Looking At... NECA's Godzilla 1962

I've grown tired of the rigidity of the usual review format, thus, I will be starting the more laid-back "looking at _____" series; reviews without the intensity. I might also do comprehensive looks at various other interests under this title - ultimately, it's just a way to say "I want to talk about this". Sometimes it's simply more fun to delve into less detail - and, in some regards, this brevity offers the reader a far broader scope.
Neato, bueno, who cares, whatever.

Today I'll be looking at NECA's newest entry into the long-running Godzilla Classics toy line, the 1962 "KingGoji" - released in honor of the upcoming King Kong Vs. Godzilla remake.

NECA has finally secured the ability to give their Godzilla figures unique packaging, allowing for much more artistic design across each figure. King's box features the original Japanese poster for King Kong Vs. Godzilla, and looks absolutely amazing. The box folds open, revealing a neat promotional photo of the figure, and a window displaying the figure itself. The window features a great backdrop of Mount Fuji, and can serve as a convenient carrying case for King's bonus beam.

King looks just as good - if not better. The sculpt is absolutely spot-on when compared to the original suit, and looks excellent even without knowledge of the original design. The figure's accuracy is so well done, you can even see how the suit's original design influenced later Godzilla incarnations - something that isn't quite so obvious in the suit's promotional photos. In fact, in certain lighting, it's hard to tell it's an articulated figure at all; resembling a resign statue of sorts. This does, of course, mean that the figure looks about as ugly as the original suit - particularly from the front view. I assure you, this is entirely intentional.

It's the best figure in NECA's Godzilla line beyond any measure of doubt, and certainly puts SHMA's rather janky version to shame. Better yet, NECA's King should only cost you somewhere between $22 and $30 dollars - with SHMA asking upwards of $90. I'm an avid SHMA collector, but even I can see that NECA is clearly giving you far more bang for your buck. 

King has 23 points of articulation, and feel wonderfully solid. The compact weight of NECA's figures has always been appealing - especially over SHMA's worryingly light toys. The very tip of his tail seems to be made of bendable rubber, but I don't see any reason why you'd want to individually pose such a small segment. His jaw seems to have an issue with jutting out to one side, but can be pushed back into place easily. I really like the hand articulation - nothing like a classic Godzilla shaking his latex fists at the enemy.

 As previously mentioned, the figure comes packaged with a unique beam; which seems to be a new tradition among NECA's Godzillas. Simply sliding into the figure's throat, the beam hangs from King's mouth perfectly. The jagged, cloudy sculpt replicates the beam's animated oncreen appearance well, right down to the whiteish color. I will admit, though, accuracy isn't very important to me when it comes to Godzilla's beam - if it looks good, it looks good.

The figure's paint job is just as great as everything else; and certainly yet another step up from NECA's past work. King's skin is a very pretty mix of charcoal grey and dark green, matching the onscreen monster wonderfully. His spines looks perfectly rough, and his mouth has perfect detailing. Those hot yellow eyes are probably my favorite part - though the SHMA alternative did a better job recreating the suit's foggy glass eyeballs, these honestly just look better. Excellent paint applications can propel even the most subpar figure to a higher level, and when you've got a stellar sculpt with even better paint, you've got a winner.

King is definitely my favorite figure in the current NECA lineup! Following their Godzilla: King of the Monsters figures, I seriously hope for more Showa-era Godzilla figures. Here's for my all time favorite, MegaroGoji...