Hey, all you kaiju fanatics! Welcome to 2024!
In this article, I wanted to explain why I picked these figures for my highlights of the year. There were so, so many amazing and surprising releases this year that is was hard to not make this list twice as long! One of the biggest surprises of the year, for example, was Octeel’s Kaiju Cream, which had its big premiere at G-Fest 2023. (Pictured above.) The figure is easily one of the most unique and fun sofubi on the market; this sundae-shaped Hedorah is a piece that’ll catch the eyes of anyone in any collection. Most of the photos are from my personal collection, but I had to use a few promotional photos to show off figures that I do not currently own.
Bandai Movie Monster Series
Odo Island Godzilla
& Ghidorah ’91
Bandai has been a massive hit or miss ever since they started the Movie Monster Series again in 2016. This year has to be one of their strongest with some unexpected surprises, like Bagan! That’s a figure I would have NEVER expected to see the light of day, especially such a well done figure. The Showa era had some heavy hitters as well, with their ’55 Anguirus and Ebirah completely blowing my expectations out of the water. We can’t talk about Bandai without bringing out the main event of the year, Godzilla 2023! Both Godzilla and Godzillasaurus were carefully crafted to give us massively detailed pieces of vinyl for an amazing price. My favorite of the year from these bunch? A tough choice between Godzilla 2023 and Ebirah.
Monster King Series Minus One (center)
The Monster King Series lives on with a new Godzilla 2023 release, and WOW! It takes everything I love about the standard Movie Monster Release, but blown up to a near 12 inch scale!
We all know with every new Toho/Daiei film, a Theater Exclusive is made to coincide with the film’s release. But, for the first time ever, Bandai gave us a new Theater Exclusive from a film that got a fresh new release! Gamera: Advent of Legion got a brand new run in theaters, in 4K HDR quality! With that new run, came a brand new Gamera Theater Exclusive! Sporting glitter with a gorgeous ice white, transparent vinyl makes this guy have a stark contrast compared to his other fiery Theater Exclusive.
Mondo
Super SpaceG, Gold Glitter Jet Jaguar, Cherry Blossom SpaceG
Mondo has taken the sofubi collecting community by shock with their releases, and this year was nothing short of amazing. They started the year off celebrating the 50th Anniversary for Jet Jaguar with a glitter-fest that is their Gold Glitter release and ended the year off with some of the most stunning Spacegodzilla vinyls on the market. From the stunning glitter Intergalactic Spacegodzilla, to the vibrant Cherry Blossom ( with an impressive glow ), all the way to something so niche as the Super Spacegodzilla based off of Super Godzilla from the SNES game!
X-Plus Toho Maniacs
One of my personal favorite ongoing toy lines is the recent Toho Maniacs series by X-Plus. As someone who has a very deep love for Toho’s non-Godzilla content, it’s a blessing to have Toho Maniacs give us releases from films like Matango and The Mysterians. We have both the Mysterian Leader (orange) and a an intermediate-ranking Mysterian (yellow).
Spiral Toy Godzilla 2019
SpiralToy started off their debut with a massive bang with their 2019 Godzilla sofubi. This is their first Colorway for the mold, and it does NOT disappoint. They were very generous with the amount of glitter used alongside the gorgeous tones of blue, silver, and a dark maroon on the entire body.
S.H. MonsterArts
S.H. Monsterarts had some great releases that got my attention, and I’m someone who’s generally not all that interested in this company. Their Gamera -Rebirth- figure has to be one of their most impressive releases. It’s got a lot of weight to the figure and the detail goes beyond what I expected. This releases also came with a stand and interchangeable pieces to sport him in his flying mode. This was the definitive figure for this Gamera mold and I highly recommend anyone who’s a fan of the series or the design to get him. But, the release that has my heart this year from SHMA is their 1972 Gigan. Any concerns I had for this release diminished immediately once I got this figure in my hands. Gigan is my favorite Toho creature, so to see the engineering and sculpt was done with care on this release made me happy. The translucent visor filled in with intricate details to each individual golden scale- I could go on about this beautiful release.
Spiral Studio Toho Legacy
What might end up as my Figure of the Year, the Spiral Studio Toho Legacy Godzilla 2001 is everything I’ve ever wanted in a figure, especially of one of my favorite Godzilla suits. Spiral prides themselves in crafting only the most accurate, premium collectibles, and they do not disappoint whatsoever. Every nitty gritty detail from the suit is perfectly replicated onto this Statue and his size commands an impressive, intimidating presence in any collection.
Hiya Exquisite Basic
Hiya is another company that came out of left field and provided Godzilla collectors, specifically those fond of the Monsterverse, with a cheaper, higher quality alternative to articulated figures than SHMA. While I may not own any of them, I’ve seen and heard from many close friends just the sheer quality these figures have present in each release. They are definitely the hottest brand on the market!
Here are Hiya’s promotional photos for the three creatures:
Marusan 450 Gigan Yozakura Version
Marusan never fails to impress with their 450 line, as they boast an impressive size, but the Yozakura 450 Gigan is something special. Not only does it have the iconic Marusan mold and size that is known from the 450 line, but this specific Colorway is stunning. Not only does it have an array of colors that are incredibly pleasing to the eye, but it also has an intense glow that’ll light up your collection with ease. As a Gigan fan and a fan of large figures, this was a close runner up for being my Figure of the Year!
Thank you all for reading! I hope you collectors out there had some epic box days throughout 2023. What were your favorites? Sound off! Let us know what you enjoyed from the incredible lineup of Godzilla and kaiju adjacent toylines. And don’t forget to follow me @kaijufanatic to see the latest and coolest in sofubi and vinyl collectibles!
