The Pro-Wrestling statues of Dr. Takuro Horikawa - Part 2.

Blog #280 showcases more Pro-Wrestling sculptures by Dr. Takuro Horikawa.
 
After a number of gallery appearances, Dr. Takuro Horikawa continued to sculpt more pieces.
Broadening his inspirations beyond the realms of Pro-Wrestling, Dr. Horikawa's followup 
creations embodied interests from historical figures, movie likenesses, MMA greats, and
even Dinosaurs. 


           


Hollywood Hogan and The Rock's infamous staredown at WM X8 in 2002.




Dr. Horikawa's interests also go beyond Wrestling itself with a sculpture of Greek Olympian figure Apollo.




Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.



Edo period Samurai and influential figure Ryoma Sakamoto; as portrayed by Japanese Actor Masaharu Fukuyama.



On a smaller scale, Dr. Horikawa's work has extended to recreating Dinosaurs. Such is the case with this T-Rex sculpture.

Candid office photos of Dr.Horikawa's Wrestling sculptures taken back in 2014.

 

Out of all of Dr. Horikawa's work, I think Horikawa's Pro-Wrestling sculptures are the best. You can clearly see Horikawa's passion as a Pro-Wrestling fan carved into these pieces.




Another Hogan statue from 2015. 

Again, the realism here is amazing. Whereas most Hogan statues feature the Hulkster tearing
through his shirt, or striking a muscle-flexing pose, it's interesting to see Hogan depicted 
in a casual sculpt.

Would a sculpture like this be something you would collect?



Takuro Horikawa pictured at famed Puroresu store Toudoukan holding a mini photo album of his sculptures for sale.

Sadly, the above posts are the extent of the information that I could gather on Takuro. The few Japanese articles that did talk about Takuro stated that his love of Pro-Wrestling was rekindled after a lengthy absence. Crafting Wrestling figures (and sculpting in general) continued to remain a hobby for him beyond his daytime work as a Dentist.

Maybe Takuro's love of Pro-Wrestling will rekindle once again one day, and we'll have more Wrestling sculptures presented on display throughout Japan.

Further reading:

marmalade3232.ashita-sanuki.jp/e864309.html
This appears to be the blog of the Gallery that hosted Horikawa's sculptures.

wwwb.pikara.ne.jp/horitake/newpage4.html
Event photos from when Horikawa's work was featured at the Kagawa Prefectural Culture Hall in April 2011. The event was called Takeshi Horikawa Oil Painting & Takuro Figure Exhibition”; as Dr. Horikawa's father also had oil paintings on display.

www.rnc.co.jp/ent/photom/calendar/rcar/20141112
More gallery coverage from 2014. Includes additional photos of Dr. Horikawa and the previously-seen sculptures.

The Pro-Wrestling sculptures of Dr. Takuro Horikawa - part 1.

 Blog #266: the Pro-Wrestling sculptures of Dr. Takuro Horikawa.

As popular as Character Product/Charapro's Wrestling figures were in Japan, many collectors wish there were more gaijin's (foreign Wrestlers) added to the roster during the line's original run between the late 90's to late 2000's.

Through the fan-created statues of Dentist Takuro Horikawa, I was reminded of the Charapro figures of yesteryear. Looking at Dr. Horikawa's work, it's easy to imagine what the following legends would have looked like:



Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.



Johnson's easily-noticeable tribal chief tattoo is recreated in expert fashion.



When light glistens upon Horikawa's work, the statues appear to display skin texture.



Hollywood Hulk Hogan.



The most-realistic modern Hogan bust I've ever seen.



A savate kick. I could certainly see the original Tiger Mask sculpted in this pose.



Dr. Horikura starts his statues with a wire base.



A mold is then created.



The realism in Dr. Horikawa's custom work is simply astounding. I can't think of a more-realistic late 70's - early 1980's Antonio Inoki.



Dr. Horikawa's work has been on display in various Art exhibitions alongside his father's paintings. Horikawa says with his limited schedule these days, it takes him on-average, about a year to complete one sculpture from start to finish.

Notice that these statues are much-larger than your standard Charapro.



Another throwback Inoki. This look appears close to Inoki's appearance in the 1970's.



Hands down, the coolest Ichiban-era Hogan likeness that I've ever seen. I also think it's refreshing to see Hogan not sculpted in a raised #1 finger pose; as he is often depicted doing so from this time in his career.