Finally! Some new Bandai toys!
The second Bandai Ultimate Godzilla collection has just been released. The first set was released over a half year ago and included 6 figures (5 unique sculpts and a variant) while this new set only includes 5 figures. Among the five is a new Godzilla, a variant of that Godzilla, a Gigan made mostly out of parts of the Gigan from the last set, and two Mechagodzillas which are pretty much the same figure was a couple of cosmetic enhancements. So yeah there's a lot of redundancy here, but it's nice to get something new with the Bandai logo on it.
Much like the FW Godzilla from the lat set, the GxMG Godzilla here features an incredible sculpt coupled with a strange-looking pose which I'd probably have no problem with if the arms weren't spread so wide. Otherwise it's a great little figure with a nice black wash which really brings out the details of the sculpt. There are 24 individual back fins that need to be assembled but they're designed and numbered in such a way that it's impossible mess up the assembly. All the fins fit perfectly too, with nothing being too loose or too hard to insert.
I kind of liked the Godzilla variant with the translucent fins from the last set. The Godzilla variant here is identical to the regular one save for a re-sculpted chest wound (from Tokyo SOS) and a spot of red paint. As a variant it's okay, but nothing special.
Most of the FW Gigan figure is reused from the previous version, with a few add-ons to represent the powered-up chainsaw version. Aside from that the toy is painted much more realistically this time around, with darker blues and silvers. It's a nice looking figure, but I'd prefer a kaiju I don't already have multiple versions of.
The two Mechagodzilla figures look terrific, probably the nicest Millennium Mechagodzilla sculpts I've seen in this scale. Both figures is based on the Mechagodzilla seen in GxMG, one with the original "blue hairdryer" backpack and arm cannons. Oddly, while the arm cannons are permanently attached to the figure, the backpack can be removed if desired. The only problem is that three back fins need to be removed in order to attach the backpack, maximizing the possibility of losing such small pieces. The second Mechagodzilla is pretty much the same figure, but stripped off the backpack and arm cannons but with a different chest section featuring the exposed absolute zero cannon.
The assembly on both the Mechagodzillas is pretty easy, although some of the back fins (there are 28 of them) fit kind of loose and I had to super glue one back fin that didn't fit at all.
All 5 figures come with clear plastic stands that fit on the ankle of each toy. Why any of these figures need stands is beyond me, since all of them stand fine without them. Interestingly, the copyright information is not on the figures themselves, but on the stands. Odd.
I want to stress that I'm really glad Bandai is putting out something nowadays and I really hope they keep this series up. On the other hand, with this set we're getting two of the same Godzillas, two of the same Mechagodzillas and a Gigan that - for the most part - we already had in the last set. That's a hell of a lot of re-use, but with things in Godzilla toyland the way they are these days, perhaps 5 brand new sculpts is too much to ask.
Finally, here are some pictures for size comparisons:
BTW, when I found out that Toy Vault was making a plush Gabara figure I knew I had to have it. I don't have a lot of Gabara figures/toys but who can pass up a stuffed Gabara? Not me.