Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[Creature22]

Easy there Legion, don't become Greg.

I've been trying to grab photos of the new Monster X in-hand but it has become a lot more difficult since Twitter essentially nuked their search features. From what I'm seeing though, it doesn't look all that bad- I'm not entirely sure where people are going after it, but I don't really have the greatest image of the suit from memory in my head either. The sculpt looked okay though.

[Executive Hamster]

I've been trying to grab photos of the new Monster X in-hand but it has become a lot more difficult since Twitter essentially nuked their search features. From what I'm seeing though, it doesn't look all that bad- I'm not entirely sure where people are going after it, but I don't really have the greatest image of the suit from memory in my head either. The sculpt looked okay though.

Honestly it looks really bad

[Legion1979]

Yeah they didn't even try with that one. Why are the bone parts so WHITE?

[CyberZilla]

I don’t think it looks bad, per se, but it does feel a bit flat? Visually speaking? I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the paint. I don’t mind it, at some point I do want to snag it since I need a Monster X, but not my favorite of their recent bunch.

[Mac Daddy MM]

Easy there Legion, don't become Greg.

Soooooo glad more people are catching on to what a joke Greg is lmao.

I've been trying to grab photos of the new Monster X in-hand but it has become a lot more difficult since Twitter essentially nuked their search features. From what I'm seeing though, it doesn't look all that bad- I'm not entirely sure where people are going after it, but I don't really have the greatest image of the suit from memory in my head either. The sculpt looked okay though.

Honestly it looks really bad

Man, the side heads really do look like marshmellows cut in half.

[Legion1979]

It looks more like whipped cream.

Actually, what it really looks like is a little kid who got into daddy's medicine cabinet and put shaving cream all over himself.

There. Now try to unsee it.

[Creature22]

It looks more like whipped cream.

Actually, what it really looks like is a little kid who got into daddy's medicine cabinet and put shaving cream all over himself.

There. Now try to unsee it.

Dang it, now I’m seeing it as an Oreo sundae. And the cherries are the eyes.

The shaving cream comment also makes me think of someone lathering up shampoo before a shower
It definitely is more cloud colored than bone.

That being said, it DOES look like Monster X. If I was a kid at the store and saw this on the peg, it would probably do the job.

[Legion1979]

Not to start this again, but this further illustrates how great we used to have it. The original Bandai Monster X from 19 years ago was a full 8" tall and all the bone areas were fully painted with a terrific dirty white. Not a masterpieve but you got your money's worth. I dont remember the exact price it went for here but I know it was pretty close to what people buying the new version are going to pay from American sellers.

This, more than the actual price increase, is what drives me crazy. Make us pay more, fine. But give us quality for fuck's sake.

[StardustGenius]

Man that really needs a wash. Or it could have been molded in black, and spray painted light grey/white.

[Executive Hamster]

Gonna be real, I ALSO didnt care for the original 8 inch figure. Its definitely one of the weaker figures from that time period, aesthetically. Though putting it next to the 8 inch Gigan, arguably one of bandai's best looking figures, didn't help

[Legion1979]

At least the original had a decent excuse that it was most likely made before there was a lot of reference material available for the character. Now it's 2023. Bandai has no such excuse.

[CyberZilla]

At least the original had a decent excuse that it was most likely made before there was a lot of reference material available for the character. Now it's 2023. Bandai has no such excuse.

I’m of two minds about it.

On one side, I can’t tell if the Bandai laziness is compounding with plastic prices rising, or if it truly is better for them as a company to skimp out on the paint in this way. I would be understanding if it was because of costs, but from outside looking in, it only appears as laziness/complacencies.

On the other side, I see it as a consumer, where it looks decent as a figure representing a character, but it’s also just… plain. Plain for a figure who is coming from a line where there’s usually (at least until fairly recently) consistent quality? The sculpts still look really good imo, but they cut the paint at odd points. Monster X is an example where it doesn’t necessarily make the figure awful, but it does make it look kind of flat.

[StardustGenius]

When it comes to importing items, its best to have several things rather than just one. It also depends. SHMA will still be way more expensive. Gundam and SMP kits average out better.

As far as Bandai's qualities are concerned, I think a lot of it is liscensing fees. I mentioned a few months back, but its probably Toho asks more than what Daiei does, so the budget is alocated better in the latter. It stucks tho.

[Mac Daddy MM]

IF you are only looking to buy one or two figures and ship them, I would highly recomend Showcase Daikaiju. They don't mark up too much and are generally very cool to deal with. They've also become my go-to for G-Store Exclusives and other harder to get releases. You won't find a better or easier way to get them stateside.

[Creature22]

I am a bit curious now too— the 8” stuff obviously cost more than the 6” stuff back in the 2000s, but the only thing I can really compare it to now is like if Ultra 500 was the new 6” scale and the 6” stuff is being treated as 8”, price comparisons aside. I definitely think my Dad had to budget himself for Christmas/birthdays and that the latest 8” Godzilla was the equivalent of two or three ‘on sale’ 6” vinyls. That same game still needs to be played, but feels less rewarding because you’re just not getting the same bang for your buck. And MMS is now like 5x the price of an Ultra 500 as opposed to 3x.

I do think Toho has fees that come into play as well, but Bandai has its own leverage too- reportedly the only reason Shin Godzilla got approved was because Bandai was excited at the prospect of marketing “three figures”.

[JVM]

I second Mac Daddy MM's recommendation of Showcase Daikaiju. I am pulling out of the collecting game but I've used them a couple years and they've never disappointed me.

In case of another toy line I follow, it was recently suggested that the licensee was able to dictate the budget for not only the line but in that case which figures recieved higher and lower budgets than one another, causing an anticipated character to be of poorer quality. I don't know if this applies to Bandai MMS, and I don't want to actively suggest it is, but it overlaps with some previous discussion about the Gamera figures seeming consistently high quality in comparison, including what StardustGenuis brought up, so it has made me wonder if this could be a factor.

I have to say it feels like a lot of collectors are still approaching this as if Bandai is delivering great product on the whole but is suffering a few bad releases -- but looking back on the last few years, the quality has been more consistently down than up. There really have only been a couple of figures that really caught fire in the community in the last two years and a lot of subpar releases. I think we are meeting a new normal.

[Petezilla]

The problem with this Monster X is the almost non-existant paint. Missing proper paint in key-areas – like those tiny striped horns on his head (which are not just painted only minimally, but also the WRONG way!), the 'shoulder-heads', the forearms, the feet & I wouldn't wonder if that huge spike on its back was left unpainted, too – simply makes this one look like a cheap, edgy squish-toy.

Regarding Legion1979's recent posting:
The original, much better painted and 8" tall Monster X actually had a much lower MSRP than this atrocity of a 6" MMS figure. I have an old japanese toy magazine from the time of GFW and it lists all the figures with MSRP. The BANDAI 8" Monster X from 2004 originally sold for 1,890 JPY. The tiny and ugly new one is 3,520 JPY. Conversion rate aside, this should set the price escalation into some perspective. Even the old and nicely painted 8" Kaiser Ghidorah was only 2,940 JPY.

[Maverick Centigrade]

That monster x looks like a bad knock off bootleg.

[King Dan]

Hey, For a figure that most likely will get it's ass kicked in a sandbox over and over again the sculpting is adequate enough. The painting looks like it was made to rub off on purpose during play. It's not too bad .. if your a baby.

[Legion1979]

Hey, For a figure that most likely will get it's ass kicked in a sandbox over and over again the sculpting is adequate enough. The painting looks like it was made to rub off on purpose during play. It's not too bad .. if your a baby.

Yeah, the problem with this figure is getting it without paint rubs that expose little white vinyl spots all over the body. They couldn't have cast it in black?