Giant Size Godzilla by Jakks Pacific
Among the merchandise offerings for the new Godzilla movie is a giant sized Godzilla figure! He washed upon our shores last night and we’ve got the review for you today.
The open window box is full of Godzilla graphics and proclamations like “Giant Size” & “Over 40 inches long”
The inside of the box is kinda cool. There is a cardboard insert that makes it appear that Godzilla is rising out of the ocean next to a city.
The back of the box has a bio on Godzilla (It’s probably from the new movie’s storyline as it’s slightly different from the original Godzilla history I remember) We also see a child playing with Godzilla and some of the toy’s features like opening jaw and swinging tail.
Once out of the box, Godzilla comes in 3 pieces. The large base tail piece is inserted and rotated to lock into place on the figure and the end tail section plugs into the base tail piece. Both of these parts can be easily taken off again for storage. Be sure to really press the end tail piece into the base tail part or it’ll fall off fairly easily.
Fully assembled, Godzilla measures in at an impressive 21 inches tall (just 3 inches shy of 2 feet!) and 43 inches long from tail to nose!
Godzilla is made from a mixture of hard plastic and soft rubber parts. The hard plastic parts (Torso, Arms & Legs) feel a lot like the old Shogun Warriors Godzilla from the 70’s The Head, Hands, Feet, Back Spines and Tail are all a soft rubber material that makes it easy to grip, move and probably also makes it less prone to breaking. There are 13 points of articulation on this behemoth!
Like the box claimed, the jaw does open and close. Unlike some toys with opening mouths, Godzilla looks pretty natural in either position. There’s an extra paint app on the tongue giving it a two toned color.
The head can rotate, as can the hands. The neck’s cut joint is very noticeable when you move the head.
Both shoulders and hips have swivel joints but due to the sculpt, they have a limited range of movement. The arms have less of a range than the legs do.
The feet can rotate just like the hands
The tail alone has three points of articulation. The first joint is the swinging action joint that allows the tail to swing when you rock Godzilla back and forth. The next two joints are swivel joints and are not as noticeable as the swinging tail joint.
It would appear this Godzilla was originally going to have an electronic feature since there’s a molded battery door and slits for a speaker in the torso. I assume this feature was dropped in order to keep the price point down since this figure is as high as $60 retail at some stores.
The sculpt itself may be soft in a few places (like around the shoulders) but it’s got a lot of nice details and after one look at this toy, you know exactly who it is.
The paint job is fairly minimal but I think it does the job nicely in a subtle way. It looks like there’s some dry brushing on the belly and head, the tongue has the two toned paint app I mentioned earlier, the teeth are painted along with the eyes.
So why should you get this toy? First, It’s a Godzilla that’s nearly 2 feet tall by 3 1/2 feet long! It’s the biggest Godzilla on the market right now. I believe the Shogun Warriors Godzilla is only a few inches taller, but definitely not as long as this one. Secondly, the price isn’t as bad you might think, while he’s $60 retail at Toys R Us, Godzilla can be had for as low as $35 at Kmart right now and is normally only $40 there. Thirdly, this Godzilla is a lot of fun with smaller figures like Minimates. If you see this Godzilla and have the money, I highly recommend it. It may not be the most poseable Godzilla toy out there, but it is one of the largest and sometimes bigger is a LOT better!