While I have always been a loyal Ultraman-fan, the upgraded action, costumes, and music of the 70s really brought something great in Kamen Rider. And heck, they kicked ass and drove around on motorbikes! What really made the show though was the creatively designed villains. They set the bar for so many things to come, and a strong reason why they are still be used for great vinyl inspiration from some of the best makers out there.

Let's start it off with a bunch of minis I have been grabbing whenever I can (and could afford them). While unposeable, the action of the arms makes these figures much beloved and more playable than static figures with their limbs at their sides. Some of these guys can fetch a pretty penny on the market (something I was introduced to through a Japanese collector), but others, like mine, are a very affordable alternative to the full size (or giant sized) villains. I will try and maybe scan an article from one of my kaiju books that shows the series.

Here are few I have picked up, but I apologise to the stragglers that somehow managed to escape this photo shoot. I'll sneak you in there yet. [Damn, just realised when I uploaded the photo that it is totally blurred. FU to me and my shaky hands and crappy camera. Oh well, enjoy anyways.]

take a look of this incredible audiction that dedo found on yjp, i took the photos a do a post on my blog...
http://kaijulab.blogspot.com/2011/12/kamen-rider-complete-vintage-serie-1960.html

really ncredible like the price...950.000 yen!!!

[aside - I think it is probably cool to post that, in light of the number of players on here who can bring it to that kind of game. Might want to check with the mods.

Mind = blown. There goes any hope of completing my PhD. A lifetime of collecting all in one batch. I am not sure they will realise that price, but given the scope of completion and their condition, nothing would surprise me. Thanks for compiling the pics to your blog Marta. Amazing auction, I really love these figures.

i found photos of minis serie: no words

http://kaijulab.blogspot.com/2011/12/kamen-rider-complete-minis-vintage.html

Amazing! I love the Kamen Rider characters so much, in my book they're the epitome of creativity when it comes to the weird Japanese shit we all love. I don't make enough money to collect the vintage ones but I've been satisfying my need with the really cool reissues that Unifive put out. Can't wait to get more!

i love kamen rider. the show, the villains, and especially the awesome toys!

still working on trying to grab some full-size villains. here is my vinatge kamen rider one...

I can buy only bandai made in china

was anyone involved in the bidding war for the couple of vintage last night on ebay?

Your great scores from Operation Kobe continue to tickle my jelly bone, Steve - call me crazy, but I personally find the minis to be the most appealing thing about the entire Kamen phenomenon. Nice finds in my book, and I'm an unrepentant Tsuburaya snot!

Giant villains!!

Truly impressive. I had this big plan to come away from Japan with a few of these two from a local store, but it never materialised. The sole guy I managed was the giant Cobraman. I had my eyes on the giant ant at a Mandarake for ages too, have to post a picture of that guy.

gahh that is one of the best collection pics i've seen in a long while

the giant villains are a dream, especially that awesome death chameleon

Even though I already have these, I'm still blown away by the picture.

Let me add that I'm still surprised people will spend 150,000 yen on a Nag but not be interested in these for 30,000 (or less).

Are those *all* the giants they made for Kamen Rider? Or are they more?

I wonder if kr has these guys...obviously he's got a complete set of standards, but I don't recall him posting any giant-sized dudes.

So lovely!

This is the only one not shown in this group (the only one I have ). OAs collection is incredible. Im pretty sure King Rory has all these.

Yeah. That's the one I was after as well. I am not sure if there may or may not have been one or two others. I know I snapped some shots of the ones I saw in store (it was pretty comprehesive), so I will try and track those down. If anyone is interested in knowing, despite their large size, these actually came bagged with a header and backing.

I always thought there were six in total.

Thanks for the kind words.

There are a few more standards Im after aswell.Luckily Im not a completist.

Words I live by!

I've been chipping away at these as well. I have four of the six giants, and a good number of the standards and the minis.

Surprised the lot sale didn't include specimens with wings, the Bee girl and the Alien guy (for lack of better names).

I remember a lot sale from about three years ago that had that pair with the delicate wings that kids must have ripped off and it went for considerably less, I think it was $8500 US, complete set along with some vintage heros...

Those giant sized are cool, but the best for me are the V3 minis. Very rare though, I only have one.

Yup, total of 6 giants.

I'm trying to complete the standard size villains but still have several more to go (including the most expensive ones).

I recently got the standard size flower-headed dude for a decent price after waiting patiently for several years for one to show up. Collecting these is definitely not for the impatient.

Best thread! Those giant villains are jaw dropping! Probably never even see one in person...

Aside from the 6 giant size villains, there are a few versions of giant size riders as well. While the Giant size kaiju are very undervalued (in my opinion), they can all be had for under 30,000yen usually. The giant riders are another story all together, and some are affordable (V3) but most of them get pretty expensive.

The giant Cobraman also has a very subtle paint variation, as most have yellow waists with blue chests, but some have additional red spray detailing all the sculpt lines around the waist. The mini size figures have several spray variations on many of the figures also, and the variations are not well documented. The flying pose mini size are extremely difficult and expensive to find, and I agree, are some of the best versions of these characters. For standard size, the bee-girl and dinosaur are the most expensive characters. Supposedly early versions of the bee had wings, and later did not, but I sort of think that is just used to help sell wingless versions of the figure.

thanks for the info brian. i would love both the bee girl and the dino, great looking figures but the prices are always through the roof. by the way, that mini with arms up is really nice mondo!

So beautiful and so unreachable.
BIN 280,000 yen yen if I remember correctly.
Yeah someone bought it at that price...

I can't place the Dino, anyone have a pic?