mate, thank ‘e! I can get hold of Libby’s tinned pumpkin a couple of different ways and make a couple of pies myself, but I miss just being able to go down to the supermarket and pickup a ready-made pie. We’ve just this year discovered pumpkin soup, apparently, and that’s quite nice. The supermarket chain Sainsbury’s* has a form of cornbread in their Mexican ready-meals line, but it’s nothing great, and gritty as a gravel driveway.

        As for the Stove Top, that’s very kind, but they’ve been cracking down on sending food by mail the last couple of years. I’ve had a few shipments of English chocolate which I sent over to my pals in Ohio and Maryland go missing, because apparently England is crawling with Mad Cow, Foot-And-Mouth, and terrorists disguising C4 as Cadbury bars, and all food products going into or out of the USA must be confiscated and destroyed. So I’m afraid I’ll have to pass, mate, otherwise your money may be wasted.

        But still, it’s a kind offer, and it doesn’t pass unappreciated!

        * Made famous on the internet by the health-and-safety product warning on their packs of dry-roasted peanuts: “Warning: May contain nuts.”

  2. Great review. I was going to buy this one, but you’ve actually steered me away.

    Who makes that sofa and chair?

    1. Thanks. Why’d you decide against getting him?

      The chair and sofa come in a set from Hobby Lobby. They’re a bit expensive, but every couple weeks they put a 40% off coupon on their website.

      1. It’s a couple of things:
        you said you’re “pretty happy” with the figure and that says to me that the figure’s good but not great. I’ve been collecting for a long time and ive got a lot of figures that are good-but-not-great and stuff like that just ends up in a storage container after a few weeks. when you’re looking at 30+ large containers of just good/okay stuff like that (which I am), you start get pickier about what you buy..

        I’m a big G-fan from my youth and I was really looking forward to these but I’m not a fan of he revoltech style, which it seems these are. Revoltechs are less action figures and more pose able statues, given the increased amount of time and effort those take to pose. They’re frustrating and it would take a lot for me to buy something similar. Plus, like you, I prefer the Tokyo SOS version. And, you seemed disappointed in the Godzilla figure. I don’t see the point in getting mecha g if I’m not even going to Godzilla.

        Plus,while I’m generally pro-1:12 scale, I feel like Godzilla figures needed to be at least 1:6, even if it doubled the cost. Any Godzilla I buy needs to tower over my chogokin grendizer and gaiking. Anything different just doesn’t feel natural.

  3. Another great review, Vault! As expected.

    I’m starting to feel a little sorry for your Gigan, he seems concerned about his size compared to the Monsterarts figs. Knowing Gigan that’ll just make him more mean.

    And don’t forget, Godzilla Vs. Megalon comes out this month (Region 1)..or…huh. wait. It was originally sked’ed for 11/11, then pushed to 12/16/11, but now there’s no date and …. TOEI!! AARRGGHH! What are you doing?!

    (actually it might be Mediablasters/Tokyo Shock. They have a real serious problem with slipping street date and not really talking about it)

    I’m really not keen on Bandai’s multi-tier approach currently in in use. Those add-on parts for Mecha G really should be included but it would likely double the price. And I guess this is supposed to be the ‘inexpensive, accessible’ toy line.

    Man, I’m so burned up by all this license war stuff. I really hoped for a Revoltech Jet Jaguar and maybe some Gargantuas.

    1. Thanks Steve.

      Godzilla vs. Megalon is definitely one of my favorites. I may have to pick that up. I really wish they’d bring over Godzilla Island though. That’s what I’m really waiting for.

      Jet Jaguar is off the table for the Revoltech folks. They might be able to do articulated Gargantuas eventually though.

Comments are closed.