Kaiyodo XEBEC – 200X

The line’s statement of intent

On the back of each blister, an orange insert lays out the series’ mission statement. The text is unsigned, coming from the publisher, and closes with a credit line: prototyping by Enoki Tomohide (eyewater), packaging design by Pepper Shop.

Without “expressiveness,” you can’t call it a figure. If you can’t play with it, it’s not a toy. The sharp sculpting quality honed on garage kits, married to an entirely new kind of articulation mechanism. Articulation that is both solid and surprising, that you can play with, where every position becomes a fully realized pose. Had anyone ever seen a figure like this before? A limp, characterless pose achieved by simply bending a joint is not “expressiveness.” That kind of thing, let’s leave it to plastic model kits. In the 21st century, the action figure must evolve. Opening a new frontier, constantly pushing toward the next one: that is what the Hokuto no Ken 200X action figure series is all about. (Publisher text from the back of the blisters, translated by us)

The series opens with Raoh as the first volume, helmeted and caped, whose blister displays the kanji 羅王, followed by Kenshiro as the second volume, with a chain nunchaku and interchangeable hands. Both were released the same month at 2,980 yen.

A cast for connoisseurs

The 200X dared to make choices that few lines have attempted since. Ryuga appeared bow in hand as early as December 2000, Ein accompanied by little Aska in late January 2001, Yuria as the Last General of Nanto in March, with removable armor, and Shin in his KING outfit the following month, all four references priced at 3,200 yen. Rei alone was released in four versions between November 2000 and December 2001, including one with white hair and a “Final Battle” version armed with the water rings from his duel against Yuda. Falco closed out this first wave with a repaint in October 2001.

A Heart, announced by the maker in the summer of 2000 alongside Shin, on the other hand never materialized.

The line then continued in spaced-out waves. Kenshiro and Raoh returned in Ver.2 in the fall of 2003, then as repaints in the spring of 2005. In May 2005, five years after the launch, adult Bat made his entrance at 3,300 yen, crossbow in hand beneath his “WANTED” packaging, the first figure of the character in his adult version. The crown jewel of the line remains the Bloody Pack, limited to 500 copies, and the return of Raoh on his steed in an imposing “Final Ultimate Box Set,” first in March 2006 with a fully resculpted Kokuoh and a partially reworked Raoh at 18,000 yen, then in a second version on December 15 of the same year.

This box set is the most ambitious piece in the line. Kaiyodo’s promotional visual announces a 1/8 scale, a Raoh standing 220 mm tall, and a Kokuoh standing 260 mm tall and 390 mm long, all in packaging measuring 490 by 420 by 200 mm. The rider features thirty-six points of articulation, including two 10 mm Revoltech joints and four 6 mm ones, while the horse has thirty. A ratchet mechanism was built into the steed’s load-bearing joints so it can hold its pose despite its weight. On the accessories side: a cape, two shoulder guards, two scarves, a nunchaku, one optional head, and two optional hands.

Who sculpted what

Contrary to what one might assume, the 200X is not the work of a single person. The blisters credit their prototypist in two places, on the front under the character’s name and on the back in the presentation insert, making it possible to reconstruct the breakdown piece by piece.

Enoki Tomohide (eyewater) is confirmed on the opening Kenshiro and Raoh from August 2000, as well as on the Shin in his KING outfit. Matsuura Ken sculpted the May 2005 Bat and the Kenshiro from the Raoh & Kokuoh-Go box set. The Kokuoh from that same set is attributed to a third name, Ōtsu Atsuya, also a prototypist at Kaiyodo. For the remaining references, credits still need to be verified box by box.

A fourth name hovers over the line’s beginnings. One month before release, the specialist press attributed the two opening pieces to Yamaguchi Katsuhisa, designer of the mono shaft drive articulation system inherited from Kaiyodo’s robots, and announced that modeling supervision would pass from him to Enoki for the rest. Since the retail blisters credit Enoki, Yamaguchi’s share most likely covers the development of the articulated skeleton and the presentation prototypes rather than the final masters.

The ultimate rarities

The 200X holds the most elusive pieces in all of Hokuto merchandise. The Silver versions of Kenshiro and Raoh, released on November 3, 2000 at 2,499 yen to celebrate the opening of the hundredth Toys”R”Us store in Japan, almost never surface. And at the very top, the Bloody Pack bringing together bloodied Kenshiro and Raoh, limited to 500 copies, sold out in approximately one hour at launch, a record that remains etched in memory.

Two Kenshiro figures also fell outside the regular toy store circuit. The one from July 24, 2002, in anime colors, was only included with the “Super Premium Box” DVD set of the 1984 series, sold for 100,000 yen. The one from July 15, 2006, in a special colorway, was only available at the “Hokuto no Ken Eiyûden” booth at the Odaiba Bôken-Ô, Fuji Television’s summer event.

Finding them today

Standard references can be found without much trouble on Yahoo Auctions, Mercari, and at Suruga-ya, as well as from Western vintage resellers. Each copy should bear its numbered Coamix license certificate sticker as a guarantee of authenticity. Limited editions command high prices, and the Bloody Pack is a true treasure hunt. For the same aesthetic in a giant version, check out the Big Scale Real Figure, a 40 cm line entirely sculpted by Enoki.

Sources

• 200X line blisters and boxes, KAIYODO XEBEC TOYS, 2000-2006.
• Figure Oh No.34, World Photo Press, July 2000, pages 16 and 17.