Well well well, it finally happened...I took the plunge and picked up some SH figures (gee, so much for all the "you hate this line" BS, eh?

)
I will post a more thorough review later this week (super busy, and working 7 days this week without a day off

). I'm not posting a bunch of "battle poses" photos, as many collectors here have posted tons of good battle poses photos already and are most likely more creative than anything I could come up with

). But here are my initial thoughts:
I found all of these for a great value (Godzilla, Space G, and Mogera were all under 3000 yen, brand new in their boxes...believe it or not, Rodan was the most expensive of the bunch at 3100 yen). I found them at BIC Camera stores (*HUGE* electronics/home appliance store franchise outlet store in Japan). One of the reasons I never pre-order these things and didn't rush to pre-order King Ghidorah is because these SH figures are extremely easy to find over here. For example, they had *STACKS* upon stacks of Godzilla/Space G/Mogera/Rodan collecting dust...there must have been 20 boxes of the Godzilla figure alone. I believe this is why Godzilla, Space G, and Mogera were significantly marked down (I have previously seen these on sale at BIC CAMERA at significantly higher prices). Not sure if this is a good sign or bolds well for the line's future post-heisei, as they don't seem to be near as popular with Japanese collectors as they are with American fans.) It seems odd, however, that they had tons of the older Space G/Mogera figures, but Little G was no where to be found (and I highly doubt he "sold out"

Just something I found strange).
Anyways, the Godzilla is the 2nd release (not sure if there is any noticeable difference between it and the first issue, except it doesn't come with the lame breath accessory. Which doesn't bother me one bit, as the Rodan figure came with Godzilla's red flame accessory, which looks
*FAR* better than the standard Godzilla breath accessory. In addition, Rodan also came with his own breath accessory as well as a damaged MechaGodzilla head. Overall, I dig the Godzilla, Space Godzilla, and Mogera figures very much...especially Space G and would say he's the best of the bunch. Both Space G and Mogera in general seem much more flexible and easier to pose than Godzilla...perhaps this is from lessons Bandai learned since their first release, or it could be that I am not use to this type of figure and I haven't really explored posing the Godzilla figure thoroughly due to my job (as I said, I'll give them all a proper shake down later next week).
The Rodan, I am sad to say, is rather lackluster...total contrast to the above three great figures. It's one of those dreaded "can barely stand without falling over" type figures, and its tail in particular is rather fragile and flimsy, coming apart rather easily. In hindsight, this is the only figure I regret picking up and I probably should have passed on it, or at least waited until its inevitable mark down (though it does come with a very cool Godzilla red breath accessory and the MG battle damaged head, so that eased the pain a little).
Overall, the Godzilla, Space G, and Mogera figures are all excellent figures that I highly recommend, while the Rodan is one I would advise passing on (unless you're a completionist or you just have to have the Godzilla red breath and damaged MG head accessories). Not to beat this dead horse again, but I still do not understand all the hype these things have received over the last year (they're nice, but they definitely won't make me forget vinyl figures anytime soon), but for what they are, they're very cool indeed. It would be truly a shame if this line doesn't expand beyond the heisei series....the showa era Godzilla kaiju would be tailor made for this line. A wider range of selection of kaiju would really take this line to the next level...