The 1957 Toei FX romp Ninjutsu Gozen-Jiai (aka Torawakamaru, the Koga Ninja) is the perfect example of the pre-60’s craze kid’s ninja film: mischievous wizard hero, evil sorcerer, spirit-creatures fighting in the clouds, etc and so forth. Before the real … Continued
More VHS clamshell art, via DRILLPOP: Formal from an Onmitsu Doshin wedding or the Demon Spies prom? A baffling image via the amazing Black and WTF photoblog: A review of this nifty capsule figure of Sega video game kunoichi Hibana over … Continued
We’ll wrap-up a month of toys and merch with a look at some nameless, non-property-based ninja toys from the 80’s. Wind-up toys sold in subway stops or off swap-meet blankets, supermarket tchotchkes, vending capsule minatures, even cake-toppers – these are … Continued
Next to Kaiketsu Lion Maru (which in a modern context some find waaaay to ‘furry’ for comfort) Henshin Ninja Arashi was easily the most outre ninja hero ever — weird silver bird-like, but scaly, with some parts that look kinda … Continued
In my non-ninja creative endeavors, I’m known for some pioneering work in bringing the Mexican masked wrestler thing to American pop culture prominence in the 90’s. Those efforts led to some great collaborations with animation studio FWAK!, and we may … Continued
While Hasbro’s “Storm Shadow” from the GI Joe line is easily the most prolific ninja toy produced during the 80’s craze (permutations are still best-sellers today), the same company later released the non-property-based Ninja Warriors: Enemies of Evil line. Dojo … Continued
Dunno when the original art for these was done – either a century ago or last month to emulate a century ago – but you can still pick them up in grocery stores and gift shops in any big city’s … Continued
I was already down with owning Eric Nash‘s Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater, a great look at the all-but-extinct art of panel-art based itinerant pop-theater. Imagine an actor gathering dozens of kids around a portable wooden box … Continued
More Russian stuff! I picked up this set of 2″ tall plastic shinobi a few years ago, they’re from one of several Russian manufacturers of property-derivative (but not property-based) toy soldiers. These sit somewhere between the lead miniature gaming realm … Continued