Godzilla Collectibles Thread

[MaulFan]

The first Ghidorah movie!

If I ranked my top 5 Godzilla movies, I'd say

1. Godzilla 1985
2. Gojira
3. Ghidorah: The Three Head Monster
4. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (70s)
5. Godzilla vs. Mothra (60s)

 

[Kuzeh]

Thanks!
Will do!! It's one of my favorites too,
though I haven't watched Astro Monster in a long time...
BTW
I still remember watching Godzilla 85 in theaters!!!
I think it was one of the last Godzilla movies to get wide release in Mexico...
!

 

[MaulFan]

Unfortunately, the only Toho Godzilla I've ever seen in a theater was Godzilla 2000. I was only 2 in 1985 so I missed out on that.

 

[Boba Ben]

If you haven't seen it, you should watch Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah All Out Monsters Attack. It's a lot different than most of the Millenium Godzilla films, but I enjoyed it quite a lot.

 

[MaulFan]

I'm not a big fan of the new millennium G films. The religious quality to Giant Monsters Attack was a little strange for me, though G's design in that film was really cool. I also wasn't a fan of how the movies took on this "girl power" thing. I support the cause of trying to depict women as strong people, even stronger than men, but at times it felt like the movies were more caught up in that story and Godzilla himself was almost secondary. Gojira and Godzilla '85 did a better job of making social commentary while still being monster movies.

 

[Boba Ben]

Watch Godzilla vs. Hedorah. That had a strong message about the dangers of pollution and it also had a freaking smog monster in it!

 

[MaulFan]

Yeah, that ones a little strange too with the weird hippie music cut aways and all. I enjoy the full body of Godzilla movies, but over that body, I find there to be highs and lows. It started out very high, dropped a little with Godzilla Raids Again and King Kong vs. Godzilla, but vs. Mothra, Ghidrah, and Monster Zero were some of the best G vs. films, then they start to slope into a more silly realm with Son of and Hedorahs, then ramping up again with both Mechagodizilla films and peaking again with G '85 and then Biollante, Ghidrah '91 and Mothra '92 were pretty solid, then Mechagodzilla 93' and Spacgodzilla got a little cheesy with some of the Junior stuff. Destroyah was a pretty good way to end Godzilla's reign, the first time . The meltdown scene, visually and musically is very moving, watching our beloved monster melt away, and then that awesome backlit shot of Jr. irradiated into a full adult to close. All of the 2000 on movies had a pretty hefty ammount of 60's cheese to them, but they were fun and some cool G suits.

I will say, Final Wars, especially as possibly Toho's last ever Godzilla, is a bit of a train wreck, very cheesy story and too little Godzilla himself and the rushed battles fighting ever monster he ever faced over the 50 years didn't quite work. it was trying to be like when a long running TV show goes off air and has a clip show, but it didn't work quite well. It's like if the Rocky series ended with Rocky 5, Godzilla needs its Rocky Balboa to end on a high note The Final Wars suit for Godzilla is pretty cool though.

 

[Boba Ben]

I agree with you that Final Wars was pretty terrible. I though Destroy All Monsters pulled off that same concept 100 times better.

I love some of the cheesy Godzilla films. Godzilla vs. Gigan with the weird Japanese hippy guy that ate corn all the time and Godzilla vs. Hedorah were pretty trippy, but I love them and thought they were fun films. Some did go a little too far into the realm of stupidity like Son of Godzilla.

I can enjoy pretty much every Godzilla film, though. The character and storytelling has transformed in so many ways throughout the years, but I feel that adds to the dimension of the films and my enjoyment of them.

Just my opinion.

 

[MaulFan]

Well like I said, I like the whole series, was just pointing out how I find there are highs and lows how good they are.

I've got almost all of them on DVD, I'm a little annoyed, between Sony and Classic Media, it seemed like they'd all finally be getting U.S. release, and then both companies stopped. There still hasn't been an official U.S. DVD of 1985 or Biollanted, I lucked out getting a nice 4 disc bootleg of 1985 off eBay.

One thing that's very enlightening is watching the original Japanese cuts of them. I used to think the U.S. simply dubbed them, then I come to find out, they cut out some of I___ube's classic music for their own stuff, change the edit of the film to run in different sequence, cut out entire parts. The Japanese cuts of Gojira and Godzilla 1985 are remarkably different from the U.S. versions. The U.S. cut of '85 was basically made to portray Russia as a bunch of a-holes because of all the cold war stuff.

 

[Boba Ben]

Yes, I really, really liked some of Classic Media's Godzilla releases. I still have never seen an original, non-US cut version of Godzilla 1985. I don't believe it's available in the U.S. in an official DVD format.

 

[Boba Ben]

Since this is the collectibles thread, I wanted to add that I really wish I had this Mechagodzilla R/C figure. I think it sells for around $1,500 now, so I'll never have one unless I steal one from some dead Japanese guy's house.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/GSi56VxMW7k&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/GSi56VxMW7k&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

 

[MaulFan]

Yes, I really, really liked some of Classic Media's Godzilla releases. I still have never seen an original, non-US cut version of Godzilla 1985. I don't believe it's available in the U.S. in an official DVD format.

It's not, that's why I'm glad I found the bootleg I did. I'd read about it and after seeing it, I usually prefer to watch the Japanese cut and read the subtitles, it's a better version of the movie. Though I do enjoy the Raymond Burr parts of '54 and '85, he's a pretty good actor, I like how he delivers his dialogue and his closing speech in '85.

That Mech-Godzilla is wicked cool, that'd be so awesome to have. One thing that raises for me two, the softness of designs to the villains in the 90s and 2000s. The 60's monsters almost looked real but the newer ones were all polished and clean and almost toy looking. The '70s Mecha G is the most menacing of all Mecha Gs in my book.

I consider these grails of Godzilla collectibles.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/NeZA3AqoV9I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/NeZA3AqoV9I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/rHneR7HgxPU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/rHneR7HgxPU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/hX2i6C1umwU&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/hX2i6C1umwU&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

 

[Boba Ben]

Those puppet are pretty cool. What do they spray to replicate the atomic breath affect?

I totally agree with you on Mechagodzilla. The 70s design is the best and the 90s design was the worst of the the three versions. I really loved many of the monster designs from the 60s and 70s. That's why I've loved those X-Plus figures I have so much the three releases so far have been based on the classic designs from the 60s and 70s. Their next release is Godzilla from the Millenium Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla film. It's not my favorite design, but I really think the figure does look great.

 

[MaulFan]

Where do you get X-Plus Godzilla figures? I have the X-Plus '01, '64 and '65 figures and I thought they stopped after that?

And I have no idea what those puppets breath but they're so cool, I'd love to have one.

 

[Boba Ben]

I had to order them directly from Japan. I got most of mine from Hobby Link Japan. This series is much more detailed and larger than the X-Plus USA series. They're about 12" to 13" in height. X-Plus makes them to order so they're really limited and they're a pain to try to get after they've been released since they only make enough to fill the pre-order quantities on sites like HLJ and Hobby Search.

Shipping on them is really pricey as well, but they're my favorite Godzilla action figure series ever. The detail is fantastic.

 

[MaulFan]

That 2003 is impressive, but at $200+, it'd have to be the '54, '85 or '89/'91 designs for me to spend that much.

 

[Boba Ben]

I'm betting they'll release some more versions fairly soon. Recently, they've been cranking a lot of these figures out. If one of your preferred designs comes out, I'll be sure to bump up this thread with some pics.

I'd flip if they made a 60s Ghidorah in this series with the same amount of crazy detail. I don't know if I'd like the price tag, though.

 

[MaulFan]

I might bite on a 60s Ghidrah simply because it's rarely captured correctly. I spent years aching for a proper '54 Godzilla, I was ecstatic when Les turned me on to Sakai's work this past summer and I found the Banpresto 11", it's one of my absolute favorites and even the small ones rock. I'm very particular about how pieces capture him, especially the '54 and '85 suits. A lot of '54 pieces have a very awkward posture to him, many look like he's falling forward. Another issue is often the proportions are off. I have the X-Plus USA '54 statue and it's quite off, but until finding Sakai's work this past summer, it was the best I had.

 

[Boba Ben]

Yes, Sakai's stuff is really good. I have a few of the mini dioramas and they're top notch stuff.

I've been kicking around the idea of buying one of these Megahouse Godzilla 1954 figures. He's really big. I believe he stand around 18" tall.

 

[MaulFan]

For me, this is about what any 1954 Godzilla product should look like.

Which is why I love Sakai, because he captures that.