Original Figure Review - NECA Classic Godzilla Series 02 - Godzilla 1985

With 2014 being the 60th anniversary year for Godzilla, many companies in the United States jumped on board to release various figures and products of the King of Monsters. NECA was one of these companies to hop onto the bandwagon. Initially NECA was one of the companies that produced figures for Warner Bros' and Legendary Pictures' new Godzilla movie. However, they eventually revealed that they were producing a Classic Godzilla figure series. The first figure in this line was Godzilla 1994 from the film, Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla. We did not have a chance to review this figure at the time of its release, but I certainly had mixed feelings about it. 

When it was announced that NECA would be doing a NECA Godzilla 1984/85 from the film, The Return of Godzilla (titled Godzilla 1985 in the United States,) fans were certainly excited for it. Once they released the initial product photos for the figure, people were pretty crossed. The head was too small, and hardly resembled that of the suit as seen in the movie. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't upset by it as well.  NECA received massive backlash from the fan base about the design. Due to this, they went ahead and provided a resculpted head that was much more faithful to that in the film. 

Was the resculpted head enough to save this figure from any more criticism? Let's find out!

Much like the previous NECA Godzilla 1994 figure, Godzilla 1985 is packaged in the traditional NECA clamshell packaging. It has the same standard packaging design as both Godzilla 1994 and all of Bandai USA's Classic Godzilla products from 2014 and onwards. While it is flashy and attractive, I can't help but feel irked when I see the image of a Bandai vinyl figure on the packaging for a NECA figure. I won't lie, it's odd and irritating. 

But let's forget the packaging! Prior to getting the NECA Godzilla 1985, I had doubts about the overall quality of the figure. I was not entirely thrilled about the previous Godzilla 1994 figure. A lot of the figure reflected a generic Godzilla design that somewhat resembled what we saw in the film.

So, how does Godzilla 1985 fair? To be honest, I was quite surprised of how good the figure looked. While some details on the sculpt are a bit off or out of proportion (I'll get to that later,) the figure, overall, is precisely the Godzilla 1984/85 that we see in the film! In regards to paint applications, there are some nitpicks that I'll touch on later, but overall it isn't bad. The figure has a bluish-green wash that gives it a sense of depth and added detail. 

Before we get anything else, let us take a look at that famous head. It is quite stunning! I often rant on NECA for their lousy quality control on many of their figures, but I give them props for Godzilla 1985. The new head is a stark improvement over the original sculpt. It is easily the best aspect of this figure, and almost perfectly replicates what we see in the movie. Te eyes are particularly well done, more so than that of the previous Godzilla 1994 figure. 

As we take a look at Godzilla's rear, we see his distinctive dorsal plates. This is one of the parts of the figure that could have used some improvement. The gray blotches on the dorsal plates are pretty sloppy and solid. I've seen better paint jobs on dorsal plates of bootlegged Godzilla figures. The spines themselves could have been a tad larger as well. But still, they are not too bad. The arrangement of the plates is accurate to what we see in the movie, so there's that.

The range of articulation on NECA's Godzilla 1985 is so-so. It's definitely passable as a super articulated figure, but there are a few aspects of it that fall short of being great. The knees are a notable example of this. The joints are less the useless. In fact, it's not even a proper hinge joint as seen on the previous NECA Godzilla 1994 figure. It is certainly a ball joint, but the lousy thing is that the knee can't bend back. It swivels in place, which limits the amount of posing that can be done with this figure. With that being said, a good amount of the articulation on the figure is pretty well done.

Scale-wise, Godzilla 1985 stands at six inches tall, which is the standard for NECA's growing Classic Godzilla figure line. It matches in height with the previous NECA Godzilla 1994 figure as well as NECA's original 12" Head-to-Tail Godzilla 2014 figure. In time, I intend to display NECA's Godzilla figures in a chronicled fashion from their upcoming Godzilla 1954 all the way to Godzilla 2014. 

So, it all boils down to this... Is the NECA Classic Godzilla Series - Godzilla 1985 a worthy addition to your Godzilla collection?

One word... Yes!

NECA has always been a loose cannon in regards to the quality of their figures, but for the $18.99 price I paid for Godzilla 1985, it is a pretty nifty little figure. When you look at the figure, you clearly see Godzilla 1984/85. It is a Godzilla design that doesn't receive the figure treatment too often. The only other film-accurate six inch figure of this Godzilla is Bandai's vinyl that was included with the 50th Anniversary Memorial Box Set. On its own that figure is worth $100+. If you don't wish to spend that kind of money for a six inch tall vinyl figure, then the NECA figure is certainly a worthy alternative. 

If you wish to purchase this figure, it is available at Toys R' Us locations (stocks may vary from location to location,) BigBadToyStore, Amazon.com, TheNECAStore, and local comic book stores that carry NECA products.