Leaning Mechagodzillas And How to Fix Them

​Today was Box Day for me, but my elation soon deflated after I liberated my new Toho 30cm Series X-Plus Mechagodzilla Diamond Reissue from its box. The entire figure was deformed and sort of curved toward one side. Mechagodzilla is supposed to look badass, yet here he is leaning over in an apparent druken stupor after a night of too much sake.

I had heard complaints of “leaning problems” from other collectors. And now, I was seeing it in person. Needless to say I was somewhat annoyed, especially considering the big price tag on this figure.

The base gave a clue as to what the main problem was. I placed the figure’s left foot directly into the footprint left for it. As you can see, the figure’s right leg and foot were squooshed inward and the right foot was totally missing the mark. This is what must be causing the “lean”.

Moving my eyes up to the right leg hip joint, my suspicions were confirmed. There lie a gap wide enough to drive a Maser Truck through! Here is another angle.

The head (shown above) and torso were also leaning to the figure’s left side.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Since everything which was amiss was pushed toward the left side, it seems pretty clear that this soft vinyl figure “melted” into the plastic shell it was tied into for shipping. And it’s happened to enough of these Mechagodzilla reissues to generate some chatter online. Collector James Martinez took a double hit with this problem when he opened his recently shipped X-Plus Godzilla 1962 and Kiryu (which you can see below). They both had bent fins which were pushed out of place by the packaging.

THE FIX

Okay, enough complaining! How do we fix it?

I learned a while ago (from the X-Plus addicts at the X-Plus Kaiju Collectors Facebook Group) that simply blasting the figure with hot air from a hair dryer would fix most problems. I also heard that there’s some kind of mystical molecular memory which is supposed to kick in and return your warped figures back into their original shapes much like blowing up a pool float.

I gave it a try. The figure became soft enough to allow reshaping, but it didn’t move back into position on its own. I squeezed and pulled the figure a little in all directions to help make it forget it’s previously warped position and then used the base as a guide for where the feet should be. I then let it cool and, voila!

​My X-Plus Mechagodzilla now stands straight, tall and proud!

And, as you can see, the feet now stand properly in the footprints left for them in the base. Plus, the gap at the right leg hip closed right up.

Since the cocked head didn’t have anything like the base to help keep it in its corrected pose, I just heated it up, and held it straight while I ran it under cold water. Bam, fixed!

So, before considering sending your warped Mechagodzilla Diamond Reissue back for a replacement, give this a try!

EXTRA: THE KAIJU EASY BAKE OVEN
X-Plus Collector Dan Mason said, “When reshaping an entire figure instead of just one area, I get a box that’s about the right size for the figure, cut a hole for the blowdryer on the side and cut a smaller vent hole next to it. Point that blowdryer into the box for a while and soon the whole figure will be warm and ready for reshaping.”

By John Stanowski Originally posted November 26th, 2013​ on Kaiju Addicts.