Full Review: Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 Vinyl Figure By X-Plus

3/12/2017

0 Comments

FIGURE SPECS

東宝30シリーズ「ラドン（1964版）」

JAPAN ORIGINAL RELEASE: 2012

DIAMOND REISSUE: JUNE 2016

SERIES: TOHO 30CM SERIES

MATERIAL: VINYL

FROM: “GHIDORAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER” (1964)
三大怪獣地球最大の決戦.

HEIGHT: 12.25 INCHES / 31 CM

WIDTH: (WING TIP TO WING TIP) 23.75 INCHES / 60.3 CM

REVIEW AND PHOTOS: © JOHN STANOWSKI

The Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 vinyl figure by X-Plus really does look like it literally flew out of the movie and onto your shelf. It’s based on Rodan’s second film appearance as seen in Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster, 三大怪獣地球最大の決戦 (1964). What makes this a monster of a figure is its nearly two-foot-long wingspan. It stands in perfect scale with his buddy, the Toho 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. And it is a marvel of sculpting, texture and paint.

It was originally released in Japan way back in 2012. It was reissued for the North American market (through Diamond Distributors) in June 2016 as the Godzilla Kaiju 12in Series Rodan 1964 giving collectors who missed out another chance at grabbing this amazing vinyl.

This review was made with the 2016 North American (Diamond) Reissue.

THE BOX

Rodan’s monster of a box is 24″x15.5″x6.5″. Shipping should always be a consideration when ordering this figure since its box is two feet long. Place that in a shipping box and you’ve got a large shipping bill. But I think the treasure you get to open on a very big Box Day is more than worth it!

The box flips open to reveal the figure, fully assembled, seated in an open plastic tray. You’ll have to remove some wire ties to free it. Before you do, just check the tips of both wings to first make sure the paint didn’t get scuffed in transit.

SCULPT

The sculpt of the Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 by X-Plus is a marvel. Not only does it reproduce a miniature mirror image of the suit used in Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster, but it’s attention to small details is astounding. I suppose the feature that stands out the most is the expert reproduction of the creases and folds in the wings.

If you watch the movie with this figure in front of you, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a dead ringer for the suit. But keep in mind there were 2 Rodans in that film: the suit and a flying puppet which unfortunately didn’t match up perfectly with the former. This figure is based on the suit.

The detail in texture continues on the back with a rough surface sculpted into the upper wings and upper back.

The head sculpt looks perfect from every angle.

Here’s a closer look at that rough texture in the upper wings and back.

And those individually sculpted chest spikes don’t fail at drawing the eye.

The Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 really does look like it literally flew out of the movie and onto your shelf.

POSE

Nothing fancy going on here and that’s just as it should be. Just a standard Rodan pose. This guy is looking forward with both wings spread full out to each side, just like the movie.

JOINTS & SEAMS

This figure has no articulated joints and, as far as I can tell, is made up of ten pieces. It comes completely assembled and the meeting places of all ten of its parts are practically invisible.

I think it’s a good idea to know where these pieces are so that when you pick it up, you’ll know if you’re tugging on a glue seam or not.

The head and neck are one piece, and it’s connection to the main body is practically invisible. The two horns atop the head are separate pieces.

The main body runs from the shoulders, down to the knees. It does not extend to the wings.

The wings are attached and glued right up on the sides of the main body. While no seams can be detected from the front, you can certainly see them from the back. The back usually faces the wall, so no problem there.

Each wing comes in two pieces and the connections occur right down the middle.

You probably want to avoid grabbing this figure by the head/neck or by a wing.

The feet are attached and glued right at the knees. These seams are completely camouflaged by the creases in the sculpt.

Overall, this figure ranks pretty high when it comes to hiding its seams.

PAINT JOB

For a mass produced figure, the paint job on this figure is Top Notch!

Rodan has a base color of a dark, warm brown with only occasional super subtle highlights here and there. What makes this presentation is the reddish, light brown on the front and back of the wings which are expertly feathered into the brown near the “arms” at the top.

In addition, a slighter darker light brown dances around the various crinkles and folds in the wing membrane. And this looks FANTASTIC!

Islands of contrasting color detail spring up on Rodan’s horns, beak, claws, toes and individually painted chest spikes. The gradations of color from bony white to brown on the horns and beak looks amazing. And, most impressively, they did not skimp out on the “toes”. They could have just quickly feathered the bone white of the toes to the brown in the feet, but instead took the time to feather it from light bone to dark bone on just the toes themselves. There is a distinct change to brown matching the sculpt where the skin begins. Just fantastic work.

This Rodan scales perfectly with the Toho 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. Each figure looks fantastic on its own. But when you get these together, it’s awesome overload.

SIZE

The Toho 30cm Series Rodan is BIG. At twelve and a quarter inches tall, it’s not much taller than any other figure in the 30cm Series. But it’s nearly two-foot wingspan makes him wider than three figures in a row. Because of this, it has a LOT of “presence”.

FOOTPRINT / ON THE SHELF

Again, that two-foot wingspan!

Rodan takes up less than 5 inches from front to back. But those wings make it take up the space of three figures side by side.

It would be a good idea to place this figure near the rear of your shelf, allowing one or even two other neighbors to stand in front of the wings. This idea gets even better when you consider that other figures could help prevent Rodan from a tumble later one. See the Caution section for more on that.

SIZE COMPARISONS

The very first size comparison needs to be, without a doubt, Rodan’s buddy from Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster. This Rodan scales perfectly with the Toho 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. Each figure looks fantastic on its own. But when you get these together, it’s awesome overload.

Here is a size comparison of Rodan with other figures which were licensed for North America early in 2016. Keep in mind that Rodan in the rear and so may appear smaller than it would be in a side by side comparison.

Shown are (left to right): Baragon 1965, Anguirus 1968, Gigan 1972 and Titanosaurus. All four of these figures were originally released in Japan as part of the Toho 30cm Series and reissued in North America (through Diamond) as the Godzilla Kaiju 12in Series. Same thing / different series name.

Point is, if you jumped on the chance to get these reissues early last year, this group here represents what you could have accomplished.

RIC BOY EXCLUSIVE

The original 2012 RIC Boy release of this figure came with mini Flying Rodan figure which you can see below. The North American (Diamond) Reissue did not come with this extra piece.

CAUTION

Unfortunately, this figure is prone to falling. This is a sad possibility with any X-Plus vinyl with skinny legs. When the temperature is higher, the vinyl gets softer and the feet and ankles tends to give under the figure’s weight. You should take care to keep Rodan near the back of the shelf when placed up high. This usually isn’t a problem since that’s where he needs to be anyway because of his large wings.

Keep in mind that this figure is so perfectly balanced that it is able to stand on its own without any help from the wings. In fact, the tips of both wings are well over the ground.

The key here is prevention. I’ve found the best thing you could do to keep Rodan on his feet, is to place him directly behind a sturdy shelf buddy.

By chance, the Toho 30cm Series Baragon 1965 makes an absolutely perfect shelf buddy. You can slip Baragon’s tail under Rodan’s wing (near the body). There is more than enough room for this. Then slide Baragon back until his back is touching Rodan’s wing. Don’t leave any space there. If you leave space, you’re still allowing Rodan to slowly lean forward. By making contact with the two figures, you are preventing any warping in Rodan’s feet from happening in the first place.

The same thing can be accomplished with the Toho 30cm Series Gigan 1972. There is more than enough room for his tail to reach under Rodan’s wing.

If you’re hurting for space, you could use both. This Rodan ain’t goin’ anywhere!

BUT WHAT ABOUT GODZILLA 1964?
At first I didn’t think using the Toho 30cm Series Godzilla 1964 would even work. I thought his tail was just too large and I never even thought to try it. Well, what the hell, I tried it and it DOES work! You can have both 1964 figures “locked” together in such a way that Rodan is completely supported.

The one problem is that you are limited to a very specific arrangement. And it’s this:

This is the only way Rodan’s wing will fit over Godzilla’s tail. So, no face-off here. They’re on the same team, standing shoulder to shoulder staring down King Ghidorah.

What’s good about it is that the one curve under the wing almost seems to lock into place. You have to “find” this spot. Make sure while you maneuver the figures, that Rodan’s feet are flat on the floor.

Also, luckily, one of Godzilla’s dorsal fins should meet Rodan’s wing for even more support.

If you want to give this a go, here are some close-ups of how I did it:

This arrangement can take up less space if you rotate the two figures like this.

This dorsal fin should touch Rodan’s wing.

SUMMARY

The Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 vinyl figure by X-Plus really is an amazing collectible. The sculpt is super accurate to the suit used in Ghidorah: The Three-Headed Monster and it makes for the perfect companion piece to the 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. It also adds a lot of variety to your shelves with it’s near two-foot wingspan.

The details and textures in the sculpt are stellar as are the reserved and realistic paint applications. I really don’t know why I waited so long to grab this figure. Thanks to X-Plus and Diamond, I was able to pick one up at a great price.

I really can’t imagine having this figure around now that I have it.

The figure has tons of presence and makes for a literally “big” Box Day!

MORE INFORMATION

X-TRAS

NOTE: From here down, photos may be sweetened in Photoshop to over dramatize the figure a bit beyond reality.

By John Stanowski Originally posted March 12th, 2017 on Kaiju Addicts.

0 Comments