Kinnikuman • Kinkeshi (キンケシ)

Kinkeshi are small Kinnikuman figures, mostly about 4 cm tall, that Bandai launched as capsule toys in April 1983 and that became a major hit. Each capsule of the regular series held three figures; the 1983–1987 regular series counted 418 types and sold about 180 million units, with sculpts by Keiji Hirota. The original items were sold as ‘Kinnikuman PART’ and the popular nickname ‘キン消し’ (‘Kinnikuman erasers’) was not official; the name ‘Kinkeshi’ (キンケシ) became official with the 2008 reissue. Further series followed in 1991–1992, 1998–1999, 2008–2009 and from 2016.