Matango by M1Go (Hawaii colorway)

I previously wrote about the Matango (マタンゴ) by M1Go (Ｍ１号) here about a year ago.

I just wanted to show off a new member of the fungal family I received from a boardmember on skullbrain!

I pulled my old category scores from the previous Matango entry and applied them here... then elaborated on the Hawaii paint.

I've also added a bit about the headers for these toys, since I did not do so the first time around.

And, just for shits and giggles, pictured here is a poster from the movie!


Header //4.5 out of 5//:
No complaints here. I really like the hand drawn monsters and typeface on here. It advertises for the relatively new company (to the older companies like Bullmark or Marusan for instance) and other products while still feeling vintagey.

I would have liked it if it were slightly larger, and if it didn't seem as generic as it does. For someone like me (a non-Japanese reader!), this header would be a little better if it highlighted the fact it was for Matango. As it is now, it seems it could be for any of the pictured mon

Sculpt //4.5 out of 5//:

Paint //4.5 out of 5//:
The Hawaii colorway was a paint style used by some Japanese companies in the 70s when they expanded their vinyl toy sales to Hawaii. The theory was that the more garish, tropical colored paint would sell better on the islands. Many toys were painted in this scheme despite their "real-life" counterparts not being anywhere close to that color.

I think this paint scheme compliments this figure well. I assume the monsters in the movie were some brown or green earthy hue, but the pinks, blues, and yellows here are playful and have that great vintage toy feel. I can see why people start collections of similarly painted figures.

I was a little disappointed to see that this toy does not have the usual high-gloss coat that so many M1Go toys seem to have. I'm not sure which toys get the gloss treatment, but I would like to have seen it here.

Coolness //4 out of 5//:

Value //4 out of 5//:

Overall //4.5 out of 5//:
Still a great toy that has great value. The Hawaii colorway is awesome on a figure like this one.

Custom M1Go Dada by LASH "Virusy!"

Here's another Dada (ダダ) I had sent to LASH to be painted up.

Unlike the previous radioactive Dada, this Dada has the standard face and was made from flesh colored vinyl instead of glow-in-the-dark.

This one doesn't have a name as far as I know, but it is quite a drastic change once again from the stark black and white lines of a normal Dada. There are all sorts of colors here... from the warm tones of his skin to the metallic looking purples on top of his head, shoulders, eyes, feet and the "virus" spots. The black serves to really make certain areas pop.

Custom M1Go Dada by LASH "Toxic Glow!"

I sent LASH an unpainted glow-in-the-dark Dada (ダダ) by the company M1Go...

I got back a Toxic Glow Dada!

I've had this for awhile (a few months! gah!), but I have obviously been very lazy about posting anything at all on my little blog here.

Dada is an Ultraman character... actually I believe an entire race of aliens that appeared in several Ultraman shows over the years. They look different at times, but always have white faces and black-and-white striped bodies. Dadas have the ability to teleport and can become invisible for short amounts of time. They can also fly and I have seen them with large laser gun looking weapons.

I have to admit, Dada was initially one of my favorite kaiju because he is so strange and different from the standard dinosaur themed monster of Japanese TV and films, but I have never actually seen an episode of Ultraman with Dada in it.

While my adoration of Dada has faded somewhat lately, I still really like the M1Go takes on this figure which seem to be all unpainted and ripe for customizing. I have a few that I will try my best to ruin too!

LASH took this one in a different direction than the stark black and white, obviously, with subtle green spray all over the body as well as some beady, red rat-looking eyes. We can pretend that this Dada has been infected with a strange, outer space radiation, enhancing his strength and giving him the ability to fire beams from his tiny red eyes. There is a black light photo at the bottom.

Check it out:

Angel Sanda round 2 - I shook up the gold!

Before then after shots.

thanks to LASH for the assist

A thorough shaking to the gold made it a completely different paint. The gold looks so much better now.

I went back and added to the original yellow layer and gave a light misting to the brick looking areas of his skin for a very pale yellow and the hint of glitter

Angel Sanda

From the same set as the Demon Gaira. This was also unpainted flesh colored vinyl.

flat white with varying shades of gloss gold

darkest golds are top of head, shoulders, hips and crotch

The Man with the Golden Crotch!

The gold doesn't come across perfectly in the photos... it looks yellow even though I used no yellow

All in all, I have to say I like the results of silver VColor better than gold for sheen and coverage, and if i were to do it over, I think I would go for a gloss white base on this one as opposed to the matte

I was told to try shaking up the gold even better, so I may add more to this one

Demon Gaira

More custom painting work by yours truly

Gaira and Sanda were the two giant monsters from the War of the Gargantuans movie made by Toho in the 1960s

This figure started as plain flesh colored vinyl

flat black with red/silver fur highlights.

eyes are plain silver.

I feel like this needs something more - more color? highlights or something on the scaly looking areas? Painted mouth?

comments welcome!

Dadapeto by Paul Kaiju

Alien Tepeto by M1Go was a figure I bought pretty early on when I started my kaiju craze this year. He was pretty random, but I never really got into him all that much... he's no Dada afterall.

Oh but wait.....

Enter Paul Kaiju

www.paulkaiju.com

I thought that if Tepeto looked more like my Dadas that he would fit in a bit better. It turned out really nice I have to say.

BEFORE (see how sad he was?)

AFTER (pic snagged from Paul)

My only instructions were to use Dada (and to a lesser extent the Balzac Skullmerry figure) as inspiration and I really would like to see the hard black and white contrasty scheme maintained. 

I think Paul did a great job! The zebra stripes look like they were an absolute bear to mask out, and they are different enough from Dada's geometric pattern to make the figure unique among the similar pieces. He has nice shading underneath folds in the clothing. Unfortunately the paint got a scratch in it somewhere before it got to me, but at least this is hidden when he is standing with others.

The aptly named Dadapeto fits in nicely now on my shelf with other black and white/humanoids! 

Matango (マタンゴ) by M1Go

I have only done my little reviews in the past on action figures... with articulation and weapons and such... so I have not been exactly sure how to do reviews of kaiju figures since they are so different. It is all subjective, of course, but I think kaiju is collected for different reasons. Maybe not... Either way, here we have the M1 sculpt of the Matango monster from the Toho film Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People.

I have stated before that this movie was underwhelming to me, but it honestly was not terrible. It was one of those situations where you go into something with certain expectations, and when that something is totally different it feels like a let down.

This was an intelligent horror film, honestly (I'll admit when I am wrong!) but I had gone in expecting a campy monster flick, which it is not.

Well, it is like the crew of Gilligan's island arguing and killing one another over food and sex....

Regardless, the mushroom monsters in the film are very cool despite what opinions of the film itself may be, and I have found myself craving these guys much like the crew craved the scary looking mushrooms.

The one pictured here I just picked up from a board member at skullbrain. Unlike my custom figure below, this guy comes with a squishy glow-in-the-dark mushroom! The two Matango pictured below are mine as well. The larger one is the same M1 sculpt as pictured above, but the paint job is custom done by SHAPESHIFTA.

I'll try to post a similar review format here and see how that works out. I wont use a numerical score here since I am reviewing a few figures at once.

Sculpt //4.5 out of 5//:
I really like the M1 sculpt of the Mantango monster. What I have found appreciate in kaiju toys is creativity when it comes to a pre-existing character. There is something to be said for super accurate representations of these monsters, but when a sculptor 'makes it his own' (to borrow a bad cliche) it makes the figure stand out in my eyes. The elements are nicely stylized and not overly simplified here. It is smooth and flowing while still being bumpy.

I definitely prefer this sculpt to a similar sculpt made by Marmit. (Shown to the right here... image stolen from ebay user minicupid.) The head on the Marmit sculpt looks like a cupcake there instead of fat broccoli like M1.

This M1 sculpt is well balanced and stands easily. The arms and legs both articulate at the torso which can provide some classic kaiju poses, but don't expect to get many action poses from these guys.

Paint //5 out of 5//:
On the officially colored Matango, the paint is out of control! This crazy rainbow application has a smooth and nice, high-gloss finish on the bright green vinyl... very interesting and unlike any other of the few figures I own. It has what is almost a random application of many colors, with some black and silver and gold even making an appearance on top of the lumpy head. The yellow application on the chest hair is well placed, really setting off the head where all the colors gather.

SHAPESHIFTA's custom of mine is a little more subtle in its color application and is well blended. The eyes stand out nicely with goldish paint despite there being no pupils. The overall almost metallic sheen to the green and blue has a nice organic feel which fits the character nicely. SHAPE did a great job on the figure I think.

Coolness //4 out of 5//:
Regardless of one's opinions of the movie, the Matango figure is a standout piece. It can be viewed as humorous or just plain cool, and will most certainly be a conversation starter. It is very original and I think it is very cool. It is unlike many kaiju monsters I have seen.

Value //4 out of 5//:
For me, I feel like Matango figures are a good value. Right now these figures seem to be very popular with collectors that appreciate them. That said, there have been quite a few evidently, and the prices generally stay pretty reasonable, especially when considering the size (about 9" - standard kaiju size)

Overall //4.5 out of 5//:
Positives: An always killer M1Go paint application, it looks like broccoli and it is waiting for that humorous fridge photo

Negatives: Can be a little top heavy

The Matango figures have their pluses definitely and are highly unique. It is cool that they are linked to a respected movie and if you are into such things, how can you go wrong with what appears to be walking broccoli. Any killer vegetables are OK by me.

The M1 figures are great (and superior to the Marmit sculpts out there that are comparable), and they have come in various colors and even glow that I have seen.