Here's an interesting link I thought I'd pass on: Amuro's Icons has Lego-style icons of various Japanese anime shows, including Kinnikuman! Other cool icons include Shogun Warriors, Power Rangers, and Battle of the Planets! It's in Japanese, but you should have no problem with navigation.

Labels: fan art, Kinnikuman

From Hong Kong, Zegus' site has updated with some images of Gashapon Kinnikuman figures (I assume the figures in the first two posts are from the same line, but I guess they might not be.) Scrolling down, you can see more figures that I think are part of the Kinnikuman Solid line. Regardless, they all look pretty awesome. Check them out!

And from Japan comes Naochin's site with shots of a painted Motor guy (who the crap is this?) and an unpainted Parthenon prototype! Parthy looks particularly sweet, with an imprisoned Robin Mask on one of his columns. Take a gander at Naochin's!

Labels: Kinnikuman, Romando

Tyler's the go-to guy for information about this Kinnikuman 29th Anniversary boxed set:

The Kinnikuman DVD boxed set is now up for pre-order on a few sites:

• Amazon.jp.
  
• CD Japan (Description in English)
• Cool pic
  

Just thought I would pass it along.

Thanks, Tyler! Also, you can discuss the Kinnikuman DVD set in this thread at LittleRubberGuys.com.

Labels: Kinnikuman

This is from Tyler (uoozoman):

Hi Nathan, I came across a major Kinnikuman story on Yahoo Japan news today, and thought I would pass it along. According to the story, they are re-releasing all 418 kinkeshi with a DVD boxset of the the complete Kinnikuman Anime series for the 29th anniversary of Kinnikuman. There is also an official Kinnikuman day which is the first Friday of the year that falls on the 29th, a Kinnikuman films festival in Shinjuku, and a plan to re-release individual kinkeshi in vending machines (gatcha gatcha) sometime next year. Here is a link to the story with a pic of the kinkeshi.

Wow... sounds awesome! Let's hope some Japanese import store will carry the rerelease! And that picture in the article is a MUSCLE fan's dream! Thanks, Tyler!

Update 12/4/2007: Tyler sends along another update:

There was also another link with an image of the DVD box set, and more information on the official Kinnikuman day - it looks like it is an officially recognized day that was filed with the gov etc. Pretty cool stuff.

Labels: Kinnikuman

Zegus has notified me of his Hong Kong Kinnikuman site! Although I have no idea what the site is saying, if you click around you can see some images of cool Kinnikuman toys, including some good-sized shots of the upcoming super-sweet Kinnikuman Solid figures. Thanks for the link, Zegus!

Labels: Kinnikuman, MUSCLE Web Sites

Naochin's site updates once again with a new Romando: Hawkman! It looks like it will probably be rotocast, unfortunately. But the paint apps and the sculpt look pretty sweet, and he'll either come with a different interchangeable bald head, or have a bald head variant. Check it out at Naochin's!

Labels: Kinnikuman, Romando

Soupie stumbled upon a Kinkeshi store here in the states called Toy Zipangu! Take it away, Soups!

My wife and I had just left a Japanese toy store that was selling mostly designer vinyl stuff when we stumbled upon TOY ZIPANGU! Right inside the door was a display case with a bunch of Kinkeshi and other keshi (keshigomu).

There was a Japanese girl behind the counter. When I exclaimed, "Look at all these keshi figures," the girl jumped out from behind the counter... She explained that she had had the shop in the East Village for 6 months and had never heard ANYONE use the word Keshi.

Apparently her brother, who owns the store in Manhattan, is a huge collector in Japan (it's not Naochin, I asked, haha). He works as a screen writer for Japanese TV programs. She showed me a video he made featuring tons of Keshi figures. She said she is a huge collector now, too. She lives in Manhattan and runs the store, and her brother sends her over figures to sell in the US. She said they really just want to share the love of Kinkeshis here in the US. She expressed her surprise that no one really seems interested in keshi here in the states because she thinks they are a superior type of toy -- and I agreed with her 100%.

Click on the image below to go to the Toy Zipangu website for contact information. Great find, Soupie!

Labels: Kinnikuman, Misc

Naochin comes through yet again with Romando news: new Omega Man and Sunshine Arch figures are planned! Omega Man looks cool with multiple-character heads, and the Sunshine Arch sculpt is pretty awesome (with about as much articulation as you might expect). Check them out at Naochin's Romando page!

Labels: Kinnikuman, Romando

Chogokin Jawa has this to add about the Kinnikuman store in Tokyo!

Please be informed that as of May 2007 it was still there in the Nakano mall ! It is one of the Mandarake shops of this mall and it is still dedicated to Kiinikuman. Unfortunately I couldn't take pics because it was forbidden.

So the Kinnikuman Shangri-La still exists! Thanks Chogokin Jawa! If you want to see some of his haul, check out this thread at the Little Rubber Guys forums. And you can check out a couple pics of the Kinnikuman store here.

Labels: Kinnikuman, Misc

I'm totally behind-the-times with this announcement, but it's too cool not to share. At the beginning of the month, Naochin posted some pics of a pretty cool Bikeman Romando (Bikeman was MUSCLE #215). The figure transforms into a bike! Check it out over at Naochin's Romando page. There are also plenty of other cool Romandos, like some awesome Buffalomans (Buffalomen?)

Labels: Kinnikuman, Romando