Kinkeshi Premium Set Vol. 3
By Professor Terry
This week I’m going to give my thoughts on the newest volume of the Kinkeshi Premium series – Vol. 3. My first thoughts are that this volume might very well be my favorite of the 3 volumes released so far.
There are 2 reasons for this. Firstly there are 5 new sculpts! 5! That is more than the other 2 volumes and hopefully this trend continues. I mean it’s nice to get new versions of some of the characters I love but new sculpts entirely are very exciting. This volume presents possibly the best of the new sculpts as well.
The simplest one in design is the USB man. There would be no USB man in the original line of course so this sculpt bothers me a little as he doesn’t seem to fit in, nor does there seem to be a lot of thought into creating it. It’s just a plain USB stick with arms and legs with the squares on the USB forming his eyes. To me it’s a bit lazy.
Next we have what looks like the Thing from fantastic 4 but with deer antlers. That is a sculpt I like. Then we have my favorite of the new sculpts. It’s like a beefed up Pandaman with a cape. I love the detail on his face plus his outfit. The back of the cape is even curved for some reason making him even chunkier.
The 4th of the new sculpts is quite hard to explain how he looks. I guess it’s like 2 ends of a bridge on his shoulders, a rock like body but normal arms and no expression on his face. It looks cool but I don’t know what it is supposed to be based on.
Lastly we have another version of what I call the Indiana Jones like figure from Volume 2. this one has the exact same hat but is a little shorter than the volume 2 counterpart as you can see in the pic. He also has a winged like cape over his shoulders. I give the new sculpts a 7 out of 10 in this volume.
Now we move onto the Kinnikuman figures we are familiar with. This is where this volume stands out to me. The first figures in the pack are Benkiman, Akuma Shogun & Warsman. I absolutely love all 3 of these. The Benkiman is a bit taller and more detailed than the original and has the tap on his head instead of the poop. The Akuma Shogun is wearing the Golden Mask like in the Kinnikuman cartoon which is the first time his figure has been sculpted that way. I think that is fantastic and am very happy that version has been made. Then the Warsman, although a common sculpt, has his arms posed above his head with the Bear Claws out. This is quite possibly the best Warsman figure that has been done.
The next 4 aren’t so spectacular. Special 99, another Kinnikuman, Mongolman and The Ninja. The Special 99 and Ninja are more chunkier versions of the originals. Kinnikuman and Mongolman are very stock standard. singlet for Kinnikuman and no shirt for Mongolman. I’m not impressed by these 4 at all. None differ much at all from the original figures.
The final 3 lifted my spirits though. Sneagator, Junkman and Planetman. Sneagator is unfortunately in his original lizard form but still looks impressive, Junkman is a cross between figures #53 and #127 but this sizing seems about correct and really well done. This Planetman is easily better than it’s M.U.S.C.L.E. counterpart. Much more solid and I love how the the Saturn ring is on an angle around his waist. He looks less like a bunch of planets attached by sticks and more like a real wrestler.
Overall I give volume 3 a 8 out of 10. Can’t wait for Volume 4! (If there is one)
