KiguruMicroman KM-01 Godzilla (Original 1954 version)

Height: 10cm to top of head as Microman Ken, 12cm to top of head as Godzilla.

Articulation: 30 joints in all: double-jointed neck; 7 joints in each arm- double-jointed shoulder, upper arm swivel, double-jointed elbow, forearm swivel, hinged wrist; double-jointed midsection; 6 joints in each leg- ball-joint hip, thigh swivel, double-jointed knee, double-jointed ankle.

Accessories: Godzilla costume, Extra hands x10 with Storage Piece, Stand. A sheet of stickers for Microman Ken is also included.

Colors: Molded clear yellow, clear purple, dark purple, clear colorless plastic(stand) and black rubber(Godzilla). Painted chrome silver, red, white, black, pink, and gray.

Release Data: Released in December 2004 at a price of ¥1575. This item is no longer in production as of this writing(May 3rd, 2005.)

Gallery: 10 images.

Author: RAC

The Figure

This is the first figure in the KiguruMicroman series- "Kigurumi" is a Japanese term that usually refers to the type of full-body, nonhuman costume seen here. The premise behind this figure was pretty much irresistable- take a Microman, whose toy line helped lead to Transformers, and whose modern incarnation is one of the most nicely flexible action figures going. Add to that a Godzilla costume.

Yes, it's a Microman with a rubber Godzilla suit.

How can anybody resist that?

Now, one misstep was taken in preproduction, I feel- the earliest design illustration I saw for the set showed a Microman that looked pretty much like some guy. So it would have been an action figure of a Japanese man in a rubber Godzilla suit. In which case I'd likely have paid full price for it, easily. As it is, it comes with a pretty typical Microman, all flashy clear plastic and chromed head, and I waited for a decent sale.

There are three versions of Godzilla available- one is the original 1954 version, which is the subject of this review; one is the version seen in the latest film, Godzilla: Final Wars. And finally, the 1964 version of Godzilla is available in a two-pack with King Ghidora. Rounding out the line is a two-pack of Megalon and the very Ultraman-esque Jet Jaguar.

Microman Ken

Microman Ken uses the standard Microman body, which was first used on the MicroForce line in 2003, and deserves frequent re-use. It's roughly the size of the small GI Joe action figure line, and features more articulation than the large GI Joes- 30 points by my count.

The neck is a ball-jointed peg easily removeable and replaceable for those who may wish to customize. The shoulders are double ball-jointed, with sockets set into the torso. This allows for not just a great range, but particularly expressive articulation as well. The swivel bicep presents one of only two major problems with the design- it tends to pop off of the peg in the upper arm, which can be a major nuisance once Ken is inside the Godzilla suit. The double-jointed elbow allows the arm to double over, and that's pretty much the most you can ask of any elbow joint. The wrist is the only other flaw with the design: the hands are a slightly softer plastic and can also come loose when you don't want them to. It's not a huge problem, particularly here where there are no handheld accessories to concern yourself with and the hands themselves are unused for Godzilla. On other Micromen, however, it can be a pain.

The torso has one ball-joint at the waist and a hinge at the ribcage. Swivel to any degree in any direction is possible, and again, the articulation goes beyond merely good poseability to being very expressively flexible. The ball-jointed hips are shaped very well, and allow 90 degrees in any given direction- Ken can do a split easily. What he can't do is raise his leg above his waist without bringing the waist articulation into play- when the leg is swung forward, the shape of the hips stop it at 90 degrees, sticking straight out from the body. It's a small complaint, and the waist joints compensate for it nicely. There's a thigh swivel, which further helps the legs in terms of poseability. The knees are equal in ability to the elbows, and the ankles combine a hinge and a ball-joint very nicely- there's not a lot Microman Ken can't do.

In case you have a thing against screws- and who would I be to judge you, with my aversion to painted hands? -it's worth noting that Ken does have a few in the back and the inner legs. Since nothing's going to successfully offset the chrome head in terms of realism, I don't see it as a big issue here.

Paint and Detailing

Outside of the aforementioned chromed head, Ken has no paint whatsoever. He does come with a set of stickers, but I doubt those would last too long with my pulling him in and out of costume, so I haven't applied them yet. All the paint goes to Godzilla, who uses it sparingly on his claws, eyes, fins, and mouth. It's really all he needs, and it looks good on him, so there's not much to say about it.

Articulation gets 8/10

Sculpt and Deco gets 8/10

Godzilla form

First off, something you need to know about stuffing Ken through the slit in Godzilla's back: once you remove Ken's hands and feet, it's crucial that he be shoved into Godzilla head first. Once you've done that, you'll need to fumble around inside Godzilla and position the arms in the "sleeves" and make sure the head is actually inside Godzilla's neck as it should be. Once you've done that, it's not too hard to position the legs, one at a time, until the ball-joints are sticking out the legs of the suit. Once everything's in place, attach the hands and feet(you may need to hold Ken's ankles to attach them), fit the central row of spines onto Godzilla's back, pray none of Microman Ken's extremities popped free of his ball-joints, and you've got yourself a pretty respectable Godzilla. Elapsed time for me, including trial-and-error fittings: 60 minutes. Hopefully, since you now know ahead of time how it's done, you'll be able to have an easier time of it.

Is he poseable? Well... kinda. Adjusting the arms is best accomplished by trying to feel where Microman Ken's shoulders fall and adjusting those. Don't even bother with the elbows. Godzilla's stance can be adjusted slightly, and the big feet actually have a reasonable degree of tilt, though they do pop off from time to time.

That all having been said, it looks quite nice. It's got the same ridged, scaly-looking detail that the original Godzilla has, and the face seems like a decent likeness for Godzilla as he appeared in the first film, ears and all. It looks good, and it's fairly well-painted in the mouth, eyes, and back fins.

Godzilla gets 7/10

Accessories

-Extra Hands with Storage Piece

12 hands in all, which probably makes it the handiest figure ever. In addition to the hinged gripping hands attached in-package, ten more are included: a pair each of fists, "Trigger-finger" hands, open hands with fingers spread, open hands with fingers together, as for a karate-chop or similar action, and a second set of gripping hands with vertical hinges rather than the horizontal ones on the first set. This last set is a particularly nice touch- I imagine it'd be great for holding swords and the like. As it is, Microman Ken barely has any use for the hands he's wearing, since he has to remove them to become Godzilla, but even so, this is a really nice addition to the package.

Also included is a small clear plastic frame that holds all ten extra hands. An extremely neat idea, though I'm assuming it was made independently of the KiguruMicroman series- it would be nice if it held all twelve, for when Ken is in the suit.

-Stand

A nice little stand with a Microman 30th Anniversary logo on it, with two different sized pegs. I'm assuming the larger peg may correspond to older Micromen, or something else entirely, as only the small peg is useable by Ken. Godzilla can make use of neither- he has no holes in his feet whatsoever. Not that big an issue, since his feet are plenty big enough to hold him up. Still, it's kind of sad that all of Microman Ken's accessories are useless in what will doubtless be his preferred mode.

Accessories get 8/10

Closing Remarks:

It's a neat toy, for sure. It pretty well lives up to the appeal of a toy with a rubber Godzilla suit, though the suit itself is somewhat frustrating to apply. Microman Ken is a great figure in his own right, but if you have no Micromen of this body type you may want to think about a different set, since the Godzilla suit does minimize the impressive articuation.

I hit a sale on this figure- it was roughly $12 shipped, and I'm pretty pleased with it- I don't think I'm gonna be taking it out that suit again anytime soon, though. I want to call it an Excellent toy, but all rubber-suit wrestling taken into account I have to be realistic and call it a Very Good toy overall. If you like Godzilla, Microman, or the premise of mixing the two together, you'll probably like it.

-RAC, 05/03/2005