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 FIGURE SPECS東宝大怪獣リーズ 「ゴジラ（1964版）モスラ対ゴジラ」 JAPAN ORIGINAL RELEASE: 2012 JAPAN RE-ISSUE (WITH MOTHRA SET): APRIL 2015 SERIES: LARGE MONSTER SERIES (25CM SERIES) MATERIAL: VINYL FROM: モスラ対ゴジラ “MOTHRA VS. GODZILLA”, 1964 HEIGHT (WITH BASE): 9.5 INCHES / 24.13 CM (WITHOUT BASE): 9 INCHES / 22.8 CM WIDTH: 4.5 INCHES / 11.43 CM LENGTH (NOSE TO TAIL): 13.5 INCHES / 34.29 CM FIGURE WEIGHT (WITH BASE): 15 OZ / 425 G (WITHOUT BASE): 10 OZ / 283 G REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI. SOME PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED BY LESTER WAYNE DANIELS AND RICH ESO. The Toho Large Monster Series Godzilla 1964 was released by X-Plus in early 2012. It’s modeled after the suit as it appeared in Mothra vs. Godzilla. This suit was used again (with some modifications) in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster which also came out in 1964. Depending on your level of OCD, this figure will do fine to represent either movie on your shelves. THE BOX
The 25cm Godzilla 1964 comes in the standard Large Monster Series window box. This same box design gets used for all of the Large Monster Series figures that will fit into it. The only thing on the box that’s different and identifies the figure is a long black sticker on the bottom of the front. Inside, the figure is wired into a plastic shell made just for the main body, the tail which you must attach yourself and the base. Special thanks to Lester Wayne Daniels for the photos of the box. My box is long gone. THE BASE This vinyl comes with a base which is needed for the figure to stand properly. A rare move for X-Plus. It is not attached; the figure’s feet simply rest on impressions on the top. It’s fairly snug and the figure fairly steady when on it. If you’re not diggin’ the base, you can push it out of the way and let Godzilla’s feet touch the ground. See the Footprint on the Shelf section for more on that. Not only did X-Plus reproduce the suit’s details accurately, but its personality, movement and gait as well. SCULPT A picture is worth a thousand words, and the one above shows that the Large Monster Series Godzilla 1964 by X-Plus is unmistakably a fantastic representation of the suit. I’m going to have to say it yet again: it looks like it walked right out of the movie.  All of MosuGoji’s unique signature characteristics are captured accurately in the sculpt. The shape of his head, his long, thin fingers and even little details like every spike on his dorsal fins is here on this figure. Note the unique “V” shaped fin at the top of this back, and the extra spikey fin further down. This guy is crazy accurate. Not only did X-Plus reproduce the suit’s details accurately, but its personality, movement and gait as well.  Signature features of the 1964 Godzilla suit are here in the sculpt. The smooth, sweeping eyebrows, jowls and inward slanted teeth are faithfully represented. Once again, I have to point out this excellent X-Plus figure has individually sculpted teeth. Okay, who’s getting tired of reading that? We all know this by now, I know. But I have to consider the new collectors!  The sculpt represents the head on the original suit very well from every single angle! A nice touch are the crinkles in the skin at the bottom of the neck, where the rubber head started to fall forward over suit actor Haruo Nakajima’s real head inside! I’m surprised that this figure does not have the dimples in the sculpt to represent the holes Nakajima was able to see through. X-Plus usually adds that feature on other figures. SCULPT COMPARISONLet’s use some camera trickery to even out the heights and focus on the sculpts.  This is the Large Monster Series (25cm) Godzilla 1964 beside the 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. They are NOT the same size. Actually, the larger figure on the right is standing about 12 inches further away from the camera than the smaller figure on the left. This is a forced perspective in-camera trick to make the two appear to be the same size. I did this so that we could ‘line them up’ and compare sculpt details from both on even ground. And I have to stop and say, Woah, look how similar they are! No really, holy shit, X-Plus! How are you that good?? The proportions line up and the size of mostly everything matches up perfectly. The only difference I see in in the size of the feet. Still… Wow! X-Plus’ sculpting expertise astounds me yet again. WHO’S BETTER? Well, what do YOU think? Comment below and let us know which is your favorite sculpt. That’s if you see much of a difference. The pose is more expressive than most X-Plus Godzilla vinyls. I have to point out the hands right away. They look and feel so real. I actually feel like they’re getting ready to close by themselves. JOINTS & SEAMSFirst, I’d like to review my definitions of joints and seams because I’ve heard the two used interchangeably recently. A joint in the real world is an articulate surface, like a human knee or elbow. Articulated figures have mechanisms referred to as joints because, well, they’re articulated. In the world of vinyl statues, however, a joint is limited to the joining of two separate pieces which are not glued nor have had any attempt at being filled or covered. They are, most of the time, free to rotate. A seam is an area where two pieces are held together with glue. On a vinyl statue these are most commonly seen at elbows, knees and jaws. This connection of separate pieces does not allow for any movement at all. Basically, a seam is a visible line which ideally should not be there in the first place. Now, with that out of the way, this figure’s only joint is at the tail. It’s reasonably concealed within the sculpted bands of the tail. There are seams above both elbows and below both knees. They are relatively unnoticeable with the exception of the right elbow. There’s likely a seam around the bottom jaw but you can’t see it so let’s move on. The entire of row of dorsal fins, as usual, are a attached to a separate piece of vinyl glued onto the body. The seams here, also as usual, are pretty much invisible. Deduct some points from my review for even bringing it up. To summarize, there isn’t much to see here except an excellent sculpt! POSE The pose is more expressive than most X-Plus Godzilla vinyls. I have to point out the hands right away. They look and feel so real. I actually feel like they’re getting ready to close by themselves. There’s a subtle sway in the monster’s step. He’s looking down and slightly toward its left. Also, a big thing to note is that the figure is in mid-step with its right heel still off the ground. Here’s where that base comes into play for making this pose possible. As interesting as the base is, I’d rather the figure had a more standard footing so that the base didn’t have to be there all the while messing up the pattern on my shelves. THE LEAN Which brings me to the lean. If you look at the front and rear views of this figure, you’ll see the lean I’m talking about. It looks great from some angles and makes it look like Godzilla is actually walking. However, from some angle it also seems to be too much. Click the photo above for a larger view and you’ll see what I’m talking about. If you happen to not like the base, or the lean, or both, I have a couple great tips for you down below in the Footprint on the Shelf section. PAINT JOBThe X-Plus Godzilla 1964 is a tad more colorful than other Godzilla figures. It’s black skin is glowing with a blueish/greenish glow with a dull, lighter greenish spray of highlights on the chest. Subtle neutral highlights can be found on the higher elevations of the skin all over the figure. Drab green coats the signature 1964 “eyebrows”. The teeth are an excellent, non-stark, off white and a gummy pink fills in the rest of the mouth. The whites of his eyes are also off white and on the darker side. Like it! Black is used for combined retina/iris balls of mean stare. It looks like they dabbed over the black with a glossy filter paint to give them a little shine — a nice touch for something so small on the figure. The claws are a dirty tan with even darker shadowing sprayed close to the ‘cuticles’. We seem to have some disagreement between the two scales on which shade these bony bits should be colored. The 30cm Series Godzilla 1964 has a dirty ivory color instead of the tan used on the 25. SIZE COMPARISONS The Large Monster Series Godzilla 1964 fits in well with other figures in the line as seen here with the 1966 (left) and the 1968 (right). The 64’s base gives the figure a half inch boost and thus makes him out to be taller than he really is. But you can fix that …  If you like, you can let your 64 touch the floor with only his tail resting on the base, now pushed toward the back. Everyone is seeing eye to eye now.  The 25cm Godzilla 1964 almost seems dwarfed by the Mothra Imago 1961, but these are the correct proportions. Mothra was a big ol’ bitch back then! By the way, you need use the 61 Mothra for only a little while longer since a 1964 version is in the works and due out later this year.  Here, the original release of the Large Monster Series Godzilla 1964 is paired with Mothra 1964. Note how you can still “connect” the two figures by resting Godzilla’s left foot in the footprint on Mothra’s base, and using the old base to hold up the tail only.  Here is the Godzilla ’64 flanked by his Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster buddies, Rodan 1964 and as a stand-in, the King Ghidorah 1968. (The non-scale Mothra larva was the Ric Boy extra that came with Rodan.) As you can see, nice fit!  And just for the hell of it, here’s the Large Monster Series 64 with the Toho 30cm Series Godzilla 1964. FOOTPRINT ON THE SHELF This figure gets along well with other on the shelf and doesn’t ask more much room. It’s 13.5 inches long from the nose to the tip of the tail. It’s about one inch less if you just go by the front of the base to the tail. TO LEAN OR NOT TO LEAN  This figure has a lean which looks great from some angles, but looks like too much from other angles. There is an easy fix if you’d rather your 64 was standing straight. While keeping the forward leg completely in its footprint on the base, lift the back of the figure and swing it slightly toward the side so that the rear foot comes out of its footprint and rest closer to the edge. That right there will make the figure stand tall, and it’s still reasonably sturdy, too. BASE, AWAY WITH THEE! If you’re just not diggin’ the whole base thing at all, do this: stand your 64 directly on the shelf and place the base (rotated 90 degrees) out of the way behind the figure. Lift the tail and rest it on the same rocky hill it was resting on before, just from the side this time. Note that the figure will still have the lean. If you want a baseless, lean-less pose, slide the tail off the rock and rest it beside it. This will make the figure stand straight. RIC BOY EXCLUSIVE PHOTO: RICH ESO The Ric Boy version of the original release came with two mini Mothra larva figures. One is straight while the other has a curl in the tail. They’re a tad small to be in scale with the main figure, but they make nice addition nonetheless. Alas, I don’t have them. Special thanks to Rich Eso for taking a photo of his. X-TRAS       COLLECTORS GALLERYBy John Stanowski Originally posted February 28th, 2015 on Kaiju Addicts.
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Author/AboutJohn Stanowski
Owner/Blogger of Kaiju Addicts, a premiere X-Plus and figure related website. Kaiju Addicts is a guide to collecting X-Plus Godzilla/Kaiju vinyls. It is site that is a web portal featuring all things X-Plus including his own written figure reviews, news, release schedules as well as content from other collectors and reviewers. Kaiju Addicts Reviews and Original photos by John Stanowski, do not copy and reuse without permission. Photos are NOT to be used for selling. Kaiju Addicts also posts content from other reviewers and user submitted photos which are copyrighted by their owners and can not be copied without permission. All articles on this page are
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