Much like the Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this probably appeals more to monster collectors than Jumbo fans, but it's a great toy nonetheless.

Though generally considered a part of Mattel's famous "Shogun Warriors" line of toys, Rodan is really a stand-alone entry in the "World's Greatest Monsters" line. If any other monsters were ever planned to be in this line, they were unfortunately never released. But Rodan is a great toy and a great companion piece to the Shogun Godzilla. Until recent years, it was also the only Jumbo Machinder-style toy to be released exclusively in the United States.

Rodan is not very poseable with the only real articulation being at the neck, which is on a nice swivel, allowing for a wide range of motion. The mouth also opens and closes. But there are several other nice features that more than make up for this. The wings flap and the it can hold something in it's claws via the use of some included rubber bands. These rubber bands are missing on almost all remaining specimens today, but can be easily replaced. The toy needs to be assembled out of the box, but it's an easy process. However, if you don't have the instruction sheet, here's what you need to do:

First, attach the elastics to the claws. (You'll need just the right size elastics to get the proper tension. The instructions refer to them as number 27 size elastics but I couldn't find those. I simply bought a bag of mixed sizes and experimented. Also, you may find remnants of the original elastics that would need to be removed before proceeding.) It's easier to do this without the wings on so you don't have to deal with them flapping around. The idea here is simple but can be a little tricky to do simply because you are working with limited space. The claws are made of two plastic pieces on a hinge, each with a hook inside for you to wrap the elastic around. Attach one end of the elastic to one hook, like on the claw on the right:

Then, pull the elastic down and wrap it around the second hook.

The tricky part is next, when you have to then bring it back up to the first hook and attach it again here. You are basically folding the elastic in half and attaching both ends to the same peg. Do the same on both claws.

The claws will remain open so that you can stand the toy, but each side has a protruding piece of plastic in the middle that is pushed in when you place something in them. This starts the process of closing the claws, and the tension from the elastic finishes it, allowing it to get a firm grip. As you can see from the box, a Shogun Warrior Dangard Ace fits nicely in there!

Next, remove the back plate by pushing the tabs OUTWARDS and lifting. Then, you need to take the right wing, insert it into the body by sliding the edge under the tabs inside the torso and then push an elastic through the hole on the inside edge of the wing. The instructions say to insert the wing first, but I find it's just as easy to do the elastic and then the wing.

Once the elastic and wing is in place, you need to stretch each end of the elastic over to the hook on the left side of the body and attach them. When this is completed, repeat the step on the other side, stretching the second elastic from the left wing to the right hook.

Now, you can re-attach the back plate. This has some holes in it that allow for easy handling of the toy, as well as the ability to suspend it from the ceiling so that you can display it in flight! Simply shaking the toy will cause the wings to flap, much like a rubber bat.

One thing that often confused me until I got this toy was how it "squawks", as the box proclaims. It turns out it is simply the ratcheting sound that the lever that opens the beak makes. Speaking of the box, not all are the same. Some proclaim the toy to have a 41" wingspan, while others have a corrective sticker over that saying 38" inches. Amusingly, the side of the box still says 41" on these.

Much like the Shogun Warriors Godzilla, this probably appeals more to monster collectors than Jumbo fans, but it's a great toy nonetheless. It's probably the hardest of the Mattel jumbos to get, especially in the box.

Clear vinyl toys are rather popular now and this would certainly be an interesting addition to any kaiju collection.

Meganuron (メガヌロン) is a very minor kaiju character from the 1956 Toho classic "Rodan", directed by Inoshiro Honda. An enlarged form of an un-named prehistoric insect, it is actually one of the smallest "giant" monsters you'll see. It seems to only be about 10-15 feet long. At one point in the movie, it actually ENTERS a house, rather than stepping on it. Further making it one of the least intimidating kaiju is the fact that other than his initial appearance, he poses no further threat in the movie and instead is revealed to be nothing more than a tasty snack for little baby Rodan.

Meganuron crawls horizontally along the ground on his legs, but this toy depicts the character in a standing pose.

The toy stands just shy of 8" tall and there are 6 poseable limbs on this toy, with two more small legs molded into place along the tail. The head can also be turned side to side and features light silver paint spray on the eyes, red on the mouth and blue on the nose and around the eyes. There is also light blue spray on the claws as well as the outer edges of the shell on the back. The blue is VERY faint and I honestly never noticed it until closely inspecting the toy for this review.

This version of Meganuron is the second released by Toy Graph, the first featuring a grey base with blue and brown spray. The clear green version was sold as an exclusive at the Tokyo Wonderfest in the winter of 2006. I'm not sure on the original retail price, but I paid 6,500 yen for mine at the Nakano Broadway mall in one of the consignment shops there.

As usual, the toy was sold in a bag with an admittedly bland looking header card.

I find myself constantly changing my mind as to whether I like this toy or not. It is certainly eye catching and I really like the color as it looks when immersed in my kaiju shelf. Plus I like having such an obscure character. But when taken on it's own, it somehow seems less impressive. Maybe it's because I hate when a monster happens to have superflous limbs like this one does, just two legs hanging there uselessly. Still, clear vinyl toys are rather popular now and this would certainly be an interesting addition to any kaiju collection.

Never a horror like it! The Gallery Rodan is a beautiful rendition of the classic Toho monster.

Two years or so ago I was scouring eBay trying to find a "World's Greatest Monsters" Rodan (aka "Radon" or ラドン) for my Jumbo collection. I only had a slight interest in vinyl kaiju at the time but I saw one listed under Rodan that caught my eye. Marmit's Gallery Rodan from their line of vinyl ParaBaies had a look to it that I had not seen in any other Rodan toy. It was somehow cute yet menacing at the same time, a perfect cross between the old school vinyl look of vintage Bullmarks and the later more realistic appearance of Bandai's Move Monster series. I really liked what I saw. Yet, for some reason, mostly my desire to not begin another hobby, I decided not to buy it. The toy sold for $55 and I tried to put it out of my mind.

But alas, in my subsequent searches for the jumbo Rodan, I began to realise that I was looking for this toy as much as that one. I was forced to face the fact. I had to have it. I quickly added Rodan to my Yahoo!Japan search (technically "Radon" as he's called in Japan) and figured it would not be long before I'd corrected my mistake of not buying this guy. Wrong. It turns out this particular version of the toy was an exclusive and didn't seem to show up very much. I began to worry that I'd made a big mistake and that the next time it showed up, I'd have to pay big bucks to get it.

Fortunately, I was wrong again. A few months back another specimen showed up on eBay, with a starting bid of only $29.99. I intently watched the auction and on the day it ended, I could not be home to bid. Panic set in. I did something I'd never done before or since. I went to a total strangers house and asked to use their internet. Desperate times call for desperate measures, after all!

I placed the bid and left. To my shock and joy, no one else bid! This beautiful toy for only $30. What makes this toy beautiful? Perhaps it has to do with the position the wings. With the arms held up and the wings coiled in, Rodan has a bat-like look to him, like Dracula hunched over his prey. The gold paint on the claws of both the hands and feet look nice against the red of the body. The sculpt of the head and chest are also quite appealing, imo.

As with all the toys in the ParaBaby line, Rodan comes with a second vinyl, a smaller version of himself in flight mode.

The Marmit Gallery Rodan stands a shade under 7" tall with a 6.5" wingspan. The wingspan on the smaller vinyl is 5.5" and it stands approximately 2.5" tall. Both toys were sold together in a bag and header card.