​エクスプラス ゴジラ2001

JAPAN RELEASE: JULY 2012

​SERIES: LARGE MONSTER SERIES (25CM)

​MATERIAL: SOFT VINYL

​FROM: “GODZILLA, MOTHRA AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS ALL-OUT ATTACK”, 2001
ゴジラ・モスラ・キングギドラ 大怪獣総攻撃

​HEIGHT: 10.1875 INCHES / 25.87 CM

​WIDTH: 8.125 INCHES / 20.63 CM

​LENGTH: 12.25 INCHES / 31.11 CM

​ARTICULATION: NONE

​REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI

This is one of my favorite Godzilla designs. At first glance, this figure may seem slimmer than it should be. But after comparing it over and over against movie stills, methinks they got this one right on the money!

Once again, it looks like it crawled out of the movie. Fantastic, faithful sculpt! The actual Godzilla 2001 suit had a number of textures over it. The standard, elongated bumps cover his legs, arms and tail. A unique, somewhat crocodilian/grid pattern covers his chest. And a set of gill-like wisps fan away from his face on the sides of his head. All of these textures are captured in the figure. X-Plus, though, did simplify the texture on the back of the head and neck.

​His upper ‘fangs’ are smaller than they should be when comparing to stills from the movie. But other than that the rest of his pearly whites are faithfully represented. The real suit had a total of four teeth between the fangs and even that is faithfully recreated. His lower claws were given the extra detail the suit had.

VISIBLE SEAMS & JOINTS: There are noticeable joints above the elbows, but X-Plus did a great job of making sure you don’t see them from the front. The tail piece, which the purchaser must insert, is further from back than usual and lands halfway down the tail where it’s a tad more visible.

Great pose. Godzilla arches his back and holds his head up higher than his usual forward hunch and I think this really gives the figure a sense of reaction or personality. Offhand I don’t know if this pose was modeled after a particular shot in the film, but I did notice a similar posture when Godzilla was firing his second blast of atomic breath at Baragon. His stance is noticeably wider than it should be but that could be because moments ago he was hunched forward getting ready to fire his wave motion breath. It really looks great from all angles.

​The X-Plus Godzilla 2001 is painted with the standard Godzilla charcoal color with – surpisingly – no shading or highlights. The real suit had a lot of cracks and lines that were a lighter, dustier color than the surrounding black. X-Plus made no attempt to mimic that. In their defense, though, it probably would have been too time consuming to do. They did, however, put in the time to get the extra detail this Goji has on his claws, especially on the feet. The dorsal spines look great, as usual. And unlike other X-Plus figures, this one actually has glossy paint on the teeth. On my figure the paint on the teeth is a tad too reddish in hue. As much as I hate stark white teeth on a Godzilla figure, the real suit did have big, shiny, white teeth.

This suit was designed with a shorter, thinner tail and that means more room on your display shelf. Its length is just slightly over 12 inches. The tail curves slightly Godzilla’s right so if you pose him diagonally on your shelf, he’d fit better facing your right.

​By John Stanowski Originally posted April 29th, 2013 on Kaiju Addicts.

​エクスプラス ウルトラマンCタイプ

​JAPAN RELEASE: AUGUST 2009

​SERIES: LARGE MONSTER SERIES (25CM)

MATERIAL: SOFT VINYL​

​FROM: “ULTRAMAN”, 1966-1967
ウルトラマン

​HEIGHT: 9 INCHES / 22.86 CM

​WIDTH: 4 INCHES / 10.16 CM

​LENGTH: 4.25 INCHES / 10.79 CM

​ARTICULATION: ANKLES ROTATE

​REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI

There were three suits made for and used in the original Ultraman television series. This figure represents the third suit (or “C-Type”) in the famous Spacium Ray pose. And, wow, all I can say is the six-year-old inside me gives it a big thumbs up! Though I have this listed as 1966-67 in the title, it likely appeared in 1967 as it was the last suit used.

​A lot of figures and toys tend to try to make them look “better” by stylizing them, making them look idealic and trying to cover up the flaws in the original. On the other hand, X-Plus goes out of its way to mimic the precise appearance of THE SUIT. On X-Plus figures, you’ll often find things like ‘zipper lines’ along the back, or tiny holes in the front which the suit actor used to try to see. On this figure the holes under the big white eyes are clearly included in the sculpt. And the dark crease running down Ultraman’s back where the zipper is located is faithfully represented. Particularly impressive on this figure are the tiny lines and etches around the folds and bevels of the suit. I’m about to repeat myself yet again: this figure looks as if it literally just shuwatched right out of the TV show and onto my shelf!

​VISIBLE SEAMS & JOINTS: Yes, there are some, most noticably around the shoulders. These are part of the sculpt because the Ric Boy Exclusive version of this figure comes with a second set of arms for a ‘fighting pose’. Fortunately when viewed from the front these seams are invisible. There are lines around each wrist and ankle which are somewhat noticeable. The seam around the waist is cleverly hidden by making it follow the line of the red meeting silver design and are only detectable on the back fin.

This pose is truly iconic. This is the stance Ultraman takes when he fires his primary weapon (and discussion-ender), the Spacium Ray (commonly seen written as ‘Specium’) emitted from his open right hand. The X-Plus sculptors captures this pose perfectly. Ultraman suit actor Satoshi “Bin” Furuya would slightly curve his left hand upward and even that minute detail is captured in the figure. Five “shooting stars” for this pose! Best Angle: a forward 3/4 view, preferably facing the left.

Unlike other “toys” which try to sell figures with an overly vivid paint scheme, this one has an especially realistic red color. It’s dull and muted and desaturated… exactly as it should be! The silver paint is also dull and not overly shiny. (I’m afraid my overly Photoshopped photos for this review tend to intensify the colors and shininess giving a false presentation of the true paint scheme. But rest assured, it will look perfect on your shelf!)

Obviously shelf space is not a concern with this figure. It takes up relatively little room; even less if you don’t use the base that comes with it. I currently have four “Ultramen” and the only problem I’ve had displaying them is that each one sort of ‘demands’ that nothing be put in front of it except a low-height quadroped Ultra kaiju.

This figure is 9 inches tall in it’s crouched pose. It fits in very nicely with the X-Plus 25cm Giant Monster Series. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen so far, X-Plus has been making the Ultraman figures taller, and thus out of scale, with the Ultra Kaiju figures. While they seem to go together well on the shelf, the truth is the “Ultramen” are at least a “head” taller than the monsters.

​Ultraman comes with ankles which can rotate, which is important. It’s so perfectly balanced that only by tweaking the rotation of the ankles, you can get this figure to stand on his own two feet without the aid of the base and peg it comes with.

By John Stanowski Originally posted April 28th, 2013​ on Kaiju Addicts.

Kyle and Jeff from the KaijuCast (www.KaijuCast.com) made a video primer for new X-Plus collectors. Even more awesome is that it includes a trip to X-Plus Addict David Dopko‘s house for a look at his collection. (P.S. The KaijuCast video features an intro sequence made by yours truly featuring figures from my own collection. Yeah, Toot!)

By John Stanowski Originally posted April 28th, 2013​ on Kaiju Addicts.

JAPAN RELEASE: 2012

​JAPAN REISSUE: (SOFT VERSION), 2012

​DIAMOND RE-ISSUE: JUNE 2014

​SERIES: TOHO 30CM SERIES

​MATERIAL: SOFT VINYL

​FROM: FROM “MOTHRA”, 1961
モスラ

​HEIGHT: 2.625 INCHES / 6.6675 CM

​WIDTH: 2.375 INCHES / 6.0325 CM

​LENGTH: 12.5 INCHES / 31.75 CM

​ARTICULATION: HINGED MANDIBLES

​REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI

UPDATED: June 2014.

This figure is the spitting image of Mothra in her larva form. It has a fantastic paint job and is a great figure for diversifying your collection. This figure was released three times. The first release used the standard harder vinyl. There was then a limited re-issue using a softer “squooshy” vinyl. Finally, X-Plus reissued it yet again, this time for the North American market (Diamond Reissue). Although this review covers all of the versions, most of the photos here feature the squishy version.

​The X-Plus Mothra 1961 looks like it crawled right out of the movie. Most of the find detail is in the head since most of the larva is composed simply of ringed segments. Subtle cracks and dents, along with the find paint job, take care of that. The front end seams accurately scuplpted with lots of creases and folds behind the head. The lower face has a fine, bumpy texture which runs all the way to the tail. The beak is hard plastic and holds hinged mandibles which you can open and close. On the particular figure which I own, the hingles aren’t completely in place, but they are so snug that they still stay in place. If you grub — I mean grab — this figure you’ll want to take care you don’t loose one of the pieces. There is a hair-like line draping along both sides where its belly leaves the ground. X-Plus did a pretty good job cutting a lot of tiny little lines to simulate this.

The paint job is excellent. Especially when you consider the fact that a lot of it doesn’t have corresponding geometry in the sculpt. The creases between each segment of Mothra’s body have feathered shading like it was airbrushed; and done very well, too. Spots and speckles were also softly added over the entire body. And, check this out: X-Plus actually took the time to replicate near-precise spot locations on the head! I don’t have a ton of 1961 Mothra larva photos around, but from what I’ve seen, they took care to replicate how the spots look on the front of the head between the eyes. There’s also a three-spot pattern behind Mothra’s left eye which was also replicated. Holy Attention-to-Detail, Batman!

And they eyes! It must have taken a very steady heand to perfectly fill the tiny eyes (with a diameter of about only one sixteenth of an inch) with a pale cyan which jump out and almost glow against the dark browns and tans that surround it.

On a slightly sour note: There is a bit of a paint mismatch between the front and rear sections of my “squishy” reissue where they were glued together. The browns on the front half are slightly warmer than the less saturated browns on the rear. I would imagine this is because each half was painted at a different station and the paint mixtures weren’t completely identical. I’ve also noticed this on a couple other X-Plus figures I have. But honestly, I didn’t even notice it until I took close-up photos for this review.

As for my Diamond Reissue: the paint on the separate pieces match perfectly. Although, the “freckles” have harder edges as opposed to the softer spots on the 2012 version.

​Articulation on X-Plus vinyls is not a common. The 30cm Series Mothra Larva, though, is one of the exceptions, albeit in a small way. It has hinged mandibles which can be opened and closed. They are rather tight on my new Diamond Reissue and for that I’m glad because one of the mandibles on my older soft version has come out of place and it’s been impossible for me to pop the post back in place. So, be careful with these little pieces!

​Mothra’s main body is in three pieces and each has a joint which can be rotated. These joints are not meant to be used for articulation, though. These joints are hidden very well between segments on the body.

​There isn’t much of a pose. The X-Plus Mothra larva is pretty much a straight figure. Her head turned ever so slightly to the left.

Not much to say here in how this gal is going to fit on your shelf as it’s pretty obvious. Mothra is not a hog for space and will easily fit between 2 other figures either perpendiculary or on an angle. But she’s easily overlooked that way. Try to run her parellel to the shelf in front of another figure who isn’t hogging the whole shelf.

This figure doesn’t seem very imposing size-wise when compared to the can, but it is over twice as long as one. Though Mothra may not be as cool as a Godzilla or other kaiju in the 30cm line, it does add variety to the shelf. 

By John Stanowski Originally posted April 27th, 2013​ on Kaiju Addicts.

​JAPAN RELEASE: 2012

​JAPAN RE-ISSUE: 2013, (EBIRAH SET)

​SERIES: LARGE MONSTER SERIES (25CM)

MATERIAL: SOFT VINYL

​FROM: FROM “GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER”, 1966

​ゴジラ・エビラ・モスラ 南海の大決闘

​HEIGHT: 9.25 INCHES / 23.495 CM<

​WIDTH: 6.75 INCHES / 17.145 CM

LENGTH: LENGTH: 15 INCHES / 38.1 CM

ARTICULATION: NONE

​REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI

​This is the very first X-Plus vinyl I acquired and I hope you can see how it became the catalyst for a downward spiral into an X-Plus addiction.

What can I say? It looks amazing. The familiar rough Godzilla-skin is very detailed and stands out even though it’s mostly just one color. There aren’t very many visible joint seams on this figure other than where you connect the tail. If you look closely you may notice lines above the elbows but they are hard to miss. Though the tail comes in one piece you can see how it used to be two before they glued them together halfway down. Other than those two, it looks and feels like one piece. This figure has separated fingers with the exception of two which are webbed together on its right hand.

​Head to head with the original, the X-Plus figure comes close. But keep in mind the orginal is a rubber suit which folded and contorted when in action. In the second photo you see a comparison of Godzilla’s dorsal spines. The X-Plus figure comes very close, yet in other scenes the similarity fades somewhat. All in all, the X-Plus is successful in capturing the essence of the 1966 Godzilla and is worthy of being called a definitive collectors item.

​The X-Plus 25cm Godzilla 1966 is in a standard, straight-on pose. He’s looking forward and is mostly symmetrical in every way. Even his tail goes straight back. If I’m not mistaken this pose was taken from when Godzilla stood on the beach looking out into the choppy waters where Ebirah has just surfaced. It’s a really great pose.

The skin on the Godzilla 1966 is pretty much one single color: a very nice asphalt black. There is very subtle highlight shading on the bumps of his chest and around his thighs. The same asphalt black creeps into the dorsal spines and claws where it meets tan highlights on the edges. The teeth are a very off white (almost tan) color which distances it from the stark white found on cheap toys. The eyes are painted with a slight orangeish tinge around the dark corneas which really adds a nice touch.

​The Large Monster Series Godzilla 1966 looks good beside the X-Plus Ebirah 1966.

This figure has a tail which goes straight backward making the total length 15 inches! If your display shelf is a standard 11.5 inches deep then this fellow is going to take up some room. You won’t be able to get more than a forward 3/4 view of him. That actually works out just fine as I think this is his best angle! The tail will take up some space for the next figure so it’s a good idea to but him next to a figure with a smaller footprint like a 25cm Mechagodzilla or Gigan.

By John Stanowski Originally posted April 23rd, 2013 on Kaiju Addicts.