Big One Craft (ビックワンクラフト) embodies the Japanese handcrafted sofubi scene as applied to Hokuto no Ken. Its Retro Sofubi line is built around two sculptures approximately 27 cm tall, Kenshiro and Raoh, offered in a handful of colorways produced in small runs. These are pieces that fully embrace the aesthetic of vinyl toys from the 70s and 80s, right down to their color palettes and proportions.
Details
Retro as a deliberate choice
Sculpted by Abe Toru, the studio’s founder himself, these pieces look backward where major brands pursue realism. They condense Kenshiro and the King of Hokuto into a deliberately dated design, that of TV hero figures from before the era of collector figures. The result exudes a striking presence, a massive and imposing Raoh that the Hakaba no Garou gallery described as “the crushing pressure of the conqueror of the end of the century” in the purest retro style.
Known variations
Kenshiro exists in a standard version as well as in Gold and Clear Purple colorways, while Raoh comes in a standard version and in Brown, Black, and Gold colorways. Observed prices range from 5,280 yen for alternate colorways to 9,900 yen for standard versions, all distributed during exhibitions at the Tokyo gallery Hakaba no Garou, located in Nakano. The line was launched in 2018 for the Hokuto Densho-ten celebrating the franchise’s 35th anniversary, with the Gold and Clear Purple colorways of Kenshiro offered as early as August of that year at 5,184 yen, a price that became 5,280 yen following the tax increase. Additional event-exclusive runs may exist, as artisanal production of this kind does not lend itself well to exhaustive catalogs.
Where to get them?
The main sales channel remains the online shop and physical gallery of Hakaba no Garou, where pieces appear during exhibitions, usually in very limited quantities. Sold-out colorways can then be sought on Yahoo Auctions Japan and Mercari, with secondary market prices varying considerably depending on the rarity of the run.
