Vintage Ninja still has an open call out for what we call “Kosugi Kicks” — images of ninja in movie posters, VHS sleeves, toy packaging, advertising, whatever, that are cribbed from the iconic two-sword jump kick publicity shot Sho Kosugi posed for back in the early 80s. This image has gone on to be the most iconic, and most ripped-off, image of a ninja from the Western world’s craze of the 80s.
Read our original article on the subject here.
Just discovered this vintage gem from the derivative genre literary world:
And here’s another from a proposed film that never happened, at least not in this form:
A better look at the Kosugi-Kick-inspired packaging of the M.U.S.C.L.E-knock-off toy line N.I.N.J.A Mites:
And outright piracy of the image on some old tabi packaging:
See any we missed in these three articles? Send them our way!
