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.

Giant Baba BABABANK figure review

 Blog #279 Giant Baba BABABANK figure review.

In previous posts, we've looked at several Giant Baba figures from the 1980's. Like the Giant Baba BABAWATCH, Upper-Upper World/EHKOH also released another Giant Baba collectible under
the similar-sounding name of the Giant Baba BABABANK. 

The BABABANK is a miniature soft vinyl coin bank of Baba.

As usual, Baba is sculpted performing his signature chop and 16mon kick techniques.

The coin slot is placed along Baba's backside.

The bottom of the bank displays the corporate information for Upper-Upper World and EHKOH.

There is no date on the figure itself, but I would ascertain that the BABABANK was created 
around 1984.

Upper-Upper World and EHKOH's partnership was a brief but colourful one in the 1980's. While collectors may feel Antonio Inoki had the lion's share of figures made in his likeness (which there are), Giant Baba had the majority of licenses made in the 1980's. 

The BABABANK is a simple, yet interesting oddity from the Japanese Wrestling scene of the 1980's.
A collectible that isn't too hard to find, nor commanding that much from a resale perspective. Most examples can be found for less than $20 from Japanese merchants.

More figure reviews on the way! 

Giant Baba Remote Control Wrestler review

 

Blog #278 The Giant Baba Remote Control Wrestler review.


By the early 80's, merchandising was in full-swing with All Japan Pro-Wrestling. Being the founder and star of the promotion, Giant Baba was the central figure in All Japan's merchandising boom of the era. 

Our next wacky figure was released by Japanese toymaker MAME CON in 1984.

Special thanks to Wrestlefigs.com for the above photo.

The Giant Baba remote control figure sold for $6 USD upon it's initial release.


The packaging reads
'Remote Control Wrestler
Giant Baba Con'

(リモートコントロールレスラー
ジャイアント馬場コン).

In case you were wondering, the word 'con' is short for controller.

                 


As expected, the controller makes Giant Baba move and perform chops simultaneously. Notice the 'MAME CON' company logo on the controller.


                          





Providing chops on the-go: the Mame Con Giant Baba operates with three wheels at the bottom of the toy.






A belt-wearing Giant Baba is pictured on the sides of the box.

Sadly, no other likeness was added to expand upon MAME CON's Remote Control Wrestler concept. Stan Hansen would have been a perfect fit swinging his bullrope or Lariat. A fork-stabbing/throat-choppin' Abdullah The Butcher could have been a cool idea, too. Though, Abdullah wouldn't return to AJPW for another 4 years.

Giant Baba BABAWATCH review

 #Blog #277 BABAWATCH review

The next bizarre 80's Japanese Wrestling item is the Giant Baba BABAWATCH
(known in Japan as ジャイアント馬場【BABAWATCH】リストウォッチ).


The top of the package reads 'wristwatch' in Japanese.

The front of the packaging includes illustrations of Baba. The first illustration on the left depicts Baba searching for something (or someone). The second illustration features Baba performing his two signature techniques: the Overhead Chop and the 16mon Kick on the right. 

The 'G Baba' text in each corner has a 60's Batman vibe to it.

The back of the packaging contains an illustration of Baba smiling. Again, the Japanese texts reads 'wristwatch'.

The bottom of the packaging contains the company info 'Upper Upper World Production Committee (EHKOH)'



The watch's strap contains the text '16 MON' (short for 16mon Kick - Giant Baba's version of the big boot), along with 'BABA WATCH'.

Giant Baba had a lot of wacky products released during the 70's and 80's, from racecars to remote-controlled chopping figures, to piggy banks, board games and bendable figures. The BABA WATCH kid's watch is just the tip of the iceberg, really.

Given the watch's age, most sell for pretty low prices, as the original batteries in these watches have all long since petered out.






Special thanks to X/Twitter user Japones-lee for posting this two-page scan of the GONG July 1984 issue's MY COLLECTION article. 6 out of 19 of the All Japan roster wore Rolex watches.

begin.jp posted an article of Giant Baba, stating the All Japan owner admired wearing a Rolex Daydate watch. The article also mentions that 'Mr. Puroresu' Genichiro Tenryu also owned the same watch after spotting Baba wearing one.

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.

Pro-Wrestling Ring capsule figure set review

 
Blog #265 - Pro-Wrestling Ring capsule figure set

If gashapons/capsule toys are your thing, you may get a kick out of the Pro-Wrestling Ring set.



The Pro-Wrestling Ring set was released by Marubu in 2022. There are five ring sets to collect.


Argentine Backbreaker.

Lariat.



Giant Swing.




Sasori-gatame.



Like other gashapons, each figure comes with a mini booklet showcasing all five ring sets to collect.



Each ring comes with a grasp at the bottom; allowing collectors to wear the ring like a ringpop.

Present a matching ring to your beau and this set could make ideal wedding rings (or not...).

Wrestling Empire Mod Packs Vol. 2.

 

Blog #264 - Wrestling Empire Mod Packs Vol. 2.
With fall here and Halloween just around the corner, Wrestling Empire players can start
celebrating early with two new character packs:

The first movie monster pack pays tribute to three of the most famous monsters from the
silver screen: Wolf Man, Count Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster. 

Likewise, the second installment features an additional nine characters; all inspired by fan
-favourite horror movies such as:

Jack Torrance (The Shining)
Candyman 
Samara (The Ring)
Nosferatu
Chucky
Valak (The Nun)
The Mummy 
Elvira
& The Invisible Man.

Fans of cult Sci-Fi thriller The Fifth Element can grab this five character pack as well, featuring:

Ruby Rhod, Korben Dallas, Leeloo, Diva Plavalaguna & Zorg 

Players feeling nostalgic for 90's humour can party on with Wayne and Garth in this
two-character pack.

All of which can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198300785269/myworkshopfiles/