Picked this up on Mandarake. Don't know much about the toy or the company but I'm totally smitten with it. I was blown away by the two little robot birds that came with it. Had no idea. Any more info would be appreciated.

Wow, awesome figure C. I have seen this around a few times in Japan, but I had no idea it wasn't from one of the standard makers. The quality looks phenomenal, and I love the heavy sheen on the paint. The header is an extra fantastic bonus too. But those birds, well, brilliant! They really look like aluminum. Remind me of German baking molds. Great pickup.

The birds are tiny. Like 3/4".

Here's what I could dig up:

That's the main character from a Tokusatsu show called 'Lightspeed Esper' [光速エスパー] that aired in the mid 70's. His street name would be Ikaru, and he only transforms into Lightspeed Esper or Esper when he calls out for his suit. If I had to guess I'd date that figure in the early naughts. Our hero apparently lost his parents when just a boy. I'm translating from Spanish but basically at least one of the birds is called Shikar and is a manifestation of his dead mother's spirit. The whole thing is, apparently, totally camp and was a vehicle to sell Toshiba electronics. I just might have to watch it now...

Oh! About the toy maker...

Maize co. [MAIZEソフビ] apparently makes a range of toys. Right now they have a Batmobile, based on the Dark Knight movies, listed for pre-order/sale on their website. It's ABS plastic not vinyl. Apparently they made toys in the past based on other kids shows. I found examples for Princess Comet and Plawres Sanshiro. Photos of the toys are here and here, respectively. That's about all I could find with my extremely limited Japanese but if you like, I can search around on the Spanish side of the net after I sleep. The show's full run was apparently aired in Latin America so I can hopefully dig up some more info there.

Hope that helps! And congrats on the score

Great find! I've never heard of it but that paint is beautiful and now one of my favorite Spaceman toys.

It's details like this that make the world go 'round.

So great. Nice lustre and excellent detail. And big thanks to Onion for all the added info. A lot I have to check in to now.

Edit - oops, my bad, time to go back to school and read closely

Great find. Looks like a fun toy.

I think the ABS plastic is for the Batmobile. I'm pretty sure the Spaceman is vinyl.
And my thanks to onion also. You went above and beyond the call of duty.

now THAT is a really choice find . . . .

Really cool find, PH. Another gem that has flown under the radar for a long time.

Cool toy Connell! I like that space gun on his ankle. The story behind those little silver birds have a very Japanese folkloric element that really takes it to another level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3Mf2wRO ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwTpnfPJ ... re=related

It's cool when someone goes after something unusual and different rather than following the herd of hype.

Really nice find with alot of character and detail.

I always thought that was an M1 collaboration. There's also another version of it, in yellow I think.

Awesome looking piece!

really cool toy...nice find connell!!

although,,,the only thing that bugs me about it is the face,,,is there a masked version??

Here was the pic I went by on Mandarake. It also said there was header tag damage/figure scratched. Really not knowing what I was going to get I took my chances at 4,000 yen. Turns out the figure is in perfect/mint condition and other than some very slight wear on the corner of the header it's in near perfect condition also. More and more I find myself attracted to toys I don't know that much about. It was sort of exciting buying something and then learning all this about it. Thanks for all the support/help.
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I have the alternate colour version , he is very cool ... curious is yours numbered on the foot ?

love it. my favorite thing I've seen all day.

Oh! The yellow one is nice.
Mine's Number 012.

Damn I want that Princess Comet toy.<3
i think Maize has some ties with M-1 go as well.

^ ^ Would love one too! She is all sorts of awesome!!!

I realised I had another figure of this guy - By Konami I think

Ah, I saw that on Manadarake awhile back...thought it was cool too! I'm sure I saw a big write up on these somewhere else and it showed others in this line or from this company. There was a female that looked cool Princess something.