Awesome Menko art
Love this Menko card portrait of either Kurozukin (The Black Hood) or Kurama Tengu. Artist and date unknown, cardstock and discoloration from age is consistent with other stuff I have from the 50s and 60s.
Yep, let’s just throw the term KOGA around…
Merchandisers love VARIETY of offerings and EXCLUSIVITY of products at the same time. But above all else, they love a healthy PROFIT MARGIN. To those ends, you see ads like this one from the mid 80s a lot. Take the … Continued
Karate Laundromat?!?
Spotted in Pismo Beach, California today. Bad strip mall sign spacing, or greatest crossover business idea ever? I imagine students hand-wringing your dirty clothes, whipping them around like weapons to dry alá training montages in old Gordon Liu and Jackie … Continued
Monsters, with some surprise martial arts legends
Spent the weekend selling vintage toys and collectibles at the big Monsterpalooza convention in Burbank. Normally, details of this wouldn’t land on this site, but to my surprise there was quite the array of martial artists and Japanese film legends … Continued
I’m at Monsterpalooza!
Anyone local to Burbank, CA, I’m set-up for the weekend at an, admittedly off-topic, convention called MONSTERPALOOZA. I’m having a “monster-kid” yard sale of sorts, selling off a bunch of collectibles, toys and movie memorabilia from storage. The highlight of … Continued
Toshiro Mifune: Ninja???
Everyone knows Toshiro Mifune, right? Shogun, warlord, admiral, ronin. But who knew he once played a ninja!?!? Born on this day in 1920, let’s celebrate Mifune’s birthday with a look at a lesser-known chapter of his storied career – two ninja … Continued
Egyptian poster for NINJA IN THE USA
Amazing Arabic market poster for Alexander Lo-Rei’s Ninja in the USA. Wow… I mean, WOW!
On sale at FUJI ARTS
Don’t own an antique Japanese print of a ninja (or ninja-like) wizard doing TOAD MAGIC? Well, end the shame and embarrassment of it right now over at Japanese art acutioneers Fuji Arts! I’d love to a be a heavy hitter … Continued
NINJA BUGEICHO
So-called “Motion Comics” released on DVD and partially-animated graphic novels adapted for tablet devices are familiar now, but go back a few decades and experiments in using still art in moving media are less frequent, and with mixed results at … Continued