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The culmination of the Monsterverse is upon us with Godzilla vs. Kong as is the concluding set to this series. The third set in the Godzilla series is possibly the most lackluster, having the first repeat character outside of Godzilla himself as well as some design flaws and a very muted overall earth tone. At least it still brings new characters to the fold, so let’s explore the last of the figures we got for this series.

The Packaging

While Godzilla has few allies, there are certain kaiju who earned his respect after facing him in battle. Mothra battled Godzilla to protect her twin larvae, and Rodan fought Godzilla to protect his nestmate before joining him against King Ghidorah. Megalon is one of the few who battled Godzilla and was never seen again.

As usual, this box is in the bubble styling as the rest of the Godzilla sets. There is no protrusions in the plastic since there’s not any oversized figures like Hedorah or Gigan from previous sets. The weak description on the back of the box seem to casually gloss over the motherly aspects of two of the characters, gives no reason for Megalon to be here and completely ignores the fact that this Godzilla is his “burning” form. Possibly worst of all, however, it mentions King Ghidorah, the figure that became even blueprints but was never made (a wound time may never heal). At least we still have the Toho kaiju stamps on the back despite it being Mothra’s different form. If you want to check it out, click the link here.

The Figures

Burning Godzilla

This figure depicts the end of the Heisei era and seems to be the only figure based exclusively in an era of Godzilla films other than Showa. The burning aspect was due to radiation effects that were depicted in the 1995 film, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, yet another kaiju we failed to see as a minimate. This figure definitely mixes up some of the aspects of previous Godzilla figures but still continues to be pretty much the same base figure. The same molds for his hands, feet, head and torso have followed through all three releases, giving little variety across the board.

The obvious difference is that he is burning, meaning he has various “burning” spots painted onto him and a new orange flame with matching dorsal fins. The fins are the best improvement as the color matches all the way down his tail unlike the atomic variant. The bright orange translucent color of the fins matches the flame accessory that makes for a great burning effect. Where it falls short is the painted on burn areas. The lack of 3D effects on the rest of his body really make the overall effect fall short as it seems there’s just stamps of orange all over him. The paint apps are well done, but the just don’t match with the translucent parts. Overall, there’s nothing new here other than the orange flame, and I can’t see how that warrants a brand new Godzilla. I really wish we could have gotten a new head or torso mold by now to depict a different style of Godzilla since he’s been through so many physical changes over the year, but we never did. At least he’s still the same great Godzilla figure underneath the orange blotches, but by now, I had hoped for more.

MMC Score — 6 out of 10

Rodan

Rodan is a kaiju that first appeared in his own film only to appear in the Godzilla series by 1964 in Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster. He’s gone from being an enemy to ally with Godzilla as many of his usual suspects do and is a visually unique character to an already diverse series. As a Minimate, however, Rodan has some questionable design choices. As far as the paint apps and molded parts go, everything looks great on its own. The head is well sculpted and the wing pieces all match similar Pteranodon-style Minimates like the Marvel Reaver. He’s got a lot going for him that really should work out, but for whatever reason, he just doesn’t.

The wings are a questionable choice. I really can’t figure out why they would choose to make a part of them be a permanent fixture on his torso. There’s a constant hole between the wings and his back, ruining the ability for any displaying without there being some glaring issues. The torso piece as a whole is completely bizarre as it’s much bulkier than Rodan has ever been known to be. Having longer wing pieces on the arms and simple paint apps on the base Minimate torso would have worked fine, but instead, we got this chunky, misshapen beast. The head mold, again, looks great on its own, but the fact that a portion of the shoulders is attached to the neck is a serious problem. Looking straight ahead, Rodan looks okay, but if you turn his head even a bit, there’s these flat protrusions that come out due to that base on his head. Also, there’s an overly smooth section now serving as the top of his shoulders due to the lack of the neck pieces. At least the paint apps on the arms and legs look pretty nice, but yet another issue is those eyes. He looks down right insane with that look, and keeping him facing straight ahead does not help with this. Rodan is a complete oddity and a series of displaying problems amongst a seemingly interesting figure full of great singular parts. Unfortunately for him, when coming together, they make a bit of a mess.

MMC Score —  4 out of 10

Mothra Larvae

And I thought Titanosaurus was an odd choice. Who would have thought we’d ever see Minimates of these baby worm forms of the Queen of the Monsters? The set provides two Larvae in varying positions, one lying flat and the other looking upwards. As it was with the original Mothra it’s almost impossible to classify this as an actual Minimate. There’s a regular torso underneath a torso cap piece that fails to cover the shoulder joints, leaving them exposed for whatever reason. The head isn’t even a head with a hat like the original Mothra, rather, it’s some flat piece with a half sized neck hole that barely stays on. There’s no mobility with it other than rotation and even that can cause the head to pop off. The end of the figure is a single piece with a baseplate hole on the bottom. These pieces are the only differentiation between the two larvae as one has a slight upward angle to it.

I suppose it’s interesting that Mothra is the only character other than Godzilla that we receive two different variations of throughout the series. However, I fail to see how the larvae made it into the final cut of the Godzilla roster for Minimates. I can’t complain about their appearance and am definitely glad we at least got two in replacement of an actual figure, but it’s still strange. We never saw heavy hitters in the Godzilla franchise like Anguirus or Ghidorah, or even got more Minimate fitting figures like King Caesar. Instead, we’ve got some worms that pretty much just lay on the ground. They look great with well made sculpts and detailed paint apps on the faces and they give a new angle on the series’ variety, but I still wish we could have filled this slot with someone else. I can’t hate them, but I don’t love them.

MMC Score —  5 out of 10

Megalon

Let’s end on a somewhat high note. Megalon, as mentioned in the box description, only ever appeared in Godzilla films once in 1973’s Godzilla vs. Megalon, also being the only film appearance of Jet Jaguar. He had a lot going for him as a villain and a character overall, having a unique backstory and style that made for a challenging new foe for Godzilla. As a Minimate, he’s done the best out of anyone else in this set. His unique style and more accurate depiction of the figure it’s based on makes for a breath of fresh air in this set. He still is mostly earth tones, but the silver bits make him stand out despite that.

His newly molded pieces are perfect, being exact depictions of his film appearance. The headpiece is solid and wide but still has a bit of mobility. The drill hands are so perfect in every way. The torso piece has a lot going on with the torso, wings and tail, and yet, it all comes together in a smooth way. The limited paint apps are just enough to keep the texture consistent all around and the new molded feet finish off the look well. Megalon has great mobility, more than most bigger figures in the series. His arms, legs and even his head (slightly) move just enough to make for some great display poses. Overall, Megalon is the cherry on top of this somewhat stale sundae of a set and I’m glad we’ve got him despite his relative obscurity.

MMC Score —  8 out of 10

Conclusion

This set fell the flattest out of the three for various design reasons and overall choices, but nevertheless, it’s still a Godzilla set, so there’s still something to be loved about it. This set wasn’t supposed to be the final one as there was some artwork related to a Ghidorah figure that was planned, but unfortunately, this was the end to the Godzilla Minimate series. Maybe one day we will see the return to finish off the series, but until then, at least we’ve got these.

Agree? Disagree? Why not vote for yourself below, or comment further over at the Minimate Multiverse MMC Review Forum.

Review and pictures by Dash Hauenstein.

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