Toy Company Spotlight: Gigabrain

[Bio_Goji_89]

[Legion]

[Bio_Goji_89]

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[canofhumdingers]

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[Bio_Goji_89]

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[ebirahsmeg1]

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Gigan laying the smack down on Jet Jaguar :turnbad:

[Legion]

PART 6: MONSTER X...?

I thought Gigabrain was on a roll after their last few figures. I thought we'd see all sorts of terrific Showa-era Godzilla figures from them after that. Angilas, Megalon, Gabara, Varan, King Ghidora...the possibilities were endless. Their Gigan figure set the bar amazingly high and many wondered how they were going to top it. As it turned it they weren't even going to try, at least not very hard.

Since 2005 Marmit had been releasing figures based on the Godzilla: Final Wars versions of the Toho monsters. They were doing figures Bandai had done (Godzilla, Gigan, Angilas, Rodan) and ones they didn't (Hedora, Kumonga, Ebirah, Kamakiras, Manda) and eventually stopped making them by the middle of 2007, leaving only a handful unreleased. So in 2008 Gigabrain followed these releases up with probably the least desirable character they could have chosen.



Gigabrain's first Monster X figure was this glow in the dark version released in the winter of 2008, so it will be the one we start with. The overall design is not too much different from the Bandai toy, leaving one to wonder why they bothered if they weren't going to do something unique. The Bandai figure was no great shakes (I believe it was modeled after concept art and not the actual suit) and since the Gigabrain version smoothes out the details and goes for a blander pose it's not much of an improvement. It's really a figure for the completist as I don't know many people clamoring for a Monster X figure. Except maybe kids who are fans of GFW and they're not really the target market for these toys. Again, it makes me wonder why this was released.

Anyway this is a pretty middle of the road glow figure as far as these types of toys are concerned. The green/blue paint sprays are appealing but that's really all this toy has going for it.



This next pair of exclusives were released in the Spring of 2008. These are a lot nicer than they look in photos but they still can't compare to the more eye-catching and elaborate paint schemes or earlier Gigabrains. Again, nothing really special unless you need them all.



You'd think by now Gigabrain would have released a standard-colored version of this toy. Instead we got this gold colored version that Summer. To be honest, this is probably the best of the Monster X figures because at least the gold paint gives the figure a regal appearance. But it still feels like no one cared about putting out something cool. Which makes me ask again: why did they bother with this particular monster?



Finally, here's the standard colored figure, released later that Summer. Unlike the Bandai figure - which painted the bone-like sections of the monster a flat white, this one goes for a dark gray with some subtle tan highlights. Definitely more true to film, making this the figure to get if you want an alternate to the Bandai toy. And for reference, here is this figure with the Bandai.



Gigabrain ran out of gas by this time, just as fast as they had picked up steam. It's just a shame out of all the figures in the Toho universe they had to pick one of the worst ones from the worst Godzilla movie. I'm still wondering what they were thinking.

Anyway, check back soon for part 7!!!

[Bio_Goji_89]

I have never bought a single toy related to Final Wars, and never will.

I'd like to ask the guys at Gigabrain just what they were thinking.

[MekaGojira3k]

Well I for one, wanted the gold version. Not a big fan of Monster X, but with that color scheme..yeah, I'd get one.

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[ebirahsmeg1]

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PART 7: ZONE FIGHTER

Probably influenced by a DVD release compiling episodes of Toho's Go! Godman and Go! Greeman TV series of the early '70s, Gigabrain released a trio of figures late in 2008 featuring both these giant heroes, as well as Zone Fighter from the 1973 Toho series Ryusei Ningen Zone. The half hour Zone Fighter series is well known in this country because of appearances by Godzilla, King Ghidora and Gigan, while the more obscure, five minute Godman and Greenman series are also known for recycling old Toho monster costumes. However, those series are infamous for the fact that they used these monster costumes (including Gabara, Gorosaurus, Sanda, Gairah, Kameba and Minya) despite the fact that all of them were obviously - and depressingly - in the later stages of decay.

I chose not to buy all three figures and only picked up Zone Fighter, so that's the only I'm going to talk about. Regardless, here's an official photo of all three of them:



Zone Fighter - as well as the other two - is nothing like Gigabrain's Jet Jaguar in terms of overall design and execution. The figure is far less articulated but there aren't many ways to pose it since the stance is so stiff. The arms can turn, allowing the figure to be posed as if Zone Fighter is about to fire his Meteor Missles at an unfortunate adversary. The paint job is cool too, especially the red lighting bolt design on the chest and the two-color boots.



There's really not much more to say about this figure. After this Gigabrain would be quiet for quite some time, with no Toho releases in sight. But they weren't quite done yet.

Check back soon for part 8!!!

[ebirahsmeg1]

[Legion]

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I'm assuming Greenman is the one on the right of the group photo? He reminds me of something from Katamari Damacy....

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