You are pretty much right on. The first figures were released for the 29/30th anniversary of Kinnikuman, and were primarily on the shelves of Toys R Us Japan. Each sculpt’s initial production run was between 20 and 500.

I picked up my first carded Five Star in a TRU Japan bargain bin for 1,000 yen…. No kidding. They were not popular with the average Niku head, so they transitioned to the sales model we see them using today.

Thanks guys, I was afraid these may have not been sofubi or simply a different scale

Thanks, Ty.

Yeah, same sofubi and scale, Rude.

I'm trying to remember, but I think my blue Robin Mask and Terryman with red tights and boots came carded...I'll have to check when I get home. I've had others too, but I've since traded or sold them.

Too excited not to share, some MxMxM and PD awesomeness!!

Damn...that Robin Mask is pure fire. Evil looking as shit!

Haha...but then again, it's *really* damn hard to go wrong with that design. You'd have to *try* to come up with a color scheme that didn't look badass on Robin Mask's armor!

Wow, what a great pair of figures! Robin Mask was Warsman's mentor and trainer in the comics, so a very fitting combo.

This is the top Robin release ever IMO.
Fantastic stuff ~ thanks for sharing.

Thanks guys, yes these two are simply awesome, in particular the dark Robin Mask. Even if I also tried to stick to single painted sculpts I'm really tempted to snatch the all black RM and Warsman now!!
I think I've mentioned elsewhere how both anime and manga were HUGE in the 80's in Italy but for some reason Kinnikuman never made it here (although there were tons of other series being aired on national TV and released in comic bookstores and newsagents: Tiger Mask, literally anything Go Nagai, Kaibutsu-Kun and many many more). I think Kinnikuman made his first appearance when GIG, a local toy distributor, released what were here called 'Exogini', essentially the Mattel MUSCLE figures but with no background story or reference to Kinnikuman - and some colour variations, clear glitter versions et cetera.
Thanks to this thread and your inspiring posts I've started reading the manga and that's when I really started getting into Yudetamago! I wish I could find a printed copy as I'm currently reading it off Mangafox but I would really like to support Yude's work by buying the actual manga. Is there any US edition (or English translated version) as unfortunately I do not speak or read Japanese? Thanks again for all the info!!

damn they look nice.. some of the best quality paint apps ever!

oh the new mxmxm goes great with this guy

He does indeed! I need to cool down my Five Star fever, it's getting itchy and compulsive

Excellent question. I don't think so...but it'd be nice if there were a way to put in a request at Tokyopop or some other US publisher like that...

The original series was never released in English, and there are not any current plans to have it officially translated or released.

Kinnikuman Nisei (second generation) was however officially released in the USA in by Viz Media as Ultimate Muscle. You can buy the entire English comic series on either ebay or Amazon. There was also the cartoon that I am sure most of you have seen before.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultimate-Muscle ... 153wt_1170

Complete Original Kinnikuman DVD series set (Japanese only region 2) + complete Kinkeshi rerelease set of 418 figures: http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/item_s-456540.html

Complete Original Kinnikuman Manga series set (Japanese only):
http://www.nama-niku.blogspot.com/2011/ ... t-box.html

Dang, those sets are actually pretty good, when you consider what Japanese DVDs go for, and that you are also getting the complete set of figures.

Kind of off topic I suppose, but if they did release reissues of some of the flesh coloured original guys, how is there to tell the difference? I am not a collector, but given that the vintage ones can sell for ridiculous wads of cash, I am just actually curious. Most of the new stuff I have seen has been coloured in a different way (i.e. deep blue and red plastic) which I thought was to distinguish them from the pink OGs.

Thanks for the heads up, always appreciated!

I don't know if it was the keshigomu that came with the DVD set, but I recall *some* recent-ish series of kinkeshi reissues being pretty bad quality. I mean, I've always preferred the tougher MUSCLE PVC--not just because those are the dudes I grew up with, but because the slightly harder material can hold surface detail better than traditional eraser rubber. But the more recent kinkeshi reissues look pretty terrible, and some even have warped parts. I have a red Satan Cross and a peach Spinning Head Ashuraman on my desk right now. SC's legs seem kinda bent forward and SHA just looks really doughy...like he was cast in bubble gum. I think they're also a bit shorter than my original (I think! maybe they're just from a different reissue run) kinkeshi.

Damn, I *love* how the box for the reissue manga set turns into a friggin' wrestling ring. Badass! The video for it was pretty fun...but it totally reminded me how much we need a FiveStar Geronimo!

This is interesting as the other day I was mailing with the guy that runs musclefigures.com and he was pointing exactly out the same thing. I'm starting to get into kinkeshi so this is great to know, will post here as soon as I pick up some of both - even if it's a tad off topic

I only have a couple new ones, since the old ones are so much better and still pretty cheap. The set I have I think may have come from gashapon machines, but at Mandarake they just have bins of the loose guys. But they are certainly different; not like typical keshi guys at all, but I got the impression they were more firm rather than more deformable.

And as for the 'eraser' figures, I generally categorise these differently. Well, that is to say there are actual eraser guys oftened mislabeled as keshigomu, and vice versa - it can be quite a pain in the ass. But in any case the quality is much lower than Muscle guys, lots of extra vinyl, bad molding, etc., and there are so many bootlegs/variants it is next to impossible to label any.

Anyways.....deeeerrraaaaaillll.

Great question!

Original Japanese Kinkeshi: Eraser like rubber, lighter flesh tone, fishy smell, Made in Japan
M.U.S.C.L.E.: Harder rubber, darker flesh tone, made in Japan (same markings, sculpt, size as Kinkeshi).
Re-issue: Smaller casting, cheap-ass rubber, much lighter flesh tone, stamped with China.

Exactly.

Great Japanese resource on the 29th Anniversary remakes and how to tell the difference: http://www.din.or.jp/~katsumix/premia/kin_29syunen.html

Thanks man, that is a huge help. I actually thought that the new guys might be made in China, based on the quality change, but didn't want to assume anything. Love the resource of Skullbrain!

I love discussing this stuff, so anything Kinnikuman or Kinkeshi related, please ask away!

Five Star should look into doing a Sofubi x Kinkeshi combo release. They usually decorate their Con booth with vintage Kinkeshi, so I know they are huge fans of the medium.

That would be so great!

Okay, since you are prodding me, what about all the medium scale figures? We never had those released outside of Japan as far as I know, but I have seen many of them there. Were they from a later manga, I have mostly seen more 'humanoid' ones? They don't give me quite the same delight as the mini kinkeshi guys, but I have still developed an appreciation for them. I have a couple but not sure if they are licensed or not (sadly not immediately on hand).

Sea of flesh, just for the hell of it



Was it on your blog I read about the Kinnikuman fan who collected the bricks from one of artist's Osaka home when it was demolished? I couldn't find it again, but anyways, that is some dedication.

Thinking about it more, I realised later that the reason I preobably only saw 'plain' wrestlers in the medium size, was because they were less desired, and hence always thrown in as part of one of those grab bags! Cool, found a pic of some of the larger figures:



One more spam pic

Yes, that would be a great idea. Coins too please!!

Oh, duh! I totally forgot about the China stamp on the back...and I was *actually* holding that red Satan Cross while typing my previous post!

That's a pretty cool website, Ty. Definitely fun to look through all the pics of the dudes we never got here in the MUSCLE line. I'm not as into the pre-posed mid-wrestling-move guys, but they're real fun to see!

TELL me you have this King the 100 Tons!:

The loose dumbbell plate is sweet. Never saw that version before!

Also, it looks like I'm not the only jerk making Kinnikuman stuff in CAD!

^ ^ CAD for 3D Prints?

Anyone knows more about these two?