Godzilla Minimates SERIES 3 At Last!

For a series that was originally supposed to stop at 1, we are extremely lucky to see Series 3 arrive! Thank you, Art Asylum.  Now let's take a closer look at the figures that make up what is really a 5-pack!

Burning Godzilla is not my favorite incarnation of the Big G, but as the first two Godzilla Minimates they gave us were pretty similar, this one is iconic enough to be different.  Plus, I understand that you have to include a Godzilla with each series, or they probably wouldn't sell as well.

Also, his flaming breath is removable, like the one from Series 2.  If you have a Lego-sized book, he can do an impression of the Statue of Liberty.

Next up is Rodan, and I am sort of split on this figure.  He's good, but clearly hearkens to later incarnations of Rodan.  Not that that's a bad thing, he just turns out sort of bulky.  

Also the wings are a bit wonky, but how do you make a Minimate with wings, and still have him be posable? As I recall, the Vulture's wings are single pieces, but Rodan's are bigger, so I'm sure it was a matter of playability.

You end up with unnatural poses, such as the one above, but then again, Rodan's hands are, honestly, not very useful to him, in actuality. (I started to put "in reality" there, which is a field day for you psychology students out there, I'm sure...let's move on!)

Before I forget, they do give you one of the standard Minimate "flight stands," so that Rodan can fly, which was a nice touch!

Megalon is next, and I think that this Minimate is a work of art.  It may be because he's an under-represented character, or it may be because his movie is much maligned, but I'll defend him to the end.  After all, he's my favorite giant bug kaiju that spits flaming poo-balls.

Plus, they nail the decoration on his back.  Just an all-around perfect Minimate.

Ah, but there is still more.  We had previously gotten an adult Mothra, and Art Asylum now regales us with not one, but TWO of the Mothra larvae!  What's more, instead of phoning it in, and making them completely identical, one torso bends upward, while the other is ground level.  It's small touches like that one that make me happy.

I have to say though, I was confused from the initial photographs about the footprint-looking spaces on their sides.  I wondered if it was a lever to make the heads extend or move, but I was wrong.  One of the apparent tennants of the Minimates line is to make them interchangable, so that kids can combine parts in a way they want to.  I mentioned "playability" earlier, and I know that there will be some grumbling about these spaces (and each larva has two, one on each side), and that's when their true purpose hit me.

Just wrong, on so many levels.

All in all, a very welcome and solid Series 3.  No further series have been announced, but we can always hold out hope.  If we could just have a Series 4 with Angilas, King Ghidorah (which would be tough, admittedly), and Baragon...or a DESTROY ALL MONSTERS box set...I can dream.