For the franchise’s 25th anniversary, Kaiyodo gave Hokuto no Ken its first dedicated Revoltech line, the Hokuto no Ken REVOLUTION series. From September 2008 to March 2010, a new articulated figure was released every month at a base price of 2,450 yen, sculpted with few exceptions by Matsuura Ken, built around the Revolver Joint ball-joint system that revolutionized the genre. Twenty-two entries, two seasons, a giant horse and a few hidden treasures: the foundational line for all Hokuto articulated figures.
Details
Season 1, the foundations
The first season established the essential cast, with Kenshiro opening the line, followed by the Bakuretsu! Zeed-dan set and its transformation-based exploding body, Rei, Jagi, Toki who came from the start with his interchangeable Amiba head and Cassandra shackles, Shin, and Raoh to close things out. Approximately 19 points of articulation and 13 ball joints per figure, soft materials for hair and outfits, display stands and alternative hands included.
Season 2, going all out
The second season considerably expanded the line. Alongside the “last battle” versions of Kenshiro and Raoh, shirtless with reworked sculpts, came the jailer Uighur, a Rei with hair turned white by the Shinketsu Shu, Shu, Souther with his mask and spear, and then the absolute pinnacle of the line, the Raoh and Kokuoh-go box set at 8,900 yen, the only large-format entry in the series. Following those were a Falco equipped with an LED in his right arm to replicate the glow of the Koko Ken, Juza, a Kenshiro from the Land of Shura, a nameless Shura, Kaioh, and finally Yuria, who closed out the regular series in March 2010.
The Musou epilogue and hidden treasures
Six months after the end of the regular series, the line was briefly revived for two entries in the colors of Tecmo Koei’s Hokuto Musou video game: a Kenshiro with oversized Hyakuretsu Ken effects and a Rei that came with a head split in two, in the purest Kaiyodo tradition. The line also hides its Holy Grails: three gold versions of Kenshiro and Raoh reserved for the “Seven Stars” loyalty campaign, obtained by accumulating the points slipped inside the boxes, and an unlikely three-figure platinum box set featuring Kenshiro, Raoh, and a Zeed-dan tattooed with “777” on his skull, distributed exclusively in Maruhan pachinko parlors in early 2010.
Finding them today
Long out of production, the series circulates widely on the Japanese secondary market: Mandarake, Suruga-ya, AmiAmi pre-owned, and Yahoo Auctions Japan, at prices that vary enormously depending on the entry. The later numbers in the series and the Kokuoh-go box set are the most sought after, not to mention the golds and the Maruhan set, which are true treasure hunts. In 2014, Kaiyodo would resurrect some of these sculpts and expand the cast within the Legacy of Revoltech line, which has its own dedicated page.