KENSHIRO
1998
Well you can’t have a collection of Hokuto No Ken reviews unless you’ve got
this one. Yes folks I’m reviewing the first Kenshiro figure that Kaiyodo
released. Now there are several versions of this figure and I’ll be reviewing the
original. Why? Well it’s the first so even tho’ I’d love to review the last version
of the figure (which is naturally the best one) it just feels that I should do this
one warts and all (this one is unbiased folks... I already used my bias review
for its successor the Kenshiro DX).  

So let’s get on with it. Kaiyodo has been doing Hokuto No Ken products for a
while but never as an action figure (usually it was either a resin or vinyl kit) but
they created an action figure that was around the time of the “Toy Genesis”
where companies slowly started to make toys that weren’t for kids. Thusly
Kaiyodo threw their kimono in the ring and gave it a shot. After all they were
very familiar with the license of Hokuto No Ken and it’s a very friendly license
since its chock full of many interesting and visually appealing characters.
Hence forth in 1998 Kenshiro hit the shelves and it marked the beginning of
one of the most revolutionary toy lines in history.

The original Kaiyodo Kenshiro isn’t the eight-nine inch toy that permeates the
current line these days. He’s six inches in height with fairly traditional joints but
I’ll get to that in a moment. Brought to life by the sculptor Katsumi Urabe (who
also sculpted Devilman from Kaiyodo’s old line) I can say that his sculpt is ok –
the muscles are exaggerated which is fine… but it’s not proportionate to his
body. Yeah I know in the comic and the TV show it’s exaggerated but in the
frozen form of a sculpt it looks a bit off. A good example as to what I’m talking
about is if you look at his chest. Yes he has his seven scars but the abdominal
scars kind of stick up in a weird way. His deltoids are a bit oversized.

Now this may sound like I’m nitpicking and to a certain degree I might be, but I
like a very aesthetically pleasing figure. It’s not a horrible figure by any means
but it is the first Kaiyodo Kenshiro and judging it by the standards of today it
does have flaws.

The paint job on him is minimal (after all I did say I’m reviewing the first original
one). He is the color of the plastic so he has that plastic shine to him. The only
flesh part that’s actually colored is his chest. The legs and arms aren’t painted
like I said but they have a slight wash on them. Considering this toy is from a
certain era where washes were starting to become pretty common I guess it
can be forgiven –now just to be upfront with you I’m not a huge fan of washes.
It’s a pretty easy technique to do but certain companies tend to overuse it.
Sometimes to their benefit (like Todd’s stuff) but I don’t think they work well on
anime type figures that are at their best when they look clean. The wash isn’t
too bad on the Ken I have but on the Rei I have he tends to look a little dirty –
dirtier than he needs to be.   

On to articulation, it has your basic joints. Head, arms, elbows, waist, legs and
knees. No double jointing of any kind here. Overall he’s got 12 points of
articulation. But hey, it’s the first Kaiyodo Kenshiro figure and he had to start
from somewhere. The figure I have is a very tight one so there is no “kung fu
action” here (it’s an endearing term I use for when all you have to do is shake
a toy and his arms and legs flail everywhere). As I mentioned before he’s got
your traditional joints. Nothing new or revolutionary in that regard but just a nice
well put together action figure. Don’t try to put him in some super dynamic
pose because it’s just not going to happen.
ACCESSORIES

What’s he come with? He’s got a nunchuk that’s all plastic (the chain ones
would come later starting with the Kenshiro DX) and a spiked club. Yeah no
extra hands or anything like that as all you get are two weapons. Which where
having an extra hand would be a great addition because his index finger and
thumb are connected which allows you to slide his weapons in without any
kind of difficulty. However he doesn’t have an actual fist which would have
made a nice little addition to the figure as a whole.
SO WHAT'S THE BAD NEWS?

Well it’s the first figure and historically speaking first figures tend to not hold up
well over time. To give an example from another Kaiyodo line you’ve got Vash
from TRIGUN that while a nice looking figure doesn’t really hold a candle to the
ones that came after him (Toy Tribe really needs to make a new Vash). That’s
generally the rule of thumb for most things. He’s not the best Kenshiro figure
out there but he’s far from the worst.

Yongda I’m looking in your direction.
(c) Lester Romero 2005
The Lowdown

It’s a historic piece, no doubt a bout it. It’s worth owning simply for what it is.
Now like I mentioned atop that there are a few versions of this figure out
(speaking of just the repaints and no the endless solid color versions) there. I
personally like the last version of the figure while my friend (the guy who takes
all the pictures for my stuff) like the original one. It really is all a matter of
preference. The original one (which was one of the ones releases by Diamond
Distributors) can be found for pretty cheap. You can find one for 5 bucks if you
look hard enough. So if you can spare an Abe Lincoln then I don’t see why you
can’t spend it on this.