Overview

Gigan is powered-up in Final Wars. And now he has twin chainsaws for hands!

The huge monster includes no accessories and was packaged with only a tag. But it's awesome.

The Figure

The regular version is great because it's a good redesign of an old monster. This powered-up version is good because it has friggin' chainsaw hands and an even meaner looking head.

Like the other Gigan, this release is a bit of a monster cyborg-- moreso than the first This one feels more mechanical because of the hands, and the more savage looking horns and spikes tend to really bring out just a smidge more evil from him.

The head has been retooled (see below) and now has an armored collar and extended spikes. The basic expression is pretty much the same and aside from the neck now being silver instead of monster colored, the colors haven't changed a lot. The twin chainsaw hands look positively vicious-- they have just enough give so you could clamp them around some other poor monster's neck, were you so inclined.

It's a huge figure but could have had more joints. He's mobile at the shoulders, wrists, hips, and that's it-- his head, while a separate piece, cannot move.

If this figure has one flaw, it's that it exists-- but that may sound harsher than it should. Gigan's two flavors are pretty much the same, and BanDai could have included a bag with a separate head and hands to swap out to transform one figure between regular and power-up modes. For the HG series of figures (gashapon, about 3" tall) they did just that-- so why not here? In a smaller size, it makes more sense to double-dip than here.

Comparisons

Gigan comes in a normal and powered-up version, and they're pretty similar except for the head and hands.

The head has a new neck with armor on it, longer and more jagged spikes, and otherwise keeps the same basic look as the regular version. The hands have been changed from spikes to dual chainsaws, a decision which will no doubt wow the young and young at heart.

Some differences on the body from figure to figure maybe a result of light, molding, and paint irregularities. We do not believe these to be intentional differences.

Packaging

Gigan has a tag.

There really isn't much to it. I mean, it's a tag.

Fin

Japan loves to "power up" popular characters and toys, while in the USA, we just repaint crap to death. Gigan is a good example of how to do an interesting upgrade with a new head and new weapon arms. The downside is that it really doesn't look all that much different-- new spikes and a new neck aren't readily apparent to the average buyer, but you can't miss those new hands!

While not cheap, it's gorgeous looking, just like the regular version. Between the two, this one looks cooler and as such it's our favorite of the two. The other one is a better throwback to the old design, though, so basically you have to choose. Well, maybe you don't have to, we didn't. Get both if you can, but this one is just as good as the other in terms of overall quality.

Text and photos by Adam Pawlus
Review posted on February 25, 2005
Sample purchased from a Japanese importer for roughly $18 in January, 2005.