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Living in Japan...rediscovering Kinnikuman!


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#1 gaspar

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 05:46 AM

Hi all!

It's been like a million years since I last posted here. I have collected M.U.S.C.L.E. guys since I was a kid. I am one of those collectors who cycles in and out of collecting as I find figures...always looking, but not always actively buying. Anyway, earlier this year I had a job opportunity present itself and I'm now living in a very rural part of Japan. There's not a ton to do out here in my town, but about 30-45 minutes away is a larger city with some cool stores. One of my favorites is called HobbyOff. It's part of a chain of used goods stores...BookOff, HardOff (like used household items), HobbyOff, etc. and they carry new and used toys, models, games, and things like that. This would be cool in general, but the first time I walked in, I found a nice sized section of the larger Kinnikuman figures!

Most of them are reasonably priced:
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These larger, boxed figures are quite expensive:
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They have some little rubber style figures of One Piece characters:
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But on my most recent shopping trip, I found some of the little rubber Kinnikuman figures! They had a dozen or so little bags of about 8-10 figures for ¥200 each...about $2.50! Since I didn't have any of these Japanese Kinnikuman figures in my collection, I bought 3 of the bags. I'll probably go back for the rest this weekend or next. Here's what I got:
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It was one of those "butterflies in the stomach" moments! I hadn't seen MUSCLE / Kinnikuman figures like those from my childhood in the wild in years! The last time was at this resale shop back in Texas where I stumbled upon a little basket full of them for a decent price about 6-7 years ago. It's pretty exciting to be in a place where Kinnikuman is still popular!

Anyway, I just thought some people here might like to see the photos. I hope to be here for this job for the next few years, so hopefully my Kinnikuman collection will grow quite a bit! Thanks for checking out my photos. Hopefully it won't be years between this post and my next one :)
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#2 fkro6784

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 06:29 AM

Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I often think how cool it would be to at least visit Japan and get to go to stores that sell awesome keshi. :)
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#3 gaspar

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 07:01 AM

Great stuff, thanks for sharing. I often think how cool it would be to at least visit Japan and get to go to stores that sell awesome keshi. :)

Thanks! It's pretty exciting for me. I wish I knew of other stores in my area to check out. For now, I'm stuck with whatever inventory HobbyOff acquires. But its usually good stuff! You should definitely visit if you ever have the opportunity!
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#4 TheOrgg

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 07:12 AM

Wow. Those keshi bags are AWESOME. VERY cool!!
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#5 gaspar

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 04:04 PM

Wow. Those keshi bags are AWESOME. VERY cool!!

I agree :D I was truly shocked when I spotted them. I've been to HobbyOff about a dozen times since moving here and they always have a good assortment of the larger, painted Kinnikuman figures, but I'd never seen any of the bags of small keshi ones. I was looking for something completely different, just wandered through the Kinnikuman area and there they were! Someone must have sold them to the store recently. I wanted to scoop them all up and take them home, but Christmas budgetary concerns (and my wife) prevented that...for now.

Thanks again!

Edited by gaspar, 11 December 2012 - 04:05 PM.

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#6 Skullking

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 05:49 PM

Where are you located? I can recommend some cool stores/areas in the Osaka/Kobe region (I forget which prefecture that is). This is assuming they're still around. If you get to Tokyo, take a trip to an area called Akihabara, it's sort of the electronics district, but it will blow your mind how much cool 'nerdy' stuff there is there. I was literally in shock at how many AMAZING shops of cool stuff there are. Osaka has 'DenDen town' which is located near the 'Namba' station. This isn't quite as big, but PLENTY of cool stuff their too.

There's a chain of toystores in Japan called 'Kiddyland', which has some cool, more mainstream stuff. But when I was at the kiddyland in Umeda station in Osaka, I was looking for a resin model of J Talbain from Darkstalkers I'd seen in a magazine. They didn't have it there, but the guy who worked there told me to check out this store that was several blocks away from the station. After weaving down some tiny streets into a back ally and going into an unmarked building that looked like an apartment complex I stumbled onto a shop called 'Hobbit'. And all I can say is, that's where heaven meets earth for anyone who is into Japanese anime/manga subculture stuff. I can't even describe how amazing it was/hopefully still is.

Good luck in your hunts, you'll find that hunting down a good little hole in the wall place like this is worth it's weight in happiness.
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#7 DetectiveFork

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 06:56 PM

Did they have any of the Romando Kinnikuman action figures?
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#8 gaspar

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Posted 11 December 2012 - 08:25 PM

Where are you located? I can recommend some cool stores/areas in the Osaka/Kobe region (I forget which prefecture that is). This is assuming they're still around. If you get to Tokyo, take a trip to an area called Akihabara, it's sort of the electronics district, but it will blow your mind how much cool 'nerdy' stuff there is there. I was literally in shock at how many AMAZING shops of cool stuff there are. Osaka has 'DenDen town' which is located near the 'Namba' station. This isn't quite as big, but PLENTY of cool stuff their too.

There's a chain of toystores in Japan called 'Kiddyland', which has some cool, more mainstream stuff. But when I was at the kiddyland in Umeda station in Osaka, I was looking for a resin model of J Talbain from Darkstalkers I'd seen in a magazine. They didn't have it there, but the guy who worked there told me to check out this store that was several blocks away from the station. After weaving down some tiny streets into a back ally and going into an unmarked building that looked like an apartment complex I stumbled onto a shop called 'Hobbit'. And all I can say is, that's where heaven meets earth for anyone who is into Japanese anime/manga subculture stuff. I can't even describe how amazing it was/hopefully still is.

Good luck in your hunts, you'll find that hunting down a good little hole in the wall place like this is worth it's weight in happiness.

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like you've done some serious toy hunting around Japan. I've only been to Tokyo twice...both times for just a couple of days. The first time in 2010, I went to Akihabara and it was amazing! I can't wait to get back and really expore it again when I have time. I have a friend there, so I should definitely be going sometime in 2013.

Not sure how familiar you are with the non-big city parts of Japan, but I'm in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku Island. It's a really great place and I've been loving it, but it's definitely not Osaka or Tokyo when it comes to niche shopping places. The closest to me would be Kobe / Osaka which is about a 3hr trip...not too bad and I'll likely be making that drive again in the near future, so I'll have to be on the lookout for some of the shops you mentioned. You don't happen to have a Google map marked up with them, do you? Google maps are how I get around most of the time...GPS is an amazing thing when you don't really know the area! I definitely want to check out DenDen Town, Kiddyland, Hobbit, and any other place that might have cool anime, manga, toy shopping!

The closest I've seen to those stores out near me is HobbyOff and a chain of stores called Hobby Zone. There's a Hobby Zone in most of the shopping malls here and they have decent stuff, but are more geared to the Gundam, games, puzzles, etc. type of stuff.

Thanks again for all of the info! I wonder if there's a Kiddyland anywhere in Tokushima Prefecture? If so, I haven't found it yet...

Did they have any of the Romando Kinnikuman action figures?

Not sure if I know exactly what those are...the larger ones that are articulated? If so, I've only seen one...the original Kinnikuman figure just in wrestling trunks. I hadn't seen one of those before, but they had one when I was there over the weekend. I was too infatuated with the kinkeshi figures...I didn't think to take a picture or even look closely at it, but I remember seeing one and thinking it looked cool. Then I got distracted :)

**EDIT** If I had just clicked on your signature, I'd have known all about the Romando figures! Sorry about that. From your photos, the one I saw last weekend was the plain Kinnikuman one. As far as I know, that's the only one I've seen so far, but now that I know I'll keep an eye out for them in the future. They look really cool!

Edited by gaspar, 11 December 2012 - 08:29 PM.

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#9 Skullking

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Posted 12 December 2012 - 03:10 PM

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like you've done some serious toy hunting around Japan. I've only been to Tokyo twice...both times for just a couple of days. The first time in 2010, I went to Akihabara and it was amazing! I can't wait to get back and really expore it again when I have time. I have a friend there, so I should definitely be going sometime in 2013.

Not sure how familiar you are with the non-big city parts of Japan, but I'm in Tokushima Prefecture on Shikoku Island. It's a really great place and I've been loving it, but it's definitely not Osaka or Tokyo when it comes to niche shopping places. The closest to me would be Kobe / Osaka which is about a 3hr trip...not too bad and I'll likely be making that drive again in the near future, so I'll have to be on the lookout for some of the shops you mentioned. You don't happen to have a Google map marked up with them, do you? Google maps are how I get around most of the time...GPS is an amazing thing when you don't really know the area! I definitely want to check out DenDen Town, Kiddyland, Hobbit, and any other place that might have cool anime, manga, toy shopping!



I've never been to Shikoku island (to my knowledge, I've been dragged to many places in Japan in my life which I barely remember), but it sounds nice! Rural Japan is definitely a different experience to the big city living.

So do you actually drive to Osaka? Seems a lot more expensive and time consuming than taking the train, but then again I don't know what type of train system there is in your area. Umeda station in Osaka (+34° 42' 3.40", +135° 29' 47.07") is a pretty central hub for all trains and subways. DenDen town/Namba (might be 'Nanba') (+34° 39' 39.92", +135° 30' 21.39")is off of one of the subway lines (midosuji I think). In both cases you can ask someone at one of the stations for directions, and they could help you find either. If you're in Kobe, I would try Sannomiya station (+34° 41' 30.46", +135° 11' 36.73" ), as there's a covered shopping street near it which has lots of little nook and cranny type places where there's cool stuff. I'm sorry I've never given anyone GPS coordinates for finding stuff, so double check these before you go. In sad news, it appears that 'Hobbit' is gone, but my brother says that there's a really great 'Mandarake' near Umeda station, so you could look for that. Either way, good luck, and most importantly, have fun!

In regards to the Romando figures, I see them around every time I go back, but less and less. I recall when I went a long time ago and there was a temporary store that had EVERY romondo figure ever, all new in the box, and they had them all out on display too, so you could look at them. Just dozens and dozens of figures, the ultimate royal rumble scene. The only one I got was Mammothman (aka Man-Mos-Man), and he proudly sits in my room with his fuzzy vest. I think this was the first time I'd ever seen what color many of the characters were, as I had never seen the show when I lived there for an extended period of time.
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#10 gaspar

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Posted 12 December 2012 - 10:06 PM

I've never been to Shikoku island (to my knowledge, I've been dragged to many places in Japan in my life which I barely remember), but it sounds nice! Rural Japan is definitely a different experience to the big city living.

So do you actually drive to Osaka? Seems a lot more expensive and time consuming than taking the train, but then again I don't know what type of train system there is in your area. Umeda station in Osaka (+34° 42' 3.40", +135° 29' 47.07") is a pretty central hub for all trains and subways. DenDen town/Namba (might be 'Nanba') (+34° 39' 39.92", +135° 30' 21.39")is off of one of the subway lines (midosuji I think). In both cases you can ask someone at one of the stations for directions, and they could help you find either. If you're in Kobe, I would try Sannomiya station (+34° 41' 30.46", +135° 11' 36.73" ), as there's a covered shopping street near it which has lots of little nook and cranny type places where there's cool stuff. I'm sorry I've never given anyone GPS coordinates for finding stuff, so double check these before you go. In sad news, it appears that 'Hobbit' is gone, but my brother says that there's a really great 'Mandarake' near Umeda station, so you could look for that. Either way, good luck, and most importantly, have fun!

In regards to the Romando figures, I see them around every time I go back, but less and less. I recall when I went a long time ago and there was a temporary store that had EVERY romondo figure ever, all new in the box, and they had them all out on display too, so you could look at them. Just dozens and dozens of figures, the ultimate royal rumble scene. The only one I got was Mammothman (aka Man-Mos-Man), and he proudly sits in my room with his fuzzy vest. I think this was the first time I'd ever seen what color many of the characters were, as I had never seen the show when I lived there for an extended period of time.

Wow, thanks for all of the info! Shikoku is really beautiful and I enjoy living here pretty much every day. The only true downside to it is that the island is really only connected to Honshu (the island with a majority of Japan's largest cities) by a few of toll bridges or a ferry...no train rail. And the bridges are REALLY expensive to cross. So if I want to go to Osaka, I can either pay for 2 round trip bus tickets (me and my wife), parking at the station -or- bus tickets from my small town to the station in the bigger city, and all bus / train tickets while in Osaka...or I can drive, pay for gas, round trip on the toll bridges, parking in Osaka, etc. We've only done an off-island trip once so far and we drove. And it was expensive. I recently got an ETC system installed in my car...it's a type of toll tag system and should cut the toll bridge price about in half on our future trips!

The GPS coordinates you gave are really awesome, thanks! I'll drop those into Google Maps before our next trip and try to check out some of the locations. Sad to hear that Hobbit is gone. Just from your brief mention, it sounded fantastic! I keep hoping I'll find some other great shops here in Tokushima but so far I've come up short. There is one other place I've seen while out exploring that I haven't checked yet. It was just a hole in the wall type place, but had all sorts of anime posters up in the windows. I need to stop but I always forget until I'm right next to it and at that point I'm already busy heading somewhere else on my errands list.

The place with every Romando figure sounds crazy cool! I definitely wish I could find something like that. One of my students here is really into Kinnikuman. Once I know a little more Japanese I'll try to see if he can give me any good locations to check out here for toys and stuff.

Thanks!

Edited by gaspar, 12 December 2012 - 10:07 PM.

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#11 NamaNiku

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Posted 13 December 2012 - 09:58 AM

Here are my top suggestions for Kinnikuman goods in Osaka:

The official Kinnikuman store in Shinsekai: They have the largest collection of Romandos you will see anywhere in Japan, CCP figures, Five Star Toy Sofubi, rare Kinkeshi, T-Shirts, posters, and tons of other exclusive goods. It is also like a 5 minute walk to the Kinnikuman Museum, which is worth the trip for sure.

Jungle: This store is huge, and has a great selection of both new and old Kinnikuman collectibles. The owners are huge Kinnikuman fans, and they host all the major Kinnikuman events and signings in the Osaka area.

Mandarake: Lots of vintage Kinnikuman figures, resale gatcha and kinkeshi.

I have coverage on all these places, Akihabara, Nakano etc over at my blog.

Edited by uoozuman, 13 December 2012 - 09:59 AM.

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#12 Skullking

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Posted 13 December 2012 - 01:21 PM

Here are my top suggestions for Kinnikuman goods in Osaka:

The official Kinnikuman store in Shinsekai: They have the largest collection of Romandos you will see anywhere in Japan, CCP figures, Five Star Toy Sofubi, rare Kinkeshi, T-Shirts, posters, and tons of other exclusive goods. It is also like a 5 minute walk to the Kinnikuman Museum, which is worth the trip for sure.

Jungle: This store is huge, and has a great selection of both new and old Kinnikuman collectibles. The owners are huge Kinnikuman fans, and they host all the major Kinnikuman events and signings in the Osaka area.

Mandarake: Lots of vintage Kinnikuman figures, resale gatcha and kinkeshi.

I have coverage on all these places, Akihabara, Nakano etc over at my blog.


Damn! that Kinnikku man store must have opened after I was there last. My brother got me a kickass Warsman hoodie there though I think. The Jungle sounds great, where is it located in Osaka?

And is the Mandarake you're describeing the one that looks like it's carved into a mountain, with a full size mammoth skeleton in it, AND a stage for singing Anime theme songs in Karaoke?

Damn,should have gone back for Christmas this year! Oh well, maybe next year.
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#13 Threat

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Posted 13 December 2012 - 04:18 PM

This is great. I have dreams about walking into a store and seeing toys from my childhood.
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#14 gaspar

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Posted 15 December 2012 - 03:24 AM

Here are my top suggestions for Kinnikuman goods in Osaka:

The official Kinnikuman store in Shinsekai: They have the largest collection of Romandos you will see anywhere in Japan, CCP figures, Five Star Toy Sofubi, rare Kinkeshi, T-Shirts, posters, and tons of other exclusive goods. It is also like a 5 minute walk to the Kinnikuman Museum, which is worth the trip for sure.

Jungle: This store is huge, and has a great selection of both new and old Kinnikuman collectibles. The owners are huge Kinnikuman fans, and they host all the major Kinnikuman events and signings in the Osaka area.

Mandarake: Lots of vintage Kinnikuman figures, resale gatcha and kinkeshi.

I have coverage on all these places, Akihabara, Nakano etc over at my blog.

Thanks for the great info uoozuman! I'm really getting excited for my next Osaka trip. I don't have any winter vacation plans yet...maybe I'll make the drive later this month! I really want to check out that Official Kinnikuman Store and the museum! They sound amazing! Really excited to check all of this stuff out as soon as possible.

Cool blog too!
**EDIT** Ok, I have to come back and revise this. "Cool blog" just doesn't cut it now that I've really dug in a bit. It's amazing! Thanks for all of the great post and congrats on the awesome experiences you've had with this hobby! Just incredible!

And since I'm posting again...are there any good Kinnikuman spots in Hiroshima? I can probably only go to one city over the break and was previously leaning towards Hiroshima, so I'm just curious. Thanks!

This is great. I have dreams about walking into a store and seeing toys from my childhood.

Me too! It was very exciting and very unexpected! If I can swing by that area, I might go check them out again tomorrow and see if there's anything new in stock!

Edited by gaspar, 15 December 2012 - 03:47 AM.

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#15 gaspar

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Posted 16 December 2012 - 10:02 PM

Just solidified plans...going to Osaka from Jan 1st - 3rd! I'm very excited. This will be my first significant amount of time spent in Osaka and only my second trip off of Shikoku since I arrived. I've heard lots of good things about the city and can't wait to explore! Probably can't do any shopping on the 1st since it will be New Year's Day and most shops will be closed. But I'm hoping to hit up a few good locations on the 2nd and 3rd before I have to drive back home. I'll be putting together a Google Map of places I want to go in Osaka over the next couple of weeks, so if anyone has any required stops to add to what has been mentioned above, please let me know. Thanks!

Also, uoozuman do you happen to have an address for either the Official Kinnikuman Store or the Kinnikuman Museum? Since you said they're only about 5min apart, if I can find one hopefully I can get to the other. I keep finding info about the museum opening when I google for info, but haven't found a map or address. I think I have found all of the others mentioned above. Thanks!

**EDIT** Just found some info...does this look like close to the right place for the museum?
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Edited by gaspar, 18 December 2012 - 04:19 AM.

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#16 Skullking

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Posted 19 December 2012 - 01:20 PM

And since I'm posting again...are there any good Kinnikuman spots in Hiroshima? I can probably only go to one city over the break and was previously leaning towards Hiroshima, so I'm just curious. Thanks!



I used to live in Hiroshima, it's an awesome city, but I don't know the area as well considering it's been 22 years since I was there for more than a day. I went back about 5 years ago, and I"d say check out a covered shopping street there called Hondori. It's right near the bomb dome and peace park (which you should definitely see if you go there). It has lots of little shops in it, maybe something Keshi related, but I'm not sure. It will be a fun trip either way.
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#17 gaspar

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Posted 19 December 2012 - 06:41 PM

I used to live in Hiroshima, it's an awesome city, but I don't know the area as well considering it's been 22 years since I was there for more than a day. I went back about 5 years ago, and I"d say check out a covered shopping street there called Hondori. It's right near the bomb dome and peace park (which you should definitely see if you go there). It has lots of little shops in it, maybe something Keshi related, but I'm not sure. It will be a fun trip either way.


Thanks for the info! I have been to Hiroshima once about 2 years ago, but only for 1 day. It was an amazing experience. I was able to see the dome, museum, cenotaph, peace park, etc. which were all just places I'll never forget. I didn't do any shopping that time as I had a train to catch. But I want to go back soon with my wife so she can see everything as well, so I'll check out Hondori when we're there. We decided on Osaka for our January trip, but we will likely go to Hiroshima sometime next spring. Thanks again!
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#18 NamaNiku

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Posted 20 December 2012 - 02:44 PM

Just solidified plans...going to Osaka from Jan 1st - 3rd! I'm very excited. This will be my first significant amount of time spent in Osaka and only my second trip off of Shikoku since I arrived. I've heard lots of good things about the city and can't wait to explore! Probably can't do any shopping on the 1st since it will be New Year's Day and most shops will be closed. But I'm hoping to hit up a few good locations on the 2nd and 3rd before I have to drive back home. I'll be putting together a Google Map of places I want to go in Osaka over the next couple of weeks, so if anyone has any required stops to add to what has been mentioned above, please let me know. Thanks!

Also, uoozuman do you happen to have an address for either the Official Kinnikuman Store or the Kinnikuman Museum? Since you said they're only about 5min apart, if I can find one hopefully I can get to the other. I keep finding info about the museum opening when I google for info, but haven't found a map or address. I think I have found all of the others mentioned above. Thanks!

**EDIT** Just found some info...does this look like close to the right place for the museum?
1-18-6 Ebisuhigashi, Naniwa-ku, ÅŒsaka-shi, ÅŒsaka-fu, Japan


Most of the Kinnikuman stuff is in the Shinsekai area. The museum is inside Tsutenkaku tower.

I have all the addresses on my phone. I can post them here for you no problem when I get a chance.

You also need to get on the Kinnikuman train there as well. I have a few videos of everything that I still need to post on my blog.
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#19 DetectiveFork

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Posted 20 December 2012 - 07:30 PM

I've always wondered how popular Kinnikuman actually is in Japan. Is it viewed mostly with nostalgia like people in the USA view '80s cartoons like Transformers and Thundercats? Is it bigger than that?
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#20 gaspar

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Posted 22 December 2012 - 04:00 AM

Most of the Kinnikuman stuff is in the Shinsekai area. The museum is inside Tsutenkaku tower.

I have all the addresses on my phone. I can post them here for you no problem when I get a chance.

You also need to get on the Kinnikuman train there as well. I have a few videos of everything that I still need to post on my blog.

Thanks! Any info you can post would be great. I hadn't even heard about the Kinnikuman train. I guess I need to start looking these things up!

I've always wondered how popular Kinnikuman actually is in Japan. Is it viewed mostly with nostalgia like people in the USA view '80s cartoons like Transformers and Thundercats? Is it bigger than that?

I'd have to say it's a little more popular than Transformers or Thundercats in the US...at least for the kids I know. All of them know of Kinnikuman, but only a small portion are really into it. There has been an anime series recently and there's current manga being produced. The kids that are into it are REALLY into it. But that's only from the small sampling of folks I know out here.

Also, I was pretty disappointed when I went to HobbyOff today. All of the packs of kinkeshi were gone, as was the Romando figure that was there on my last visit. I ended up leaving empty handed. Oh well, at least I have the Osaka trip to plan for and look forward to!
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#21 NamaNiku

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Posted 22 December 2012 - 09:01 AM

I've always wondered how popular Kinnikuman actually is in Japan. Is it viewed mostly with nostalgia like people in the USA view '80s cartoons like Transformers and Thundercats? Is it bigger than that?


Great question. I would say much bigger.

Kinnikuman is viewed as one of the most influential, nostalgic, and well enduring comics of the 80's. The Anime series launched the franchise into the mainstream, and helped to carve out a permanent place in Japanese pop culture. Kinkeshi were also one of the most popular Japanese toys of the 80's. Practically every Japanese person recognizes Kinnikuman, even if they are not a fan or follower of the series. Yudetamago also helped to inspire many of the most popular contemporary Japanese manga and anime creators of today.

It would be fair to compare it to the likes of Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man here in the USA.

The marketing power of Kinnikuman is also still very strong in Japan. They consistently run promotions and collaborations that feature Kinnikuman characters/premiums with major fast food chains, convenience stores, restaurants, drink companies, parades, train lines, pachinko machines, TV commercials etc. There is also a never ending flow of toys, T-Shits, temporary Kinnikuman stores in major department stores, and the current comic series.

It really reminds of the staying power of the original Star Wars series. Those characters were created back in the late 70's, yet they still appeal to people.

:mike:

@gaspar You are going to love Osaka and Shinsekai! So awesome you get to go there.

Here are a few links that should help:
Official Kinnikuman Shinsekai site
Kinnikuman Museum + Directions + More info
Kinnikuman Muscle Shop 1-16-8 Ebisuhigashi Naniwa-ku, ÅŒsaka-shi, ÅŒsaka-fu
Tengu + Directions (Kushikatsu restaurant featured in Kinnikuman Nesei). This is Yudetamago's favorite place in Shinsekai. It features a giant Kinnikuman art panel on the wall, as well as a life sized Sunshine hand print. The owner is a HUGE Kinnikuman fan. Really cheap and good. This is where I ate dinner with Yude Shimada.
Kinnikuman Train Line
Jungle Toy Shop

The Museum has a very good map with all the Kinnikuman spots you should hit. I would suggest going there first.
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#22 gaspar

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Posted 23 December 2012 - 04:29 AM

@gaspar You are going to love Osaka and Shinsekai! So awesome you get to go there.

Here are a few links that should help:
[CLIP]
The Museum has a very good map with all the Kinnikuman spots you should hit. I would suggest going there first.

Thanks for all of the info and links! That's fantastic stuff and will really help! I'm excited to check everything out. Just out of curiosity, do you know if the museum or any of the shops will be open on January 1st? I'm assuming they won't be, but I'll only be there from the 1st through the 3rd, so I'm trying to get everything planned out. **EDIT** Trying to translate the kinpro100 website...it looks like according to this page they'll be closed on Jan 1st, but open on the 2nd and 3rd. I guess I'll have to find something else to do on the first day there. I wonder if they'll have any sort of New Year sale or fukubukuro (lucky bag) or anything like that when they re-open on the 2nd?! That would be really cool :D

Also, while out shopping today, I ran into one of the Kinnikuman gachapon machines and had to drop ¥200 to see what I'd get. I've attached a pic of the figure to this post.
Attached File  KinnikuGacha.jpg   101.7K   38 downloads
I don't know if I'll buy many more...the bowing pose is a little odd. But it's very cool to see stuff like this while just out around town!

Also, here's my collection...3 fishbowls of MUSCLE, and 1 partial fishbowl of Kinkeshi:
Attached File  MuscKin.jpg   89.81K   42 downloads
I figured the MUSCLE guys could use a pilgrimage to the Motherland so I had them shipped over. I only sent the flesh ones though...the other colors and my Ultimate MUSCLE figures are in storage back in the States. Unfortunately, as you might notice, I wrote my initials in permanent marker on the feet of the ones I had when I was a kid...including my Satan Cross. Oh well...now I have a SC MUSCLE and a SC Kinkeshi, so that's kind of cool!

Edited by gaspar, 23 December 2012 - 06:26 AM.

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#23 gaspar

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Posted 24 December 2012 - 06:54 PM

It's Christmas morning here in Japan, so Merry Christmas everyone! My wife gave me some great stuff, so I thought I'd post the photo of my gift haul here. Not a ton of Kinnikuman items, but she did include a couple:
Attached File  JapanChristmas.jpg   159.93K   55 downloads
She said she also went to HobbyOff looking for the Kinkeshi that we saw there previously and was disappointed that they had none left. Oh well...onward to Osaka next week :)
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#24 gaspar

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 02:34 AM

I was shopping at HobbyOff again today and saw these:
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¥6000 and ¥7000 respectively...too rich for my blood, but thought a few of you might like to see them.
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#25 Ericnilla

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Posted 28 December 2012 - 02:57 AM

I havent seen that version on Manriki, pretty neat.
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