Not surprisingly, he seems like a very cool person! It's so cool to hear that he is interested in finding out information as well!Hello [Soupie]
This is Naochin from"Kinkeshi Baka Ichidai" website.
Thank you so much for your email!
Very surprised to see your mail in fluent Japanese.
Did you write it by yourself or ask somebody else to translate...
Anyways I am going to write you back in Japanese.
1) One of the biggest unknown things about M.U.S.C.L.E. is why it is missing 45 figures from parts 1-21. Do the 45 figures that were not made into American M.U.S.C.L.E.s have anything in common with each other that you can see?
I really don't know the reason why it is missing 45 figures, but
M.U.S.C.L.E series are basically different from the original Kinnikuman story.
It is about fighting match among fighters under Muscle man and Terrible.
So I guess there is basically no focus on non fighter characters; they weren't made into M.U.S.C.L.E figures.
For Burokken, it is obviously Nachi related character so it wasn't.
I have no idea about the rest of them...
2) Did the Satan Cross sculpt from Part 21 come with the legs attached or as two completely separate pieces (not attached in any way).
Satan cross A from part 21 came out separated. (not attached in any way)
3) Have you ever seen groups of figures still attached to the molding plastic like the below picture? If so, do you have pictures or information about them?
No, I have never seen them before! As long as I know about Bandai kinnikuman figures, there is no such version released!
I guess they may have came out straight from the factory...
Are those figures yours? Was it on auction? Please let me know where you found the picture!
(4) Have you ever found American M.U.S.C.L.E. figures mixed in with kinkeshi figures in Japan?
As you know Kinkeshi are currently valuable among kinkeshi collectors and they go for rare items. I sometimes see M.U.S.C.L.E. samples that might have put out by those who are involved with M.U.S.C.L.E. figures production. Good example is that there was an image of M.U.S.C.L.E. version 28 BOX ,which was not released, was introduced on AKIA website about one year ago. It must have done by them.
(5) What do you know about Kinkeshi production? Is there a Web site or magazine with kinkeshi production information? (a) How many factories made Kinkeshi ( How many molds were there for each figure?
No, not much. [Soupie], that's exactly what I want to know about!
The reason why there aren't so much information left about the kinkeshi production back then is that there are no more people left who were related to product Kinkeshi at that time in current Bandai production. All bandai products at that time were outside products. Outsourced locations were probably 3 small factories. That's all I know so far.
6)Are there any kinkeshi posters or wall scrolls?
No, there aren't unfortunately.
7) Is there a kinkeshi version of this figure?
No, there is not. The type of Buffalo man only exists in M.U.S.C.L.E series.
I guess the original buffalo man kinkeshi's pose did not go along with the theme of M.U.S.C.L.E story.
He is also main character in the series so he probably needed a certain look.
Hope this helps.
Feel feel to email me anytime!
Thank you,
Naochin
Arforbes, I bet you could contact him about that Keshi tree. I think it would be awesome if Naochin owned it!
I haven't emailed him back yet. I figured I'd post this and see if anyone has anything to add or clarify and then I'll email back saying thanks.