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 peanut vendors, the Automat … Continued
…over at the excellent Toypedia blog:
They might just be the most coveted line of 80s ninja toys clinging to the edges of obscurity, sought after by elite ninja super-collectors worldwide. (translated: a half-dozen or so of us really competing for these on eBay). We first featured … Continued
This articulated “Romando” figure is from the famed wrestling manga/anime property Kinnikuman, better known here as M.U.S.C.L.E. Great character design for this ring-sport shinobi. These 6-8″ versions of the bizarre wrestlers were produced in the mid-2000s for the 25th anniversary … Continued
Nice little 5″ resin-cast statue sold to martial arts supply stores in the early 2000s. I’ve seen two different poses of these, in black and really ugly camouflage, too.
This mid 90s, 8-inch plush rendition of Kage-Maru from Sega’s Virtua Fighter video game was likely a “UFO prize” (aka kids’ allowance bait in one of those coin-devouring claw machines). This is a character that when first introduced was a … Continued
OK, so there’s no direct ninja-ness to this post, but I have a serious love for weird 70s martial arts toys, and where else am I going to find a home for these pics? Circa 1974-75, Matchbox had ambitions beyond … Continued
I love the somewhat goofy Henshin Ninja Arashi and I love this cheap 7″ semi-articulated vinyl figure too. Bandai produced this in 2005, and it sold for $10-14. I dig this size and price range of collectible – one only … Continued
No major theme today, but I wanted to throw some notes out there before a busy weekend. I’ll start with a rather strange score from LA’s Chinatown: Found this statue/plaque/display thing at a shop in the Dynasty Market complex, which … Continued
The interwebs were abuzz this week with the first image of a hip new version of the beloved 80’s cartoon ThunderCats. I was never much of a fan myself, but back in the days when martial arts-related action figures were … Continued