Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Ichibanboshi Oddities


RxH x Ichi - Ichibanboshi (unknown)
 
RxH x Ichibanboshi - Ryuusei Ninja Ichibanboshi (unknown release)

There are a handful of undocumented oddities that I have encountered among the collaborative figures produced by RealxHead [リアルヘッド] and Ichibanboshi [一番星]. The above two are examples that I have been lucky enough to add to my collection.
 
The first figure appears to be the head of the first release 'Kabuki' paint Ryuusei Ninja Ichibanboshi [流星忍者 一番星] placed on an unpainted black vinyl body, and given a black scarf. The first Kabuki Ninja was sold at the Shinto Gangu After-School Club event on June 20, 2009, so I would imagine this figure was distributed around that time. Many Ninjas use black vinyl, so that portion of the figure does not provide any particular insight.
 
The second figure is the Ryuusei Ninja in unpainted black vinyl with a yellow-orange cat eye. No scarf or eye-patch is included. This one could have been an unpainted test shot for one of the earlier releases of the Ninja, as a couple of them used a black vinyl base and a yellow-orange cat eye.
 
Other Ichibanboshi oddities that I have seen include:
 
Ryuusei Ninja in unpainted milky-white vinyl with a yellow-green cat eye (no eye-patch or scarf);
Ryuusei Ninja completely painted metallic red with a yellow-orange cat eye and black scarf;
Ryuusei Ninja in unpainted black vinyl with a grey cat eye (a fairly unusual eye color) and red scarf;
Mikazuki Joe in unpainted black vinyl (probably more of a test shot than a mystery version);
Mikazuki Joe in unpainted clear smoke vinyl with gold tinsel inside;
Mikazuki Joe completely painted metallic red with a black scarf; and
Mikazuki Joe in unpainted milky-white vinyl.
 
Stranger yet- most of these were still in their original packaging. They were also sold at around the same time, and alongside a large amount of more common Ichibanboshi figures, leading me to believe that someone was cleaning house.
 
It is still a mystery to me as to why these figures were produced and how they were originally distributed.

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