# Time PL reissued their BIG G!



## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

With the recent Godzilla flick I'm surprised PL didn't reissue that kit. Ok I know there's the tiny, tiny issue of licensing and they've cut right back on their figure kits but anyone heard of this kit being brought back?


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

"Giant Fire Lizard!"
"Mega Iguana!"
"The Bellringer of Tokyo"
...


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

No they have not said anything about reissuing the Toys R Us Godzilla kit


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I think it's only been released once. I wouldn't mind a kit of the new Godzilla too but I think there's probably more chance of pigs flying.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yeah I think it was out once in green and some in white plastic. I have the kit still and it really is not that good. Its not "bad" but it leaves a lot to be desired. The limits of injection molding his skin texture in such a large scale really stick out like a sore thumb. The head and face are also pretty poor. 

There are probably some Japanese kits of the new Godzilla. I know Bandai has some really nice pre finished ones.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> Yeah I think it was out once in green and some in white plastic. I have the kit still and it really is not that good. Its not "bad" but it leaves a lot to be desired. The limits of injection molding his skin texture in such a large scale really stick out like a sore thumb. The head and face are also pretty poor.
> 
> There are probably some Japanese kits of the new Godzilla. I know Bandai has some really nice pre finished ones.



Are the Bandai ones styrene though?

When you say the head and face are pretty poor do you mean the likeness? Don't forget the suits themselves weren't exactly realistically sculpted.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The pre finished Bandai stuff is PVC.
The PL kit just doesnt look like Godzilla very much, aside from general details like the fins. The head/face/neck/upper chest do not really match the original movie costume very well. I think a big problem is that he is just too thin and really pear shaped overall. Especially when viewed from the front, the kit just looks funny. I dont think the arms are bulky enough either. Based on the detail on the head, the kit has to be the first or second Godzilla, though. But it really is rather generic.

These are two Kaiyodo Godzilla vinyl kits. They are beautiful, assemble in minutes, and capture the actual costumes quite well. 



















This is the giraffey PL kit courtesy of pics found online. 



















Sometime I will get around to doing something with the half built model I have on the garage floor...


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Yes it's hard to tell exactly which Godzilla it is but it's probably closest to the first 2 films as you say and I don't know what they were thinking of with that neck. Still it's 1 of only 4 styrene kits and the others are probably not as good. The Lindberg one has an awful face and the Bandai one isn't very good either. I doubt they'd do it but they should have released it with a choice of heads like the Kaiyodo one you posted which looks like the more reptilian Kong V Godzilla incarnation.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The two Kaiyodo kits I showed were from the second and third movies

There are actually quite a few styrene Godzillas... Bandai has three. One is a bit small but a nice kit from Godzilla vs Mothra and it includes the two Mothra larvae. They do a larger kit of the 54 Godzilla that is not bad. It was reissued with new parts to make one of the later Godzillas. Lindberg's is "okay" but I don't care for the rather static pose. And there is the Aurora kit. There are several smaller styrene kits too in the 3-5 inch size. The thing is with Godzilla and vinyl kits is the actual costume design makes it very easy to do a vinyl kit. The tail, legs, arms etc all attach at natural seams, so there are no gaps to fill, and things like the arms and legs and body are cast in one piece, so there is no big seam down the middle to fill. You can get the 10" Kaiyodo kits build in under an hour and ready for painting in no time. I've found Tamiya acrylic paint sticks to the Kaiyodo vinyl perfectly too. The nice thing also is the huge variety of kits available. I have one of the big Kaiyodo kits from King Kong Versus Godzilla and the monster's feet are as big as my hands and his body is the size of a large ham !


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

There are lots of styrene Godzilla kits
http://www.tylisaari.com/models/kaiju/godzilla/godzilla.htm

Unfortunately none of them look very good straight out of the box.
But with a bit of work the Lindberg kit can look pretty good.
http://www.tylisaari.com/models/zilla/lind/lindzillad.htm

I think the problem with the PL big G was it was licensed and had to go through the TOHO approval process. But I still think it is the best looking straight out of the box. Sure, it isn't completely accurate to one particular suit, but it is pretty close to early suit designs. Looks a lot like the 55. Which would explain the neck. But the legs (especially from the knees down) don't match up.


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## Paper Hollywood (Nov 2, 2011)

Yes, thanks to djnick66's comparison, I'd pass on a re-release of the PL kit, too. I find it interesting how varied the look of Godzilla is between these kits, but, then Godzilla's look varied substantially even from film to film in the original series. The head was almost always a bit different, at least.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I think I will take my half built kit, fill it with tannerite, and use it as a range target


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## langit (Mar 10, 2015)

thanks for link, has been bookmark


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> The two Kaiyodo kits I showed were from the second and third movies
> 
> There are actually quite a few styrene Godzillas... Bandai has three. One is a bit small but a nice kit from Godzilla vs Mothra and it includes the two Mothra larvae. They do a larger kit of the 54 Godzilla that is not bad. It was reissued with new parts to make one of the later Godzillas. Lindberg's is "okay" but I don't care for the rather static pose. And there is the Aurora kit. There are several smaller styrene kits too in the 3-5 inch size. The thing is with Godzilla and vinyl kits is the actual costume design makes it very easy to do a vinyl kit. The tail, legs, arms etc all attach at natural seams, so there are no gaps to fill, and things like the arms and legs and body are cast in one piece, so there is no big seam down the middle to fill. You can get the 10" Kaiyodo kits build in under an hour and ready for painting in no time. I've found Tamiya acrylic paint sticks to the Kaiyodo vinyl perfectly too. The nice thing also is the huge variety of kits available. I have one of the big Kaiyodo kits from King Kong Versus Godzilla and the monster's feet are as big as my hands and his body is the size of a large ham !





Even though it has a static pose I quite like the body on the Lindberg one and the way they've done the muscles but the face looks a bit dodgy to me especially the stiff looking lower jaw and teeth.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> The pre finished Bandai stuff is PVC.
> The PL kit just doesnt look like Godzilla very much, aside from general details like the fins. The head/face/neck/upper chest do not really match the original movie costume very well. I think a big problem is that he is just too thin and really pear shaped overall. Especially when viewed from the front, the kit just looks funny. I dont think the arms are bulky enough either. Based on the detail on the head, the kit has to be the first or second Godzilla, though. But it really is rather generic.
> 
> These are two Kaiyodo Godzilla vinyl kits. They are beautiful, assemble in minutes, and capture the actual costumes quite well.
> ...





Yes the face is ok(ish) but what were they thinking of with that awful neck?


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

TAY666 said:


> There are lots of styrene Godzilla kits
> http://www.tylisaari.com/models/kaiju/godzilla/godzilla.htm
> 
> Unfortunately none of them look very good straight out of the box.
> ...




Thanks for posting that link. I see what you mean about the Big G from PL but after looking at those pics I wonder if the larger Bandai kit is possibly better..............even the best. What's everyone else think?


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I like the Bandai kits myself. The larger one (with the ruined building and Sabre jets) is a rather nice kit. I would buy and build another one again if I found one at a reasonable price. The 1/350 vs. Mothra kit is even better in representing that movie's costume, but it is a smaller kit. A neat touch in the small kit are nice decals for Godzilla's eyes, in case you suck at painting such details, and the two Mothra larvae in scale (and they are both different not just two of the same).


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

The big G doesn't look so bad.
http://theclubhouse1.net/contest/berndgodzilla1.jpg


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

TAY666 said:


> The big G doesn't look so bad.
> http://theclubhouse1.net/contest/berndgodzilla1.jpg





Yes that's a nice build. I must say though I prefer the more reptillian looking Godzilla to the more mammal like versions. The Big G is a better sculpt than most of the styrene Godzillas but it has the more mammal like face. The Aurora one has a more reptilian like face but the pose isn't as good as the bigger PL kit.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

djnick66 said:


> I like the Bandai kits myself. The larger one (with the ruined building and Sabre jets) is a rather nice kit. I would buy and build another one again if I found one at a reasonable price. The 1/350 vs. Mothra kit is even better in representing that movie's costume, but it is a smaller kit. A neat touch in the small kit are nice decals for Godzilla's eyes, in case you suck at painting such details, and the two Mothra larvae in scale (and they are both different not just two of the same).




Are you sure you're not talking about the larger Bandai kit? The smaller 1/350th Bandai kit looks a bit dodgy as far as I can see........

https://www.hlj.com/product/ban03526/Sci

but the larger kit was released with Mothra and another head. And I think this is the same kit that you're talking about with the Sabre jets but the scale was altered.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The kit you showed is the nice 1/350 "Imago" scale kit with the two moth larvae. It's a nice enough kit for its size. I built one about 30 years ago. He just isn't very big. I recall him being about 6-7 inches tall. The kit does capture the look of the costume from Godzilla Against Mothra

The larger kit is more like the 1954 or 55 Godzillas. I have never seen that kit reissued with anything to do with Mothra. But, it was reissued with a new head or new fins to represent one of the modern Godzillas. I like that kit a lot. The larger kit is usually described as 1/250 https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/4539632928/in/set-72157623900289104/


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Let me see if I can clear some of this up.

This kit is 1/350 and is the one that comes with the larva









and looks like this when built









These kits are actually the same
















The first one is suposed to be the '54 and is listed as 1/250 and comes with base.
The second is called G vs Mothra comes with a '91 head, no base, and is called 1/350.
They changed the scale because the newer Godzilla is larger than the older ones. Even though the kit is the exact same size.
They look like this when built









As for size of the kits. They are actually pretty close.
The one with the larva stands about 6" high, and the other one stands about 7" high.
Even though there is only an inch difference, the larger one seems much bigger than the other. If I get a chance I will post a comparison pic tonight.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

That's the ones and the scale discrepencies on the 1/250th kit changed to 1/350th.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Godzilla grew in size over the decades so they just rescaled the older kit to be a newer bigger Godzilla. The scales on a lot of these kits are goofball anyway. One of my Kaiyodo kits says 1/96 or something like that and he is huge. But, another kit is marked at 1/125 and he is about 1/8 the size of the big one. Even at 1/200 he should be half as big.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

djnick66 said:


> Godzilla grew in size over the decades so they just rescaled the older kit to be a newer bigger Godzilla. The scales on a lot of these kits are goofball anyway. One of my Kaiyodo kits says 1/96 or something like that and he is huge. But, another kit is marked at 1/125 and he is about 1/8 the size of the big one. Even at 1/200 he should be half as big.


Depends on which incarnation the kits represented.
Godzilla has ranged from 160-350 feet tall depending on which one it is.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

TAY666 said:


> Depends on which incarnation the kits represented.
> Godzilla has ranged from 160-350 feet tall depending on which one it is.


Yeah I mentioned that. I have two Kaiyodo kits of King Kong vs Godzilla an the scales are not far off but the models differ vastly in size. So scale is really rather moot. I bought the kit for the size anyway. Im not sure they still make the big kit (or either). I bought him in 1995 and he was about $400 back then...


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