seen@newyorktoyfair2008: shaw brothers' action figures by neca

/// WILL RETRO ASIAN-KUNGFU-CINEMA TOYS BE NEXT THE BIG THING?
got sent these coupla images just (cheers, Juan!) and had to satisfy my curiousity by rooting around the web for more info and found this on Wizard: "For martial arts fans, NECA’s offering a line of figures based on Shaw Brothers films. The first line will include Hai Tao, Yank #6 and Liy Yu-Te and promise(s) to have 42 points of articulation." = which actually got me quite confused, so a sunday afternoon's worth of online research yielded these assumptions:

01. (Agent) Hai Tao (actor: Philip Kwok) from Kid With The Golden Arm, circa 1979.
02. Yang #6 (6th Yang brother played by Alexander Sheng Fu) in Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, circa 1983.
03. Liu Yu-Te (aka Gordon Liu) in The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, circa 1978.

(note: a clothed 1/6th-version to be released by MINDstyle in July 2008)

does this make more sense to you folks? :p ... do feel free to correct me, thanks :)


i reckon tis pretty cool that Asian-cinema is getting some representation and exposure in the toy-realm (beyond mere memorabillia), with what i think will be a blossoming retro-market in time to come, at the very least in Asian-regions, if not specific pop-genre, IMHO.

and there are loads of influences and past catalogs to gleam from too, and Shaw Brothers may just be the tip of the iceberg ... a combination of celluloid and the feeling of possessing an item beyond a DVD (and childhood memories) is perhaps an untapped potent notion, with regards to the toyworld, of coz. coupled with ready fan-base(s) around the globe?

and an "articulated action figure" would feed and fulfil the tangible gap of being able to "relive" past memories ... and from my muddled point-of-view, Enterbay's 1/6th Bruce Lee was one of the few who helped paved the way, in recent years ... i for one am looking forward to one day when someone makes Singapore's Cleopatra Wong as an articualted action figure! (or maybe i should do it meself?... hhmmm). heh :)