It's generally agreed that the Seihou Ultraman is the best one for the Original. Especially since it seems like the Mezco is never gonna come out.

As for Original Godzilla, since the MonsterArt is too expensive, your next best bet would probably be the NECA one if you can find it for a decent price.

Seihou Ultraman is also surprisingly available and well-priced on Mandarake etc! Which... is a very different story compared to Ichigo; where all his Seihous are high-priced and sell out very quickly. His original SHFs are very cheap and easy enough to grab though

Depends which Ultraman characters you like best. If you're looking for the original, then the Seihou is probably your best bet.
Similar situation with Godzilla, which suits do you prefer? If you're looking specifically for the original, 1954 design, there's a couple on Mandarake right now for 14000 yen (little over $100 USD) from Kokura, SAHRA, and Sapporo stores.

Yea, gonna chime in and say SS Original Ultraman is a must get. Mandarake and amiami have a ton of them.

I too wish to get an original Godzilla but I would imagine the shipping is insane because of the box size.

Having recently finished Ghost, I think the only other figure I'm going to get is Necrom. Already have Oredamashi, Specter, Musashi, and Boost. Thats ... way more Ghost figures than I imagined I'd have ...

Wow, so many helpful suggestions so quickly. Y'all are the best!

That's a good question. Some backstory: for a while, I would just buy whatever random figures I could find. But lately, I've been wanting to tighten up my collection and go for a less-is-more approach. The best way to do that is by making sure that my figures are deliberately chosen vs at random. So as much as I like Den-O and Kiva's designs, where do they fit into my collection? Pairing Akarenger, Ichigo, and Ultraman together makes a lot more sense and has more impact as a collection than Ryuuranger, Den-O, and Mebius, for an arbitrarily selected example.

So with that in mind, Akarenger, Ichigo, and OG Ultraman is what I'm aiming for. I also like the idea of maybe pairing Black and Shadow Moon together, but since I already have Akarenger, I want to build my display around his presence. If need be, I suppose I'd be open to a more modern version of the original, for example Shin Ultraman.

When it comes to Godzilla, I'm more flexible. My number one pick would be '54, so it's a collection of all of the firsts. After that, I think maybe any other Showa-era design - while not the first, it'll still be similar in era. In fact, some of the late Showa designs kind of feel more "tokusatsu" to me than '54, so that's a nice bonus. Realistically, though, any Godzilla would likely do the trick. I really love Shin Godzilla, so that might be a nice choice....to pair with Shin Ultraman. And hopefully an upcoming Shin Kamen Rider? And I have tons of Eva figures...but then where does Akarenger fit in? Do you see my dilemma? :lol

One thing to note, though, is I want Godzilla to be taller than the other figures. Those NECA figures are super cool, but are they tall enough?

I'll actually be in Tokyo in a few weeks, and while I likely won't make it out to those stores, I'm planning on spending a day combing through Akiba, so hopefully I'll find something nice.

Sounds like that's the way to go, then!

Guess I'm just gonna have to grab it in Japan, and make sure to leave room :lol

I'm sure you can tell from my avatar, but I love Ghost. The series itself has flaws, but the suits are amazing and I had a lot of fun watching it. Necrom is definitely one of my favorite Riders.

Side note, I just found this image on reddit, and now I'm re-thinking my entire strategy. I love that mini Ultra battle diorama!
https://i.imgur.com/Qri7kDb.jpeg
(original post)

If you're only looking for one Ultraman, Seihou Ultraman's the pick.

Great sculpt, articulation, all the accessories he needs, it's a well-rounded and solid choice.

NECA figures range between 6 to 7 inches tall depending on character so yeah, solid chance of Godzilla being your tallest.

AH EpsilonX Pro-tip: There's two amiami stores in Akihabara I think. I believe I went to the smaller second location and heads up, and the prices were a tad higher than what you find online

Manda prices should be the same as online, and its actually easier if you show the staff the item you want from the website

Definitely look for Book-Off. Amazing selection of older gimmick items and smaller gashapon/giveaway/candy toy trinkets. They should have the adult collector items too though

If you get a Neca Godzilla, and you're good with other Showa suits, I think the 1962 figure might be the best Godzilla that they did. Even the box was cool.

Edit: picture of him with Ichigo for height comparison

https://www.tokunation.com/forums/at...1&d=1676867491

If you are worried abouth height, I have a height comparison.

From left to right: recolored Neca Godzilla 54, A mezco figure to stand in for their upcoming ultraman, Neca Mothra Vs Godzilla Godzilla, Mafex Shin Ultraman, SH Monsterarts ?54 Godzilla, SHF Ultraman Trigger

So as you can see the very expensive and out of print 54 Monsterarts Godzilla is a tiny lil guy. If you want big, look at the Necas. Or if you want a big SH Monsterarts, then maybe wait for that Shin Godzilla repaint coming out later this year.

Oh and here are the OG trio as made by Bandai
https://www.tokunation.com/forums/at...1&d=1676868201

Cool, thanks for that. I remember going to amiami in Akiba and picking up a few figures for great prices (got a Figuarts Decade for like 1700 yen) but the best value I remember seeing was Anime Jungle - they had Akarenger for around 1000 yen. I'll definitely make sure to hit up Book-Off first, though. I actually forgot about that place. In fact, they just opened a Book-Off pretty close to my office here, so I'll check there too.

Okay, so I have thoughts here. First of all, thanks for the comparison pics.

I love the way that Monsterarts figure looks, and I vastly prefer it to the NECA figures. But is it really worth the extra cost? On top of that...why is it smaller!?

Anyways, I actually really like the way Shin Ultraman looks there. There's a figuart of that as well, yes? I wouldn't mind owning him instead of the OG.

Thanks for that. I like the way this figure looks better than the '54 above.

However in the end, what all of this will come down to is what I can find for what price.

Appreciate all the help, friends.

Yeah, and you have options there too. If you want the best articulation, go with the MAFEX. If you want shiny paint, go with ThreeZero. The SHF is just all around solid while not excelling in any one category.

For the SH Monsterarts 54 godzilla: I would wait. They have been reprinting figures lately, and they have also been repainting the figures and doing rereleases. 54 Godzilla is probably due for a re-issue. Also next year is going to be the 70th anniversary. They might just release a brand new sculpt, who knows?

Either way I would not recommend paying scalper prices. The figure’s eyes are also a little bit wonky, and SH Monsterarts is not reliable at all for painting on eyes correctly. You don’t want to roll the dice with a scalped figure on that.

As for the size, Bandai made up some BS about Showa era figures needing to be smaller. I guess I poisoned the well by calling it BS, but you can decide if that logic makes sense.

EDIT: Oh wait. If you are going to be in japan, check out the 54 SHMs. You will probably be able to inspect them over there. And SHF Shin Ultraman is a great figure too. I probably should have taken a pic of that, but I had my mafex lying around because I decided to rip apart its arm to fix a qc issue, so it made it to the pic.

And Super7 is making an 8 inch tall Godzilla later this year. If you like the VS series, then this could be a good pick

https://www.bigbadtoystore.com/Produ...Details/199318

If I find a good deal on the Monsterarts in a reputable store, I'll grab it. Otherwise, I think I'll wait like you suggested.

Without having seen the actual Bandai statement you're talking about, I think it makes sense - Showa Godzilla is smaller than Millenium Godzilla, after all.

On the topic of Shin being a good replacement for Ultraman, you might want to consider the same for Shin Kamen Rider! As stated Ichigou’s Seihous are gold dust, but you may have an easier time getting the upcoming SHF Shin KR — or failing that, the FRS

Hmmm I noticed Nago is sold out on Hobby Genki …

Not saying this is the next Valkyrie, but it’s certainly interesting

Still up for pre-order on P-Bandai US though.

Still have a Necrom I want to part with... ;)

That is in fact literally all but two Ghost SHFs!

I recommend the Deep Specter and Ghost Grateful Damashii figuarts because they look great and I have fun posing them

It lowered the price a little, yeah. By a bit over 900 yen, so around $7. Good enough.

I mean, I'm an Anno fanboy so I'd totally be into having the Shin versions...but then Akarenger is kind of the odd one out. In the grand scheme of things, that doesn't really matter much, but still.

On the topic of AmiAmi, if you guys also noticed that it takes longer for them to ship stuff out, this is why:

Dear Customers

We are sorry to inform you that ship out times have been delayed over the last couple of months, due to a prolonged period of time with new orders exceeding our ship out capacity.

As of late, the average time from payment to delivery, based on shipping method, are as follows:

DHL: 3-10 days
EMS: 1-3 weeks
Air Parcel/Small Packet: 1-3 months
Surface Parcel: 2-4 months

*Note: These are overall averages, so depending on the country/region the numbers may vary slightly.
*DHL/EMS are express shipping methods, so we are working hard to ship out these shipping methods with as little delay as possible.

To address the current issues, we are working to increase our capacity to ship out packages by increasing staff and contracting 3rd party shipping services whenever possible, while maintaining a high standard to pack all orders safely for shipping.
We expect these steps to reduce the ship out delays over the coming weeks/months.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Wait a few years for Shin Gorenger :^)

Not surprised about their shipping delays. Ever since Covid hit their usual shipping turn-around went from "Payment request day 1, shipped day 2" to usually a wait between having all items in-stock to payment requests to the eventual shipping. They've been having a hard time recovering from that.

But good to see they're trying to streamline things again.

Rumor to be released

SHF Ghost final form
SHF Punkjack
SS Saga

Believe it or not!

Oh neat!

I was just about to ask what gut feeling people had for the next Geats release.

I hope they do a good job with that cape on PunkJack. If they can’t do a wired cloth cape (highly unlikely they would do one) and if they refuse to do cloth at all, maybe something like Zenkaizer’s cape would be ok. Just as long as it’s not a horrible heavy plastic cape like J*ou Dr*gon.

*censoring it like it’s a slur! We treat the cape on that figure like a slur in my house!

Btw, said to be announced next month

Saw this and Toyhaco's review and makes me want Live even more plus I'm a fan of parts-swapping because it seems more bang for your buck.

Hopefully true because it would be great to see that Mugen prototype finally released even though at this point I feel Ghost qualifies for the Seihou treatment

Rumoured by...?

Some Weibo forum, read it from FB so take it or leave it.

Will we see any Seihou treatment for series after (including) Gaim? Personally I like them to redo Gaim, simply for the boxes as they are outdated design, lol

If that rumoured list IS true it's a pretty solid slate! The highlight is absolutely Ghost Mugen for that finally getting to happen, but Punkjack rounding out the Geats riders already is nice and also Seihou Saga at LAST getting to exist after, what, 2-3 years of convention appearances?? I like it when they catch up with stuff like that

Saga's the last core TV Rider to never get an SHF, right? I guess Aqua too depending on how you want to qualify him after his Zi-O appearances

That does seem about right, at least for Heisei (since all the Reiwa lines are still ongoing). Though I guess it depends on how you define 'core' -- if you're counting Aqua then you could certainly argue for say Shinobi or Shuki. Or, heck; Ride Player Nico if you wanna get into that 'debatable rider' territory!

But certainly he seems to be the most major guy to never be in SHF in any shape or form. So he'd be fairly significant!

The Tsukuyomi erasure going on here ...

Hey if Build Genius can escape production hell, so can Mugen. That would actually be very thematically fitting if you think about it

I KNEW I was forgetting someone oh my god. I am so sorry Tsukuyomi

Now a Tsukuyomi figuart is a surprise release I'm hoping to see pop up out of nowhere like Build Nin-nin/Comic was.

I say Ghost qualifies as a Seihou release because his figuart was poorly designed....moreso in the torso area that limits getting some dynamic posing for a Rider like Ghost's fighting style.

I hope they consider maybe doing wired cloth for his parka or some softer plastic that allows for better movement