Original Figure Review - Funko POP! Godzilla Vinyl Figure

Today you can't walk anywhere without seeing the presence of the highly popular POP! vinyl figures from Funko. These designer-inspired vinyl figures have sprung into popularity in the past several years with over a thousand figures from hundreds of various properties from films, video games, books, TV shows, and more! I have been familiar with POP! for a few years, but I promised myself that I would not buy into them until if/when they'd ever do a Godzilla figure. It took a while, but at long last, Godzilla was confirmed through a leaked preorder list from Gamestop.

While the standard version of the POP! Godzilla figure released in November/December 2015, two exclusive variants were released as Toy Tokyo exclusives at New York Comic-Con in October 2015. In total there are four variants: standard, monochrome, glow-in-the-dark (ghost), and the burning variant, replicating Godzilla's appearance in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) - which we will get to later in this review!

The POP! Godzilla stands at around 6 inches tall. It labeled as "Super Sized" since most POP! figures stand at around 4 inches tall. The Super Sized figures a made for characters that are depicted gigantic in their respective properties (other POP! Super Sized 6" figures include Thanos from Guardians of the Galaxy, Hagrid from the Harry Potter films, Smaug from The Hobbit trilogy, and etc.) Sculpt-wise, Godzilla is not that bad. The figure does not represent any specific suit design. It is more of a generic representation showing off his distinctive attributes - the bumpy skin, four fingers, four toes, and dorsal plates. The packaging for the figure, however, shows the original 1954 Godzilla though the figure's sculpt depicts elements from the Showa and Heisei eras.

What makes POP! figures very distinctive from everything else is how they are designed. They have a "chibi" body design and each figure features distinctive beady eyes that are usually black. 

The standard version of the figure boasts a solid greenish gray color scheme throughout the whole body with its teeth and toes colored with a creamy white. Godzilla's gums are painted a dark red, and his dorsal plates are a shiny silver.

Given the $14.99 price tag of this figure, I was not expecting this to be completely flawless. The POP! Godzilla (and quite a bit of other POP! figures as I would later learn) sometimes come out of the factory with issues regarding paint whether it be scuffing, scratches, drips, or bleeds (as seen above.) This is actually my second standard Godzilla, because my first one had too many paint issues. Fortunately my second one came in with just minor paint chipping on one of the toes and a white paint drip on one of the fingers.

Here is Godzilla scaled with the POP! Arrested Development Buster Bluth figure. For those familiar with the show won't forget this moment, and this one too!

And here it is with the S.H. MonsterArts Godzilla 1995 (Rebirth Ver.) just to give you guys a sense of how big this figure really is. It's certainly a chunky piece of vinyl!

I also have the Burning Godzilla variant for this figure as well, and to be quite honest, I prefer it far more than the standard! 

It boasts the same exact sculpt as the standard, but has a vastly different color scheme. Instead of green, Godzilla's skin is black, highlighted with burning paint patches on its arms, chest, stomach, and legs. Also its eyes are painted orange instead of black like on the standard, and its dorsal plates are a fiery orange as well. This and the monochrome variants, I think, are the best of the POP! Godzillas since they hold relevance for two films, Gojira (1954) and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).

All in all, is the POP! Godzilla worth getting? If you are into vinyl figures and designer toys, then this thing will be right up your alley. Regardless of what variant it is, the POP! Godzilla is a fun addition to your collection. What I suggest, however, is hunting this figure down in person so you can inspect the figures yourself for any paint issues and whatnot. 

Since acquiring the POP! Godzilla figures, I have indulged briefly into various other POP! figures, which I will cover later in a retrospective look at the POP! figure line in general.