Saturday 19 February 2011

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech SFX Gigan



With Bandai's announcement of their own highly articulated Godzilla figure line and Kaiyodo's reveal that they can't do Godzilla, MechaGodzilla or King Ghidorah figures, the future might be looking grim for any more kaiju to appear in the Revoltech SFX line. Some that had been planned (Jet Jaguar) have been scrapped and others (larvae Mothra) are in limbo. Before we lament what could have been from a line that really is still only finding its feet, let's have a look at its latest instalment. It also happens to be my favourite kaiju, the cyborg space chicken that is Gigan.

The figure is based upon the Showa era Gigan (so that one that appeared in Godzilla vs Gigan and Godzilla vs Megalon) and while I feel a lot more could have been done with the Millennium redesign of the character (changeable blade/chainsaw hands etc.) it's not worth complaining about. Any Gigan is a good one. As usual the sculpt is of fantastic quality with a lot of detailing - from the wrinkly green skin to the scaly golden chest. There are revolver joints everywhere for a maximum range of poseability (even the mouth has one) and the pincers at the side of Gigan's mouth can also open and close. Much like Anguiras, Gigan's tail is bendable to give it a much more organic feel when posing - and while it isn't quite as effective as Anguiras', it certainly beats a sectioned tail divided by joints. Gigan has a pretty good height - just a tad taller than Anguiras (who's hunched over anyway) and about as tall as Gamera IF you're using the rocket legs on him.

Gigan also includes a few building diorama pieces (something that is now expected from the line if you ask me) and in this case its 3 separate power plant pieces. The added extra is that the tall tower piece of the plant can be removed with a bent and broken piece if you prefer your Gigan to do that little more damage.

While this may be the last we see Godzilla-wise from the line (at this stage its too early to tell) that shouldn't deter people away from Gigan. He is without a doubt the best Kaiyodo have done with kaiju so far and this blessing is also its curse - because it suggests that they'd finally cracked it when it came to these monsters.


No comments: