Definitive Version of Final Wars Godzilla?

[Cyrano]

Hey all, I'm looking into getting a figure of Godzilla as he appeared in 2004's Final Wars, but I'm pretty new to the kaiju scene. I was wondering if there's a definitive version of this design, or if anyone has suggestions? Aside from poking around eBay, I don't even know where to begin any research

Thanks so much!

[modernrider]

Sorry No help here, but i'm sure someone will help you.

Fun film tho!, silly and over the top, but huge fun nonetheless....

[KingboyD]

Here's a starting place to do a search for some Final War figures (do a character search for Godzilla 2005 (Finaro-Goji)):

www.clubtokyo.org/results/searchresults.php


I don't know about a definitive version. I think it mostly is a matter of personal taste.

[sketcher]

Good point Myles. I guess it depends on what you are looking for here. Do you want super detailed life-like rendition, or do you like somewhat rounder old-school design aesthetic on your vinyls? There are some great vinyls done that capture the character perfectly, while staying true to the vintage styling funk of the past. Definitely a preference thing. I have never been able to figure out which I like best, so I get both.

[Cyrano]

Awesome, thanks so much for all the quick input! I was hoping there'd be a database-y site like Club Tokyo...I just spent an hour and a half wandering around there fawning over things.

I think for this version of Godzilla I'm leaning more towards realism. Looking over what I could find on Club Tokyo, the detail on the 2005 Banpresto one seems pretty nice (can't get the link to work). I'm guessing from the "The figure is a little smaller then the bandai version" that it's a little under 8"? Anybody here have this one, or an opinion on it?

Modernrider: Agreed! I just saw it for the first time (Netflix has it up for instant streaming now), and really enjoyed it. I would have preferred subtitles over the dub, but in a way it just pushed the absurdity over the top into greatness.

So far I've only seen the 1998 US version, the 1954 original, Tokyo SOS and Final Wars. Any suggestions? I've been trying to find Godzilla vs. Megalon for a while now, but with no success. I'm not even sure if there's been a legit DVD of it outside of MST3000, and apparently that got pulled off the market and goes for ~$100 now.

[KingboyD]

Jan 20, 2010 17:14:17 GMT -5 Cyrano said:

So far I've only seen the 1998 US version, the 1954 original, Tokyo SOS and Final Wars. Any suggestions? I've been trying to find Godzilla vs. Megalon for a while now, but with no success. I'm not even sure if there's been a legit DVD of it outside of MST3000, and apparently that got pulled off the market and goes for ~$100 now.

I loved Final Wars. The US version? Don't even mention that! Tokyo SOS was also good. Godzilla vs. Megalon is a winner (Jet Jaguar rules!!!!). I'm surprised this is impossible to get. I thought I had a DVD copy of this, but maybe I just have it on VCR tape.

But there are a ton more! One of my personal favorites is Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (a.k.a. GMK). This movie turns things on its head - Godzilla is a bad guy in this one while the other monsters are all good (a new situation for Ghidorah). But all the classic ones are great, as are many of the newer ones.

For a movie in a similar vein (but without Godzilla), try War of the Gargantuas. Another of my favorites!

[Cyrano]

On second glance, I noticed that this image looks more like a box than the tag most of these figures seem to have. Is this one actually a trading figure or somesuch?

[sketcher]

Yep, no legit Megalon on DVD. There are many boots and bad VHS transfers. Sony turned that one down because of all the bad copies out there.

Not sure about the Banpresto pictured here, but if it is listed as smaller than standard Bandai, probably runs in the six inch area. Not many Banpresto small-scale figures to speak of, and this may be difficult to find. Banpresto are usually the larger scaled vinyls, but who knows why Bandai does what it does.

If you want a large scale figure that is very accurate, and cheap to boot, get the Bandai Creations 12" Godzilla. It's the Final Wars sculpt, and is very detailed. The only drawback here is that they curve the tail up to make him fit the US packaging. Otherwise, this is a great figure.

Good luck!

[pedoleon]

The Banpresto Final Wars Godzilla is a large figure, barely smaller than the 8" Bandai version due to the pose and such. The reason it comes with a box is that, like many other Banpresto items, it's a crane prize. Its detail and likeness is comparable to the Bandai, only in a more interesting and lively pose. The Bandai 6" downscaled version is also a good figure as it's based on the Banpresto.

I would not recommend the Bandai Creations 12" figure at all. Unlike the BC Kiryu or Gigan to their respective kaiju, it's a very poor likeness. It is a nice, large and detailed figure, but it doesn't look like Finaro-Goji, especially the head. The Bandai Creation 6" figure is worse than the Bandai 6" figure but only because of odd new arms. Everything else about that one is very nice.

[Cyrano]

Thanks for the extra clarification! I found an auction on eBay for what I'm pretty sure is the same Banpresto prize figure along with a BluRay of the '54 film for $30 here: cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120519197444

Part of me thinks the price was a little too good to be true (there's another listing by a Japanese seller for the figure alone at $60), but we'll see. Supposed to ship on Monday...

[Cyrano]

The package just arrived today, and everything is legit. Woo! In the event that anyone stumbles into this thread on a similar quest, I highly recommend this one. The figure is really awesome, I couldn't be happier with it. He's even got a lot more articulation than I was expecting.

Here's a quick cameraphone shot, I'll try to replace it with a better image soon.



Thanks again for all the help, everyone!

[Cyrano]

Roar!






The collection so far (gotta start somewhere):


We'll just blame the table clutter on Goji's temper.

[chogokinsnake]

I don't own any Godzilla figure/toys.
But this Godzilla looks bad ass!