Happy Halloween! Want more figure reviews of spooky or creepy monsters? How about a giant panda, named Pandan? Pandan is one out of many Daikaiju that were created for the Gotouchi Kaiju Series line by ITTSU. Fortunately for Kaiju figure collectors, Pandan is one of the first Kaiju to be produced in toy form, thanks to Art Storm’s collaboration with the Gotouchi Kaiju Series.
Backstory
Pandan’s concept and origins are very well thought out, considering the Gotouchi Kaiju Series is not a tie-in to any comic book, TV show, or movie. All ideas have been created around the Kaiju figures. Gotouchi Kaiju Series roughly translates to “Your Local Monster,” and the idea is to create unique Kaiju that represent particular hometowns in Japan and incorporate things, such as landmarks, architects, festivals and other notable things into a Kaiju’s design.
Pandan is a local monster that represents Ueno district in the Taito-ku ward in Tokyo. A panda was selected for this hometown, probably due to Ueno Zoo, which is the largest zoo in Tokyo. Ueno Zoo is known for being home to Ling Ling, the giant panda, and has incorporated pandas into their welcome sign, post cards, and other merchandise.
Pandan
This figure is mind-blowingly amazing! Pandan’s face looks like an insane panda that is possessed by an evil spirit, and is equipped with sharp teeth and tusks. Those small, white eyes complemented by black circles are creepy, yet really cool.
The rest of Pandan’s body consists of nicely detailed fur and other panda features, longer tail, and silver bladed arcs that span horizontally across Pandan’s back in uniform. If there’s one thing that might peeve a few collectors, it would be the visible seams on the figure. However, that indeed isn't an issue here.
The paint job on Pandan was also very well done. Most of the figure was painted in matte coated paint and the colors were nicely selected to represent the panda theme and match other color-accurate features. Only a few glossy coated colors were used to detail the paws, feet, and mouth.
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Pandan's Height
Size Comparison
Pandan is huge, considering it doesn't stand in scale with anything. However, fans who enjoy seeing fantasy Kaiju fights will be pleased to know that Pandan stands pretty well with a 25 cm X-Plus figure. Otherwise, Pandan absolutely towers over S.H. MonsterArts toys, as well as a Bandai Museum Godzilla 1962 figure.
Conclusion
Toy collectors, who really enjoy collecting Kaiju from different origins, may likely enjoy Pandan also. The origins and ideas surrounding Pandan and its physical form are amazing. Some visible seam lines may peeve some people, but the overall execution is great, considering this could be Pandan’s first figure available on the market. If Pandan is any indication to go by, the Gotouchi Kaiju Series is off to a great start and thinking about the other Kaiju that could be next for figure production is very exciting.
Check out Gotouchi Kaiju Series' official website for more info on their concept and list of Kaiju! Pandan and Hyougarayan's figure info are available at Art Storm's main webpage.
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But where can I buy one?? I'm here in Tokyo, and have only seen one, and the shop wouldn't sell it. I keep asking around, but most of the anime shops have never even heard of it.
ReplyDeleteHello Dan! Thank you for checking out the review.
DeletePandan was sold online. He was available on Art Storm’s main webpage with a link that directs you to the Fewtureshop Webstore. A number of Pandan figures were released since this past October, but they are sold out.
There is a “Fewture Shop Akiba” store in Japan, but I’m not sure if they still have the figure. The address is Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Sotokanda 1-chome, 15-16 Radio Hall 7F and telephone number is 03-3526-2530.
Information about their store is available here: http://artstorm.co.jp/information_fewtureshopakiba.html
If that option doesn’t work, my guess is to hopefully find someone selling Pandan on ebay or Yahoo Auctions Japan. I hope that helps. I wish you good luck on your search.