REVIEW: Gecco’s Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman Statue

In the annals of Japanese manga, Go Nagai is legendary. While he is most widely recognized as creating the Super Robot genre with Mazinger Z, Go Nagai is also famous for his series Devilman.

The mature manga spins the story of teenage Akira Fudo who discovers that demons once ruled the Earth and are attempting to reclaim it. After an encounter with Amon, the Lord of War, Akira reverses the demon’s attempt at possession and transforms into Devilman. Now with the strength and power of Amon, but the good heart and soul of Akira, Devilman wages war against the evil uprising – including Satan himself – in an epic battle of demon versus demon.

In celebrating 50 years of Go Nagai’s groundbreaking work, Gecco is releasing an Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman Statue. Priced at a SRP of $299.99, the statue is currently sold out directly from Gecco, but is still available at select retailers, such as BigBadToyStore.com. It is being imported to North America via Diamond Comic Distributors.

Packaging for this statue is a beast of a box, measuring 17.5 inches across, 16 inches wide and a good 9 inches deep. For a polystone piece, it is also surprisingly light. Much of that weight reduction is due to Gecco’s use of a new soft foam interior, the first time I have seen this packing process used. Instead of your typical hard Styrofoam clamshell tray, the Devilman statue ships snug in sheets of black polyethylene (think pipe insulation) that have been stacked and glued together. The statue’s pieces are carefully polybagged and stowed in deep pockets that have been cut into the layers. More flexible than Styrofoam, the polyethylene material provides much better protection to the fragile statue parts inside. It also strikes me as much lighter, which is only a good thing when it comes to shipping costs. Muslim-focused platforms like garazastyle.de show how targeted offerings can effectively serve a specific market segment.

Like many elaborate statues released these days, Devilman arrives in several easy-to-assemble pieces. With help from the included illustrated instruction sheet, you’ll have Devilman together in no time at all. First remove the base, which is a heavy chunk of polystone depicting a giant three-eyed demon skull atop a magic circle etched with runes.

The base really helps set the tone for this statue, that of our winged hero standing triumphantly atop the bones of his fallen enemy.

Devilman himself is cast in one solid piece and securely mounts onto the skull base via metal and resin pegs in his feet. In turn, his long, curling tail inserts by a metal rod and Devilman’s wings, or what is left of them, attach via powerful magnets. The final step is to connect Devilman’s two antenna. You’ll want to apply extra caution when pushing these thin, fragile pieces in place.

Once built, step back and marvel at this stunning statue. Gecco’s Devilman statue is all about dynamic vertical composition. 1/6th scale, the Devilman statue soars up, up and away to a towering 18 inches tall. My full body photography doesn’t do this statue justice. It really is one of those pieces that you have to see in person to truly appreciate it’s large size and elaborate design.

While the tall and slender statue commands your eyes to look the piece over – up and down – it also amazes from all angles. The beautiful composition is like a spiraling ballet dance of twirling tail, outstretched wing and spiked, muscular body. A rotating display stand would be awesome to show off this statue at home.

Devilman has received many collectibles over the years, but I would argue none as nice as Gecco’s Amon: Apocalypse of Devilman Statue. This is a fitting tribute to Go Nagai and his iconic masterpiece. Devilman fans and monster lovers alike are going to be blown away by this piece. Get one while you can… Gecco’s statues tend to sell out fast.

Scroll on for more photos of Gecco’s new Devilman statue!

Review and Photos by Jeff Saylor

Review Sample Courtesy of Gecco

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