Shin Japan Heroes Universe is Japan’s attempt to band popular pop culture characters together. It is not quite like The Avengers or The Justice League because it is hard to see them ever working together—or even how to begin with. Godzilla can’t even talk. It is also weird because Gojira was not the good always the good guy. Though for argument’s sake, Shin Godzilla is a protagonist. If look past all that, then there’s the physical size.
Shin Kamen Rider is a regular person who is at most 6 feet (1.82 meters) meanwhile, Unit-01 towers at 42 meters (138 feet). If you think this will make the masked rider puny, wait till you understand that Shin Ultraman is a 60-meter (197 feet) tall kaiju ass-kicking alien, and the final form of Shin Godzilla is an astounding 118.5 meters (389 feet!).
Can they work together? Think not. I don’t think any of them ever need each other but it is a wonderful concept that entertains and sells merchs. Speaking of merch, here’s the latest collectible featuring all four members of the Shin Japan Heroes Universe, the Shin Japan Heroes Universe Statue Set by Japan toy brand Good Smile Company. Obviously, there is no scale because Mr. Augmented Human would be probably a minifig size and Godzilla would be crazy large.
It is a statue crafted by four renowned sculptors and one paintwork artist to unite all four individual works. The Godzilla statue is painted soft vinyl and polystone while Evangelion Unit-01, Ultraman, and Masked Rider feature painted polystone, polyurethane, and plastic.
Godzilla towers at 560 mm (22 inches), and Evangelion Unit-01 is about 510 mm (20 inches). Meanwhile, Shin Ultraman in his signature hunch battle pose is 400 mm (about 16 inches) and the Shin Kamen Rider is a “giant” at 300 mm (12 inches). The four statues have a dedicated base measuring 680 mm by 680 mm (27 by 27 inches). However, some body parts and weapons may go beyond the base size.
Fans can also choose to buy the individual statue too. You may want to do that if you are a fan of a specific hero because the Good Smile Company Shin Japan Heroes Universe Statue Set costs a bank-breaking 400,000 yen, or around US$2,671. However, it is definitely more economical to buy all four since the individual statue adds up to more. Godzilla alone commands 200,000 yen (~1,335 USD) and Evangelion and Ultraman each go for 115,000 yen (~768 USD) and 100,000 Yen (~668 USD) respectively. Shin Kamen Rider has an asking price of 78,000 yen (~521 USD).
Images: Good Smile Company.
