Since this site started I’ve collected every instance of knock-offs and rip-offs of the iconic Sho Kosugi jump kick from the Enter the Ninja marketing I can find. Been a while since I’ve dumped them on here though, so here’s … Continued
If you’re reading this site you were probably reading Condor’s NINJA Magazine in the 80s, and on a then crowded newsstand the beacons, the avatars, of all that ninja content were the garish and lurid painted covers. For much of … Continued
Repeated numerous times on this site, here’s another great example of the real strength of the ninja — genericness! You didn’t need to pay licensing fees to any property owner, no actor likeness negotiated, no corporate branding to reinforce sales… … Continued
Some of the most concise and enduring memories of those of us who lived through the 1980s ninja craze are mail order ads. By the middle of the decade, mail order ninja suits, weapons, posters and books nearly crowded the … Continued
Check out this awesomeness! This 3×8-inch sheet of kids’ temporary tattoo image transfers has somehow survived the decades, and is aging in delightfully weird ways. No manufacturer or year, and I won’t even guess, but it’s FAR from new… Sword-slingin’ … Continued
The somewhat physical card game of Menko (aka Bettan or Patchin) — wherein players ‘fwap’ cardboard rectangles or circles down on each other then claim whatever flips over — isn’t the most conducive to collectible items surviving the decades. These things … Continued
The rarest antiques are the things that are the most disposable when produced, and its hard to think of anything (outside of ice cream bars maybe) with a shorter shelf life than a sheet of temporary tattoos for kids. Somehow … Continued
Hot damn are paper “Sugoroku” game board sheets just the coolest! The 300 year old board game akin to Chutes and Ladders (“Snakes and Ladders” for you Europeans), is aimed at adults and children alike, is a New Year’s tradition in … Continued
Picked up a used copy of a 2004 Japanese-language ninjutsu book called Shinobi: All Things About Ninja – Hattori Hanzo, Momochi Tanba, Fujibayashi and More, which was sealed and I couldn’t inspect before committing to. As I don’t read kanji … Continued
One of the great head-scratchers of the 80s American ninja boom was the NBC TV series The Master, created by Michael Sloan but driven by the one-man craze-catalyst that was Sho Kosugi. On one hand its very existence spoke to the … Continued