X-Plus Kumonga 1967 Vinyl Figure Review

8/5/2013

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FIGURE SPECS

東宝大怪獣シリーズ「クモンガ（1967年版）怪獣島の決戦ゴジラの息子」少年リック限定版

JAPAN RELEASE: JULY 2013

JAPAN REISSUE: JULY 2016 (WONDER FESTIVAL SON OF GODZILLA SET)

DIAMOND REISSUE: EXPECTED JANUARY 2019

SERIES: TOHO 30CM SERIES

MATERIAL: SOFT VINYL

FROM: “SON OF GODZILLA”, 1967
怪獣島の決戦ゴジラの息子

HEIGHT: ABOUT 3.75 INCHES / 9.52 CM

WIDTH: (LEGSPAN) ABOUT 20.25 INCHES (FOOT TO FOOT) / ABOUT 51.43 CM

LENGTH: (FRONT LEGS TO ABDOMEN) ABOUT 13 INCHES / 33 CM

REVIEW AND PHOTOS: JOHN STANOWSKI

Kumonga is one of my favorite things from the movie “Son of Godzilla” and the X-Plus vinyl figure is easily one of my favorite figures. It was originally released in July of 2013 and was re-issued as part of a “Son of Godzilla Set” for Summer Wonder Festival in July of 2016.

SCULPT

I was tempted to say ‘Really, now, how hard would it be to match the sculpt to a giant spider?’ But after reviewing scenes from the movie I immediately saw distinct details that give Kumonga’s form personality. And I actually recognized these details readily because I had spent so much time with the figure for this review. So, if you ask me, X-Plus did an amazing job of capturing this kaiju in the sculpt. It really does look like it stepped crawled right out of the movie!

If I had to find something to complain about, it would be the stubby spikes scattered over Kumonga’s long appendages. In the movie, the giant spider had large thorn-like hairs which were translated to the vinyl as spikey triangles. Granted, it’s not that easy to reproduce this feature in vinyl, and even if they could it would make for a painful handling experience. So, to me, what we got in the end is close enough.

Kumonga’s set of eight eyes are multi-textured and mimic the (real) thing well. The eyes themselves are semi-translucent plastic domes tinted purple or blue. And under the dome is a bubbly texture creating the insectoid compound-eye look. Nice job!

Nice texturing on the body helps to make up for the lack of any highlights in the paint job.

The X-Plus Kumonga is posed on an incline so that the front half of its body is higher than the rear. Both the standard and Ric Boy versions of this figure comes with a base to help him keep that posture. Pictured here is the base that comes with the Ric Boy exclusive version. It’s larger than the standard base and comes with a Kamacuras entombed in Kumonga’s webby spray.

The Ric Boy exclusive base is, in a word, awesome, and, in a way, gives you two kaiju for the price of one (or for the extra price of a Ric Boy). The detail on the giant mantis is sharp, maybe too detailed for something under a coating of goop, but I’m not complaining!

JOINTS & SEAMS

Kumonga is virtually seamless! There are some faint lines here and there around a leg or mandible but this spider’s segmented limbs are covered in ringed lines anyway. The only out-of-place seam is under the spider’s abdomen (the large bulb at the end of his body). There, a round line follows the outer curve of that section. This is curious. It would seem to me that the entire back abdomen section would be molded as one piece but I suspect Kumonga’s entire top half is all one piece, and the bottom half another single piece. Strange choice but they must have had their reasons. Either way, there are no awkward joints or seams killing the look of the great vinyl figure.

POSE

The Pose is Meh
With eight prickly treebranch arms you’d think there are a lot of choices to pick from when deciding how to pose this vinyl. In the end, though, what we got is just standard in a cheap rubber-spider sort of way. Okay, the pose is neutral and let’s it fit in the box well. Plus I understand that any interesting pose would likely melt away as gravity would pull down against the spider’s soft legs. Under these circumstances I think X-Plus did a good job. I was surprised to see that Kumonga’s body does not lie flat against the shelf but actually tilts upward. Not bad. But I wouldn’t have minded having a leg on each side retracted a bit more, pushing its spider knees over it’s current three and a quarter inch height.

PAINT JOB

Kumonga is covered in a flat, one-shade off black and airbrushed with yellow markings. The feathering from the sprayed yellow attempts to mimic the combing of the yellow hairs mixing with the black hairs on the original beast, and it does a good job of creating that illusion. But that’s it; pretty standard stuff.

I wouldn’t have minded seeing some highlights (or shading) to mix up the black a bit. It might also have been nice to get some sandy, dirt splotches sponged into the top side dimples on Kumonga’s back to mimic the dirt he just crawled out of.

On a positive note, Kumonga’s dark exoskeleton has decent texturing on the sculpt off which the light plays, creating real highlights.

SIZE

Fitting in with the ‘Family’
The X-Plus Large Monster Series Kumonga 1967 vinyl at first seems large when placed with other 25cm series figures but is, as far as I know, in scale with them. I have no other 1967 figures so I placed Kumonga here with the next best thing: his Destroy All Monsters buddies, Godzilla 1968 and Anguirus 1968. Yes, Kumonga looks big beside them. But he’s supposed to be big!

Sizing up to the 30’s
The nice thing about Kumonga’s large size is that it fits in well with the 30cm series figures as well. Here he’s posed with the 30cm series Godzilla 1968 and though the scale may be off, they still look great together.

Size Comparison with other Huge Figures

The final inevitable size comparison would be with Biollante. Both of these figures are in the Large Monster Series and are supposed to be in scale with each other. As for Mothra Imago, Kumonga has pretty much the same width as her wingspan.

Real World Comparisons

One the left is a fully grown adult cat of average size which is a tad larger than this huge vinyl spider. And for those of you who do not have a fully grown adult cat of average size handy, the photo on the right shows the X-Plus Kumonga atop a soda can which should give you a good idea of its girth.

FOOTPRINT

Talk about shelf hogs! The X-Plus Giant Monster Series Kumonga vinyl figure has a ‘legspan’ of a whopping 20 and a quarter inches! This guy is gonna own the shelf! If you are planning to display him on a standard width shelf (like a bookcase), you’ll have to devote most of it to Kumonga. There’s room left for two more biped figures with short tails such as Mechagodzilla, King Seesar or maybe even a Gigan.

Kumonga is about 13 inches from the tip of his front legs to his butt. On a standard shelf, his front pincers may hang over the edge. The standard base adds nothing to this figure’s space requirements. And the Ric Boy exclusive base, though larger, can still occupy the space already claimed by this figure’s outstretched legs.

It is ironic that such a large figure which demands so much space is not even 4 inches tall. Unless you’re creative with some sort of support mechanism to hoist your Kumonga higher, your kaiju skyline is going to get a new dip.

The X-Plus Kumonga comes in a box similar to Mothra Imago and several of the Rodan figures. It’s plain white with black printing. Inside your vinyl kaiju spider lies nested in a plastic shell retrained by a single wire tie. Below the figure rests the base, also held in place with another wire tie.

A Word of Warning
Be careful when trying to pull your untied wire out from around the base. While I was removing my base, the untied, yet still twisted end of the wire didn’t want to come out of the hole in the plastic shell. I pulled a little too hard and, without realizing it, the wire was pressed hard against one of the small spikes on Kamacuras’ back and I wound up nicking it. A spot of glue will save mine, but a little more patience would have saved me the trouble.

X-TRAS

Below is a fan video I found on YouTube which has tons of scenes featuring Kumonga. I’ve embedded it here so that you can review it, pause it, and compare it to the photos above.

MORE INFORMATION

Toho Large Monster Series Kumonga 1967 photographed by collector Sam Torres.

By John Stanowski Originally posted August 5th, 2013 on Kaiju Addicts.

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