Burning Godzilla [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

November 2025 is clearly the month of Burning Godzilla. With the 30th anniversary of Godzilla vs. Destoroyah in December, the all-new Fest Godzilla II: Shinjuku Burning released earlier this month, and, well... I got a bunch of related toys recently and decided to cover them in November. Godzilla Day and all — it made sense.

Today we're looking at the Burning Godzilla 5" counterpart to the Destoroyah I talked about last week. As I reiterate every time I talk about a toy from this line, I've really grown to love the Godzilla Monster Series 5" figures. I repeat it for two reasons. One, it's true. Two, this is the internet — you've got to repeat yourself constantly.

I don’t believe I’ve covered a Heisei era Godzilla in this series here on the site yet. However, in some aspects, there’s not much new when it comes to this figure. It’s got the same articulation you expect from this style of Godzilla toy: legs move at the hips, arms swivel at the upper bicep, and the tail swivels... because you have to attach it after opening the box. I don’t think that actually counts as a joint, but movement is movement. Of course, these aren’t the type of figures you buy for articulation.

To quote Billy Bob Thornton from the classic movie Sling Blade, “No sir, I don’t reckon.” Then he said uh huh a million times and ate a shit ton of mustard. These types of figures make great representations of classic screen monsters — and that’s exactly what this figure is.

Seriously, why did he eat so much mustard?

The sculpting on Godzilla is really great. It might just be another Godzilla to some folks, but for fans, the differences are crystal clear. Godzilla looks a great deal like the MogeGoji suit used at the time. Of course, he’s in the traditional Godzilla colors except for the burning detail that makes Burning Godzilla stand out. Don’t ask me why a slowly dying Godzilla looks so great, but dammit — it looks amazing.

All that radioactive dermatitis looks beautiful despite probably hurting like hell. A wonderful mix of coppery reds and oranges extends to his spinal plates so perfectly. The nuclear meltdown inside has even tinted Godzilla’s eyes to match. Every cloud has a silver lining, apparently — because, you know, he’s dying here. But it’s so pretty. His internal pain has resulted in beautifully red and orange eyes that just look so good.

No wonder Godzilla is so angry — here he is in pain, and I’m telling him how great he looks. Sorry, big guy. I’d give you a hug but... well, you’d step on me. Clearly I don’t have anything bad to say about this toy. It’s a wonderful depiction of a memorable version of Godzilla that thankfully doesn’t cost much. How can I find any fault in that?

Destoroyah [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

Godzilla vs. Destoroyah is turning 30 this year, and in case last week’s Burning Godzilla Egg Monster post wasn’t a clear indicator, we’re spending some time observing it. This is also totally by coincidence, because I got some toys related to that movie a few weeks ago and am just now getting around to talking about them.

Regardless, it’s an AWESOME movie that came out my senior year of high school and felt so much more dangerous and edgy at the time than it actually is. I was 17 and it was the 90s, bear with me.

This Destoroyah is from Bandai’s 5-inch Godzilla Monster Series vinyl figures, which I’ve become a fan of over the past year. Just the right size and just the right price. And yes, I know the regular-sized Bandai vinyls were $9 a few years ago. It sucks. We’re all pissed about it. Moving on.

This is a great little figure of Destoroyah. Like, the sculpting is really great. I’ve always liked his design, and it’s really appreciated here. Destoroyah is a kaiju that began life as a colony of Precambrian crustaceans exposed to the undersea conditions created when the Oxygen Destroyer detonated in 1954. They mutated and evolved into the monster we have today.

So yes — a bunch of sea bugs got super-powered into a giant death demon because of the nuclear anti-oxygen murder bomb from the first movie. Shit happens. It’s crazy.

For what’s essentially a cheaper toy, Destoroyah looks freaking amazing. His sculpting is excellent and brings out all that nuclear-powered evil. Unfortunately there’s not much articulation to speak of — you can twist the tail and adjust the wings a bit. However, you don’t buy these figures to do the fucking Iron Man pose in your detolf. You buy them because you love these monsters and just want them around. Put him next to your movie collection or by the PlayStation... or in that detolf. He'll look great.

Speaking of, that red really pops. The color looks amazing, and those giant wings? Perfect. I love this design. It’s just pure horror in rubber suit form. I’ve always felt like Gigatron from Car Robots / Megatron from Robots in Disguise (2001) borrowed from his look. If only there was a red version. Honestly, I can’t say anything bad about this. I freaking love it.

Godzilla 2023 (Odo Island) [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

Bandai's 5" sofubi line continues to pump out banger after banger with the Odo Island version of Godzilla from Minus One. Godzilla Minus One being such an amazing movie, it's to no surprises that more toys of him would be desirable. I remember sitting in that theater after finally finding a local showtime (that was oddly difficult), drinking my Pepsi Zero Sugar and marveling out loud when Godzilla first appeared on Odo Island.

At this stage he hadn't mutated to the super beast we all know, and was more of a local creature the natives had to deal with. I was super impressed with the way he looked. Normally younger Godzilla's are kinda cute or more similar to dinosaurs. Since Shin Godzilla, however, they're depicted more monstrous and frightening. This is one freaky looking thing that would scare the absolute shit out of anyone who saw it.

That's awesome.

This just might be the best sculpted monster from the 5" series that I've seen. At least so far. After becoming aware of him in the winter, I had just recently found the toy at my local Target. I paid $12, though it looks to be a little more online depending on the store. Just try to find the best price. Articulation isn't something you normally buy a sofubi for, but I feel he's got a fair amount for the 5" series. Arms and legs. Despite being in basic colors, they feel impactful and look sharp.

There's a lot of detail in the sculpt that stands out even if it isn't highlighted. This is nice. I'm admittedly smitten with Bandai and have a general love for all things Godzilla... and hell. Have a generally positive outlook on everything I post about here. That's because I buy these toys and do this site for fun. It'd be pretty stupid to waste my time here on things I don't like. This, however, is something I'm genuinely smitten with. Minus One is just pure euphoria and frankly something I get pretty emotional about. A good figure of an important moment?

Outstanding.

Godzilla 2023 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

I happily found this Minus One version of Godzilla from the awesome Godzilla Monster Series 5" line by Bandai at a Miniso while shopping with the Mrs. I haven't gotten any toy of Godzilla as he appeared in Minus One yet, so I was ecstatic. Godzilla is like the other figures in this range, a smaller sofubi. One thing about his appearance in the movie that I've always liked was the extra pointy design.

That detail is carried over well here as is painted on scar tissue. I find his chonky sculpt extremely pleasant and the overall toy very satisfying. Godzilla 2023 has less articulation than the other figures in this range. Only his arms and tail move. I'm not entirely sure of the reason for this, but can speculate his larger body probably ate at the toys design budget. Each joint is a separate piece and you can probably see the seam in his wait where the figure is assembled. With figures like this, the articulation isn't a focal point, so I wasn't bothered. It's nice to finally have a toy of what feels like Godzillas proudest moment in the theaters. Minus One is probably the one Godzilla movie not hailed as a silly monster movie by snooty critics and I can't help but to be proud of that.

Godzilla [Monster Egg Series Godzilla]

I don't know who was saying he had to go, because it wasn't me. Today we'll be looking at Godzilla in Monster Egg Series form! Out of the 4 in this 2024 reissue set (the Gigan from 2014 isn't available at this time) Godzilla is the star. Not just because he's the main character of the films... but he's also the best of the batch! Thanks to the transformation he's got quit a bit of articulation compared to the others. The head and tail are jointed, twice in the tail! Arms and legs can move... there's even twists in the ankles!

Bandai is the best at this sort of thing and they proved it with Godzilla. Unlike most egg toys, he retains his traditional proportions. Transformation is easy and everything folds up neatly into place. Egg form is truly monstrous (as it should be) and this is one truly well done toy. Go Go Godzilla!

Godzilla 1954 Translucent Edition [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

I'm a sucker for translucent toys and have been clamoring for a X-Ray version of Godzilla or King Kong in the newer figures I've been getting. Bandai must have been reading my dream journal as they made this specifically cool Translucent Edition of the Godzilla 1954 we spoke about a little while back. Part of the Godzilla Monster Series 5" line I've been recently enjoying, it was a real treat to find this under the tree Christmas morning. The Mrs likes to spoil me and knew I'd love this 'cool sparkly one'. She was right and today we'll be taking a look at it. At it's base, it's from the same mold as the Godzilla 1954 toy, so I'll be focusing on the specifics of this version.

What's different is instead of the grayish green we're used to, Godzilla is colored in a neat smoky grey translucent plastic with some great looking glitter in the mix. Being a vinyl toy, the translucency isn't as transparent as something like a Microman and comes out as a rather soft color. It's really pleasant. The glitter adds to the look nicely and adds some visual texture. They painted the eyes, which I find great. It's something simple that adds a lot. Without the glitter the toy could have made a cool black and white edition of the figure, but with it... it just pops. This feels like a much more premium figure than it's standard edition counterpart.

Mechagodzilla 1974 [Godzilla Monster Series 5"]

It has been too long since I've taken a look at Bandai's fun 5" soft vinyl figures from their Godzilla Monster Series line. I get these from my local Target (because some of us live in a society) and had been on the look out for more as the lines stocked in the 'collectors' section can be short stocked at times. Unless it's those Parks and Rec ReAction figures that'll be there after the nuclear apocalypse. My wife had pointed out that they had the 'tin foil guy' leading to the happy discovery of a Mechagodzilla sitting on the shelf waiting for my purchase. This is a great little toy of the 1974 version of Mechagodzilla as he appeared in Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla. This 5" series is a less expensive set of figures that are perfectly adequate, but don't have the number of paint apps as larger, pricier figures.

This works out ok for the Showa Mechagodzilla as thanks to his design... he doesn't need a lot of colors to be accurate. Articulation is pretty limited on this one compared to a regular Godzilla. Arms move at the shoulders, and swivel at the waist. I have other sofubi with this amount of movement so it's not a negative for me. I can see others taking issue however. His sculpt is really great and pretty screen accurate. I've always liked Mechagodzilla quite a bit and the original incarnation is a ton of fun. He's from that same era that gave us Henshin Cyborg and Microman so there's a similar aesthetic. For the low cost ($10 at Target) this is a solid figure and man I just love anything Bandai makes. The smaller size is welcome as it can be stored easy or have plenty of room on a busy kaiju toy shelf. Just great all the way around.