Within the last week, I picked up my first two Gargamel toys: the SDCC 2007/3rd Anniversary full-size Zagoran, and the matching mini Zagoran that just came out. I think I'm one of the few people around here who had one of the Hukkokudo reissues of the Daikyo Zagora before ever even handling Gargamel's remake of it. When you put the toys alongside each other you can really see how different they are: Gargamel's approach, with more even sculpting of the scales, the elimination of the back spines, and the compression of the body, has sort of "de-monsterized" the design. It's almost like seeing it rendered for a Matt Groening cartoon. Tale of the tape: Gargamel has definitely pushed the envelope of modern translucent vinyl with the separate guts, the paper inserts, etc., and I am a total sucker for that stuff, but the tactile experience of the Hukkokudo toy is probably going to make me pick it up and fiddle with it more frequently while I'm watching TV. All three toys are awesome, though.
I know what you mean, Rog. I finally got the clear Smoking Corps set, and was able to utilize the robo and skeletal gut inserts Gargamel has on their site. Cool stuff.
