Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[StardustGenius]

Molding on the old one is better for sure, but seeing as how the new one is also great its far more convenient to get the newer figure than the older one at aftermarket prices. I expect lots of redecos of Baragon in the future. Maybe one with the old toy deco, please Mr. Bandai?

[canofhumdingers]

Baragon is near-excellent. Almost all the flaws I’m seeing are within the matte coloring and minor sculpt imperfections. It looks great overall, and from what I’m seeing it is on the larger end. Here is a Twitter photo someone got with both the new and original 8” for scale:


Maybe I’m just excited though because Baragon is my favorite monster after Godzilla; it’s really hard for me to pass on a retail version. Between him, Ebirah and Shin Pagos, I have been a happy camper.

It even has the neck holes for Nakajima to see out of! That’s awesome. Can’t wait for mine to get here.

[Gojirasaur]

I expect lots of redecos of Baragon in the future. Maybe one with the old toy deco, please Mr. Bandai?

After seeing the old one, which I don't have, I'm all on board with that.

Baragon looks really good. If this figure was the exact same price as the Playmates Baragon people would be tearing that figure a new asshole they way they should be. But as the Bandai Creation figures proved 20 years ago, people will forgive anything if the price is cheap.

Not just cheap, available. If Bandai MMS were in the collectibles section in Target or in Walmart, the Playmates Baragon would go to clearance and MMS sell out.

I can tell you that, while I know all the flaws, I have bought some of the Playmates figures (even the new Star Trek stuff, and often as gifts) and I think that's better than letting them rot and have those retail chain buyers stop entertaining carrying Godzilla (or Trek) stuff altogether. It may be working, as it's a market Bandai has toyed with (Bandai Chibi sets, etc at Target) but not MMS...yet. If only.

[_JNavs_]

Which is the better shipping method, Fedex Priority or DHL express? Fedex Priority is cheaper, But I always get my imports delivered with DHL, so I'm just curious

[Creature22]

Which is the better shipping method, Fedex Priority or DHL express? Fedex Priority is cheaper, But I always get my imports delivered with DHL, so I'm just curious

FedEx is not as fast as DHL, but I rarely have to wait long for orders to arrive when I use them (usually about a week, give or take).

I think it could vary but they're pretty good in my experience, and it's generally worth it to use them and save a bit of cash in the process.

[LSD Jellyfish]

Rebirth Gamera arrived:

Spoiler:

As mentioned, only part of articulation is his arms, but they become rather expressive and memey. I'm considering having him hold GFW Manda.

Spoiler:

It's a really nice and bulky figure. Tanky and distinct. I love it. The detailing is very nice. The big shame is the seam in his upper body....
Doesn't ruin the figure, but if it didn't have that, it would be near perfect. Another complaint is how its staring down.

Spoiler:

Therefore, I recommend displaying it high up. It looks very bulky next to all the other Gameras.

Great figure, but could've been perfect if not for the seam.

Finally, Ebirah has a section (with Giant Condor cameoing!)

Spoiler:

[JVM]

I really do think an incredibly important thing is that a lot of the older Bandai collectors view the new stuff negatively because they have something that came out thirty years ago that fills the same niche, and so the newer items seem more overwhelmingly inferior and unnecessary, and for younger collectors, having multiple options is appreciated and that combined with accessibility/affordability is more important than which version is "best".

I absolutely hate the eyes on the new Baragon. I think I'll get over it once I have it in hand but in every photo, it has such a dead-eyed look, like it's Baragon's unmoving corpse, it just sucks the life out of what is in every other way an excellent figure.

Still in class that the new Ghidorah looks like an improvement though. It's nice to hear the wings are less puffy, I'm glad he looks bulkier, and it's so nice that it looks like his heads are facing forward instead of curving towards the floor... and it looks more gold to me than the later releases of the 1998 mold, which were painfully dull compared to the 1998 release, similarly to how Bandai's Showa KG looked brilliant at first, but then the 91 release has the most lifeless mold color.

[Legion1979]

I really do think an incredibly important thing is that a lot of the older Bandai collectors view the new stuff negatively because they have something that came out thirty years ago that fills the same niche, and so the newer items seem more overwhelmingly inferior and unnecessary, and for younger collectors, having multiple options is appreciated and that combined with accessibility/affordability is more important than which version is "best".

Nah. Not at all. Older collectors don't mind having a lot of the same things. There's been a lot of enthusiasm in my FB group (which has an 18+ membership rule and is full of longtime collectors) about toys like Varan or Ebirah. Baragon has gotten a great reaction so far. The criticism comes when the figures actually ARE inferior to what came out 30 years ago, yet we're paying three times the price.

I'm glad he looks bulkier

Which the 1991 Ghidorah isn't, so I'm confused about why everyone treats this as a positive thing.

[Executive Hamster]

Which the 1991 Ghidorah isn't, so I'm confused about why everyone treats this as a positive thing.

It looks better? Maybe it isnt accurate but if it looks good who cares?

[CyberZilla]

Which the 1991 Ghidorah isn't, so I'm confused about why everyone treats this as a positive thing.

It looks better? Maybe it isnt accurate but if it looks good who cares?

That is the point: that some will look for accuracy, and some just look for a figure that just looks “good” to them. Some may also look for both aspects as well, or as good a compromise for that, given price point and size, as possible. Each position is valid.

[LSD Jellyfish]

When talking about "older figures" its really important to be very clear which era we're talking about. The figures produced in the early 90s are very different from the figures we got in the early 2000s.In my opinion, many of the early 1990s figures suffer from the same problems that many modern figures do now. A lot of them aren't "to scale" and feature weird proportions and quirks. See: King Shisa's giant booty/thunder thighs and weird inclusion to give the eyes pupils. Still that figure has a lot of nice details to it, but I feel that people would harshly judge it if it came out today.

I think the figures from the early 2000s, are by far superior to many releases today, in both paint, detail, and articulation. Apparent examples are reissues of the old GFW molds, like Gigan and Angurius, which got re-releases lacking paint. Megaguirus from 2000/2001 is a fantastically spiky and mean-looking creature. The new 2002 one is GREAT, in fact a fantastic representation of the monster, but critically lacks leg articulation that the original 2000 one had! It's also a lot smoother.

Added in 4 minutes 40 seconds:

That is the point: that some will look for accuracy, and some just look for a figure that just looks “good” to them. Some may also look for both aspects as well, or as good a compromise for that, given price point and size, as possible. Each position is valid.

^^
Basically this.

I also wanted to add that while KG doesn't scale well with the 91 Godzilla, it looks fine, if not excellent, compared to the most recent Space Godzilla and Destoroyah figures. Maybe I'll do this later, but if you lined up all the MMS Heisei Figures from the past few years (Biollante, Battra, MG/SMG, SpaceGodzilla, and Destoroyah), King Ghidorah clearly stands out above the rest. It's only in comparison to the Godzillas, that KG looks bad.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Rebirth Gamera arrived:

Spoiler:

Again, what is up with the "Spoiler" tags on a figure review? It makes the photos you posted extremely small and barely viewable. It's a shame as it seems you wrote a nice review overall.

Anyways, I like both the Bandai figure and the Gamera Rebirth design in general. The figure seems to capture the spirit of this new Gamera well, so mission accomplished in that department. I hope Bandai tackles some of the Heisei and Showa Gamera stuff with new sculpts eventually, as I don't really have much Gamera stuff in my collection save for a few of the really old X-plus Gamera figures (which haven't aged all that well tbh).

Which the 1991 Ghidorah isn't, so I'm confused about why everyone treats this as a positive thing.

It looks better? Maybe it isnt accurate but if it looks good who cares?

Yeah, but the thing is, in addition to not being all that accurate, it *doesn't* look good either. 　

I really do think an incredibly important thing is that a lot of the older Bandai collectors view the new stuff negatively because they have something that came out thirty years ago that fills the same niche, and so the newer items seem more overwhelmingly inferior and unnecessary, and for younger collectors, having multiple options is appreciated and that combined with accessibility/affordability is more important than which version is "best".

Or could just be something as simple as we think this particular figure genuinely sucks? Not really that hard to understand nor is it much deeper than that.

When talking about "older figures" its really important to be very clear which era we're talking about. The figures produced in the early 90s are very different from the figures we got in the early 2000s.In my opinion, many of the early 1990s figures suffer from the same problems that many modern figures do now. A lot of them aren't "to scale" and feature weird proportions and quirks. See: King Shisa's giant booty/thunder thighs and weird inclusion to give the eyes pupils. Still that figure has a lot of nice details to it, but I feel that people would harshly judge it if it came out today.

I think the figures from the early 2000s, are by far superior to many releases today, in both paint, detail, and articulation. Apparent examples are reissues of the old GFW molds, like Gigan and Angurius, which got re-releases lacking paint. Megaguirus from 2000/2001 is a fantastically spiky and mean-looking creature. The new 2002 one is GREAT, in fact a fantastic representation of the monster, but critically lacks leg articulation that the original 2000 one had! It's also a lot smoother.

Nah, sorry guys, but what utter nonsense. It's the same old tired straw man arguments again and again in these types of scenarios (i.e. Turning a "they don't like a particular figure I like" discussion into in a condescending psycho-analysis babbling of "why old collectors don't like today's stuff and aren't enlightened like we are!" or "Let's turn this into an early Bandai stuff vs today's stuff debate!"). What does any of that have to do with this particular KG figure?

Notice that I and few others actually praised most of these recent new releases from Bandai? Ebirah, Baragon, Varan, Gorosaurus, etc. are all fantastic and deserve the praise they have been receiving. Yet some are particularly hung up and defensive about attacks on this KG figure for some mysterious reason....honestly, too bad.

Nah. Not at all. Older collectors don't mind having a lot of the same things. There's been a lot of enthusiasm in my FB group (which has an 18+ membership rule and is full of longtime collectors) about toys like Varan or Ebirah. Baragon has gotten a great reaction so far. The criticism comes when the figures actually ARE inferior to what came out 30 years ago, yet we're paying three times the price.

See my "straw man fallacy" comments from above. I can only speak for myself, but if I think figure sucks, then I will flat out say it sucks regardless of era. While I indeed am nostalgic and have soft spots, preferences, and biases for certain lines and eras (as we all do, which is perfectly fine) such as the older 8 inch Bandai figures, there are figures of that era that do indeed suck imho (i.e. the original 8 inch Bandai Gigan and Hedorah figures come to mind...I have never nor owned either nor ever will). If one line or era is superior to another when it comes to individual figures, then that's the figure of that particular kaiju I'll go with, regardless if it's from 1980 or 2023.

Again, imho, this KG figure flat out sucks (ditto on their FW Manda and SuperMG figures) while the rest of recent Bandai releases look great....nothing deeper to it than that folks.

[Legion1979]

Ita funny LSD mentioned King Caesar, since today on my FB group for my "Bandai of the Day" series I posted about this one, and I wasn't kind...

"There are two figures people will point fingers at if they feel like criticizing something from Bandai's early 90s period One is obviously the original Gigan and the other is everyone's favorite guardian of Okinawa: King Caesar. It's a toy that is hurt by the one-two punch of a weak sculpt and an ambivalent paint job, which stinks considering this is the first significant figure of the monster ever made (there was a 4" version that was part of a Bandai figure set in 1992). The sculpt tries to get the look of the monster correct, but monsters with a lot of hair or fur are usually difficult to pull off in soft vinyl form. The monster suit had a big, shaggy mane, a fluffy lion's tail and fur hanging off its arms and legs. The design was clearly more than the sculptors at Bandai could handle. It just isn't shaggy enough. Also not helping is how out of proportion the figure is. The body is just too thick and blocky, making King Caesar look like he's been hitting the gym between monster fights. The neck seam also breaks up the flow of the sculpt a little too much for me.

The figure might have been saved with an interesting paint job. Instead the paint sprays are limited to a lot of gold all over the upper torso and some silver on the finger and toenails. Neither color really pops against the chocolate brown vinyl, a rare case with one of these older Bandais of the shiny vinyl not having much life to it. The finer paint details include white teeth, a small red dot on Caesar's forehead crest and red eyes with black dots for pupils. The black pupils don't look right at all - in the film King Caesar's eyes looked more like bike reflectors. The overall look here is just goofy. It's difficult to be too hard on Bandai though. Aside from Xplus (whose intricate manufacturing process puts their work above everyone else) most companies have struggled getting this character right. I think a lot of people must have been just as underwhelmed with this toy as I was since, by the mid 90s, this was one of a handful of Bandai toys dealers were trying to get rid of at blowout prices."

Being a longtime Bandai collector doesn't automatically mean the old figures are good. If a toy sucks it sucks, new or old.

[StardustGenius]

This just makes me want to see a redeco of the Bandai America King Caesar in a movie accurate color. I thought it was fantastic and better than the ones Bandai of Japan made.

[_JNavs_]

I think the metallic redeco that ended up being released is still a stunning King Caesar honestly. OG was very flat though. But at least that had the height and weight to match.

I think the big conflict with Ghidorah is clearly the size working against it, which everyone has made very clear, plus the price tag for what it is. But also, the pose.. we were going on how many years of the same mold of him? Just to finally get a new mold, and it does nothing innovative besides thinner wings and more accurate heads that are still sausaged together into a very static position, which should’ve been solved by 2023.

We’ve yet to see a true definitive Heisei King Ghidorah imo, as even the SHMA one seems to be based on the old game models.

[Executive Hamster]

It looks better? Maybe it isnt accurate but if it looks good who cares?

Yeah, but the thing is, in addition to not being all that accurate, it *doesn't* look good either. 　

I think it looks better, and it seems like a majority opinion overall is that its a significant improvement over the original. But thats besides the point. Even if it wasn't an improvement, its ultimately subjective. I personally don't understand how you could look at this figure and NOT think it looks great, but thats your opinion and opinions are subjective.

I might add that responding to someone who says something looks good with "uh actually no it sucks" isn't a very productive conversation to be had. You seem to like doing that a lot

[Legion1979]

I literally can not get past the heads and necks on this Ghidorah. Color is great, wings are great. But the pose and thickness of the necks and heads don't look like the Heisei Ghidorah at all. The whole attitude about the toy is just wrong. The 1991 Ghidorah had large heads on skinny necks, and that's what the 1998 toy has. To me it screams Heisei Ghidorah more than the new one does.

[Executive Hamster]

To me the pose and thickness are very minor and easily ignored problems. The head sculpts themselves are MASSIVE improvements that look infinitely better than the original, and the body and wings are also noticeable improvements. So I think the improvements overall make up for the incredibly minor flaws. And on top of that, I find it amusing that these tiny flaws get so much hostility here. There are plenty of valid criticisms towards this figure (the price and size particularly) so its funny to me to see some people harp on issues that are very insignificant.

[Legion1979]

They're not "tiny flaws" if enough people are problems with them.

[Executive Hamster]

They're not "tiny flaws" if enough people are problems with them.

I think I could count on my hands the number of people Ive seen take issue with the sculpt of this figure.