To back things up, I first encountered these guys, like most things that have come up here, in the late 1980s or early '90s, at the peak of a craze that included but was not limited to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I can't recall how I got them, but I'm sure I had at least three, possibly picked up separately. I remember finding them now and then, until their condition deteriorated (a guy with a bow was first to go) and their numbers dwindled. Eventually, it crossed my mind to investigate what they were, and a thorough search turned up exactly one, a guy with two swords. Here he it in closeup with one more.
As I tried to run this down, the first and foremost problem I ran into was that any searches with the obvious terms was invariably dominated by TMNT merchandise and certain other relatively high-profile lines. Nevertheless, I found pics here and there that I knew had to be from the same line, or directly copied from them. My big break was when I found a name, Hing Fat, which is to army man toys what the Cannon Group is to 1980s sci fi movies (see the Space Guys to Astronauts post). It specifically turned out that they were part of a set called Master of Ninja, because this crew isn't any better at grammar than they are at anything else; Vintage Ninja gives a good rundown of the set. With that information, I found a lot online that covered most of the sculpts I remembered. Here's some pics of the group with the original. If the black guy's kusari gama-ish blade looks like something, trust me, it looked a lot clearer on the one I used to have.
"Sorry, but swords beat feet."
"So what if we have no historical attestation, we have swords and cool flail things!"
What should be apparent is that these are a bit smaller and definitely rougher in their look than the original. The differences are a lot more pronounced on actual handling, enough that I initially found them downright loathsome to the touch. With a little time, I got over it. If it comes to that, it's not even that bad compared to what I often encounter in "bootleg copy of copy" toys. What's comparatively impressive is that only two are broken or defective. Here's a pic of one of them.
"I'd rather cut my leg off than wear these pants!"
One thing I noted in casual research was that the size was given as 45mm, definitely small for army man figures. It was only then that I tried comparison with other figures. Sure enough, they were smaller than normal. Here's a reference pic with the Galaxy Laser Team commander.
After unraveling this mystery with relative ease, I looked into things just a little bit further. I confirmed Hing Fat was still in business, which wasn't in much doubt given how long the astronaut sets have stayed in circulation. Moreover, I found their website, and then I wasn't really that surprised to confirm that they were till making these damn things. Then I made one more discovery, they were also offering another set of ninjas I'd acquired far more recently. Here's a lineup of a few of them with the old crew.
Obviously, these little guys are in a very different style than the old ones, which didn't really exist until later. I bought the lot I had long enough ago that I had them at my desk at a job I held through 2016. They're fun, but a little awkward in sculpting, with a tendency to hold weapons at unnatural angles. They are also very prone to breaking, as this lineup will attest.
"Half a nunchuck, only slightly less useful than the whole thing!"
With that, I'm ready to wrap this up. Things like this are truly why I do this blog; it gives me a chance to sort through old memories, and in the process give them the meaning and form that only emerges in hindsight. Or if you don't buy that, I get to write about silly old toys. That's all, more to come!
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