Figure Review - X-Plus Daiei 30cm Series Gamera 1999

 

Here's our last review for 2013! 

To tell you guys the truth, I did not get into Gamera until sometime within the past several years. For the longest time I always thought that Gamera was Godzilla's arch rival at the box offices. Sure, he may have started that way, but he grew into something much more. In the 1990s, film director Shusuke Kaneko, who also directed the 2001 film, Godzilla, Mothra, and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters all out Attack, made three of the greatest giant monster movies to ever grace the silver screen, the fan favorite Gamera trilogy.

Between last November and now, X-Plus has released three Gamera figures from the 90s films. I chose to skip the first two releases in anticipation that they'll get to this guy, Gamera 1999, the incarnation of the character from the 1999 film that capped off the Gamera trilogy, Gamera 3: Revenge of Irys.

Luckily they did, and I couldn't be happier.

Gamera's a big boy! He stands a little over a foot tall and at his widest is around 9-10 inches. By being quite massive, this figure does have quite a bit of weight on it. While it's not the absolute largest 30cm X-Plus figure out there its overall size and width, and overall sculpt make it really impressive to look at.

As stated above, the 30cm Gamera 1999 is a very impressive figure to look at. It's size and sculpt give it a definitive presence. The detailing is stunning. Every fold in its skin is faithfully recreated, and its shell is accurately scaled right down to the last panel.  Thankfully due to its short tail, Gamera's an easy figure to display on a shelf. Just be sure you have room in regards to its hefty width.

One of the figure's notable details are the claws on its hands and feet. They're sculpted out of translucent vinyl and coated in a glossy creamy color. The combination of these two elements makes for a really neat effect. There are some parts, especially on the heel, where you can see through the vinyl at the very tip. Again, it makes for a nice effect. 

 

I'm always a fan of how X-Plus sculpts the heads of their figures. I just love how they're just chuck full of detail. Each of the teeth seem to be individually sculpted. The tusks look great - very intimidating! The eyes are painted really well. They really bring this beautiful figure to life.

As stated with our previous review for the 30cm Godzilla 1999, I am currently visiting family and I already packed away my 30cm Space Godzilla. So for scaling reference, I posed Gamera 1999 along with the 30cm Godzilla 1999. Both are sized really well against one another - the crossover the never was, Godzilla vs. Gamera!

All in all, this is definitely one of my top favorite releases from X-Plus by far, (sorry Godzilla!) This is the first X-Plus Gamera figure that I have bought for my growing collection of these super-detailed vinyl figures. It is truly a masterpiece of a figure, in my opinion. Between this and the 30cm Godzilla 1999, I admit, Gamera's my favorite of the two! I highly recommend this figure to any X-Plus kaiju figure collector out there. It's a beautiful centerpiece to any collection.

Be sure to check out the X-Plus Daiei 30cm Series Gamera 1999 review by our friends over at Kaiju Addicts for further insight.