Kong (Godzilla vs. Kong by Playmates)

It’s Thanksgiving weekend in the United States and I almost let it slip by without writing a Kong review for our newly minted blog! What does Kong have to do with Thanksgiving, you ask? Well, watching the original 1933 King Kong is a yearly tradition in my household. Random as it may seem, if you were living in the New York City metro area in the 70’s and 80’s, you might also associate the giant ape with Thanksgiving. That’s because WOR-TV Channel 9 (owned by RKO) would have a Thanksgiving marathon of monster movies. It started with the original King Kong, Son of Kong, and Mighty Joe Young but in later years Godzilla movies were also incorporated into the marathon. And although I thought this tradition was unique to the NYC area it apparently existed in Ohio as well. It makes me wonder just how wide-reaching it became. Of course, this 40+ year old tradition probably doesn’t exist in too many households these days, but I like to think I’m not the only one. I know there are other random movies associated with Thanksgiving as well, like Jaws, which was also aired on TV on Thanksgiving day. Jaws is particularly odd since it takes place over the Fourth of July weekend! Maybe we just need more Thanksgiving movies.

Unfortunately, the Kong I have on hand does not represent the 1933 Kong and since I just had the idea last night, I was unable to procure one. Thankfully, I do have a Kong on hand and this one is better than nothing. Maybe I’ll be better prepared for next year. This Kong is a mini figure for the Monsterverse Godzilla vs. Kong. It was made by Playmates, and I found mine at a Five Below store and yes, it was about $5, a great price for this mini figure.

This figure stands 3.25” (8.255 cm) tall and is presented with an angry grimace, chest pumped out, arms flexed, and fists clenched. He’s ready for battle! His arms are articulated at the shoulders and his head can swivel about as well. Raising one of his arms into the air and tilting his head gives him a great “get off my lawn” (or island, in Kong’s case) look and that’s how I display him. A seam runs around his midsection, but it doesn’t move.

The details are great on this small cheap toy, with a thick furrowed brow, little sculpted ears and nostrils, and individually defined teeth. A few slashes run across his chest. His hair nicely follows the contours of his body, and the underlying musculature is well displayed. His face, chest, hands, and feet are bare skinned. Even the bottoms of his feet are detailed with defined joints on his toes and wrinkling on the soles. His ample buttocks are also bare and that’s where all the production information is stamped. My only complaint is that his hairless chest abruptly stops at the seam around his torso.

Predictably, the figure is mostly brown and his chest and face are gray. His eyes are light brown with black pupils, his teeth are white, and his tongue is pink. The paint application is decent enough for what we’re dealing with.

This little toy is excellent for those building a space conscious kaiju collection and a real bargain for its original price. Sadly, it is now out of production, and costs about twice as much on the secondary market. There are a lot of other options for the Monsterverse Kong out there, however. For those that celebrate it, have a happy Thanksgiving, and maybe when the parade is over, and you don’t feel like watching football, you’ll make a new tradition with some old monster movies! Now, time to start looking for another Kong to share with you next year!