SH Monsterarts Godzilla (1995) Review

A year ago SH Monsterarts debuted the Heisei version of Godzilla. (And if you want to be technical, the one from the 1994 film, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla.) Since then, the Monsterart line has become the new main line for Godzilla figures. It has faced controversy with some collectors, but for the most part it has been proudly praised. The last one was the highly anticipated King Ghidorah. In fact, I'd say it was the most anticipated one in the line. When it came some had the problem of 'fragile wings.' But for the most part people were satisfied with the buy. (The wings are rather weak, but my main problem is how easy the middle neck falls out!) The latest figure in this line was just released in Japan last week, the popular Burning Godzilla. (It's called Godzilla 1995 on the nice-looking box, but I will use the Burning title.) This figure is the start of the Godzilla vs. Destoroyah set. Junior is coming at the end of the month, with Destoroyah in February. Over the past few months I've acquired a few other Monsterarts, Godzilla, Fire Rodan, SpaceGodzilla, and King Ghidorah, so I know the line pretty well now. Burning Godzilla makes a fine entry and is easily the definitive figure of the character.

It would have been easy to just recycle the Godzilla figure and add the burning parts on it. But the company went the more favorable route, using a whole new mold. Burning Godzilla has a much more fierce face than his 94 counterpart. The figure captures that wonderfully. Upon playing around with it after opening is when I discovered how fierce it can look. So props to that. Articulation is very good, you can pose this guy however which way you want. However, due to it having better articulation than Godzilla, it sacrifices the more 'clean' look on the former. What I mean is that you can see the gaps of where to pose, especially in the left leg. (You can see the inside of the figure through the leg, upon first opening it was quite distracting.) Nothing really bad, it just looks more like an action figure in some areas than the rest of the figures do. Burning Godzilla is famous obviously for one thing...the patches of fire all over him. It looks quite awesome on the figure, done in translucent orange. They even got the eyes red like in the film, adding to the fierce look. The highlight is the dorsal plates. They look absolutely gorgeous, one of the best parts of the figure. Some were worried about the white dorsal plates on the side. It's really not that big of a deal, they're not as bright as they appear in some pictures online.

One of the famous things about this line are the accessories that come with each figure. Sadly the ones in this package are very lackluster. First off, it doesn't come with a beam. You can use the spiral beam from Fire Rodan's package, but if you didn't buy the bird, you're out of a luck. Seriously, it's almost a crime that it doesn't include a beam. However, it does come with two puny maser tanks. They're cool little things, but only two? At least four should have been included. But you know what else we get? Another pair of hands. A pair of hands. Instead of getting a beam, we get a pair of hands and two tiny maser tanks that could easily get lost. The accessories are the quite the letdown. Now, regarding scale. Burning Godzilla stands surprisingly above his 94 counterpart, and even SpaceGodzilla! On one hand, for all the money this thing goes for, I'm glad it's big. But for people that love 100% accuracy, it's too strange for him to be as tall as SpaceGodzilla. The real test is how he will stack up with Destoroyah.

Overall, despite lackluster accessories and showing some gaps, the Monsterart Burning Godzilla is a fine figure. It captures the fierceness of his on-screen counterpart really well. Even if it's a little bigger than it should be, it makes for a great purchase and will most definitely look great next to Destoroyah in two months. The burning patches look great, the face looks incredible, and the dorsal plates look fantastic. A great addition to the Monsterart line.

4.5/5