Review: Bandai's New GODZILLA Figures for All Ages
Within the past couple of months, Bandai released some fun new toys for Godzilla fans everywhere to enjoy. The team was kind enough to send me a few samples to review across the various lines and I’m excited to give my thoughts. I will be covering these from least expensive to most expensive.
First, we have the 2” Scale Collectible Blind Box Figures. This is a simple item. The blind box looks like an office building that you’d see the kaiju destroy and then you open it up to find a small figure of Godzilla, Mechagodzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, or another Godzilla.
The buildings come in either yellow, blue, or black. The one I received was a yellow building with a transparent orange/red Mechagodzilla inside. I’m unsure if this is normal or some cool collector’s thing, but I think it’s pretty cool. With an MSRP of $5, it feels like a fun little treat you might get at a store checkout lane endcap.
There’s no articulation, but it does have a surprising amount of detail in my opinion. If it were Christmas time, I’d say it is a decent stocking stuffer for a Godzilla fan.
Next, we have the Godzilla HG D+ Blind Packs. Inside this blind bag, you’ll get a meteor-like ball that opens up to reveal a kaiju figure that you need to assemble as well as an effect piece for displaying.
You can then use part of the ball to create a stand for your figure and effect for fun little displays. The possible kaiju are Godzilla (1994), Space Godzilla, M.O.G.U.E.R.A (1994), Little Godzilla, Godzilla (1989), Mechagodzilla, and Hedorah. I happened to get M.O.G.U.E.R.A. and once again, the quality is good for a 3” figure.
It doesn’t have any articulation though so you can’t pose it beyond the default, but I do like that it comes with a fun display base. My one complaint is that half the ball is unused and so you’ll just end up with a drawer of half-balls waiting for the moment when you want to store the figure instead of displaying it.
The MSRP for these blind bags is $7.99 which I honestly think is fair and in my opinion, much better value than the 2” blind box figures and something I would recommend as a small stocking stuffer at Christmas time.
Third, we have the item that quickly captured the attention of my children. The Godzilla Transforming Egg. There are four possible options: Mothra, Godzilla, King Ghidorah, or Mechagodzilla (1974) and they’re fairly simple.
They’re made of hard plastic and have folding and rotating parts for very basic transformations between their monster form and egg form. I received a Kong Ghidorah egg and it’s pretty fun. It’s easily the least accurate of the lot because it has to reach the egg shape.
This results in a King Ghidorah who has let himself go. Also the tail is a little lame because of the design used for two tails where a rectangle connects them which makes it look more like there is just one fat tail with two spikes on the end.
This is still probably the one that excited my kids the most and it was a lot of fun to watch them transform King Ghidorah back and forth. I do also want to note that for King Ghidorah at least the three heads are more of a soft vinyl and can be popped out or rotated for some variety of poses.
The MSRP of $13 does feel a little steep when considering the overall details of the toy, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t fun for kids and adults to just morph a kaiju between a monster and an egg. It might just be worth that high-end stocking stuffer price.
Finally, we get to the big boy. The Movie Monster Series. The figures in this series are roughly 6.5” tall and are made of soft but durable vinyl. The options include Space Godzilla, Godzilla 1991, Hollywood Kong 2024, Hollywood Godzilla 2024, Godzilla (2023), Manda, Mechagodzilla 2004, Godzilla 1954, Godzilla 2004, Gigan 2004, and Kaiju No. 8.
The one I received is the Godzilla 1991 figure and it’s got really good detailing with lateral articulation for the arms and vertical articulation for the legs. I really like the figure, but am a little disappointed in how little articulation there actually is on it.
You can’t move the tail or head, or even jaw at all. With an MSRP of $20-25 depending on the figure, I would have really liked a little more articulation, even if it’s just some vertical movement for the arms. The detailing is impressive though, especially when it comes to the paint job. Honestly, the detailing is what saves this figure and makes me believe that it is worth the price.
