Best of / Worst of Toys 2011

[king_ghidorah]

Figured I'd create a thread about this and see what type of discussion we can get going on:

Best New Toy Release of 2011:

Art Storm Gomess and Litra

Runner Up: The Art Spirits Nightmare Gamera


Best New Puchase (Can be a vintage figure)

Rocket Pro Gamera 95

Runner Up: Rocket Pro Guiron


Worst New Toy of 2011

X Plus 30 cm Hedorah-a figure this big, and this expensive should have been the definitive Hedorah of all time...sadly, I think the standard Bandai figure looks better

Runner up: Ultra Hero Series EX Jumnine-such an ugly, ugly figure

Worst New Purchase:

X Plus Neronga-beautiful figure of one of my favorite kaiju, but I dropped sooo much money on it. Wth was I thinking??? Several hundred bucks on a toy, I'm an idiot. But that's what makes me a collector I guess, collecting as a hobby is illogical.

Runner Up: The Mezco 15' Kong-Decent sculpt, but a large, unwieldy figure overall. My figure's arm snapped off as soon as I tried to move it out of the package. When I inspected the joint later, I discovered that the figure is really cheaply made. The plastic is cheap, and lightweight, and the joints are brittle to the extreme. Just a bad, bad purchase. Luckily, I bought the Mcfarlane Kong and fell in love with it, so it all worked out.

[Baltan II]

Jean-Nine? Uglier than the second Mecha Gomora? And the Galberos rerelease? And Natsunomeryu? Finding that a tough sell.

Best New Toy Release of 2011: X-Plus 25cm Megalon
I was tempted to choose Ebirah (!) in this spot until I realized Megalon also came out this year. Love my 70s Goji stuff too much. There may be a better Megalon, but this one is about as good to my untrained eye and is still available. Shame about the exclusive version.

Runner Up: S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1994
It's impossible to deny the flaws with the figure, but its crazy accessibility, popularity beyond the fandom and delivery on Godzilla toys with articulation at long last are impossible to ignore. Let's just get some improvements in 2012 while we add to the monster cast.

Best New Purchase:
Much as I love Baltan, he was October 2010, not 2011! Whoops.

Best New Purchase: Ultra-Act Golza
Golza was a dreaded Tamashii Web exclusive, requiring a middleman for purchase, and quite expensive before considering those fees. That said, he achieved a pinnacle that neither MonsterArts release has been able to exceed. He is everything Godzilla should have been but wasn't - towering over Ultra-Act and Figuarts alike, articulation that WORKED, and he even included GUTS Wing 2 when Godzilla couldn't be bothered to include even one maser tank. I can't recommend him to everyone and I so badly wish that I could, since he's an awesome figure.

Runner Up: Ultra Monster Series Kaiser Dobishi
Bandai displayed a disgusting lack of care in the decos of their Ultraman vinyl figures in 2011. As if they had regressed to the 90s, they started relying on metallic sprays instead of careful paint jobs in the sculpts and the vinyl felt thinner than ever. Kaiser Dobishi was the first figure I'd bought this year that I didn't feel ashamed to own and might even be more accurate than older versions (?). I didn't get Neo Geomos, but I probably will this year and will hope for similar improved standards.

Worst New Toy of 2011: S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla Effects & Super Weapons
Taking one of the most recognizable characters of film and dicking over the international community seems par for the course with Godzilla. At least with X-Plus's direct versions, it makes sense - Bluefin has gone out of their way to market this line to an American as well as Japanese audience and have the monsters available through Diamond and Amazon.com. Not doing the same for the military Godzilla inevitably destroys is a mistake. Also disappointed with the redeco "spiral" ray but I figure a proper version is being saved for Burning Godzilla whenever that happens.

Runners Up: Bandai Ultra Monster Series Hyper Zetton Movie Trailer Ver., Ultraman Saga Movie Trailer Ver.
Even with a company well-known for cash grabs, this is one to top them all. Marketing your newest toys in "movie trailer" editions while the real deal are to follow a couple months later is by far one of the dumbest moves of 2011, worse than any Marmit redeco or excessive X-Plus release. The only thing that could have topped this was the Albatross MKG if I knew of more than one person that actually owned it.

Worst New Purchase: Bandai Ultra Monster Series Dinozaur
Bandai finally sated much of the demand and the secondary market prices over this figure with a reissue, perfectly timed with the Heisei Ultra revival! The problem was that this figure marked a disturbing trend in Bandai Ultra toys in 2011. Vinyls had been made softer since 2000 or so, but this took it a step further, feeling paperthin and flimsy all over. The switch to rough metallic sprays and omitting paint detail seemed like something from a 90s Bandai toy as well. There had been nothing wrong with Kemur Seijin in January, so this change really came out of nowhere. Things seemed to improve with June's Kaiser Dobishi but the damage was done. Dinozaur, Natsunomeryu and Neo Baltan killed my interest in buying new UMS releases for the rest of the year.

Runner Up: Bandai UMS Neo Baltan
Really, he's only in here by default - I didn't buy many Godzilla toys this past year and the worst Ultra-Acts I own were from '10. When I can take this toy, hold it by the legs, shake it with minimal force, and watch the vinyl bend in on itself, I know something is wrong.

[ebirahsmeg1]

Wow, hard for me to say, as nothing new in 2011 really excited me (Marmit basically released *nothing* new in 2011...same goes for Marusan and Gigabrain). And X-plus was way too inconsistent with their quality control and scaling shenanigans. To be honest, I believe that several new books and DVDs far overshadowed most figures released in 2011.





X-plus 25cm Godzilla and Angilas 55
I really love these two figures...they're probably my two favorite X-plus figures. Both are far superior to their 30cm counterparts.

X-plus 25cm Baragon and 25 inch Ebirah
Funny, but these are two figures which I unfortunately don't have (I was extremely busy with my job [80 hours/7 days a week during this peak time since alot of our foreign staff ran away after the earthquake, and to this day we're still dealing with staff shortage issues]) that I just flat out forgot about the order deadlines. However, this is Japan, and unlike America where the prices on these things skyrocket almost immediately, these things don't go up *that much* over here, so I am not too concerned about finding these bad boys later on. These two figures are a prime example of what X-plus is truly capable of...it's a shame they're so inconsistent. In all, these are two "must have" figures for me to hunt down later this year.

Bandai S.H. Godzilla 1994
I am not crazy about these SH figures at all (I have made my feelings very clear on these, and I think they were *way overhyped* by the fandom community in general) and I probably don't plan on owning any...but if I ever do one pick one up, it would be this one. I also love the ray accessory included with this and it looks like it would be alot of fun to play with. Even though these types of figures are not my cup of tea (I feel they're much more suited for Ultraman and Kamen Rider as opposed to Godzilla-related kaiju), there is no denying their popularity, so I would be remiss not to mention it.

Yosensha's Mothra 50th Anniversary film and Godzilla Women of Toho "Mooks" (apparently, a "mook" is a term that describes a cross between a magazine and a book)





I cannot say enough good things about these books..er..."mooks". Yeah, I know they're not "toys", but for me, they were far more interesting and exciting that most toys released in 2011. They are loaded with rare stills, so even those with no knowledge of Japanese can still enjoy these. Could Yosensha be the next "Shogakukan" of G books? I really hope Yosensha releases more Godzilla related "mooks" in 2012.

Destroy All Monsters Tokyo Shock DVD

Initially, I was not all that enthused about this release...I already owned the excellent Japanese R2, so I wasn't really interested in picking this up....then I heard the AIP dub was being included, and that peaked my interest. Add in all of the hard work Tokyo Shock was putting into this release, and considering their excellent track record on their other TOHO related titles (Mysterians, Matango, Varan, Frankenstein Conquers the World, Dogora, Atragon,Latitude Zero, Yog, etc.) and this eventually wound up as a no brainer for me. One of the best Godzilla R1 DVD releases ever, and as far as all the bitching/moaning/nit-picking of this release goes, it just convinces me more and more that drug use is very high (pun intended) among a spoiled fandom, and shame on this very loud, vocal minority if this makes Tokyo Shock/Criterien/Classic Media/etc. shy away from future TOHO related releases as a result. If Tokyo Shock's DAM DVD is considered a "bad" product, then I sure as hell hope we get many more "bad" DVDs like it...bring on GvsMegalon :rockon:




Xplus Godzilla 67 and Godzilla 73
Great example of Xplus' inconsistency. These two figures don't even come close to capturing the spirit of these particular suits, and those who dis-illusion themselves into thinking they do have probably never seen the excellent/near perfect Marmit MH 67 and 73 figures in person, which blow these two X-plus figures away completely.

Xplus 25 inch Bio-Goji and 25 inch GMK Goji
The Bio-Goji figure is probably X-plus' most overrated figure...he looks far too skinny from certain angles, and the face suffers from the "pink bubble gum" mouth syndrome. GMK Goji also suffers from this same syndrome and it's very distracting (in contrast, their 30 inch GMK figure looks *far* superior). I cannot comment on the 93-94 Godzilla figure as I have not seen it in person, but I have heard collectors consistently rip it a new one, so perhaps it should be included as well.

X-plus Hedorah and X-plus Biollante
Two very big, overpriced, over-indulgent figures. The Hedorah figure was completely unnecessary, and Gigabrain's massive Hedorah figure puts it to shame. Sure, X-plus Biollante looks nice, but if it requires taking out a second mortgage, then what's the point?

Bandai S.H Heisei MG
I am sure I will catch flack for this one, but I don't care...this figure is just plain boring/uninteresting (no one, and I mean "no one" was clamoring to see this particular version of MG, which is far less popular than showa and Millenium MG), I don't care if you can make him do the splits or pose him shooting his little plastic ray accessory, it is a dull figure all around (it doesn't even come with Garuda for heaven's sake! ). Also, I have seen tons of quality control issues with this figure (his teeth break very easily, and his eyes were completely missing in one posters' figure). Not a good sign for figures that are intended to be posed and played with.

All rehashes by Marmit
Perhaps someone could correct me if I am wrong, but I don't believe Marmit released one single damn new G-related figure in all of 2011 (and as someone pointed out, MH Orga doesn't count because while it was "announced" and made available to order in October, it won't be officially released until later this month). Instead, we were treated to more underwhelming/lackluster re-issues/variants of past figures....:kitty:

IDW's Godzilla comics
As an avid comic book fan, I was so excited to see Godzilla returning to Western comics. Words cannot describe how extremely disappointing these books have been. Sure, they've had a few hits (G&G and G:Legends), but their Kingdom of Monsters title is one of the worst comics I have ever read. Powell/Marsh/Santos should never be allowed anywhere near a Godzilla comic ever again.



Marmit Monster Heaven 67
Marmit's Godzilla Tower
Marusan Gezora
Xplus Godzilla and Angilas 55
Yosensha's Mothra 50th Anniversary and Godzilla Women of Toho Mooks.
Marmit MH Final Wars Rodan
Tokyo Shout's DAM DVD


(note: this is not a "wish list" of what I want to see as there are plenty of other threads for that...this only concerns things that actually exist):

Marmit MH Orga
*Finally*, a *legit* new MH figure from Marmit. Yeah, I am sure I'll hear "eh, it's just Orga...Orga sucks"....just shush already. I am no Orga fan either, but he's never had a true 8-9 inch figure of him, and outside the Bandai 6 inch figure, he's never had *any* real figures of him, period. The pics of this figure look fantastic, and I am looking forward to receiving him in about 2 weeks.

Gigabrain King Ghidorah:
No explanation necessary. This is already at the top of my "Best releases of 2012" list, and the damn thing hasn't even been released yet. For me personally, it's one of the most highly anticipated figures in years, as collectors have for what seems like forever been begging for someone to make a truly showa Showa KG figure. In March, it will be mine....BWAHAHAHAHA!!! :turnbad:

Tokyo Shout's Godzilla vs Megalon DVD
I think it's great that Criterion is coming out with G54, their reputation precedes themselves...yadda yadda yadda....look, I already own G54 in several formats, and I think Classic Media's G54 2 DVD set is *excellent*. Will Ieventually get the Criterion DVD/Blue-ray/Green-ray/rainbow-ray/whatever at some point? You damn betcha. But at this point, a true GvsMegalon is a million times higher on my priority list. Let's hope Toho's rangling/hassling with Tokyo Shock doesn't kill this DVD off before it has the chance to see the light of day...

That's about all I can think of at the moment....

[king_ghidorah]