Ninja vinyl
No, not a vinyl toy post… this is one for you record collectors. Spotted on eBay recently: (Click for full-size versions) I know nothing of this “The Ninja” band, and I’m not an 80s hair metal guy by any stretch of … Continued
FIVE YEARS!!!
Wow… the fifth anniversary of this site. You’ll notice some minor cosmetic and navigation updates for the first time in forever. I suppose some sort of profound editorial is in order, but I’d rather just thank everyone who’s plugged this site and … Continued
A few more that got away…
Couple years ago now, one of my sources for the hand-colored press stills from Thailand that have so contributed to the identity of this site contacted me with some new offerings. A lot of it was stuff I already had … Continued
A Shintaro shinobi… in COLOR!
A neat little menko card, likely from the 60s, featuring characters from Onmitsu Kenshin, the ground-breaking TV series beloved in Australia as The Samurai. It’s pretty rare to see a color image from this seminal B&W series, and what few … Continued
Enter the Tricycle
Maker unknown. Sellers, long forgotten. Year — probably sometime in the 1980s. Logic… a mystery. Another fantastic, crap-tastic, relic from the days of blanket vendors outside subway stops, swapmeet junk toy booth and Chinatown gift shops. This head is actually … Continued
6 Things You Can Buy at Hardware Stores That REALLY Look Like Ninja Weapons
There was a period during the 80s ninja craze that the staff of this site were legally too young to buy mail order weapons. We were utterly bitter at the time, but looking back on it now, it was probably … Continued
Coming soon, a new Category…
We’re phasing out the old “Sword Girls” category and have migrated the posts over to other more appropriate Categories – mostly FIlm and TV. Nothing’s been deleted, just moved to better homes. Click back soon for a whole new Category here…
Ninja by Belgians in KOGARATSU
You find some real gems in the dollar boxes and discount bins of comic book stores sometimes. This was a recent find, the early 80s chambara graphic novel series Kogaratsu by the Belgian creative team of Serge ‘Bosse’ Bosmans and Marc ‘Michetz’ Degroide. … Continued
VN REVISITED – Shinobi-based ‘Sugoroku’ game
Originally published February, 2010 Have owned this “sugoroku” illustrated game board for years but am finally discovering the actual nature of it. Essentially a Japanese version of Chutes and Ladders, these thin paper game boards have been produced for centuries … Continued
VN REVISITED – 80s Porcelain Statues
Originally published August, 2011 This line of rather poorly sculpted and often more poorly painted porcelain statues was EVERYWHERE during the 80s craze – Chinatown video shops, flea market vendors, martial arts supply stores, the Smithsonian’s souvenir stand, ball park … Continued