Tag Archives: Neca

Toys! Toys! Toys! My Top Favorite Figure Purchases Of 2023

Image February 9, 2024 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

Admittedly this is the kind of thing you’d come to expect at the beginning of the year and not a whole month later. However, I have been dealing with health complications and a sheer bout of laziness, which caused the delay. Last year was a fantastic year for me in terms of toy collecting, and there were so many incredible releases. Honestly, it would be a sin not to take a moment to comment on some of the best of the best releases that I picked up in 2023.

Besides, I have a passion for discussing toys whether they be old or new. I’ve also been tinkering with the idea of creating toy reviews for some time now, and this is simply a fun way to showcase some of the most prized possessions in my ever-expanding collection. This list is comprised of items that I’ve personally picked up, so if some more popular items are not mentioned here (Like Warduke by NECA), it’s not from a lack of interest but is simply because I can’t collect everything I see, no matter how much I may want to.

So without further ado here are my top favorite figures from last year

Ultimate Dracula by NECA

NECA did an impeccable job with their Universal Monsters line, and we’re particularly impressed with their work on Dracula. Universal’s Dracula stands as the first talky horror film and quickly transformed Univeral Studios into the macabre House of Horrors. The role made Bela Lugosi a household name and has invaded the nightmares of generations. It’s appropriate that NECA put so much into bringing this iconic character -that means so much to so many horror fans worldwide – to thrilling (un)life.

Dracula is my favorite gothic horror. However, at first, I passed on this guy. Somehow the figure in-box wasn’t doing much for me and I almost let this one slip through my fingers. It took a little convincing from my best friend at the time but finally, my iron will caved in thanks to relentless peer pressure and – since Best Buy only had one left – I wound up buying the figure.

Glad I did too because this figure looks way better out of box. He instantly became a prime set piece during Halloween and I found myself going back to the shelf to check out the Prince of Darkness.

Overall Dracula is home among his brethren and enhances my horror collection

Megatron – MDLX

I love what MDLX is doing with the Transformers line. Of course, I also recognize how controversial that is to admit. I’ve gotten some slack from my fellow collectors (and especially from Transformers fans) over my thundering hard-on for the MDLX line. Those who criticize the line justify their irritation because the toys do not in fact transform. ‘That defeats the purpose’ they say.

Well, I don’t give a flying fuck through a rolling Fruit Loop about that. I already owned a pretty sweet Megatron that does transform into an intergalactic battle tank.

What I love about the MDLX line is all the amazing points of articulation their figures come with. Seriously, Megatron stands as a dominating work of art on my shelf thanks to all the many (and imposing) stances the figure can take. Not to mention how the metallic sheen of the figure gives him an intimidating adamantium presence. Also, this guy has some serious weight to him and doesn’t feel all flimsy and loose.

The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons continues on.

Serpentor – G.I. Joe Classified

When I was a little kid, I wasn’t a die-hard G.I. Joe fan, but I always thought the characters looked cool. It wasn’t until I saw Serpentor at a local Hills store that I became interested in the series. Serpentor was dressed in golden armor that resembled a cobra, and I was instantly drawn to him. At the time, I had no idea what his role was, but I knew that I had to have him. Fortunately, I was visiting my Granny, and she saw how mesmerized I was with the figure and bought it for me.

When I used to play with Serpentor, I didn’t know who he was, so I pretended he was an evil sorcerer. His appearance suited the role. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I discovered that Serpentor was, in fact, the EMPEROR OF COBRA! This imperial threat to all mankind was brought to life by combining the DNA of the world’s most ruthless warriors and tyrants from throughout history. Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, and Alexander the Great are just a few of the historical figures that make up the genetic code of this badass villain

Last year, I was floored when they announced the return and intended update planned for Serpentor. The cruel leader of Cobra was making a comeback and, just like before, I couldn’t help but be captivated by him. He’s the nostalgic figure I remember but masterfully detailed now. Honestly, I never thought I would own this guy and couldn’t believe my luck when I found him at a toy show. However, I have to admit, that even if this wasn’t in my personal collection, it would still be one of my favorite toys released last year.

Like many other items on this list, the packaging really drew me in and proves to be half the value of the figure itself. This is nothing short of a work of art. I mean it’s so good it’ll stomp your face into the ground. It’s something I want to frame on the wall and make every guest who walks in bow down to it.

Overall the figure lives up to its imperial title and even comes with his infamous air chariot shaped like a divine cobra. Otherwise, you’d have to buy that stupid thing separately so I appreciated the fact it was included. I hadn’t bought anything G.I. Joe-related in decades, but after purchasing Serpentor, I was compelled to then go get Cobra Commander and a few other members of the Cobra organization. Anything that impresses me enough to suddenly build upon its franchise out of the blue has really done its job a little too well. Way to go, guys.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death – Figure Obscura, Four Horsemen Studios

I’m currently obsessed with the amazing holiday-inspired figures released by Figure Obscura over the past few years. Their Krampus figure, released a few Christmases ago, really caught my attention and since then, I have been eagerly waiting for their annual special figure releases for Halloween and Christmas. I already got my hands on the Headless Horseman figure that was released for Halloween in 2022 and it is one of the top 10 figures in my collection

I couldn’t resist when they announced that their Halloween 2023 release would be based on my favorite Edgar Allan Poe story. The figure itself is both macabre and beautiful. The haunting Red Dead is a thin ghoul draped in a blood-like shroud, standing upon an issue of flowing blood that spreads from beneath an obsidian grandfather clock. The figure awaits to carry the damned away in his scarlet embrace. I particularly like how a raven adorns the crown of the clock, which is yet another nod to the great writer’s dark imagination. Anyone familiar with this gothic horror tale will recognize every reference included here.

It’s worth noting that the figure comes with a beautifully illustrated copy of the Masque of the Red Death, which might be new to you if you’re unfamiliar with the story.

The artwork on the packaging of the Red Death is exceptional. There are several backdrops available that you can use as a background, including one that I personally use for Dracula. Figure Obscura is a game changer and I’m excited to see what they release this Halloween.

Eastman and Laird’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by NECA

When NECA does something right they really, and I mean really, do it right. One of the best things to come out last year was their insane four-pack release of the iconic heroes in a half-shell inspired by the Mirage comics.

Wow… just WOW! This is a must-have for any TMNT collector. Especially if you love that retro look. Each of the four figures is high quality and comes with their signature weapons as well as a set of ninja stars and other weapons just to really kick it to the Foot.

NECA is well-known for its various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lines. They’ve released TMNT movie-inspired figures, cartoon-inspired figures, and even video game-inspired figures. NECA and TMNT are symbiotic at this point. However, out of all the turtles they’ve released, the only set I had to buy was the Eastman and Laird release seen here. Maybe I’m biased, but in my opinion, nothing NECA’s released beats this radical four-pack

I originally bought this four-pack as a birthday gift for my cousin but ended up loving it so much that I had to buy one for myself as well. NECA did an excellent job with this product, and it was worth spending my money twice for it

Regarding the topic of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, two other NECA figures deserve an honorable mention: battle-damaged Shredder and The Last Ronin armored figure. In my opinion, the turtles’ diorama wouldn’t be complete without Shredder as their main adversary. Moreover, The Last Ronin figure represents the future of the turtles, which makes it an essential addition to the collection. All these elements tie in to create a cohesive storyline.

Deluxe Skeletor – Mondo

It should honestly come as no surprise that my favorite figure of 2023 is Skeletor, my all-time favorite villain. To think I almost missed the opportunity to purchase it, but thankfully my best friend helped convince me to secure a pre-order just in time.

As for my overall toy collection, I primarily focus on Masters of the Universe (shocker there right?) and it’s not limited to the vintage line alone but also includes figures/vehicles/playsets from Origins, Masterverse, and Classics. Each line holds a special place in my heart and all for different reasons be it quality or nostalgia, but the stuff Mondo puts out there, in my opinion, is the best of the best. I keep saying that if Classics is the gold standard then Mondo is the platinum.

Even though I’ve never really been fond of the 1:6 scale, I make an exception for Mondo since their figures are of exceptional quality. The size of the figures enables you to appreciate all the intricate details that make them stand out above anything previously yet seen. I mean I was staring at the little details etched into the rings of the Havoc Staff.

I keep finding little details like that to awe over. I love that a metal vertebra is decorated on the back of Skeletor’s chest guard or how skulls adorn each of his leather straps.

This deluxe version of Skeletor is also highly versatile which basically makes him three figures in one. Firstly, you get the classic Skeletor look and a wired cape that offers your figure a more regal appearance. You can also remove his harness and give him that awesome Battle Armor assemble.

Alternatively, you can equip him with his dragon armor that comes with the lethal dragon which has the power to spit toxins at the Masters. The dragon is articulated (which he didn’t need to be so nice touch, Mondo), has real chains, and comes with attachable toxic fumes that can be fixed to the beast’s maul.

It’s also worth noting the figure comes with a pair of Terror Claws, so in essence, Skeletor offers four iconic variants in one figure.

This is as close to perfection as I’ve ever seen in a single figure. I’m amazed by the fact that MOTU’s celebrated 40 years and still to this day companies like Mondo can still floor fans like me with something as incredible as this single figure.

With 2024 just starting out the year’s already proving to be amazing for collectors what with the Turtles of Grayskull (a fusion of MOTU and TMNT) already on their third wave and Mondo’s deluxe Orko preorder come and gone. Who knows what will prove to be my absolute favorite stuff this year? Time will tell.

What about you? What did you add to your collection last year and what really stood out? Be sure to let us know in the comments. In the meantime happy hunting, fellow collectors!

Manic out!

Editorials

‘Army of the Dead’ Movie Review.

Image May 28, 2021 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

Army of the Dead is an exciting (and controversial) rock n roll thrill ride sweeping across a zombie-infested Las Vegas! At its core, this is a bank heist film with plenty of twists, turns, and WTF was that kind of moments. Zack Snyder throws his motley band of heroes – led by Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy 1, 2, Avengers: Infinity War) – directly into the rotting heart of the apocalypse.

The movie is jam-packed with Easter Eggs and a lot of love for classic horrors from the past and packs a lot of (bite) punch for horror fans to enjoy.

Stakes are high and is the temptation of a few billion dollars really worth risking their lives against a zombie army? Stick around as we get deep and dirty into Army of the Dead and the road that led up to it!

Reviving the Dead circa 2003

When I heard Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300, Justice League) was returning to the zombie field I was immediately intrigued. Snyder began his career with the zombie apocalypse so it was exciting to wonder what he had to bring to the genre that debuted his style, art, and themes.

via Universal Pictures, ‘Dawn of the Dead’

It’s hard to believe how vastly popular zombies are today considering – not too long ago at all – there was a considerable lack of zombie movies. Some of our readers will know what I’m talking about. I mean it almost felt like the zombie genre was almost taboo. The sub-genre was something dirty that nobody wanted to soil their careers with and so the undead were as good as dead.

I don’t think it’s out of line to propose that had it not been for Capcom’s Resident Evil games during the ‘90s zombies may have never been on anyone’s mind at all. But video games were proving that there was still some life stirring in the ghastly genre perfected by George Romero.

And then they came crawling out of their graves to take the world by storm. I don’t know if the hyper paranoia of the dawning new millennium had anything to do with it, and, let’s be honest, it could be that entirely now that I’m looking back at it. Because as soon as 2000 rolled around the zombie film was resurrected.

And why wouldn’t it? Prophecy pushers were telling everybody that as soon as the clock clicked midnight and 1999 ended so would the world. We would be plunged into frenzied hysteria as machines turned against us and we fell back into a modern stone age. The world would end, Jesus was coming back, and electronics were gonna go KABOOM!

Obviously, none of that happened but the apocalypse was still heavily on everyone’s subconscious. It was the perfect breeding ground for zombie movies.

I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that a few movies, two, in particular, were responsible for reviving the living dead at the dawn of the new millennium. Those movies being 28 Days Later (2003) and the remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004).

Already collecting criticism and controversy over his debut, Snyder’s DOTD had fans of Romero’s horror classic furious that anyone could dare remake it. And, to the surprise of many, DOTD was an international success! People were not just talking about zombies but were foaming at the mouth about them! Smartly, Snyder’s movie does not feel like a shot-for-shot remake, and had it been given another name it may have won over even more fans upon its release. But outside of a story about a group of survivors taking refuge inside of a mall, it has nothing in common with the Romero classic.

And, like 28 Days Later, it bared its teeth and furthered the idea of running zombies. These two films made the living dead even more challenging by giving them rushing bull-like speed as they chased down their unsuspecting victims who woke up to a dangerous new world where the grave was no longer safe.

Some people hated the concept but many were thrilled by it. And please don’t judge me too harshly but I’m one of those who really enjoyed DOTD. It definitely got me excited for zombies all over again.

The zombie movie was back and it was taking no prisoners.

Since then we’ve had the global success of The Walking Dead and it’s easy to say zombies have become a permanent fixture in pop culture’s heart. We even had a zombie rom-com that is…well yeah whatever. But what I wanted to know was could anyone bring something fresh and original to a subgenre that’s been shoved through the industrial meat processer and flushed onto home video, streaming services, and cinemas. Was there still anything new to bring home to the genre, kinda like what DOTD helped do with those screaming running horrors?

Army of the Dead says ‘hold my beer.’

Right off the bat, we’re shown an army convoy heading out of Area 51, and to drive the idea home there are two glowing UFOs in the distance, hovering silently and possibly watching the convoy before flashing skyward and utterly disappearing. I didn’t even notice the UFOs upon my initial watch but couldn’t deny them the next time around.

Something about seeing two UFOs at the start of a zombie movie makes it eerie, like great old X-Files episodes. It tells us to expect the unexpected.

The precious cargo being hauled across the desert via army convoy is none other than the Alpha, a new being of what can presumably be a super soldier gone wrong (or right?). Irreverently the mission comes to an abrupt end thanks to some unforeseen road head, and, you guessed it, the Alpha is released and proves to be far more formidable than any of the trained military troops are prepared to handle.

This is a movie that calls its audience a pussy if they’re not ready for the kind of experiences it has in store. As we’re introduced to Zeus, the alpha zombie, the start of a new kind of species, he rips, tears, and shreds his path through armed soldiers as he reforms their flesh, tainting their DNA with his own malignance, and builds his very own army. Zeus defies death and spreads disease wherever he goes. He then sets his eyes on the bright lights of Las Vegas and the intro credits begin.

This movie starts right off with the middle finger and tells us this isn’t like what we’ve seen before. And let’s be honest, us zombie movie fans have seen A LOT! We have the likes of George Romero, Lucio Fulci, and Stuart Gordon. And know what? I’m gonna include Sam Rami even though his beasties are Deadites. The point being they were demon zombies or the Evil Dead. They were the dead brought back to life.

My point is thanks to past zombie movies we’ve seen some crazy ass shit. I mean we’ve seen a zombie fight a shark under the ocean, zombies got on intercoms to call in more cops just to have more brains to eat, and Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) chainsawed his dead girlfriend’s head off, and then she danced for him. We love crazy shit in zombie movies, those happy little scenes that come out of nowhere and rip our faces off. Those are the moments we talk about, the moments that make these movies classic.

Oh yeah, and who can forget when a dead head gave Barbara Crampton head in Re-Animator?

Us Drive-In Mutants eat this kind of stuff up!

Army of the Dead gives us possible alien zombies. Imagine if Area 51 decided to fuck around with DNA splicing between an alien and a human. Well, that’s where Zeus (possibly, strong possibility) comes in. The super-soldier, the alpha zombie to kick-start Armageddon just because he can.

But that’s not anywhere near enough though! Oh hell no. Then, like a sumbitch, the movie goes and throws friken cyborg zombies at us out of the clear blue! Then, once the initial WTF wears off, we’re left begging for more of that shit. And no, that wasn’t your imagination. Zac Snyder’s gone on record and insists there are legit robot zombies in the film and we will get to explore what that’s all about in the upcoming Army of the Dead anime movie. Holy shit!

But scattered across the dead streets of Las Vegas are Romero-like zombies called Shamblers. They’re a little dried out thanks to the Nevada sun but once it rains they come back to life for a few hours. So people who hated the fast zombies get their tried and true classic shambling zombie horde.

But that’s just it. There are classes among the zombies. The shambling dried out ones who cluttered around the gates … oh yeah. Las Vegas has been walled off by shipping containers to keep the zombie legions locked in. But this is no prison, oh no. That’s too simple. Vegas has become a zombie kingdom ruled over by Zeus and his zombie bride.

So yes, this is a movie that dares to have different kinds of zombies all living together in a zombie kingdom ruled over by an intellectual class of the undead who strictly monitor the happenings both within and outside of their boundaries. Did you get that? There are intelligent zombies in this movie!

Zombies that can reason things out, communicate, make decisions and strategize. WTF, Snyder? Horror fans only expect so much out of a zombie movie and you go and slam down a sledgehammer on those very expectations. The film keeps giving us glimpses into a much broader lore than anticipated. With promises a future films in the making to further explore that lore. So what we see here is only the tip of the iceberg for what’s developing into a very interesting new zombie saga.

I don’t have enough fingers to type all this out fast enough and I’m trying to condense this review, but there’s so much to cover! I mean I just told you this movie has a zombie monarchy! And with the higher functioning zombies, it almost feels like a sense of telekinesis is shared. Maybe? But whatever the case these guys can and do communicate. This movie introduces a group of undead who are organized, structured, and driven by purpose. That makes them very scary and very dangerous.

And just because we’re in Las Vegas we also get a zombie tiger. Oh, my unholy hell a zombie tiger that is infinitely cool!

Now all I want is for NECA to take note and let me have that zombie king astride his zombie horse (oh yeah, there’s that too) with his zombie tiger. My horror figure shelf is needing all that right now.

Add to that a proposed infinite time loop that traps the heroes in an endless pursuit within the zombie kingdom with no escape outside of a gruesome death. It’s very likely these heroes are doomed to repeat their fatal decisions over and over, facing new deaths but no closure as they gradually draw closer and closer to reaching their goals. So the question is will they finally (if ever) escape from this grizzly fate?

Holy shit! There’s some heavy stuff in this zombie film!

If this was a video game I’d be on my feet and starving myself to death until completing every single mission.

This movie is heavy metal and brutal to the bleeding core.

Needless to say, this is one helluva wild zombie movie, one we’ve been due for a long time now. It’s something to shake up the genre and informs us all that there’s so much more to be explored with tired and used zombie formulas.

Criticism explored

It’s no secret people love to hate Zack Snyder and the haters are out in full force. The same people who accuse this movie of being a direct rip-off of Aliens will also praise the pants off of Star Wars. Meanwhile, George Lucas has gone on record to claim SW is nothing more than a direct rip-off of classic Japanese Samurai films. There’s nothing new under the sun and directors will repeat formulas that inspired them. It may only be a subconscious thing, or maybe it’s deliberate.

Bottom line there are a lot of movies – films we all love to this day – that are guilty of this.

Let’s get this straight though. This movie is not Citizen Kane we’re talking about. It’s a bank heist zombie gore film using a fusion of action-adventure/horror/sci-fi elements. It was made to be fun and entertaining. And it does its job right.

Like I said some people love to hate Zack Snyder and are already predisposed to find fault and flaws in anything he does. I mean they hate his guts and act like he walked into their parent’s house and punched their mothers right in the face.

If you do hate his movies but like horror films, especially stuff like Return of the Living Dead, Re-Animator, and Evil Dead (you know the fun ones) then you won’t want to miss out on this one. See it for what it is. A brand new zombie film that introduces some fresh elements to the genre.

Now I’m ready for NECA to make me that zombie king on his zombie horse with his zombie tiger!

Do it violently!

Creature Features, Editorials

Godzilla and his timeless reign over our hearts!

Image July 26, 2020 Manic Exorcism Leave a comment

Horror fans are always asked what initially got them into the genre, and each one of us has a different answer. For some, it was Jaws, or Gremlins, or maybe Freddy. We all have that one quid essential monster that served as a gateway to the incredible world of beasties. For me, it was none other than the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla.

Godzilla may have entered our world in 1954 but he didn’t crash into my life until 1983-84. I was just a toddler and upon seeing the radioactive behemoth my imagination was awakened!

Oh, hells yeah! The time has finally come for me to talk about Godzilla, the Monster of Monsters! I’m lucky enough to remember – all be it briefly – all the way back to some of my earliest days on this planet. I’m like 3 or something and my little Manic nose is glued to the TV screen while TOHO’s giants are tearing one another to pieces over the fate of the Earth. The earliest films I remember ever watching are firstly Godzilla vs Mothra and then soon afterward King Kong vs Godzilla. Interestingly, I was going over this with my mom and she confirmed that Godzilla vs Mothra was one of the very first movies I ever watched and began mimicking.

I’ve always loved Godzilla – as if you couldn’t tell by now. I mean just look! Look at little me romping around in my very own homemade Godzilla costume!

image courtesy of Manic Exorcism, ‘Godzilla: Destroyer of Worlds” circa 1984

My Granny spent God knows how many hours at the sewing machine to make this dream come true and my Mom had one Hell of a time trying to get me out of it. Once I had that on I no longer existed. A perfectly harmonies symbiotic relationship between myself and Godzilla was formed while I had that on, the two of us became one, and woe to all who stood in our way.

Sadly I outgrew that little costume but neither my love nor passion for the King of the Monsters could be diminished. This particular fandom though was not met without its fair share of challenges. One of the chief being the sheer scarcity of these movies back then!

Image courtesy of Toho, ‘Godzilla vs Mothra’

Things weren’t like they are today. There were no streaming services. We had three channels. Three! If you were a kaiju fan while growing up in the mythical ‘80s you were lucky AF if your local horror host aired one of Godzilla’s movies during their Saturday late-night specials. TV guides were bought primarily so kids could bug the crap out of their parents on whether or not any Godzilla or King Kong movies would be on that upcoming week. Sometimes you’d luck out and there would be a giant monster movie! It felt like some kind of reward for all our patience.

Thanks to TV special airings I was able to get Godzilla vs King Kong , Godzilla vs Megalon, and Godzilla vs Monster Zero recorded on tape to watch as many times as my psychotic little heart could handle!

Image courtesy of Toho, ‘Godzilla vs Monster Zero’

And it wasn’t like you could just go to K-Mart and find copies on video. So fans could only rely on the movies they were lucky enough to record off TV. Although, I do remember one Christmas morning very vividly. So there I was greedily tearing away wrapping paper from all the goodies Santa brought me when I came across an obvious shoe box.

I remember being disappointed already before even removing the colorful wrapping paper and just sitting it to the side. What little boy wants a pair of bleeping shoes on Christmas? But my mom – being the psychotic mastermind she is – insisted I open it. Reluctantly I did, but what was awaiting me was not a boring old pair of sneakers, but 4, oh hell yeah, 4 Godzilla movies. I still own them. Among them being Godzilla vs MechaGodzilla and Godzilla vs Gigan! These videotapes were treasures to a fan like me!

image courtesy of Manic Exorcism, circa 1989

This lack of movies also meant if you found a copy at your local video rental you were about to have a really good weekend. It was almost like a sacred quest and no less ambitious than any adventure Indiana Jones ever went on. We were kinda like paleontologists digging through movie shelves trying to discover just a single copy of a movie we (oh dear God, please oh please) had not already seen.

I remember my cousin and me storming through one video store to the next just trying to get a copy of one of these monstrous relics. And then one Friday it finally happened! The stars came into alignment, God was merciful, or maybe Cthulhu was having a good dream, but, whatever the reason, there it was! A mother-loving Godzilla movie we had never seen yet – Godzilla vs the Smog Monster!!!

Image courtesy of Toho, ‘Godzilla vs the Smog Monster’

I think we watched that movie every single chance we had. Like soon as it ended we would rewind it just to hit play again. I remember we even tried to get a video camera out and film ourselves making fun of the movie by adding our own little quips and inputs to ‘enhance’ the dialogue and greatly entertain ourselves. Yup, we had the idea for MST3K before Tom Servo or Crow ever sat front row to do what we loved them for.

Another challenge was, well, just being a fan for the sake of being a fan. Being a Godzilla fan was almost like an underground thing.

There weren’t many people back then who loved the big guy like the few of us did. As result, there just wasn’t a market for it so collecting Godzilla stuff was nearly impossible.

Today all you have to do is go to Target and you’ll find lots of amazing Godzilla stuff – mostly thanks to NECA. It’s a very different world from the one I grew up in and that’s a great thing!

People my age can now easily find copies of these incredible movies to show their own kids and there are so many toys to now collect. We may have grown up but we have every right to play Godzilla with our little ones and spread that love to the next generation. Isn’t it amazing how that turned out?

It’s a good time to be a Godzilla fan. What with the new movies being released by Legendary that gives us a faithful upgrade to the Showa Era monsters we grew up with.

image courtesy of Legendary, ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’

The Criterion Collection just recently released the entire Showa Era Godzilla collection on Blu-ray meaning all those movies that we might have missed out on seeing are now available!

And I can’t believe that I now own a bona fide Godzilla figure from the very movie that got me into this whole giant monster craze, Godzilla vs Mothra. The details of the figure are uncanny. It’s like it was taken straight out of the classic film. I now own 6 different NECA Godzilla figures alone! It’s a new sickness that I’m convinced my loved ones will initiate a well-planned intervention for me soon.

So here we are. Nearly 40 years later and still I’m a fan of the King of the Monsters, a title he has rightfully earned over the years. The greatness of Godzilla isn’t simply found in one movie, or even in a series of movies. It is how one single idea about identifying the nuclear age in the body of a new cinematic monster has gone above and beyond TOHO’s wildest dreams.

Godzilla is a cultural phenomenon and unites people from all walks of life. He’s such a big deal in Japan that there’s a place for him at the Museum of Japanese History.

So he might not have been the first giant monster to awe audiences but ever since his appearance in ’54 he’s taken the world by storm. He’s inspired a massive franchise that is still ongoing to this day.

The latest TOHO installment was Shin Godzilla back in 2016 and returned Godzilla back to his destructive roots. He’s seen as a plague of sorts upon a world of carelessness towards nature.

This time around Godzilla appears in three evolutionary stages. The third and primary stage gives him this sickly macabre look some fans call ‘Zombie Godzilla.’ It’s a dark commentary on Japan’s politics during times of crisis and is a special effects masterpiece. A must-watch for hardcore fans!

Currently, on Netflix, there is a three-part Godzilla anime for fans to enjoy. Though there have been other animated representations of Godzilla this is in fact the first anime he’s ever had.

I already mentioned how Legendary has given the Godzilla universe a very respectful and epic American update to the King of the Monsters. There are currently 3 movies in this new MonsterVerse: Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019).

Image courtesy of Toho and Legendary, ‘Godzilla: King of the Monsters’ and ‘Godzilla vs King Ghidorah’

As someone who’s been watching Godzilla movies since before I had a fully formed vocabulary I can say I genuinely love what Legendary is doing with these big guys. We’re all waiting for the next installment, Godzilla vs Kong which was slated to show this year but with COVID19 we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

Godzilla has been the representation of nuclear terror, an unstoppable force risen against all humanity, a monster without pity or compassion. He has also stood tall as a symbol of hope as he withstood the odds and protected the Earth from extraterrestrial invaders bent on destroying the planet.

Over the years he’s been our reckoning and our protection, a destroyer and a savior, two sides of the same coin. He’s starred in over 30 movies and shows no signs of slowing down.

image courtesy of Playmates Toys, ‘Godzilla vs Kong’

In some cases, he is a nuclear-enhanced dinosaur. Sometimes he’s a mystery risen from the sea. And he’s even been a surviving titan come back from a prehistoric time to face the newly awakened challenges threatening our world today. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ok I know, I know! I gotta stop already or this could go on forever. People familiar with my writing know how much I love Hellraiser and Dracula, but had it not been for Godzilla I have to wonder if I would have as much admiration for Pinhead or the vampiric Count? Godzilla was my gateway monster and has remained a trusted constant in my life.

Godzilla is timeless.

image courtesy of Toho, ‘Godzilla vs the Astral Monster,’ victory dance

So hey if you crave all those warm retro feels and want more Godzilla goodness stay tuned and follow us here where nightmares and nostalgia are explored.

Have a favorite Godzilla or kaiju memory and would like to share with us? Let us know down in the comments below.

– Manic Exorcism