Polar Lights Godzilla and Rodan

[eachuisge]

Can anyone tell me if the Polar Lights Godzilla and Rodan kits are any good? I know they are reissues. My local hobby shop has them and the guy who works there is always trying to get me to buy them, especially since I have been buying his Dawn of Time kits.

I am a huge kaiju fan so I have considered it. Thanks in advance.

[TAY666]

Well, you can check out some pics of them here on my site
www.tylisaari.com/models/kaiju/godzilla/aurora.htm

They aren't horrible, but I don't really favor them.
Then again, I am also spoiled from having some better kits.

They have the typical fit issues that most of the old Aurora kits have.
The details like skin texture and such isn't too bad, but the accuracy leaves a lot to be desired. Again, about what you would expect form an old Aurora mold.

They are worth having and building, as long as the price isn't too bad.
I actually have several godzilla kits, as I also have several replacement sets to modify and accurize them with.

My favorite of the 3 is Ghidorah, but you didn't mention that one.

[eachuisge]

Thanks!

He does have the Ghidorah one too, forgot to mention that one. They range from about 20 to 30 bucks.

I am still new to many model kits, being mostly a toy collector, and I have several of the vintage Bandai vinyl Godzilla figures.

I do have a fairly large rubber Godzilla 64 electronic kit that I got at G-Fest last year. I have it built up but not painted (I am not brave enough to paint any of my models just yet). I will try to get some pictures of it.

[prescenes2]

Like Trevor said, they have fitting issues and they seem worse than the originals did. The PL kits also lack some detail compared to the originals. For example, the Ghidrah kit was missing most of the scale detail on all 3 necks and both tails. Rodan has huge gap issues as did Godzilla. Since I don't have any more Aurora's, I wouldn't trade these as they mean a great deal to me because of my childhood. Nostalgia!
They also have/had replacement heads for Rodan and Godzilla. (Don't know about Ghidrah?)
I say "get 'em"! It's a bit of history even if they aren't historically correct and have fun building them.

[acroray]

Ghidora and Rodan are reproduced from vintage parts, so the tooling is somewhat smaller and the details are softer, as copies of things often are. They're also snap kits with some articulation and lots of fun little details in their cityscape bases.

Godzilla, on the other claw, is made from the original 1960s steel tooling. It doesn't have any movable parts. The base is a nice cityscape, but horribly out of scale. This Godzilla is based on the King Kong vs Godzilla version of the costume.

If you're going for accuracy in a plastic kit, then you're better off looking for Japanese-made kits. However, if you appreciate the nostalgia and history behind these (Aurora's Godzilla was also the world's first plastic kit of the big guy), then they're real winners in spite of their shortcomings.

[TAY666]

I think 20, is about the most I would pay for any of them.
But, then again, I am cheep.
So, depending on your kit budget, and how much you want to support your local guy, you might want to grab them.


And Steve, as far as I know, nothing for Ghidorah yet.
One replacement head for Rodan.
2 different replacement heads for Godzilla (the one with the train in the mouth, and the gijora head). As well as a replacement jaw set cast in white metal to replace the lower jaw, and includes and upper plate for the mouth as well.

[eachuisge]

Thanks guys! This helped a lot!