Gamera's first foe, Barugon, is one of the coolest, funkiest, and strangest Kaiju out there - he may not immediately look the part, being something of a non-specific Anguirus knock-off, but hey - what other monster shoots a "Rainbow Death Ray"?
Well, probably a good handful of Ultra-weirdos, but regardless, the technicolor terror Barugon's a wicked little demon; hailing from the appropriately titled "Valley of Rainbows", Barugon - an infantile beast suddenly grown to massive proportions, it's mystic egg, mistaken for a valuable gem, stolen and smuggled into Japan - took on Gamera with an ice-spouting tongue, freezing the mega-turtle solid and covering Japan in a bleak blanket of snow. Mindlessly rampaging, and seemingly unphased by Japan's defensive efforts - as per usual - Barugon was eventually dragged to the bottom of a lake as Gamera awoke, succumbing to his greatest - and most inexplicable - weakness... water. Hoist by his own petard, as the kids say.
Barugon was introduced to the Bandai monsters lineup in 1991 as part of the 8" Gamera Series, eventually being ported over to the more common 6" MMS scale in 1999 for the Gamera Memorial Box collection. We'll be looking at both the Gamera Series, and Memorial Box variants.
Being 30+ years old and all, Barugon's got a relatively simple sculpt - though, in typical Bandai fashion, it's certainly not lacking in detail. Beyond the varying textures of slick scales, bumpy ridges and crooked spikes designing his leathery reptilian skin, I also appreciate the figure's resemblance to the suit itself; with subtle clothlike wrinkles and warps in the head and tail, and a cool slightly bowlegged pose that replicates the suit actor's crouched stance. Even his gnarled, malformed tongue rests hidden beyond his sharp maw of teeth - something much more apparent on the later version. Simple can be very effective.
Barugon moves in five places, and stands really well on his own, despite his dragging hind legs. The hard vinyl used during this era always makes for very tight articulation, as well as more crisp, rugged detailing.
Besides some weaker, albeit hard to specify aspects of the sculpt that can really just be chalked up to age, my only complaint are his eyes; Barugon's perfectly round, almost Burton-esque little eyes always really stood out to me as uniquely surreal, and though their simple black-on-white paint
does ultimately manage to capture their look, I think the more natural shape to the eye sockets themselves sort of misses the mark. It's a small thing, but hey, I really like the character.
Molded in a bold red-brown, Barugon's upper half and claws are painted by various blue and silver metallic sprays, nicely emulating the luminous glow of his spines. His little beady eyes have a nice glisten to them, too. No paint on the teeth, some obvious overspray, and not much in terms of more intricate detailing, but nevertheless, I totally dig the limited style of these old-school Bandai figures. Between the dated, but attractive sculpt, and very unique colors, it totally catches your eye in this artistic sort of way.
Moving on to the Memorial Box variant, released 8 years later, the only real difference between the two, sculpt wise, is the position of his mouth; now opened wide, with his odd little growth of a tongue on full display. Gross. Everything else is exactly the same, just a bit smaller, and perhaps less sharp.
Due to the much softer vinyl used for the Memorial Box figures, his limbs are a bit loose, his back legs having a consistent tendency to wilt as they're pushed out by his belly; though, he rests perfectly fine on his tail, or otherwise, "Gooch".
Like
Gamera, or
Gyaos from the same collection, Barugon was given a newly vibrant yellow-ish redeco, much more saturated and pop than the original. It's not exactly
accurate, but it does have a cool cartoony aesthetic to it. His sculpt's texturing is enhanced by a glittery gold sprayed throughout his body, including his eyes - which, in my opinion, sort of throws the likeness. Just doesn't strike the same chord - though, I like their shine. Otherwise, a nice white spray defines his jagged teeth and claws, with some very clean and heavily applied tan on his more prominent horns.
All in all, he's got much more paint than the original version, though notably, his massive evil maw - and nasty tongue - is left unpainted; its not terrible, but does stand out. Not the
greatest paint work, in general; I dig the figure's colorful look, in spite of it's creative liberties - especially seeing as the original serves as a more true representation of the character, and this was a very limited release figure - but, regardless, the sort of off paint choices doesn't make this the most picture-perfect MMS.
Barugon's one of my favorite monsters, and though his MMS figures aren't what I'd call
flawless, I really love how they look - especially the original, which, in my opinion, is the one most worth going after. Both versions will run you just about the same price these days, so it really is a matter of what you like in your figures aesthetically - the original generally looks much nicer, albeit dated, but the '98 version scales with the greater majority of MMS figures, and does have slightly more to appreciate about it, paint-wise.
I'd absolutely love to see an all-new and improved Barugon sculpt hit the modern MMS, though, seeing as Gamera's return to the limelight has all but passed... yeah, that ain't happening. Though he may lay lifeless beneath the waves of Lake Biwa, Barugon and his deadly rainbows of doom will forever live on... in vinyl form.
Check out my previous MMS reviews:
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