Official Bandai (Japan) Thread 2.0

[KingKaiju]

I don’t even think the Hedorah WILL have articulation at the head. That is almost certainly going to be a glued seam. Makes me wonder why the whole body isn’t just a single unit. I’d be pleasantly surprised if that thing’s head could swivel when it gets released but I’m expecting jointed arms and everything else to be glued down.

Ugh, even worse!

[Legion1979]

I'm telling ya right now, that head isn't going to be able to turn. It probably will be glued in place.

[LSD Jellyfish]

One thing I like about the GFW Godzilla is the feet. I think people have overlooked that minor detail, but it's definitely an improvement in posture and furthers that Godzilla's unique look and design. Look how Godzilla is more "upright".

FYI, I ordered all the recent figures. They'll be released on the 25th. If no one beats me to the punch on twitter or something I'll gladly share photos when they arrive.

[canofhumdingers]

Is this FW Goji a new sculpt? Didn’t they already release a downscaled 6 inch version of the original 8 inch mold years ago? Is this not just a reissue?

[UltramanGoji]

Is this FW Goji a new sculpt? Didn’t they already release a downscaled 6 inch version of the original 8 inch mold years ago? Is this not just a reissue?

Yep, it's a new sculpt. The 6" version was a little different in pose from the 8" one and had some softer details but this one seems to be based on that original 8" one much more. The hands to me were the dead giveaway: the claws are blunter and the fingers were less defined on the 6" compared to the 8"
which had sharper claws and more spread out fingers.

[{---HYPERZeTToN---}]

Hedorah's sculpt looks too smooth. Doesn't do the movie suit justice, it looks so cheap. How can we get it incredible sculpts with the Gameras but here it just falls flat?

I meant to reply to this last night

I don't remember who it was but somebody in this thread made a good point that it's probably due to the Gamera license. It's more than likely cheaper to acquire the rights to use Gamera and his fellow villains, thus Bandai has more budget to create great looking vinyls, compared to the (more than likely) expensive Godzilla rights. TOHO's asking price(s) + large quantity of monsters to produce = some great vinyls but also some half-assed vinyls as well.

[Creature22]

I don't remember who it was but somebody in this thread made a good point that it's probably due to the Gamera license. It's more than likely cheaper to acquire the rights to use Gamera and his fellow villains, thus Bandai has more budget to create great looking vinyls, compared to the (more than likely) expensive Godzilla rights. TOHO's asking price(s) + large quantity of monsters to produce = some great vinyls but also some half-assed vinyls as well.

I know I've mentioned some of these aspects in the past but I think there are a few others on here who might have brought this point up as well. I don't know if there's any way to prove it but I'd wager that Bandai definitely has a larger budget for Gamera and that Kadokawa is much more lenient with what they produce and release. Toho's copyright rules are incredibly wonky from what I understand and there are all sorts of prices and specifications for each era, character, and how they are supposed to "look". I wouldn't be surprised if many of the matte base colors are selected at Toho's request as opposed to what would look better on the toy itself (as in, selecting a bright dull gray for Godzilla instead of a glossy black, all because the vinyl is labeled as "charcoal gray").

We'll never know for certain, but I think there is a lot of proof that Bandai is still capable of a lot more than they show.

On a separate note, I think it's a little hard/early to tell but the Godzilla '04 does look like an improvement compared to the previous 6 inch one. I couldn't stand how overly large the head was; I'm hoping the proportions are fixed for the new model.

[JVM]

I'm waiting for more angles on Manda. It's a bad image but I actually thought Varan's first image looked terrible and the figure turned out good. Lengthy monsters don't look as good at an angle. The new MG93 is very in line with SMG and his undersized legs. Hedorah is an odd repeat of Orga -- a fine figure but absolutely destroyed by a very bad, over visible seam in the face. No excuse.


Thx to Executive Hamster a little, I made a Godzilla 2004 comparison. The head is improved as others have noticed, but he also finally has proper shoulders and upper arms, looking less squeezed and tripodal than the older figure.

[LSD Jellyfish]

I have the 2005 Final Wars Godzilla vinyl and I have to say I've always felt it's a bit pinched and bad looking. I think this new mold, with such minor differences, is a big step up. I wouldn't include that in the same leagues as the recent SMG or the Manda and Hedorah.

[Creature22]

Yeah, it really looks improved with the two comparisons above.

All four new MMS vinyls are now up for preorder on HobbyLink Japan. I ordered Manda and Hedorah and decided to bite the bullet and get Godzilla as well.

[Shenanigans]

Well, at least its nice that we have a few options for some of these characters now (with the exception of Manda). Like, if the upcoming Baragon and Ebirah end up sucking too, at least you have the choice between those and what Playmates and Y-MSF are offering, respectively. Because after this wave, I'm doubtful Bandai's Ebirah in particular can beat Y-MSF's, which, while flawed, is nonetheless a fantastic figure overall. Love how big it is, which Bandai's almost certainly won't be.

On the subject, I'm curious - whose Hedorah do people prefer, Bandai's or Y-MSF's? I feel like they both got things going for and against them.

Wow. I feel like one of those guys who obliviously stepped out of the way before getting hit by a car. Well, almost...

Without seeing this Manda, which looks a bit SP-influenced rather than being FW-based (not meant to be Showa, is he???), I finally bit on a X-Plus Ultra Q Kairyu (Showa Manda) just a few days ago on Mandarake. While he wasn't at the lowest price I ever saw, he was a lot less than elsewhere right now. It just seems I picked the right time and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Now I have my fingers crossed for a SHMA with a similar/better Showa sculpt one day.

This guy, right? Its a fantastic figure, one of my favorites along with the Giant Octopus (aka Sudar).

[Gojirasaur]

Well, at least its nice that we have a few options for some of these characters now (with the exception of Manda). Like, if the upcoming Baragon and Ebirah end up sucking too, at least you have the choice between those and what Playmates and Y-MSF are offering, respectively. Because after this wave, I'm doubtful Bandai's Ebirah in particular can beat Y-MSF's, which, while flawed, is nonetheless a fantastic figure overall. Love how big it is, which Bandai's almost certainly won't be.

On the subject, I'm curious - whose Hedorah do people prefer, Bandai's or Y-MSF's? I feel like they both got things going for and against them.

Wow. I feel like one of those guys who obliviously stepped out of the way before getting hit by a car. Well, almost...

Without seeing this Manda, which looks a bit SP-influenced rather than being FW-based (not meant to be Showa, is he???), I finally bit on a X-Plus Ultra Q Kairyu (Showa Manda) just a few days ago on Mandarake. While he wasn't at the lowest price I ever saw, he was a lot less than elsewhere right now. It just seems I picked the right time and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Now I have my fingers crossed for a SHMA with a similar/better Showa sculpt one day.

This guy, right? Its a fantastic figure, one of my favorites along with the Giant Octopus (aka Sudar).

[img]https://i.imgur. com/zEt88wf.jpg[/img]

Yeah. Right now, at this time, that's the definitive Manda. Just a beautiful sculpt.

[CyberZilla]

Aiming to pre-order the Manda at least, maybe the Hedorah if it ends up better in-hand. Idk, I’m still satisfied with my older 6 inch GFW figure, even if the proportions are better on the new one.

[_JNavs_]

YMSF Hedorah is stunning, and walks all over the Bandai promo images imo. Paint job is the only department which would lack in comparison, however even then, more effort was clearly applied with soul on the YMSF one. Plus gloss gold and red eyes?? *Mwah* chefs kiss

[Petezilla]

The new FW Godzilla looks actually a lot better than its now 18 years old predecessor. Like other have pointed out the old one looked way to skinny and dull overall. The new one looks more bulky and sharper. The paint may be a different story, though...

However this new wave shows very well how vastly different BANDAI vinyls of the same line and franchise can turn out.

By the way: the BANDAI website says that Manda is 33 cm long. It will likely look a lot better from a non-frontal angle, although 40+ cm and a slimmer body wouldn't have hurt it. The face still looks completely off if you ask me...

[LSD Jellyfish]

Having the SMG in my possession, I can back up the sentiment that it’s a horrible figure first hand. To summarize it in a succinct way, because of the shade of paint, size, lack of detail, and how the Garuda cannons bend horribly, I can say this reminds me of a bootleg. Like it reminds me of a bootleg, and if you took of the tag and I saw it without the tag, I’d think it’s fake.

[Dyrakro]

Anyone on here familiar with the Bandai releases in China? Especially in case of Ultraman there are various releases only to be found there (UMS Megalozoa 1st form, Orb Darkness, Corrupted Ultraman Geed, Lidorias, Ultraman Legend,...)

Does anyone have an overview on which sets and figs have been released in particular?

[Petezilla]

The new standard MMS Mechagodzilla (1993) is already out in Japan it seems. There are pics on Twitter already and (as expected) he's as short as the Godzilla Store exclusive Super-Mechagodzilla.

[Legion1979]

The new standard MMS Mechagodzilla (1993) is already out in Japan it seems. There are pics on Twitter already and (as expected) he's as short as the Godzilla Store exclusive Super-Mechagodzilla.

There goes the theory that SMG was only short because of the Garuda.

[JVM]

SMG is here, and I immediately compared him with an older Mecha93. (Not sure if this is 1998, 2001 or 2003 edition?) It is still an objectively disappointing figure, but I'm not totally bummed out -- the droopy missiles are bothering me more than the scale, to be honest, because it just looks wrong for something metallic to be that rubbery, whereas the scale can be mitigated depending on where it is placed. He actually looks fine next to SpaceGodzilla, Destoroyah, Biollante, or basically anyone besides Godzilla, Rodan or Varan. He's still underscaled and that's still annoying, but it feels a bit less egregious seeing how many other kaiju are also underscaled in person. It is actually a reminder how terrible the MMS scale is for Heisei monsters in general. I do like the simplified paint scheme, which does look better in person, and I really like the improved proportions. He's less rounded than Mecha93, which I think is actually a significant improvement. The primary loss of scale is still seen most in the shortened, tighter legs and the undersized feet. I think if you used the legs of an old MG93 on the upper half of the SMG, and painted it the same silver, you'd be pretty much perfect. If anyone was curious, the tail rotates in addition to the head, arms, and missiles.

I ended up preordering the new MG93 based on this, so I'm not buying the whole wave.

The new standard MMS Mechagodzilla (1993) is already out in Japan it seems. There are pics on Twitter already and (as expected) he's as short as the Godzilla Store exclusive Super-Mechagodzilla.

Would love a link to the post. Should be any day now we start seeing what Baragon, Ebirah and new KG91 look like. I have the whole wave on preorder at this point, as said, looking forward to the MG93 since my biggest issue with the SMG besides scale is the droopy missiles.