The Return of Kinnikuman Kinkeshi!

Kinkeshi Premium Vol. 1
All New Sculpts | 15 Figure Set | 4,320円
Feb 2017 Release | Pre-order @ Bandai Premium Shop
Bandai Japan | Made in China 
(International Order Assistance is offered on the page)

*Image Compliments of Yudetamago

The set includes 11 classic series characters completely re-sculpted for the new line.  It also includes 4 entirely new sculpts based on characters from the current Kinnikuman Revival series.  Max Radial, Peek-a-boo, Nemesis and Strong the Budo will all be debuting in Keshi form for the first time.  This is just the first volume of a "premium Kinkeshi" series from Bandai with new characters introduced in the Revival series being included within each additional volume.

The product information page says the material is "PVC," so my guess is that they will have a look and feel similar to the 2004 Nintendo Game Cube x Bandai Kinnikuman Nisei and WazaKeshi series.  Where this is part of Bandai's premium collectors line, I really hope they avoid doing something similar to the cheaply made 29th anniversary re-releases. 

Perhaps some of the most exciting news for hardcore Kinkeshi collectors, is that all the new figures were sculpted by the son of the original Kinkeshi series sculptor, Keiji Hirota!  I am very pleased to see that they put so much care and thought into this line.  Yudetamago have said for years that the only way they would sign off on doing additional Kinkeshi, is if they were done right.  The recent comic series has been performing quite well in Japan, so hopefully this means a long line of fresh Kinkeshi to come!

Rare Kinnikuman Kinkeshi History

Vintage Bandai Kinnikuman "Custom Contest" Poster
Circa 1984 (Most likely displayed in Japanese toy stores)
Mediums: (A) Kinkeshi  (B) Plastic Figures
Categories: (1) Custom Color Paint (3) Fight Pose (3) Dream Match

*Scan of original poster from my personal collection

*Poster Back: Contest Rules and Stipulations

Kinnikuman Nisei Officially Licensed Kinkeshi!

Chaos & Butanikuman Kinkeshi
Kinnikuman Nisei Grand Muscle Series
"Mircokan Mail-order Ver." Set | Online Exclusives
Limited to Mandarake Lottery Purchase* | 2,100 円
*Name, Zip Code, Address, Phone, email required

*Image Compliments of @396kancho

Mandarake "Gomu Day" 【ゴムの日】

Gomu Day Event
Mandarake Nakano Broadway
Kinnikuman Collectibles Galore
Microkan 4F | 5/6

*Image Compliments of @396kancho

Chaos & Butanikuman Exclusives
Kinnikuman Nisei Grand Muscle Series
Mircokan Color Ver. Set | 2,100 円

Lottery Purchase Kinnikuman Items:
HTF Kinkeshi | HTF Five Star Toy Sofubi
Rare Vintage Kinnikuman Sofubi | More Sofubi
Part 16 Kinkeshi | Rare Parody Fighter Bootlegs
CCP Kinnikuman Figures | SR Kinkeshi |
91' Kinkeshi | More SR Kinkeshi

*Online Sales will open the next day for items leftover from the event.

30 Years of Kinnikuman Kinkeshi!

Kinkeshi 30th Anniversary

April 2013

Shimada-Sensei  publicly thanked Kinnikuman fans this week for thirty years of dedicated Kinkeshi collecting. Kinkeshi first appeared in capsule vending machines shortly after the Kinnikuman Anime made its Japanese Television debut on April 3rd, 1983. 

 These little rubber guys were initially designed as a cheap way to drum up excitement for the new cartoon, and to give young viewers affordable access to merchandise based on the show. The Anime series became a huge hit, thus propelling Kinkeshi into the mainstream of Japanese toy culture.  

Yudetamago have said that they never imagined that Kinkeshi would become the cornerstone of the Kinnikuman collectibles universe.  Posable action figures were king in the early 80's, yet these little flesh colored wrestlers fought their way to becoming a success of legendary proportions.

Bandai estimates that 180 million individual Kinkeshi were produced in Japan between 1983 ~ 1987. Parts 1 - 30 alone include designs representing 200 unique characters, with some of the more popular Choijin sporting close to 30 different sculpts. To date, there have been over 20 distinct Kinkeshi lines including popular variations such as SD, Popy Mini, Chibi, Great Muscles, Dekakeshi, and the officially licensed American cousin line, M.U.S.C.L.E..  

The Kinnikuman Anime x Kinkeshi combo is without a doubt one of the most powerful marketing tag-team match-ups to ever come out of the Kinnikuman franchise.  

In celebration of this event, consider taking some time this week to share a collection pic with Shimada via twitter.  Yudetamago deserves some major props for being the driving force behind one of the best collectible mini-figure lines of all time!

Mandarake Microkan Niku Day/肉の日 ~ 2月9日

Niku Day Kinkeshi and Kinnikuman Event!
肉の日 2/9 Nakano Broadway Mandarake Microkan (4F)
Featuring: Kinkeshi Galore | Five Star Toy Sofubi | Oisodatsuhen 91' Series

*Image Compliments of  396kancho

Kin Fan Friday ~ 金ファンフライデー Part 8

Kin Fan Friday #8
Yudekkii: Stingerwolf
Country: USA アメリカ

&nbsp The Holy Grail of Vintage Kinkeshi ~ Complete Oisodatsuhen 91' Series Flesh Set!

 Kinnikuman T's

Vintage Kinkeshi Part 30 #418!

 Giant Romando Kinnikuman Sofubi

Kin Fan Friday ~ 金ファンフライデー Part 2

Kin Fan Friday #2
Yudekkii: 29emon
Country: Japan 日本

An incredible spread of custom, hand sculpted Kinkeshi!

Check 29emon's design and sculpting process over @Custom Kinkeshi Road.

Also be sure to give his Masked Onion exclusive Wonder Festival keshi a look.  29emon is perhaps the most talented custom Kinkeshi sculptor out there.  I would love to do a Nama Niku exclusive kinkeshi with this guy!

Nama Niku Customs

I've been working on a few custom figures over the Holidays, and wanted to share pics of the goods. My goal was to create my favorite 100 t variations that were never made into Kinkeshi.

King the 100 ton vs Terryman comic ver.
                    +
100 ton wrecking ball ver.

Sculpting + Kitbash by Nama Niku ~ Paint by PlasticPlayhouse

 6” Anime ver King the 100 ton figure in progess...

Stay tuned for more pics and updates ~ 生

Nama Niku Customs

I've been working on casting up some new custom figures over the past few weeks, and think I finally found a good flexible rubber material to work with...

 The Ventriloquist ~ Casting Nama Niku ~ Mold TGB

 Frankenshine!

 Gyu-dome ~ Casting Nama Niku ~ Mold TGB

 The Meatgrinder "Nama ver" (uncleaned test cast)

Casting and Mold Nama Niku x Silent Creations

Just doing these for fun at this point... 肉

Kinniku Fan Video Madness

Major props to p0wer0wl for putting together these super cool videos featuring familiar faces from the Kinnikuman universe.  A great display of Kinniku fan talent at its best! 

Don't Take Your Guns to Town ~ feat Terryman and Terry the Kid

Bathand ~ feat Sunigator and Sunigator...

Ultimate Muscle Shakedown!

Be sure to check out more of p0wer0wl's keshi videos HERE!

Premia ~ Ultimate Kinkeshi Mania

Premia: Super Deluxe Kinkeshi Archive Site and Blog

 Image Compliments of Premia

Many of the Kinkeshi archive sites out there are long forgotten by their creators, and have not been updated in years...  Premia on the other hand is updated regularly and offers a blog to keep things fresh with readers.  While a few other sites out there may have more in depth coverage of varies lines, this site does a great job of giving a high level overview of the wide world of Kinkeshi.

From bootlegs, Deka, rare figures and newer keshi lines, Premia has it all ~ a Nama Niku favorite!

The Super Green Universe of KomKom World

KomKom World: Green Kinkeshi Site Extraordinaire ~

Image Compliments of KomKom World

The idea behind this website is pretty cool.  The owner went through his closet a few years back, discovering an old bag of Kinkeshi.  After experiencing a powerful rush of childhood memories, he gets the insatiable desire to start collecting Kinkeshi again.  This time around however there is a twist ~ he only wants the green ones...

The goal of KomKom is to collect and document every single Kinkeshi released in green, and his online archive is quite impressive. 

Head on over to KomKom World and check it out!  

Lastly, while this video has nothing to do with Kinnikuman... I get the Greenman theme song stuck in my head every time I visit KomKom, and so should you!

Super Green song from Ike! Greenman

Accept No Imitations...

I know this is pretty much a ghost site, but perhaps one of the best Kinkeshi bootleg archive pages ever?

Hitler.Salute action Planetman & Black Panther Ramenman...

Some of these poor bastards never had a chance ~ So awesomely bad they're good.  Bootleg pic heaven over @ "M.U.S.C.L.E.MAN imitation micro figures"

Check out the website and name your favorite figure in the comments!

Thanks to Eric for the tip ~ 肉

Invasion of the Namakeshi

Check out these recent Namakeshi sightings and shout-outs ~ 肉

Image Compliments of Muscle Things

Update:

• Meat Grinder Namakeshi auction on eBay
• Guy-Dome Namakeshi mention on Toypedia 
• Post over @ TGB Customs 
• Nice write-up on battlegrip! 
• Japanese coverage over at 29Suguru29's Blog! 日本語で

Mad Collaboration Update

Mad Joe dropped new pics of the Mad Collaboration Project this week, further revealing figures slated to be in series 1 ~ 3.  Major props to Mad Joe for his dedication and skills to pull this thing off ~ 肉

 

Nama King designed by Yours Truly... 非売品！

While Mad Joe has been quiet on the official street date for the series as a whole, look for Nama King to be available first, right here on Nama Niku.  I will be getting an exclusive, limited run of 20 Nama King figures to be part of my upcoming FREE Namakeshi Giveaway Contest...

These Nama King figures are not be for sale, and will only be available to Nama Niku readers through the aforementioned contest.

Check back often to see how you can get in on this crazy custom keshi madness!

Nama King ~ Mad Collaboration

With the Mad Collaboration project now in full swing,  I finally decided to throw my hat in the ring with what I hope to be the first in a series of Namakeshi...

 生キング/Nama King

The concept behind Nama King is pretty simple.  I wanted to incorporate King the 100t and the idea behind 生肉/Nama Niku; raw passion and dedication to Kinnikuman and Niku Mania!

If my submission is welcomed into the Mad Collaboration fold, the readers of Nama Niku will be the first to know... and you of course will be the first Yudekkii with a chance to get your hands on one!

Knolvin ~ Image Compliments of Mad Joe

Last but not least, there was a big reveal from Mad Joe this past week when he showcased the first open invitation custom figure, Knoivin.  I believe he said the keshi was created by an artist going by the name of "Wolverine Burgers."  This is a very strong and crazy interesting design, somewhat reminiscent of the mushroom people in Matango.

Check out the most recent Mad Collaboration updates and video over @ Overkill Creations ~ 肉

Custom Kinnikuman Diorama ~ かわいいキッスの巻！

かわいいキッスの巻！

I have never seen any Kinnikuman merchandise based on the early days of the Kinnikuman, so I decided to do a little kitbashing and create something myself.

There's nothing quite like a scene depicting the good old days of Kinnikuman with him popping a little garlic and going all giant Ultraman on evil gargantuan arse...

Custom Kinkeshi Mania - Join the Mad Collaboration!

Thought I would start the week off right by helping my buddy, Mad Joe, get the word out on his open invite Mad Collaboration Kinkeshi Project ~ 肉

Mad Joe is dropping some of the best looking custom keshi to ever hit the streets, and is following up this feat with an incredibly generous offer to help others get their own start in the world of Kinkeshi customs...

 Image Compliments of Mad Joe

Get all the details over at Overkill Creations and keep your eyes peeled for news on Nama Niku's very own custom Kinkeshi figure ~ 生肉

M.U.S.C.L.E. Kinkeshi Artwork by SmokinGun ~ 肉

I never grow tired of new artwork based on M.U.S.C.L.E. keshi, and these little gems from my pal, SmokinGun, are no exception.

There is something rather amusing about seeing Terri-Bull (aka Buffaloman) wielding a He-Man style battle ax, and Big the Budo ready to go Yojimbo on some poor unsuspecting keshi's arse...
 

A big Nama Niku thanks to SmokinGun for sharing these pics!  More over at littlerubberguys.com.