Video Game Godzilla (NES "Monster of Monsters") NECA, 2015

I'll be honest, when this figure was announced, I thought "wha?"...I'd seen NECA's Batman NES figure, which is clogging shelves at TRU.  I understood what they were trying to do, and thought it was neat, but it just didn't grab me.  But, as time passed, I became more excited for the release of this figure, and it's a definite first.  It's new territory for Godzilla figures.  This is the fifth Godzilla in NECA's ongoing series so far, so let's take a more in-depth look at how they did!

We will look closer at the back in a moment!

 

You can't get off the ground without noticing the packaging, which is "11" on a 10 scale.  Like the Batman figure I mentioned, NECA has made sure to replicate the original 1989 NES box art (albeit much thicker, but that's a necessity), which is fantastic.  I like the NECA emblem in place of where the Nintendo Seal was.  The front is held in place by Vel-cro, and when opened, there's a lovely full-sized image of the map from the original game.  Over the window for the figure is information from the top of the screen! Well done!  This is one box you will not throw away.

But wait, there's more!  Inside the box is a lovely backdrop, which is a typical background from the game (where Godzilla fights his way through planets containing various monsters under the control of aliens from Planet X...and was actually quite difficult!).  So now, we are way, way off the charts for amazing packaging.  It's just simply superior.

And now to the figure!  Everyone pretty much knew that this was going to be a repaint of the 1985 Godzilla when it was first shown, but it's not a STRAIGHT repaint.  NECA has not phoned it in here.  Although, in reality, there's nothing wrong with using the 1985 design, as it was the newest, current Godzilla when the game came out. 

I do like the attempt at simulating pixels with the paint deco.  I don't think the Batman has those, and it's a novel approach.  It was one of those things I didn't appreciate months ago, and now I can't imagine the figure without them.

"Where you going, Tiny Fin? Tiny Fin, Tiny Fin!! Ha ha ha!!!"

Right away, the first thing that becomes obvious is that they have made the dorsal plates accurate to the game...which are huge!  In fact, here is a better look at a sprite from the game, from the back of the box:

 Here are a few more from the game itself:

One more change that was made was to the legs.  The 1985's legs were really bowed (so much so that he can perfectly ride a 6"-scale speeder bike, but that's another story), and while I haven't compared, these are either brand-new legs, the 1994 ones, or something in between.  They didn't have to make this change, or go to the trouble, but it really works in favor of the figure.

Obligatory Leg Shot

His posability is equivalent to the other figures in the line.  The bendy part of the tail comes separated, and is attached by a ball joint. There is apparently a swivel at the knee, but I can't figure it out.  Mine seems stuck on both legs, and I really don't want to force them.  Extra attention was definitely paid to paint, because it would have been easy to get sloppy with the pixel decos, but mine looks sharp and clean.

In short, another great figure, and one of the most unique Godzillas you will have in your collection.  Coming next from NECA is the 1954, which I am very wound up about...hopefully this will mean many more vintage suit designs in our future!

THE SUPER DICTIONARY (Part Five)

Once again, come with me, as we journey into the discombobulation that is...THE SUPER DICTIONARY. [dramatic music]

Sentence of the week:  "I may grow very sad to be so large."  Use it on your friends today.

This is not original information, but Superman is a world-class jerk.  Here, he demolishes an entire building, just to be dramatic...wasn't there an early point in all that growing, where he realized he probably needed to go outside?  Let's keep going with that:  wasn't there a really uncomfortable point in the middle of all that growing, where he was just being suffocated by lots of insulation, wires, and debris? But we are supposed to feel sorry for him, because the experience made him SAD?  How about the fact that we need a new building? Do you know what buildings even cost?

Like me, do you find yourself asking the question "Don't we already have a character for this"?? And we do: Apache Chief.  There is no attempt in THE SUPER DICTIONARY to make any kind of grade-school connection to the Super Friends, which, incidentally, were really popular in 1978!

I'm not sure if "metal tube that shoots" really gets the gun concept across, either.

Here again is one of those entries that would not appear in a contemporary dictionary (and I use the term loosely) for kids.  Notice though, that the writers chose not to illustrate this particular entry...as if a panel showing Tomahawk with a musket in his mouth would have been out of place in this book.  Why, you ask? Because we already keep venturing into darkness, like this next entry for example:

Wow...so now go back to the first line, "Can Batman hang from the rope?" Indeed!

 

Okay, this is an amusing panel, I guess, but it makes no headway into defining the word very accurately.  Also, why are you complaining, Joker? You do (rather suddenly) have a great car...although I have no idea where it came from.  And what in the world is this:

Way to phone in the art, SUPER DICTIONARY...what is that, the inflatable Batmobile Otto Pilot? (A little AIRPLANE! joke there.)

I just said this, but don't we already have a character for this? Oh yes, the Atom.  But why are our two stock character/pesky kids miniaturized? Are they in DR. SHRINKER's house?

No, these people have no hope, because they asked for help, and somebody sent them El Dragon.  They are screwed.  Once again, is the whole world suddenly miniaturized, or is this dragonfly just really big?

Although a protective suit and oxygen supply never occurred to you for your little moonwalk, there, evil genius.

And WHAT just happened here, exactly?

Now, I can't fault Batgirl for wanting to smack Robin with a ball, but is this some sort of bizarre superhero rooftop-tag? Aren't there villains to catch?

What? You mean there are KINDS of ladies???!?!

I'm still trying to figure out what just happened.  Did that outdated (and Scottish, even) word merit an entry in the SUPER DICTIONARY?  Oh, because it's the SUPER DICTIONARY.  That's the answer for everything.

Woah! Suddenly Green Lantern is being attacked by a weirdly-colored 1966 Batman...but why? The guy even has "AW" on his chest...I am going to call him "A&W Rootbeer Man," and we will see him again, but could it very well be Adam West?  

My head is spinning......there's a Surgeon General-regulated medical limit to how much SUPER DICTIONARY one person can safely take at one time.

TO BE CONTINUED...

THE SUPER DICTIONARY (Part Four)

I'm late to post this (for the nine of you that read this), but here is Part Four in an ongoing, really long series about just a percentage of the insanity that is THE SUPER DICTIONARY:

Make wrinkles between your eyes...Really???!! I like how the Women's Lib-Checker missed the implication that otherwise, nothing is "going on in her head."  (And it was the 70's!) Also, speaking of her head, exactly how is that headband placed?  The more I look at it, the more it looks like it belongs to someone else.

Remember that time that The Penguin was chased by a giraffe? Nope, I don't either.  See how they foreshortened the giraffe's body, but forgot to decrease the size of his neck as they went along?  Yep, I did too. 

Here, the hastily-invented Conjura reads to her friend, Billy Dee Williams.  He can't understand it, but the joke is on him anyhow: the book is totally blank.

Now, wait a second...we have a plague of green slime, and Superman is just going to leave and think about it?  Any context as to where he could even be?  A manhole? A space station? Three Mile Island?  Has Superman already forgotten what algae is? (See part one if you have.)

Sometimes I take photos of these things, and forget why, but I think what got to me here was the definition of goblins as "bad fairies." And can't fairies do magic too?

Superbaby's mother (who is never named in the SUPER DICTIONARY for some reason) would say a lot more than "goodness" to see this.....uh...thing that looks like the latest thing Jimmy Olsen has turned himself into.

This panel is SUPER DICTIONARY-art-layout-gold.  Just stare at it a while; you don't even have to read the "definition" of the word....unless you want to imagine that the grotesque, giant Green Lantern head is getting goosed.  And, is he squatting in the marsh, or what?  Is there a footnote somewhere about how we know that geese are actually "stronger" than ducks? Did they have a contest to determine this??

I seriously want to see animated GIF's of that Green Lantern head rising up onto my desktop, and then disappearing again....that would be wonderful:

Oh well, but then again, if the Internets have taught me one thing, it's that you can't force a Meme.  Let's move on; we've time for one more:

Here, baggy-shorts-1940's Wonder Woman has broken into the home of some people who look like 1950's clipart, although she seems quite close to them...take a look at the man, who can do nothing but smile, even though tears are forming as he strains to overcome the programming of his alien masters....everything must be assimilated...

 That's better!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Marvel Comics Super-Heroes Card Game (Milton Bradley, 1978)

Marvel was smart with its licensing in the early years, and by the time of my childhood, there was a boom in super-hero items and collectibles--everything from school supplies to dishes to clothes (only upstaged by, well, NOW).  This was wise, because through simple items, like this card game for example, they solidified their position in the minds of many children, and created some fond memories in the process.

Card back of all cards (except Instructions)

This card game is, for all practical purposes, "Old Maid," except with Doctor Doom substituted for the Old Maid (there's a thought).  The oversized cards are approximately 3.5 x 5.25", and there are 40 cards in the set:  19 pairs of Super-Hero cards, one Doctor Doom, and one two-sided Instruction card:

 

As you could guess, the object is to make matching pairs, and not be left holding the Doctor Doom card.  (Like that's a bad thing!)  

And........Kirby dots!

The Super-Hero cards are typical stock art for 1978, and also have the normal logos used for their names...and they are great.  Take a look:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Really, the only problems in the artwork are:  The Thing has no "whites of his eyes," and, two, The Scarlet Witch is, well, purple!