Today it’s my great pleasure to feature the blog’s first review of Mothra: Queen of the Monsters! Making her onscreen debut in the 1961 film Mothra, Mothra has appeared in more Toho films than any other kaiju except Godzilla, a frequent ally of Mothra. Mothra is generally portrayed as a heroic protector to her island home, Japan, or Earth as a whole.
Mothra’s design is inspired by the silkworms of the Saturniidae family, and she’s frequently depicted in both larval and adult forms. Mothra often dies through self-sacrifice in her films, only to essentially be reincarnated through her offspring, recalling the mythological Phoenix and making Mothra a philosophically thought-provoking kaiju.
Today we’re looking at Bandai’s 2017 soft vinyl Mothra larva figure, part of their Movie Monster Series. It only seems fitting that the blog’s first Mothra review is of her in her larval form! The figure is hollow with the head able to twist around and detach from the body. Mothra measures 8.5” (21.59 cm) long. This figure is designed to represent the larva from 2003’s Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. which actually features twin larva, with one of them being a male!
Mothra has a large head with small sunken eyes, prominent mandibles, and a tusk on either side of the mouth. Three legs are present on either side of her head and her segmented body tapers off towards the end with a spike on the tip. Paired rings are sculpted running down her underside, which I suppose represent suction cups. Fine details include ridges and indentations on the face, wrinkles around the mandibles and tusks, grooves on the mandibles, and small raised bumps along the lower sides of the body segments.
The entire figure is painted brown with the face and underside being darkest and a dark streak running down the back. The eyes are metallic blue, and the tusks are mahogany colored. Thanks to the blending together of the various brown tones the figure has a lifelike appearance.
When I got this figure, it was on Amazon for $15, a great price for a kaiju collectable of its size. It’s no longer listed on Amazon though, which I suppose means it is now out of production. I’m sure it shows up on eBay on occasion, but I couldn’t say how much it’s going for. Highly recommended if you can track one down though. No kaiju collection would be complete without larval Mothra, a unique standout on any shelf!
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