It takes 100 ninja to properly celebrate the 100th post on Vintage Ninja!
Since going live in June, enthusiastic response from readers and thousands of visits from every continent on the globe have given me a real sense of connecting with like-minded fans. I haven’t even done much to promote or cross-market the site, either. Its all been word-of-E-mouth from great folks like you, and I humbly thank everyone who posts links and retweets and whatnot.
There are ninja sites all over, but few of those if any are for people looking for the real Japanese source, or want to read about the 80’s media with a sense of respect instead of irony and irreverence. No knock against the Robert Hamburgers or black-pajama-ed YouTube advice columnists of the world, but it seems there are way too many people giggling and chuckling at old ninja movies than actually appreciating them.
Furthermore, at a time when “ninja” is being redefined as super-powered rave kids in snowboarding wear or bed-headed teen idols doing digitally enhanced Chinese martial arts, I think the world needs more reminders of the black-hooded idiom that goes back centuries.
So if I can turn even a small percentage of the fan base of the ‘new ninja’ onto Shinobi no Mono, and remind those of us old enough to have seen a Kosugi flick in a theater how great that feeling of the 80’s craze was, then I’m a happy publisher.
Stay tuned for the next 100!
Keith J. Rainville
11/23/09
johnnyboycivello
I’m an avid toy collector who also happens to very much love Ninja culture, as well as most things Japanese. Let’s just say that growing up in the ’80’s didn’t hurt to fuel these interests & make them lifelong pursuits.
In a spontaneous rush of old memories, my collector brain uttered: “Oh yeah, remember those weirdo monster ninja figures you had”… which led me on a rampant search for Ninja Assassin/Defender figures, which led me to this site. That was 4 days ago & I’ve never looked back since.
This site for me is a dream come true Keith, & I thank you for it. Please, keep up the great work.
On a side note, I know roughly 85 of the Ninja that you have up there, & must say that I’m quite pleased that you threw in Savitar, the toy that got me hooked on Ninja in the first place.
ScandyMan
Congratulations, and well said, my friend.