Kong with B.E.A.S.T Glove (Godzilla X Kong/Playmates)

Kong is back for another Monsterverse adventure with Godzilla in the upcoming Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire. This new action figure by Playmates represents Kong from the new film with his new gadget, the B.E.A.S.T GLOVE. Short for Bio Enhanced Anatomech Seismic Thunder, the B.E.A.S.T GLOVE was built by Monarch is a gadget that gives the King of Skull Island extra powerful punches. Strong enough to shatter a meteor! Or at least that's what Gojipedia says- as of this writing the movie won't be out for awhile. He does have it in the trailers and seemingly all the new toys, so I'm guessing Kong is packing his kaiju sized Power Glove for a good bit in the movie. Not sure what else it does, part of me likes to think he can keep up with his steps, heart rate, Spotify, and other phone apps like I do with my Galaxy Watch.

As a toy, Kong is great. Retaining most of the features that made his prior figure from Godzilla vs Kong so good. All the articulation and heft from that prior widely regarded figure returns with a new sculpt and includes a mini BIO-MIMIC HEAV, a small aircraft Monarch gets around in. Missing is the hunk of flesh that could be removed for battle damage and his Ancestral Battle-Axe. Thanks to the bio on the back of his packaging, I'd like to think there was plans to include the axe at some point. Maybe a future version will include it.  The prior figure was popular not only with kaiju fans, but several other fandoms. I recall many Masters of the Universe groups having fun with him and including it in their ranks of warriors. I'm pretty sure this new figure will as well. Like the prior figure, this Kong will probably be available in multiple variations. This is the standard release and there's also a VS 2-pack with Skar King available in a different paint deco available. Playmates makes really good toys and they've been knocking it out of the park with their Godzilla and Kong figures. This is just another great example of that.

Monsters of Monsters

 

Official pictures of some upcoming Playmates Godzilla toys were recently released and I wanted to talk about them a little. Top left is a new Shin Godzilla that looks like a big improvement over the last version Playmates put out in the lines first wave. If anything, it's a nice way to see the improvement of the line from then to now. It really looks good. To his right is Kong as he appeared in Skull Island. Seemingly another use of the Kong figure from the Godzilla vs Kong series that flies off shelves. It's a great toy and comes with the chain weapon used against the giant skull crawler at the end of the movie and one of those classic helicopters.

Bottom left is Godzilla from 2019's King of the Monsters. Specifically in his 'burning' form. I never get tired of Burning Godzilla toys and this one has a great looking new sculpt and a tank. They never come with a bus though. I mean, he could pick it up and put it back down. It really does look great and I hope several variations in different decos come from it. Let's go old-school Playmates, give me translucent glow in the dark Godzilla with a bus. Last but not least to his right is Godzilla's third form from Singular Point known as Terrestris Godzilla. Representing a more juvenile version prior to maturity he's not fully erect and hunched over. Really, it's that sharp color scheme that draws me to this toy. It's a cool design, sure, but that blue!

I'm always ready for more Godzilla and have been a steady fan of the Playmates toys. The new releases coming down the pipe are just exciting. There's nothing like getting one and just being in awe of it for the first time. I'm really looking forward to seeing these at my local stores. Playmates has really been putting out a solid line of Toho Kaiju. Here's looking forward to figuring out how to stick them on a shelf with others. Those tails can really get in the way.

Kong's Going To Whoop Your Ass

One of the Christmas gifts from my Mom was the Giant Kong figure by Playmates. Seeing how a certain trailer is pretty popular right now, it seems like a good time to talk about this toy. As you could guess this Kong as he appears in the upcoming movie. It's been 48 years since his last adventure in Skull Island and he's grown up quite a bit since then.

In case the 'giant' part of Giant Kong wasn't very clear, this isn't the standard figure. It's a much larger toy. The standard Kong figure has a bit more articulation and accessories, this is a big ass monkey your going to stomp around while yelling. The figure is 11 inches tall and looks really great. His head swivels as does his feet. There's basic shoulder and upper leg articulation. I'm sure he can hold something in his right hand if you put something there. This guy has a lot in common with the last Giant Kong by Playmates, but still just enough to make him different.

I had honestly figured this would be a repaint of the prior Giant Kong toy with some paint differences and maybe a new head. I was wrong, even though the figure has the same basic stature and articulation as the last one. This is a newer, beefier Kong with a big beard. In story he's bigger and older now (he was pretty young in Skull Island, they made a point to say that) so he's got to be more battle hardened looking. He's been whooping all sorts of ass in the past 48 years and now he's ready to kick that suddenly evil Godzilla's ass. *cough* 

It's a pretty good Kong toy. I've been a steady fan of these Playmates Godzilla and Kong toys as readers know. They're pretty fun and don't cost very much. It's hard to complain about that. Somebody will, but not me. This Kong costs around $20 and is exclusive to Walmart here in the states (not sure for other countries). This is a good King Kong toy. I can't say enough good about it, so let's watch that trailer again!

Kongfrontation On Skull Island

I told you all I'd get the larger Playmates Godzilla and Kong figures, didn't I? Actually they were given to me by way of Easter present from my wife. Kong here, shares a lot of similarities with his standard figure as far as joints go. In this deluxe figure his fists now swivel, but his head doesn't seem to be on a ball joint.

That's not too bad though as the standard figure had more of an in thought expression on his face, while the deluxe is roaring in anger. The swivel on his neck feels more natural, as folks tend to look straight forward when they're pissed off. While I doubt this was on purpose, it sure works out well. I also noticed this figure has a beard, while the prior doesn't. Rumor has it Kong has a beard in the upcoming Kong vs Godzilla movie, so perhaps this is a sneak peak of an upcoming mold. His left had could hold a weapon if you're inclined to stick something in there.

The toy is much bigger as well. I've seen folks say it was around 9", which doesn't seem wrong. I haven't measured him and was guessing he was around a foot. He's displayed with one hand held high in package, so that could gave me that impression. Like the smaller figures he has a hard solid body with solid rubbery appendages. Other monster collectors have informed me they're a hard vinyl. Which sounds right.

It's a pleasant toy in hand. He has a nice heft and stands a little more balanced than the smaller figure. The extra size and weight must have a better center of gravity. While much smaller than the jumbos of Shogun Warriors, I feel a strong similarity of hand feel with these toys. The Godzilla and Rodan my brother and I owned may be long gone, but I can still feel them as if I just put them down a few minutes ago. It's a similar feel and that's a nice thing. Modern jumbos aren't always as big as older ones, but similarity is everything in some cases.

Kong Is King And This Toy Is Pretty Good Too

Playmates new Godzilla and Kong toy line is starting to show up at my local stores. My wife snuck a few of them into my birthday presents last week with much appreciation. Kong here represents his appearance from Skull Island in the standard line, while there is a larger figure available as well (I'm getting that too, no worry). I'm admittedly smitten with the Monsterverse's version of Kong, but dang I love this toy. While the Bandai toys that preceded Playmates line were sofubi figures, these new toys are outright action figures similar to the Trendmasters line from the 90's. I have noticed Playmates reissuing some of the Bandai sofubi toys, so maybe they're doing some distributing for Bandai as well. I'd love that.

Kong is roughly in scale with the standard kaiju figure around 6-7". He has a solid hard plastic body with a more rubbery plastic for his arms, legs, and head. Think of the build used in a 80's He-Man figure and you're not far off. Kong's arms and legs move classic swivel joint style like a Kenner Star Wars figure and now I'm imagining him driving an X-Wing. Not too shabby. His feet also swivel helping to stabilize him while standing. Those long gorilla arms can throw off the weight a bit. His head is on more of a ball joint allowing for a greater range of movement. This may not seem like much, but thanks to his nice head sculpt, it adds a lot more personality when having Kong look around.

I have a hard time not loving Kong or Godzilla as is. I literally feel my chest swell with happiness whenever the subject comes up. The amount of exhilaration I felt as I was playing with this toy, let alone talking about it now, is off the charts. I'm really happy Playmates took over the license. Not that I didn't love what Bandai has been doing, it's because I'm so happy with this toy. I'm excited for the line in general and look forward to more releases. When the Kong Vs Godzilla movie comes out, I might go nuts grabbing figures. I've seen a few leaked pics and man they look great.

Uprising this weekend!

I'm so very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very excited for Pacific Rim Uprising this weekend.

Strangely my local theaters are a bit limited on showtimes for it, which is very perplexing. This was the same issue I had watching the new It this past fall. I don't understand why either, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I had wondered if the big success of Black Panther had caused my theaters to have more showings of it creating a shortage of showtimes for other movies, but no, it's slowing down in showtimes, so I can't figure out what exactly is causing this. It's a Legendary Pictures movie, which Kong Skull Island was and it had plenty of showtimes at my local theaters. It's a Universal release, so one would think it would be really wide spread. Strange, really strange.

Either way, with my birthday less than two weeks away, this will be the ideal way to begin ringing it in. Come to think of it, it's pretty similar to last year with March kicking off with the Switch release, then Toylanta, followed by Kong Skull Island and the Power Rangers movie before my birthday. This year it it's been Toylanta and Pacific Rim Uprising. Like, somebody decided to make March big ass monster movie month.

Sounds like a good idea.

Monster Planet of Awesome

Hold onto your seats.

I probably say the words Universal Studios about 20 times an hour. It's an amazing theme park that features some amazing experiences. Recently when I went, I rode the newly opened Skull Island: Reign of Kong ride and was both amazed and blown away by the mixture of 4D screen simulation and classic dark ride elements. It really took you into the experience of having an adventure on Skull Island and being caught between Kong and some dinosaurs. The entire ride was part of the experience, even the line was part of the attraction. That's some of the magic that only Universal Studios can bring to life. You are literally plopped out of reality and dropped into the movie each ride is based on.

So what if they made a Godzilla ride? Well, they do have an attraction at Universal Studios Japan...

As part of Universal Studios Japan's knack on making cool attractions based on various anime and video games, currently they have a 4D movie experience where you get to ride out a Godzilla attack in the new (and wonderful) Shin Godzilla setting. It's pretty awesome and I'd love to see it make an appearance at the Florida resort. Though, real talk, that's way too off the beaten path for a mainstream audience at a US theme park. So if anything, it would have to be based on the Legendary version of Godzilla. Which I wouldn't complain about. That would actually be somewhat amazing as there's already instances of Monsterverse inside the resort. Skull Island is based on the 2005 Peter Jackson King Kong. But that IS King Kong in some form. There's a Jurassic Park Island as well, which isn't technically Monsterverse, but Legendary is behind the Jurassic World series and that's pretty damn close. So, you can squint and just accept it like I do. I mean, in Jurassic World, they had a shopping area that looked ALOT like City Walk. Just humor me and imagine Universal Studios changing their tagline to 'Run for your life like you mean it!'

So as I find myself imagining the possible scenario for a USF Godzilla attraction, I find myself  thinking it would be perfect to retrofit the Shrek attraction as a 4D experience with Godzilla. It's not far from the Transformers ride, so I wouldn't have to walk far to hop from one to another (it's my daydream after all). Not to mention Monsters Café is nearby and naturally matches up with the theme on it's own (and it's really good food too). The theater could have all those seat shaking moments, blasts of water, heat, lights, and smells to go with the movie. All while the façade could be right out of Monster Island. It would be rad. Ideally, I'd love a simulator ride or a hybrid ride like Skull Island. But I'm thinking within the confines of the park already and going with the rumor that the Shrek attraction will close soon (the one in Hollywood will soon after all).

He just needs a pink bow.

Now here's where I really start reaching. You see there's a Sanrio store at Universal Studios. That's Hello Kitty and her pals. Well... Hello Kitty is a Godzilla character. As in, in the early 90's there was a Godzilla simulator ride at the Sanrio theme park in japan. Part of the ride film featured Hello Kitty as an in universe character.

The clip of Hello Kitty is edited out of the ride footage online

So, work with me here. Hello Kitty store... Godzilla attraction... get a hamburger at Monsters Café... ride Transformers. They could even sell the Hello Kitty Transformers figures because ...

Don't look at me like that.

Kong: Skull Island

The movie Toho would have made.

I don't think I'm spoiling in this post, but just incase I am, this post may contain spoilers. So there, I gave you more warning than Wikipedia.

I had been anticipating Kong: Skull Island for awhile now and with Toylanta being held on opening weekend, I had to wait a week to watch it. So last night the wife and I saw it and OMG it was great. The movie is part of Legendary Pictures Monsterverse, which so far is just Kong and Godzilla (the Legendary Pictures version), though Pacific Rim would fit right on it. It's a Legendary Pictures film series, and as I'll get to in a few sentences, fits pretty well into the ongoing story. For the record, I wish Legendary made the Transformers and Power Rangers movie.

As a long time kaiju fan, this is the King Kong movie I've wanted for a long time. I would say the King Kong movie I've always wanted, but the Toho Kong movies (King Kong vs Godzilla, and King Kong Escapes) are in the same vein. So I'll say the movie I've wanted for a very long time, because Kong as a super hero doesn't get explored often. Though, Legendary is doing it's part to contribute to that cause.

The movie is wonderful. Taking place as Vietnam is wrapping up, we see a military group of helicopter pilots provide escort for a Monarch expedition into the largely known Skull Island for testing. The testing (which includes explosions) upsets the wildlife and drives Kong out to defend his land. The surviving military and Monarch  members find their way to the pick up point for rescue and along the way discover the giant (and dangerous) wildlife Skull Island has to offer. Separated into two crews, one discovers a long lost fighter pilot and villagers were they learn about Kong and the dangerous monsters living in Skull Islands hollow core. The other crew, hellbent on revenge for the loss of their comrades get into various skirmishes with that not so friendly wildlife.

The movie establishes Kong as one of the guardians of Earth, like Godzilla. It's beautifully filmed, paying homage to Apocalypse Now, and featuring some extremely gorgeous visuals. The scenes of the villagers place of worship and Kong in the sunset are particularly impressive. It's only weak points are easy to ignore for the most part. Some of the scenes are edited in a way that seems a little clip show like. This is a common complaint I've had with a lot of recent movies, so I think it may be the result of a newer editing trend that may just not working so great with me.

While several newer movies this editing style doesn't gel so well for me, making movies seem like a series of scenes or clips and not so much like a flowing narrative. Fortunately Kong's moments like that are much fewer than other recent movies that I've found moments like this few and not so distracting. Other complaints could be found in some of the human characters seemed two dimensional. Which, in all honesty is a common complaint in most big budget movies as well as pretty common in kaiju movies. So the movies lesser parts were easy to overlook in greater sum of awesomeness.

I said above Pacific Rim would fit easily into Monsterverse, and this movie opens that door even more. The Pan Pacific Defense Corps was created in response to the 2014 kaiju attack that took the military weeks to stop. The M.U.T.O attack, which took a long time to end was in Godzilla 2014. The resulting kaiju attacks came from a portal in the Pacific Ocean. Skull Island, which is home to many giant monsters (I'm not spoiling the entirety of it) and even is hollow, providing monsters in the center of the earth a way to come to the surface. Skull Island just happens to be in the Pacific Ocean.

So, OMG IT WOULD BE SO AWESOME IF GYPSY DANGER TEAMED UP WITH KONG AND GODZILLA AND....wait...

Hey, what if we got a Legendary Pictures version of Jet Jaguar?