King Kong (King Kong) Review

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King Kong (King Kong) Review

King Kong
King Kong (Neca)Last year was the last one NECA had with the Godzilla license, but when one kaiju leaves, another one shows up, and it’s King Kong. The giant ape long predated the giant lizard by around 20 years, and he’s received a lot of merchandise. We got the regular Kong last year, and an “illustrated” re-paint showed up earlier this year. I got both of them, so why not kill two birds with one stone and review both of them?

The packaging for both figures share the same idea, with photos of the figure all around. The aesthetic is different for both, however. The regular release has a jungle theme, and the illustrated version is more of a reddish style without the jungle theme. Both boxes are collector-friendly and easy to open, with a few twist/plastic ties you need to cut off.

Both figures share the same sculpt, and it resembles the original incarnation of the ape we all know and love. There’s two different heads included with the figure; one has an expression based off of the original movie, with wide-open eyes and a gaping jaw, and a fierce roaring head. There’s a great amount of texture on the body to give it some realism, and the face and chest show scratch marks, making it clear that this guy just got in a fight. Both figures stand about 8” tall, but it’s not a direct 1:10 scale of the giant ape.

The paint is different for both figures. The regular version is a mixture of brown and black all around the fur, with bluish-gray areas for the face and chest. The gums and teeth have some wash to them to bring out the detail, and the pupils are nice and clean. The illustrated version, which is based off of old artwork by Basil Gogos, is a lot more colorful, looking like the ape just destroyed a paint factory. He’s more bluish than black, and there’s a blend of colors all around. The colors look the nicest on the head and shoulders, resembling the artwork near perfectly. Unlike the regular version, the deep scratches don’t have any paint on or around them, so they don’t stand out as well.

Both figures have a great amount of articulation, and they have a ball-jointed head and chest, swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees, swivel biceps and thighs, and rocker/hinge ankles. The elbows and knees are the double-jointed type, allowing for a better range of motion, and they look great. The right bicep on both figures was stuck tight right out of the box, and the peg was soft, so turning it would risk damage. Though after letting the figures breathe, it broke free on both of them. I noticed that the illustrated version had stiffer joints, but it still moved well. There’s not much in terms of accessories for either figure, only having the roaring head and grasping hands to go with the fists he comes wearing. The hands swap easily, but you’ll need to heat up the hole in the alternate head to get it on the ball.

Overall, both figures are great, with a nice combination of excellent sculpt and paint, as well as plenty of useful articulation. I prefer the regular release over the illustrated version, but whatever version you like more is up to you. I know there’s a third version out now, and I hope to find it soon.

SCORES:
Regular – 5
Illustrated – 4.85