Wastelnd: Review - Gigan 1972/73 (Fusion Series) (Bandai Creations)

Bandai Creations is an interesting little side-quest in MMS lore, producing the American equivalent to the series from 2002 to roughly 2015. BC's figures were often similar, albeit inferior, to their Japanese counterparts, though they occasionally hit a home-run with wicked figures such as King Ceasar, Kiryu, or Destoroyah. At their worst, their figures could be off-model, or a bit... nothing - Hedorah's a big vinyl brick - but at their best, they'd offer energetic and detailed sculpts that totally rivalled MMS.

Sadly, the line fizzed out with its Godzilla 2014 lineup, leaving various plans, including potential Shin Godzilla figures, on the cutting room floor. These days, a new stateside MMS equivalent has made the rounds with Bandai America's Godzilla Monster Series; though, being simple downscales of existing MMS figures, it really makes me miss the days of weird, wonky ol' BC.

Hitting the BC series with its first wave in 2002, Gigan should be totally familiar to any Godzilla fan who grew up in the 2000s. He's definitely among the first Godzillas I remember grabbing. The figure was reissued twice in 2012; one with the standard look, and another under the spin-off "Fusion Series", a gallery of six reissued figures featuring funky transparent-sparkle redecos - essentially an excuse to cram more Kaiju stock on the shelf, with a twist. Kind of interesting the Fusion line's more or less continued with the Godzilla Monster series' translucent Godzilla '54, albeit without the name.

Unfortunately, most figures in the series honestly aren't interesting - largely monochromatic characters such as Godzilla or MechaGodzilla really don't play into the whole luminescent look - but ones such as today's special chickenfaced boy really look sick.

Normally, I don't prattle on about these figures packaging, be it tags, or boxes - its just not my thing - but I figured, since I bought this guy like-new, and it's oddball toy history, I may as well showcase it. BC always used this cool hanging standee style of packaging, which continues to see use across various American Godzilla lines to this day - often even literally featuring long outdated BC figures front and center. The box art went through various iterations throughout BC's run, some creative, some... well, sorta not, but I totally dig this version's super edgy, super mid-2000s design. A stylized monochromatic photo from the then newest Godzilla film, Godzilla: Final Wars, stands boldly against a crooked skyline of grungy red and black towers, with a fun similarly edited shot from Godzilla Vs Gigan on the box's sides. A cool flashy Fusion Series sticker also adorns the packaging. Besides maybe the Tap-Out-ish American Godzilla logo, it still looks sick all these years later.

The back of the box features Godzilla 1968, Godzilla 2000, and the unspecified Gigan, notably not mentioning the Fusion sub-series. '68's always been one of the ugliest BC takes, in my opinion - insane that it was chosen to be ported into the MMS series proper years later - but that G2K is a real winner.

Though usually said to be the 1972 Godzilla Vs Gigan incarnation of the titular monster, Bandai Creations' Gigan more closely resembles his 1973 Godzilla Vs Megalon appearance; bigger belly, friendlier face, and generally frumpier than his sleek villainous debut. The difference is kinda subtle, so it really is up to your own interpretation which version of Gigan this guy represents.

Gigan's sculpt is pretty great; not perfect, as it's slightly off-model in some ways - especially if we're calling it the '72 design - but also surprisingly well done in others. I love the figure's rough, grainy skin, the heavy folds and creases representing the suits materials, the shingled scales across his chest and tail; some being details largely missing, or glossed over on his Japanese MMS equivalent. His likeness is solid, somewhat matching the '73 suit with a wider visor, and larger, albeit slightly too exaggerated beak. I do prefer the choice to leave his mouth closed, rather than the MMS' weird filled-in maw, though I suppose a bit of the character is lost in that neutral expression.

Gigan features five points of articulation, including a head swivel, which really fits the expressive character. I always dig a good neck turn. Though posed very similarly to the Japanese figure, something about the BC's crooked, battle-ready stance has much more life to it.

He's not a 1:1 screen accurate Gigan, but I think if you look at it as a figure of the '73 design, it's actually pretty close. Really the only obviously strange area are his wings - an area which neither Bandai Gigans have really perfectly captured. While I love how large, and spread out they are, especially in comparison to the slightly anemic MMS, they're totally devoid of detail, especially sticking out against his very intricate scales. Then again, their detail work is pretty much exactly the same as the MMS '64 Ghidorah released just last year, so, I guess it's not a dealbreaker. Just weird. It's interesting to me that Gigan's wings actually look much sharper on the prototype, as can be seen on the back of the box - probably didn't work well in production. Being over 20 years old and all, his wings also tend to warp inward, though it's an easy fix with a visit to Dr. Hairdryer.

Gigan's Fusion-Transfusion is really wicked; the majority of his green skin replaced by a sparkly translucent turquoise, adding some colorful pop and contrast to his silver and gold body. Really captures the light, looks awesome with something bright nearby. I love how his soft metallic scythes fade to that Baja-Blast blue. Various bits of merch and media over the years have depicted Gigan as a tinged bright blue, rather than his usual dark green, so it's neat to see that creatively represented. It's very similar to MMS variants such as the theater exclusives, though unique in its execution. From head to tail, his paint is extremely sharp, even covering details such as the row of silver tail spikes that the Japanese figure missed - though, that elusive spear on the tip of his tail is still AWOL, this time not even sculpted on. Whatever shall we do.

One of the series' very first figures, BC's Gigan is certainly one of their best, and is really just about as good as it's Japanese cousin; as said in my MMS Gigan review, it's not so much an improvement, one way or another, as it is an alternative. Though the MMS best captures the more iconic look for Gigan in some ways, BC's is a lot more detailed, and fun to mess with - plus, the Fusion look really adds a lot of charm, and is totally worth seeking out. It's a great figure, and despite its age, is very easy to find on the aftermarket. The real deal will only cost you around $30 (pretty nice, considering these were originally around $15), though there's also loads of cheapo bootleg versions more than readily available - courtesy of TWCare. Pick your poison, BC's Gigan is a very well done representation of everybody's favorite Space Hunter.