HAO Collection Yoshihiro Takayama figure review

The largest source of information for Japanese Pro-Wrestling collectibles

continues with another soft vinyl figure from the popular HAO Collection
line.

Let's take a giant leap over the ropes for Blog #134 for another soft vinyl
figure: the HAO Collection Yoshihiro Takayama figure review.

Released in 2004 as part of HAO Collection's earliest Wrestling figures,
Takayama comes in HAO's standard slip-case packaging.

                                

When the cardboard backing of the package is slipped off, the packaging
becomes a jumbo trading card.

Like other early HAO figures, the packaging mentions that the Takayama
HAO figure is a limited edition and displays a large graphic of Takayama
performing his well known "NO FEAR" (Takayama's All Japan and Pro
-Wrestling NOAH tag team with Takao Omori) pointing pose .

The right side of the packaging displays the "@mbition" logo along with
Takayama's name in Japanese Kanji.

The bottom left portion of the packaging contains a hanko stamp (it is
more common in Japan to sign items with an individual's custom-made
stamp than to sign with a signature) with the attached (now-defunct)
website link takayama.do.com.

The back of the packaging contains an even more impressive graphic
of Takayama along with the standard production credits.

While I'm not familiar with the "@mbition" company, I presume the
company is behind the licensing of Takayama's image and may have
been run by Takayama himself (kind of like Keiji Mutoh's LEG LOCK,
Giant Baba's "Giant Services" or Atsushi Onita's  EVIL WAYS companies).

                           

The Takayama HAO figure comes dressed in black trunks with UWF
style ring boots and white wristbands.

                                

Takayama's face sculpt features a shifted glance (a trait common with a few
HAO figures) as Takayama anticipates his next match.

Even in soft vinyl format, HAO made sure to include the mole on Takayama's
chin.


                              

                                       

Takayama's bleached yellow hair is patterned with patches of white for texture.




                                    

The sides of Takayama's ring boots contain gold text which read "Takayama".

Fellow UWF legend Akira Maeda would also receive similar a similar
treatment with his two HAO figure variants.

Takayama performing his best The Rock taunt.

The HAO Collection Yoshihiro Takayama figure features articulation at the
neck, arms and waist.



                             

The bottom of Takayama's right boot reads "(C) HAO 2004" indicating that
the Takayama HAO figure was made around the same time as other mixed
martial artists fighters from the HAO line such as Bob Sapp, Don Frye,
Takada Nobuhiko and Fedor Emelianenko.


                            

When compared next to Mattel's Kamala and Toukon Shop's Yuji Nagata figures.

Scale-wise, Yoshihiro Takayama stands an impressive 7 and a half inches (20
cm) tall - making Takayama one of the biggest figures ever in the HAO
Collection line!

HAO Collection Jushin Thunder Liger figure review

In 2007, HAO Arts Office would release two highly anticipated figures
as part of their HAO Collection lineup; the legendary Beast God himself:
Jushin Thunder Liger!

The standard version depicts Liger in his regular red, white and black
attire.

The slipcase backing reveals large graphics of both variants of Liger,
New Japan's "Toukon Shop", the New Japan Pro-Wrestling and
RingSide.jp's logos.

                                

The back of the packaging contains a full bio and an image of
Liger's black and gold alternate attire.

The bright colours along Liger's attire and the contours of Liger's
ring mask are immediate standouts.

A silver-painted finish is featured along the edges of Liger's mask; while
the jewel near the tip of Liger's mask is also painted in emerald green.

I especially like the textured appearance of mesh covering the eye
portions of Liger's mask.

Quite possibly the only HAO figure to feature this addition: Liger's
chest plate contains a noticeable glitter finish.

The smaller jewels and belt along Liger's body also contain a lighter
shade of emerald green.

The unique patterns of Liger's attire continue on the back of the
this soft vinyl figure.

The alternate black and gold variant contains the exact same packaging.

                             

The limited edition, alternate variant Jushin Thunder Liger figure is based
on Liger's alternate persona, the heel-based "Evil Liger".



                                

The silver accents from the standard variant have been repainted gold while
the emerald green crest has been changed to a contrasting silver finish.

                             

The crests along Liger's body also contain a gold finish with a striking
red colouring on the inside.

The same glitter finish is applied to Liger's chest plate.

                          

The intricate lines in Liger's attire are more visible with a new gold
finish.


                                

The only downside to the HAO Collection Jushin Thunder Liger figures
is their lack of articulation. Both variants are only articulated at the arms
and waist.

                            

Thanks to the unique shape of his ring mask, the HAO Collection Jushin
Thunder Liger towers over most Japanese Wrestling figures standing at
over 6 inches in height.

Antonio Inoki HAO Collection Retirement Statue review

Today, we'll be looking at an extra special figure released by HAO
back in 2006. The Antonio Inoki "Fighting Spirit Legend" HAO
Collection Statue.

                       
Unlike most HAO figures which come in see-through clamshell packaging,
the Antonio Inoki Fighting Spirit Legend statue comes packaged in a black
cardboard box complete with a stylish photo of Inoki on the front.

The left corner of the packaging features Antonio Inoki's signature with the
inscription "闘魂" (Fighting Spirit) along with Inoki's ring name  "アントニ
オ猪木"" (Antonio Inoki). The bottom of the package reads "闘魂伝説"
(Fighting Spirit Legend) in red lettering.


                                   


HAO Collection's logo is prominently displayed at the top right corner.

The back of the package contains a latch at the top of the box to remove
the Inoki statue.

The writing on the back of the package reads "GSP" (Global Standard
Products) and "IMA Corporation" along with a website for the latter.

The packaging opens from the front to reveal the Inoki statue. Inoki's
"Fighting Spirit" signature (left) is also accompanied by "燃える闘魂" on
the right which reads "Burning Fighting Spirit" in Japanese.

Although it's hard to pick out, below the Inoki statue is a gold foil sticker which
reads "INOKI INC (C) 2006". This seal is found on all of Inoki's officially
endorsed products from the era.

The inside of the packaging contains a message from Antonio Inoki

that includes a printed graphic of a "Hanko" stamp with Inoki's
namesake.

Next to the message is a picture of Inoki from his retirement match

against Don Frye and a mini bio which reads:

ANTONIO INOKI

KANJI INOKI (Inoki's birth name)
190cm/102kg
1943 2 20 (February 20th, 1943)

Yokohoma, Kanagawa Prefecture

The inside of the packaging also mentions Inoki's Championship victories

from 1964 to 1987 as well as the dates the championships were won

and the opponents Inoki defeated.

                            

Unlike the majority of HAO figures which are made of soft vinyl, the
Fighting Spirit Inoki statue is made of Polystone.

                              

Inoki's signature fight towel is also included as a removable accessory (a
feature that is very rare for HAO figures and statues). The fabric fight towel
contains Inoki's Fighting Spirit signature in gold and white stitching; adding
a nice touch to this collectible.

Like other statues released by HAO, the Inoki statue contains an
attached black base.

HAO Collection also created similar Polystone statues for their "K-1
FIGHTER FIGURES" line banner with matching black bases.

Being both an iconic Pro-Wrestler and a notable Martial Artist, Inoki
is the only Pro-Wrestler from the HAO Collection to receive a 6 inch
K-1-esque statue treatment.

The Inoki statue features Inoki ready to fight with a clenched fist.

   

The intense look on Inoki's face is fully captured here. The design of
this statue itself is based on Inoki's final years as an active Pro-Wrestler.

HAO's distinctive art style is faithfully adapted into this medium as well.

The polystone material contains a glossy finish that helps the Inoki
statue stand out easily.


                             

The bottom of the statue's base contains the HAO Collection
logo and Inoki's Copyright.

Scale: when stood next to HAO Collection's VOL. 002 Stan Hansen figure.

                               
From the base, the Inoki statue stands 16.5cm tall (about 6.5" inches)
(half an inch higher than most figures from the line).


Closing thoughts:
From the stylish box to the sculpt of the state itself, I've always
loved this statue. Inoki's likeness is instantly recognizable and
the cloth fight towel is a splendid addition to this retirement
match commemorative.

Sadly, the Fighting Spirit Legend Antonio Inoki figure was the
only Pro-Wrestler given the 6" K-1 style statue treatment in
the HAO Collection; making this collectible a truly stand-alone
piece.

One can only imagine how other famous Wrestlers would have
looked like given HAO's statue treatment.

For those of you looking to purchase your own Antonio Inoki
HAO Collection statue on the secondhand market, I strongly
suggest looking over the condition of the statue itself (front,
back and bottom of the base) before making a purchase. Due to
the statue being fragile, there are many examples out there
with cracks, chips and staining on the polystone.

Stan Hansen HAO soft vinyl figure review

In 2008, HAO introduced a brand new, soft vinyl series called

"Regards For Superstars".

The Regards For Superstars (or simply "RS" for short) series
consisted of four figures represented as "Volumes". The
figures featured in the RS series are:

Vol. 001 Giant Baba
Vol. 002 Stan Hansen
Vol. 003 Akira Maeda (UWF Ver. with white wristbands)
Vol. 003 Akira Maeda (RINGS Ver. with red wristbands)

Today, we'll be looking at Vol. 002 - the Badman from
Borger, Texas: Stan "The Lariat" Hansen!

                        
This collectible figure was limited to just 1500 pieces exclusively
in Japan!


                      

The back of the packaging features a dossier on Hansen as
well as his various championship victories. The bio reads:

"STAN HANSEN
 PROFILE
 Real name: John Stanley Hansen
 Date of birth: August 29th, 1949
 From/Nationality: America, Texas
 Blood type: O
 Height: 195cm
 Weight: 145kg
 Debut: January 1st, 1973
 Titles: Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship
            AWA Heavyweight Championship
            NWF Heavyweight Championship
            International Heavyweight Championship
            PWF Heavyweight Championship
            UN Heavyweight Championship
            World's Strongest Tag League Tag
            International Tag Team Championship
            PWF Tag Team Championship
            WWF US Tag Team Championship
            NWA US Heavyweight Championship
Finisher: Western Lariat"
 
The bottom of the packaging also features "(C) John
Stanley Hansen II".

The slip-case packaging also acts as a jumbo trading card!

Stan's name is written in both English and Japanese as  "スタン
・ハンセン" along with the Regards For Superstars logo in the
top left corner.

                            



The HAO Stan Hansen vinyl figure is sculpted in Hansen's
famous "Texas Longhorns" pose. You can almost hear Hansen
shouting his trademark "YOOOUUUTTTTH" battle cry!

Wrestling trivia: Hansen started shouting "Youth" during his feud
against the Funk brothers (who were considered "old") in the
late 1970's as part of All Japan Pro-Wrestling's "youth movement".

Even after the feud ended, Hansen (and the Japanese fans) continued
to keep the taunt alive; which would go on to become Hansen's
signature pre-match catchphrase for the rest of his career.

Before the Rattlesnake, there was the Lariat.

                                     

                    

The left side of Hansen's vest includes his initials "SH".

                       

Stan Hansen is one of the few HAO figures to include an accessory.
In this case, Hansen's famous bull rope which is attached to Hansen's
left hand.

As with many figures from this line, the Stan Hansen HAO figure
is just awesome to look at (and my personal favorite of the legend).



                          


Hansen's boots also include a Texas Longhorns logo complete
with bull decal.


                      

The HAO Stan Hansen figure includes a fringe pattern (sculpted
out of vinyl) along the edges of Hansen's vest and even detailing
around his black cowboy hat.

Posing wise, Hansen features articulation at the left arm waist and
neck joints only. Hansen's right arm can't be lowered from an
upwards position.

To chop or not to chop? That is the question.
Posed next to HAO's Kenta Kobashi throwback figure.

From the horns down, the Hansen HAO soft vinyl figure
is 8 inches tall; making this rarity one of the largest Hansen
figures ever created!


How many HAO figures do you own?