Last year, I bought the X-Plus Toho 30cm Series Rodan 1964 figure. While it was a nice sculpt and very well detailed, it suffered from balancing issues due to its size and center of balance. I have since boxed it away due to the fact that it kept falling off the shelf and suffered various paint scuffs on the beak, claws, toes, and back. I thought I'd never buy another X-Plus Rodan figure ever again, but late last year when the prototype images of the Toho Large Monsters Series Rodan '64 popped up on the web, I could not help but reserve the figure immediately as orders came up. And now, that I have it, I have no regrets!
I picked this guy up at the post office a couple of hours ago. Once I got home I was quick to open this bad boy up! The box is pretty generic like the Rodan '56 and Mothra '61 figures in this line. It's all white with a black and white image of the figure/monster with its name and year. The box was also smaller than I expected too! It's as tall as a normal Toho Large Monsters Series figure box though. Initially I thought that there would be some assembly required, but thankfully none of that was necessary!
The box itself is much like the 30cm version when you open it. Inside, Rodan's all nice and snug just waiting to be taken out!
After taking the figure out of the box, the first thing I did is to make sure that it has a perfect balance. Surely, the guys at X-Plus knew about the issues with the 30cm figure because they are all fixed with this one! Instead of balancing the weight on one wing as with the 30cm figure, this version distributes the weight through both its wings and its legs giving it perfect stability. I was quite pleased with this.
The thing I love about the Toho Large Monsters Series of figures over the 30cm figures is their magnificent level of detail. This figure, while, similar to its 30cm counterpart in paint scheme, goes all out with detailing on the wings and body itself. It goes up and beyond the level of detail seen on the 30cm figure.
Perhaps the main difference between the Large Monsters Series figure and the 30cm one is that this one is sculpted with its mouth open rather than closed like the latter.
The attention to detail on the wings is pretty well done. The wrinkles in the membranes and the bumpiness of the skin perfectly reference its movie counterpart.
When scaled next to the Toho Large Monsters Series Godzilla 1968, Rodan stands a few centimeters taller, keeping in scale with the actual monster heights.
Rodan now sits amongst the rest of my X-Plus figures in my ever growing collection of these marvelous and expensive figures. He compensates for the lack of my 30cm figure.
Overall, Rodan is a very nifty figure and certainly one of the best (in my opinion) in the 25cm series so far. My final rating for this guy will be a fill 5/5. It's a really nice figure and a definite improvement over the 30cm Rodan 1964 figure. I totally recommend it to anyone who collects X-Plus figures or is a total Rodan fanatic.
