Classic Icons of Japanese Cinema Immortalized in Action Figure Form

by Marc Saint-Cyr

Here's a nifty little story to get the kid/collector/action figure enthusiast in you excited: Ameurasiart is currently selling a number of action figures modelled after characters from various samurai films, including Lone Wolf and Cub (yes, complete with a little wooden cart), Sonny Chiba and the titular group of Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (check 'em out here and here).

The bad news to this little slice of awesome? Well, it appears that the figures are a) limited in availability (at the moment, the plastic renditions of Mifune's Yojimbo and Katsu's Zatoichi are sold out) and b) monstrously expensive, with no figure going for less that $400 and the Seven Samurai set going for a whopping $1295. Yikes! Well, at least you can always gaze at them longingly, like a kid who stares at a coveted item through the toy store window...though it'll take more than a handful of allowance savings or lawn-mowing earnings to make one of these treasures yours...

Thanks to Wildgrounds for the details and links.