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Mini Kinkeshi
Mini Kinkeshi
Okay, I lied. These figures have no markings whatsoever so I don't know if they are authorized figures. However, they have really nice detail as you can see. Also, I know of no archive/documentation of these on the net. If you do, or if you have more pictures or information about these figures, let me know!
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Micro or Chibi Kinkeshi
Micro Kinkeshi or Chibi Kinkeshi
These figures have YSNT on their back arranged in the following manner: Y/S (and beneath it) N.T and a circled letter "P." The "P" means these were made by Popy. Note their very stylized design. They have warped body proportions, similar (but not the same as) Super Deformed Kinkeshi coming next.
You can see some of these at Naochin's Chibi Kinkeshi page on his site. (Obviously, the pic above is taken from Naochin's site.)
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Super Deformed or SD Kinkeshi
Super Deformed Kinkeshi
These figures are marked with a Y/S.N.T and an uncircled B. The "B" means they were made by Bandai. Note their very stylized, warped body proportions.
You can see more of these at Naochin's Super Deformed Kinkeshi page.
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Popy Kinkeshi
Popy Kinkeshi
Popy Kinkeshi
Popy Kinkeshi
Popy Kinkeshi on Left
I believe these are a second series of Popy Kinkeshi. These figures are marked with a Y-S.N.T and a circled P. Note that these figures are lacking the warped proportions of the Popy Chibi Kinkeshi. There are a few more pictures of these unique figures floating around LRG. Unfortunately, I know of no archive/documentation of these on the net. If you do, or if you have more pictures or information about these figures, let me know!
And what about these guys?
Curiously enough, Naochin does have these documented on his site. You can see them here. Are these Popy Kinkeshi too? They certainly look like they could be. Does anyone own these? Can you tell me what trade markings they have?
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29th Anniversary Kinkeshi Re-Release
29th Anniversary Kinkeshi
These figures are the same scale as standard Kinkeshi, but a hair smaller. Their trade markings are Y/S .T with an uncircled B and the word CHINA.
You can learn much more about them at the 29th Anniversary Kinkeshi entry at Toypedia.
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Standard Kinkeshi
Standard Kinkeshi
These figures are marked with a Y/S.N.T and a circled B and in some cases a circled P. At one point Popy was owned by Bandai so this likely explains the mixed Bs and Ps.
You can see the entire series of these figures at Naochin's standard Kinkeshi page.
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1991 Series Kinkeshi
1991 Kinkeshi Series
In 1991 an awesome new series of Kinkeshi were released. These figures are marked with a Y/S.N.T and an uncircled B.
See them at Naochin's 1991 Kinkeshi page.
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Tournament Set Kinkeshi
Tournament Kinkeshi Set
There was a Kinkeshi tournament set released at some point by Bandai. These figures are marked with a Y/S NT and a circled B.
You can see more of these figures at Naochin's Tournament Kinkeshi page.
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Re-Release Kinkeshi
Kinkeshi Re-release
Kinkeshi Re-release
At some point there was a re-release of the standard sized Kinkeshi. They were released in the newer, glossier 1991-style plastic. These figures are marked with a Y/S N.T. and a circled P. The packaging indicates they were distributed by Bandpresto, another company affiliated with Bandai.
I don't know of any archive/documentation of these on the web.
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Painted Re-Release Kinkeshi
Painted Re-release Kinkeshi
Over at Nathan's MUSCLE Page! (credit him for the above image) he has a painted re-release set documented. I'm not sure of the trade markings on these figures, but the packaging appears to have some of the same labels as the packaging above. The figures also appear to be the same exact size as the standard and unpainted rerelease figures.
Also, of special note are the mystery figures that were included in the packs. These were unpainted and as far as I know, pretty much undocumented. Who knows which sculpts were included! You can see an example of one at Nathan's MUSCLE page!
Is it possible the following figures are mystery figures from this set?
Painted Re-release Mystery Figure?
Painted Re-release Mystery Figure?
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Stand Alone Kinkeshi Set
Kinkeshi Set
I know absolutely nothing about this set of Kinkeshi. However, they appear to be the same scale as standard Kinkeshi. You can read more about them at their page on Naochin's site. (Credit Naochin for the above image.)
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Popy Deka Kinkeshi
Deka Kinkeshi
These figures are marked with a Y-S.N.T and a circled P. As you can see, they are much bigger than all the preceding figures thus far. They are approximately 4-inches tall, though some may be slightly smaller or taller.
You can see more of them at Naochin's Deka Kinkeshi page. As I don't have a large collection of these, it's still possible that some were made by Popy and some were made by Bandai. However, currently, the only trade markings I've seen for these 4-Inch scale figures is the Popy Y-S.N.T and the circled P. It's looking like the 4-inch scaled Kinkeshi were all made by Popy.
And while there are two different, 4-inch Buffaloman sculpts, Naochin has them both documented as Deka Kinkeshi: Buffaloman sculpt A, and sculpt B.
Here are some pictures grabbed from Yahoo Japan of several Deka Kinkeshi.
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Popy MUSCLEFIGHTERS
MUSCLEFIGHTERS @ Nathan's MUSCLE Page!
These figures are part of a stand alone playset called MUSCLEFIGHTERS. Fuzzbuster reports that these figures are the same scale as the Popy Deka Kinkeshi, that is, 4-inches. However, whereas the Deka Kinkeshi have the YSNT formation like so: Y-S.N.T, the MUSCLEFIGHTERS have the YSNT formation like so: Y/S.N.T. Knowing this is very helpful as it provides collectors with a convenient way of discerning which of their 4-inch scale figures are Deka Kinkeshi and which are MUSCLEFIGHTERS.
You can see more of the MUSCLEFIGHTERS at the MUSCLEFIGHTER page at Nathan's MUSCLE Page!
And here's a look at some of Fuzzbusters Deka Kinkeshi and MUSCLEFIGHTERS mixed together. They are indeed the same scale.
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Battle Royal Kinkeshi
Battle Royal Kinkeshi
URS reports that these figures are actually Deka Kinkeshi released as a stand alone set, not unlike the MUSCLEFIGHTERS set, though these are not unique sculpts.
You can read more about these figures on Naochin's Battle Royal Kinkeshi page. (Credit him for the image above.)
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Bandai "Great Muscle" Kinkeshi
Great Muscle
Great Muscle
URS and GB report that these Kinkeshi are approximately 6 inches tall. URS reports that they have the following trade markings: Y/S.N.T キンニクマン" (Kinnikuman) and "Bandai Japan 1984." This would make them the largest Kinnikuman keshi available. That's a lot of keshi! And obviously, they were made by Bandai.
Here's a great image via URS that shows the size comparison with a standard Kinkeshi.
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Bootleg Kinkeshi
Kinkeshi Bootlegs
Finally, there are many bootlegs out there based on authorized Kinkeshi lines. They can be just as fun to collect! This guide was mainly focused on Bandai and Popy Kinkeshi. (Other than the minis I listed first.
) (Credit Naochin for the above image!)You can see some of these at Naochin's Kinkeshi Bootleg page. Naochin also has some pages dedicated to the many, many bootlegs of standard Kinkeshi.
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Okay, that's all the Kinkeshi lines of which I'm aware. I'm sure I missed some though. Please let me know which ones! Hopefully some of you will find this little guide helpful. I plan to expand on this and eventually create an entry for each on Toypedia.
Edited by Soupie, 08 December 2009 - 11:14 AM.
