The first item soared to the top of my hit parade scant hours ago, when Bucky, having picked up the latest issue of Hobby Japan around the corner while I was getting my copious forelock cropped, said, "Hey, there's a big new Kenshin doll you've gotta see! And, uh, oh yeah, there's a Joe Yabuki figure, too."
A Joe Yabuki figure. Four simple words.
Four simple words that couldn't be said for years and years!
あしたのジョー--Ashita No Joe, a.k.a. "Tomorrow's Joe"--has finally been enjoying some merchandising action in the past couple of years. The creation of writer Asao Takamori (a pen name of Ikki Kajiwara, source of classics like Star of the Giants and Tiger Mask) and artist Tetsuya Chiba, Ashita No Joe--the story of a homeless young hellion who eventually becomes a boxer--began as a manga in 1967 and was first animated by Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Pro in 1970. A movie gleaned from those 79 episodes was screened in 1980, with Tokyo Movie Shinsha animating a 47-episode sequel series, Ashita No Joe 2, in 1980-81. A second compilation movie followed. The end.
Past scary squeaktoy-looking toys from the early '70s and the elusive Joe-and-rival-Rikiishi-Rock-'Em-Sock-'Em-Robots-type game of 1980, there wasn't much in the way of figures of hero Joe Yabuki until Volks released a kit in the early '90s. Then, in 1997, Medicom Toy produced a wonderful 1/6-scale Joe Yabuki doll, incorporating a fully jointed Takara Combat Joe body, as part of its Real Action Heroes line (check out that line and several others at Medicom Toy's Web site!). Given that Joe is my all-time anime hero, mine is in a display case next to my study desk to remind me why the heck I'm here! Here's what the Medicom doll looks like:
But now there's the nif-tay new offering from Medicom Toy, which is making me such a happy, avaricious camper: the initial release in their new "Ultra Detail Figure" series, an "Ashita No Joe" set of PVC figures! Slated to go on sale in Japan in July, the set has a 150mm (about 6 inches) Joe Yabuki, trainer Dampei Tange (the best likeness in the set!), the Namida-Bashi post from the bridge Tange lives below, and a downright disturbing li'l lump of the kids from Joe's Home For Ugly Orphans. The set is only 1,980 yen--about $17! Ohboyohboyohboy!
Interestingly, the design is that of the first anime series, which is my favorite! Also interestingly, Joe looks like his butt is put on backwards. But that's okay--it's a new Joe Yabuki figure, and the world is bright indeed!
My second pick to pine for is the incredible limited-edition (only 1,000 made) figure of Yakkuru, Ashitaka's companion and mount in the breathtaking 1997 Hayao Miyazaki anime film Mononoke Hime. Yakkuru was brought to life by the finest animal character animation I've ever seen; he somehow doesn't seem as vivid on the small screen as he did in the theater, but I'm looking forward to seeing him huge again when Miramax gets off its fanny and finally gives Mononoke Hime a U.S. theatrical release.
Produced by Cominica in its Miyazaki Image Collection line, this Yakkuru figure stands about 25cm tall (about 10 inches), and is a cool 23,000 yen ($210 or so). It's been advertised in Hobby Japan for well over a year (Cominica offers other Mononoke Hime figures, too, including a jaw-dropping Moro and San that can be yours for 32,000 yen--see Cominica's Web site at http://www.jaspanet.or.jp/COMINICA/!), so maybe there's still hope...
She's still thinking...but I bet her pick will start with the initials Orphen Doll! Check back soon to see!
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