Out of the box, Godzilla will need the tail attachment assembled to be fully complete. Luckily, it's on a giant ball joint so you can remove it if you want to display him losing it in battle or for easier storage. Weirdly, he has the number 3 on it, likely because he is the third Monsterverse Kaiju we got.
As for the whole package, Godzilla measures up to his name as King of the Monsters at foot's length from his talons to his highest-reaching spike as well as a possible longer length going from his nose to the tip of his tail. Looks-wise, he makes for a great display piece in his "vanilla" stance, and while the deco isn't the most mindblowing you could ever get on a Godzilla figure, especially compared to the more unique appearances he has and the imports, it's at least appreciative seeing a chalky wash throughout what could have been a flat gray toy. And while there is a bit of a transition fade from the back spikes to the stomach, it's pretty minimal compared to other versions of the character. At least it gets the proportions right, making Godzilla appear more organic than most of his action figure offerings. In fact, that may be a negative when we get to articulation.
Godzilla's head sculpt is at least done very well in spite of how small it is. I like that the beady red eyes are painted, and it's always nice seeing his teeth and tongue picked out. The eyes should be a bit more orangey, and the teeth normally aren't that pristine on him.
For his articulation, Godzilla has a neck swivel, an opening jaw, shoulder rotation, hip movement, slight wiggle at the tail via the ball joint, and a bendy wire implemented at the tail which is sadly too stiff to work effectively. As you can tell, he's lacking additional joints such as elbows, a neck hinge, knees, any torso articulation, ankles, and I'd argue a more segmented tail for better articulation. If this was either for a kids line or if it was meant to homage the sofubi line, that would be one thing, but seeing how you're paying nearly $80 for a set featuring a Godzilla with articulation comparable to a Titan Hero, what's the excuse in that? Sure, it's easier to justify the lack of range in a non-primate compared to Kong, but I'm sure there could have been done for Goji. Also, no blast effects or anything to add to his powers, which is disappointing for someone radioactive like him.
As for the Superman included with this figure, it is another reuse of the Crisis on Infinite Earths buck, which we later saw on Fleischer Superman, Kingdom Come Superman, and the Silver Age version that looks more like the Bronze Age version drawn by Jose-Luis Garcia Lopez. While I did like that version of the figure in spite of the limited accessories, I always hated it when Superman had the black outline in his logo, which makes sense for corporate advertising but it felt less natural in the actual costume. The shades of blue and red made sense for the era, but I never got a sense of leadership from baby blue and a more washed out red. By contrast, the shades of blue and red on the Monsterverse Superman are more up my style, being comparable to the richer shades found in the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and any Cherry Ferrari. I prefer the more prominent logo and the lack of a black outline to make it appear less cluttered compared to the Silver Age version. Even the yellows are much better, being closer to heat you'd see on a Hummer H2 instead of a banana slowly decaying. The cape itself is also different for having an extra wire at the bottom, which makes for an even wiser range of display and photographic potential than on the regular wired capes. However, I am going to have to take points off for that screaming head. Why does he look like he's about to eat a cheeseburger? Also, the belt loops are unpainted, which is already a major issue for a set this expensive. Is it harder to split the yellow paint app into smaller strips? Also, I don't like how we reverted to having the wrist joints the same color as the costume when they should be flesh tone. At least the size of the hands makes them blend in better than on the ones that come with Christopher Reeve Superman and the Lee Bermejo/DC Classic Superman, but it's another weird inconsistency with other versions of this buck. On a side note, this figure appears to be identical to the Strange Lives release exclusive to Target, the same one that came with alternate heads (a lion head and matching alternate paws as well as big brain bald head for the regular; Platinum had red with black paint for the trunks, a mummy head, and a goofy kid head that looked like the MAD Magazine mascot). The cape might be shorter in length, but the logo is stylized differently (notably the thicker diamond and S in addition to being less stretched), and he of course comes with the Silver Age head. I almost want to buy that version purely for the trunks, though I could swap them with other figures who got decently matching colors. Oh, and this photo has my Monsterverse Superman with his ab section reversed. Luckily rotating it so the abs face forward is an easy fix.
The tiny Superman included in the set is not brand new, but it is reused from the old style of Page Punchers, aka tiny figurines instead of full scale figures that come with comics, much like the old days of ToyBiz Marvel Legends. This figure looks pretty close to the larger scale figure, down to the unpainted belt loops. All seems to be in working order until you realize that the logo itself is embossed on this version instead of being a deco. The cape also has a specific shape to it, with a point in the middle instead of it matching how the cape is normally shaped on the figure proper. You also have the face better matching Action Comics 1000 instead of the likeness used on the full scale Superman, but it all makes sense when you realize that the figure is meant to match his Rebirth design. That being said, even the old version of that figurine doesn't match Rebirth greatly, between the shape of the logo, the trunks being unpainted, and the boots missing the red line (though to be fair, leaving the etched chevrons on the boots is Todd's fault on the Rebirth figure). At least here, the boots make sense for the classic figure, though they don't exactly match 1:1. That being said, where did the retooling on the belt come from? Was this part of some plan to reuse this as a classic Superman, hence the molded wrinkles to represent the trunks?
Does it scale well with the Godzilla he comes with? No, not exactly. But does it demonstrate the different scales between humans and Kaiju? It does, for the most part. Honestly, it comes across more like a toy for Goji to play with, and it's kind of adorable. I just hope capeshit dorks on social media aren't using the innocence of a monster liking Superman for their clout like they have been with showing children watching superhero movies...
Overall, the set isn't the best when it comes to value. The colors and logo on this Superman are the best they've ever been, but we've already seen this buck before with most versions including the same open hands. The cape having extra wiring is nice, but the screaming head sucks. The Godzilla figure looks cool, and the size is at least going to give him extra shelf presence, and while the deco is somewhat minimal, he still needs more articulation than what he's stuck with. The tiny Superman is a neat addition, but he doesn't have the best synergy with the larger scale version nor the Rebirth version he was originally based on. I still find this set the best one out of the Monsterverse vs DC sets, but that praise is sort of faint when you consider how low the bar is after the lackluster articulation found on Kong and Titano, combined with the uninteresting reuses of Hush Batman and Rebirth Flash, results in sets worth getting on heavy discount. This set isn't anywhere near as lame as those or the Kaiju battle seen in Domesticman, but I would rather you get this at a discount if you expect better from prior Godzilla figures.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
That being said, if you're going to buy this AND are someone interested in swapping heads, I urge you to remove that awful screaming head and replace it with the Action Comics 1000 head. Not only do the skin tones match, not only does it look so much better, but it also goes perfectly with the shades of blue and red. Hell, I'd argue this head looks even better than the one on the Silver Age version. This makes him feel more reminiscent of his later comic appearances past the 80s, and it also makes me think of how he appeared in the Animated Series/DCAU. Hell, it could almost work well for a slightly younger Alex Ross Superman if we don't get a younger Kingdom Come head. The trunks still need to be swapped, though.
Here we have him with Cowardly Lot Batman, who would be more in the vein of my DCAU/JLU Batman in my collection. For a purely comic display, I can happily say that these two are my main Superman and Batman. The World's Finest are definitive, or as definitive as they can get, in my collection. And this is setting aside the pair-ups that I have with their more classic counterparts, Reeve and Keaton, or Cavill and Affleck (hurry up and give us a Routh to go with Bale, McFarlane). I know some would prefer seeing a more Super Powers look, or something more modern, and McFarlane haters would go for another display. For me, this is it. Now to see if First Appearance Superman's head can be swapped with Page Punchers Shazam!
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