You may not know Baragon, but he’s important. He fought (and lost) to a giant Frankenstein in Frankenstein Conquers the World (I have no idea why Frankenstein was huge). Later on, Baragon would return to fight Godzilla in Destroy All Monsters. He’s also appeared in five video games dating back to Nintendo’s 1988 Godzilla: Monster of Monsters. Not bad, but that’s not why he’s important either. Baragon is important because he’s the first Godzilla character in Revoltech’s new Sci-Fi line.
When I was a kid, I liked dinosaurs. I liked to draw them. I had books about them. Dinosaur was one of the first “big” words I learned to spell. I loved Dino Riders. I even wanted to be an archeologist so I could dig them up. You could say I was obsessed. That love culminated one afternoon when my mother brought me home a movie from the video store: Godzilla 1985. A giant indestructible super-dinosaur wrecked Tokyo, and there was nothing Raymond Burr could do to stop it. It was my new favorite thing. Regular old ‘saurs wouldn’t become cool to me again until Jurassic Park. Those old hat lizards were replaced by city-destroying monsters powered by the nuclear age.
There is one thing that has always thwarted me in my love for Godzilla though. There have never been any decent toys. Sure, there’s tons of Godzilla merchandise out there. There’re plenty of models and some action figures. But those toys never satisfied me. Each line had something wrong with it. Sometimes it was the poor character selection. Other times it was lack of articulation. No matter what, there was always something wrong, until now. The great folks at Revoltech have stepped up to the plate and are producing a line dedicated to sci-fi characters, and the Tokyo destroying monsters are part of it. Not just Godzilla either, Gamera is coming up next month. Thank you, Revoltech!
The one thing I have to say about this toy is that it looks like it could be a guy in a rubber suit. I love that. Baragon’s got these great detailed folds and creases, mostly on his arms and legs and neck that look realistic. Realistic here means two things. It could mean rubber suit, or giant monster skin folds. Whatever you want. Baragon also has that same look in his eyes. They could either pass for monster eyes, or costume eyes. Either way it’s good. It’s what any line of Godzilla toys should be shooting for, that fine line between realism and realistic. Continue to Page 2…
I still don’t why they started with this guy. He may look cool, but it’s akin to DC Classics doing Kamandi first.
I think Revoltech is doing the same thing Mattel did with Martian Manhunter. It is kind of silly they didn’t start with one of the many versions of Godzilla, but I can see the benefit of them wanting to know how the lesser characters will sell.
That’s a good point. I thought Gamera was going to come first, which would be more of a draw into the series. I betcha that once the better known guys start rolling out this one will become highly sought after and expensive.
Thanks for the rundown and the scale shot. I was curious what these will be sized at. I really hope they are all in scale with each other. And it’s good to see that the quality on these is starting off high.
I think you’re right. There might be a lot of people going back to get him after the line gets bigger.
I’m hoping the scale stays mostly relative also. But that means King Ghidorah is going to be HUGE.
i can’t help but say i think revoltech missed the boat here badly… IF these figures were MUCH larger, let’s say 13 inches tall, they wouldn’t be “in scale” w/ other revoltechs… but they look like it. they’d tower over revoltechs and look like the monsters they’re intended to be. it’s hard to justify, as a collector, buying “a giant monster” that’s not in the least bit giant. that’s one thing about some of the godzilla toys out there, they may not have great articulation, but at least other action figures have to look at at them. to me, that, moreso than fancy articulation, is the essence of the toku monsters.
in thinking about the recent tytus figure for motuc, i never once complained there on his scale, cuz any more than about double the standard motuc height is about right, he’s huge compared to the other guys… that left me free to complain there cuz the line did have an established construction & design aesthetic that he didn’t meet.
Clearly, you don’t have a model train set to terrorize. 😀
i quite do, in fact, but it’s not a micro machine train! 🙂
Having big ones would be cool, but would run out of room to quick if it were this line, lol. As long as they are all in relative scale with each other, I’m good.
Damn, beat me to reviewing this guy. Anywho, pretty sure the box is for your Revoltech joints. Not necessarily the other accessories. Without a lot of the normal extras, it does seem like a waste, but I thought that was the original plan for the boxes.
Maybe you’re right, I’m not really sure.
Can’t wait to see your review.
Goddamn, I want that Big O soooo much.
He’s pretty cool.
Arrgh! I have to be angry with you, Noisy! You just made me order Gamera! And of course, I’ll end up ordering Godzilla! Great review… again.
These are the monsters I grew up with! These guys should be paying you for these reviews… Or I at least they should be giving you free toys! 🙂
You can’t blame me! This ones all on Vault! 😀
Yup, this one’s my review.
Free toys, I’m all for that. If any of you toy companies are reading this, Vault would like free toys in exchange for a review. Sounds fair to me. 😀