Godzilla 2000 Maquette: Kaiju Toy Review

By: Stan G. Hyde
Date: Sunday, January 07, 2001

Last summer, at G-FEST 2000, I asked Yuji Sakai if the Godzilla suit from '1962's KING KONG VERSUS GODZILLA was the inspiration for the maquette he sculpted as part of the design process of GODZILLA 2000. The Master responded, 'Obviously. Also the original Godzilla. And my cat.'
While most modelers would love to have one of the beautiful Zokei-Kobo resin kits that Master Sakai produces of his Godzilla design, Bandai's Banpresto toy offers a way to get a very good figure based on the maquette for much less money. And in fact, this figure is so good . . . I think it should properly be considered a model. There really isn't much posability. Both legs and tail are pretty much immobile, and while the head is quite movable it's very obvious that the muscles of the head and neck don't line up when the head is rotated at all.
The first big plus is the figure's size, about twice as big as normal Bandai figures and suitable for the same shelf with kits from Billiken and Max Factory, or those other toys from X-Plus. But besides the size of the figure, the first thing that springs to mind is how well sculpted the piece is.
Another big plus is the paint job. For those of us lucky enough to see the real thing when Master Sakai brought it along to G-FEST last year, it is a very good match. The eyes are particularly nice, both of them and the upper plate in the mouth are a separate section of white vinyl inside the head that is already assembled when purchased.

The teeth and claws are nicely detailed in ivory, with the back plates purple and silver. The black vinyl of the body make the figure a pretty good match for the maquette. The interior of the mouth is simply a flat red, which is a bit disappointing. As well, the teeth are much fatter than the teeth of the original.

In general, the details here are so good that it's easy to appreciate the elegance of Master Sakai's original design. He explained last summer that he wanted the maquette to look like a living animal, and clearly the legs and body here are less chunky and more muscular looking than they eventually were rendered on the G2000 suit.

The dorsal plates seem more organic, less crystalline looking than the final product as well. There are more of them too, more clearly distinguished into seven rows of razor-sharp spikes. (Well, not too razor-sharp . . .it's a toy after all. But you could still put out an eye with one! Okay!! Starting to sound like a model already! It's dangerous!)


But the biggest difference from the G2000 suit is the head. Here the inspiration seems much more to be the G54 Godzilla and Master Sakai'scat. The head is narrower and less crocodilian than the final suit. The lips are drawn back and the muzzle is arched up as if Godzilla is in a fire-spitting rage.
Cool!

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