The High Grade capsule toys were really the first Godzilla toys made in this scale that featured incredible attention to detail and full paint jobs, not to mention a multitude of individual pieces that made up each figure. Some of the earliest figures were only made up of a handful of parts, while several later releases could be made of as many as 20 or more. This particular spotlight is going to look at the very first set, arriving in 1994 for the Japanese release of Godzilla vs Space Godzilla.
The set was made up of six kaiju: Godzilla, Space Godzilla, MOGERA, Little Godzilla, and the Hesei versions of Mechagodzilla and King Ghidora. Worth pointing out that this is the only Godzilla set that cast the figures out of glossy PVC, as opposed to the flat finish figures that were released in all the other future sets.
The Godzilla figure was cast in a glossy black plastic and was made up of 8 individual parts. Three strips made up the back fin section, allowing the fins to be individually pressed for a very realistic look, something that Bandai had yet to do for the vinyl figure line. It definitely didn't look like any specific Hesei Godzilla, but that would soon change.
Of all the figures in the set, the Space Godzilla was probably the weakest one. This isn't much of a surprise considering that's true of most of Bandai's Space Godzilla toys. The glossy blue plastic had eye-numbingly red painted chest and the overall pose was stiff. At least the back crystals didn't havea gap in them. Space Godzilla also had a very simplistic assembly, with only 5 pieces making up the toy.
One of the better figures in the set, MOGERA benefits by looking exactly like it's screen counterpart. The deep silver painted plastic, combined with the metallic blue paint on the treads, makes for a really handsome-looking toy.
Little Godzilla is actually a rather decent figure with an appealing paint job (love the eyes) and great detail. One criticism would be with the tail, which was nowhere near this long in the movie. Be careful with those tiny little hands.
Mechagodzilla itself is more or less a bland little figure on it's own. it's adequate, but that's really because there are more than enough Bandai Hesei Mechagodzillas to compare it to. The real draw is the removable Garuda, which plugs into the figures back after the fin section is removed. Unfortunately the guns on the Garudan can't be brought down to complete the Super Mechagodzilla appearance.
Of the six figures in this set, King Ghidora is probably my favorite. The sculpt is just beautiful (epecially for something made almost 15 years ago) and easily trumps the 1991 Bandai Ghidora with it's well sculpted horns and full-size wings. The gold paint job and evil red eyes complete the look. Ghidora also has the most pieces of any other figure in the set, with 11 in total.
This first High Grade set was reissued in 1998, the primary different being that the figures were cast out of matte finish vinyl. Regardless, the ressiue may explain why the very first High Grade set never ended up becoming as sought after as the second set became. Most of the figures were later reissued a decade later in commemorative sets as well.
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