Limited Edition, Hand-Crafted Japanese Historical Samurai Figure

Please bear with me for a moment as I follow a metaphor to it's grisly end... Do any of you remember back in 1986 when Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's vault on national television? It was a big deal -- no one had ever opened Capone's vault and they were going to do it on national television. Would they find historic artifacts? Gold? Jewels? Bodies of the people he had killed? In the end, after an hour of excitement, they found ... absolutely nothing in the vault. Well, this samurai figure of Date Masamune is kind of like that, except imagine that they found the entire vault filled with jewels and diamonds and gold.

This figure was completely oversold in the United States. it was so popular, that the entire U.S. allotment of them were sold out to retailers within a month of their production. Strongblade had ordered a few of these, and due to an internal inventory mix-up, they were never added to the site. Which means that we now have a small number of one of the hottest samurai figures in the country, where most other retailers are completely sold out.
Why, you may ask, did these sell so fast? Glad you asked. These sold so quickly because they feature some of the best craftsmanship we have ever seen in collectible figures at this price range.

Every piece of this figure was painstakingly crafted by some of the best designers in Japan, using only the best materials available.

The helmet with Masamune's trademark crescent-moon crest (Tate mono) is made of steel. The black armor that Masamune wears is likewise made of steel, with dozens of interlaced steel plates forming the skirt. The two swords he carries are made from steel as well, with fabric on the sheaths and accessories. The armor is actually strapped with pieces of fabric and strings, and can be removed from the figure. Clothing made from fine Japanese textiles are fitted onto the figure, and sandals tied with fiberous laces are fitted to his feet.

Underneath all of these materials is a figure that is about as articulated as we've ever seen. The shoulders, legs and torso all move in more than one axis. Heck, even the feet are jointed in several places, allowing for some very realistic foot positions.

The figure comes with two heads (which is something I've wished on many a day-after-party mornings in college), one with a noble, determined look on it, the other with a screaming, angry, "I'm going to cut your head off and glue it onto a decapitated donkey's body!" type of expression. (no offense intended to any chimpanze enthusiasts out there. I happen to like donkeys myself and would never wish harm on them. Please do not e-mail us about this as it took at least 2 -3 minutes to come up with that battle cry).

The mask, a hanbo style laquered piece that covers only the chin and nose, features furry "whiskers" and leaves plenty of room to see the gleaming black eyepatch over his right eye. This too can be removed of course. Remove the hanbo and the helmet, and you are left with a young Masamune's face, with the typically long hair of a samurai and a removable white head cloth that kept his hair back and the sweat from his eyes.

And what would a samurai be without his swords? Date Masamune comes with a Katan and Wakizashi, both made of steel, with fabric trimmed black scabbards. How many figures do you know that come with steel samurai swords?

This is, as mentioned, a litmited time offering. We don't have many of these in stock and they've sold out of many other places. Grab one soon or sit and sulk when they're all gone.