One of my many purchases over Cyber Week was the flat silver Mecha Gorilla two pack by Raymundo Toys care of BigBadToyStore.com. I had held off buying this set because the $110 price sticker (may I also add that it's limited to 250 pieces) was daunting for what is basically the equivalent of an unlicensed knock off of the Bandai Mecha King Kong from King Kong Escapes (1967) also known as King Kong Strikes Again (international title) or KinguKongu Frankenstein's Sohn (Oriental release title). Even though it's a lot for a bootleg toy, the licensed version goes for anywhere between $90-$150 and hasn't really been reproduced too many times in it's short life time. This really was the economical version to buy just so I could fill this empty slot in my collection. The Cyber Week sale price was a low $22.10 and is still available through BigBadToyStore.com while quantities last. Is it worth the price? Let's open the box and find out.
King Kong Escapes is the second movie collaboration between Toho and Rankin Bass productions (the fine folks who brought us great cartoon masterpieces like The Osmond's, the Jackson 5ive, Silver Hawks, Thundercats and all those great claymation holiday specials.) where the evil Dr. Who (no, not that Dr. Who) is using a Robotic King Kong to mine a radioactive element at the North Pole called "element X". When Dr. Who (yep, still not the one you are thinking of) finds out his mecha just isn't able to handle the high amounts of radioactive isotopes coming off of element X, his female counterpart Madame Piranha (or in the American release, Madame X) suggests the uber bright idea of kidnapping the real King Kong. To ensure he does his job, Dr Who (listen, it's going to get complicated to explain so just rent the movie.) and Madame Piranha kidnap Kong's human friends including his crush; Lt Susan Miller. Madness ensues, Susan has a human boyfriend (drama bomb love triangle craziness), Kong breaks free from Dr. Who's (I'm not going there this time) control and him and Mecha Kong battle it out in Tokyo. The final battle center's around Tokyo Tower when Mecha Kong in full Kong fashion grabs Susan and starts scaling the tower. Will King Kong win? Will Susan drop the zero and get with a hero? Is America ready to accept the union of a giant ape and a beautiful woman? I know Japan is, have you seen some of the shit they put in cartoons?
Each figure comes double bagged in it's own clear plastic bags, separately to avoid any paint rubs or transfers. In each bag was a very interesting and slightly racist yellow folded piece of paper simply stating Raymundo Toys 2010 out of Alaska with a crudely drawn picture of an overweight woman of african descent hula hooping with a word bubble over her head stating "Yes! We can.". Now I'd expect this out of packages coming from South America or Mexico but from a US based company, it threw me for a loop and gave me a giggle and a slight feeling that I was an asshole for laughing. But on to the toys because here at Raging Nerdgasm we are all about toys, slightly inappropriate jokes are left for forum postings and Facebook buffoonery.
With this bundle you get two different versions of Dr. Who's (not the guy with the Tardis and the British accent, this guy looks like Dr Wiley's Japanese cousin) mighty robot, with and without the bomb belt. At first the sculpts look identical except for the upper torso, but upon a secondary look I noticed the head on the Mecha Kong without the bomb belt has an open mouth. The finish is glossy which all and all I didn't agree with. There were two versions, chrome and silver. I got the silver one thinking that it would have a flat finish but the plastic looks almost like it was polished to a high gloss finish. I'll more than likely repaint mine in the near future. The construction is identical to an other vinyl figure, hollow on the inside with limited range of motion. Three points of articulation consisting of both shoulders and a swivel waist, this is standard with Kaiju vinyl toys which is why I love them; statuesque with just enough articulation to make me happy and not corrupt the sculpt. Bottom of the foot is stamped TONYMK Raymundo toy 2010 and Made in China.
Overall, I'm happy I held off on purchasing this item as long as I did. In my opinion less than $25 is a bargain for any vinyl fanatic who needs this character but doesn't want to feel wallet rape after purchasing an original. I would have valued each separately at least around $15-$20 and I would have probably bought them without flinching at that price. If you like what you saw here, don't hesitate too long. Buy one today at BigBadToyStore.com.
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