My 2001 came in from entertainment Earth last week. I was out all day, so he was hard as a rock when I unboxed him that night!
Here are some comparison shots of the 54 & 01:
The sculpt and paint on my Godzilla 2001 are really nice, honestly. Say what you will about the face or the
green, but the details are very good overall, and the wash is gracefully applied and brings those details out further (Note that the figure looks best under natural lighting). In these regards, I think 01 rivals the 54.
The problems come in with the articulation. The neck is rather stiff, though the head's flexible enough to make for some of it; and the arms and legs are fine - though the legs could probably use a little improvement. The torso, however, can only really swivel - it can't even bend forward.
And then there's the tail. You may notice in the above photos that the 01 is shorter than the 54. That's not because of the hunch - it's because of the first tail joint, which is so stiff getting any motion whatsoever is a hassle, and it flat-out cannot bend upwards. If it were even slightly more flexible, there would be room for Godzilla to straighten out:
^Notice how dangling the tail off the edge allows the 01 to improve his posture a bit. As it is, though, the tail actively gets in the way. Honestly, the tail is still the main region where the figures need improvement. Charge a few extra dollars if you must, NECA, but your Godzillas NEED more tail joints (and slightly more length).
Ultimately, Godzilla 2001 is still a good figure, but it feels like a small step backward from the 54.