Pop Culture Passion: Mugenbines

Mugenbines are essentially Japan’s answer to construction toys like Legos or Kinex. The name Mugenbine is a combination of the words mugen, meaning infinite, and combine. Each toy consists of a bunch of interchangeable parts that can be combined to form various creatures, usually animals. Currently, they are released in series of six that can be combined to form larger figures. The larger figures are usually deities or heroes.

My first set was Egyptian themed and included things like a sphinx and an alligator. The combined figure is Anubis.

I really like the chains on his arms.

The later sets in this line had secondary releases of even smaller animals that could be combined into dragons or added to the big figure as armor. I think the blue dragon is my favorite. It was sold alongside the European mythical creature set.

In a surprising display of foresight by the creators, the last figure in the line was Mugen Satan, an antagonist for the previous six sets formed from “evil” creatures each representing one of the last six themes.

He looks suspiciously like Oda Nobunaga from the Sengoku Basara games with his gun and sword. I’m assuming this is not a coincidence.

I like the freedom toys like this offer. You can tear apart the official combinations and make whatever you want. Though Muginbines are not as basic as Legos and thus limit your options somewhat, there have nevertheless been some incredible original designs. On the negative side, because the official combinations use all the pieces from the smaller figures, there are a lot of oddly placed or unnecessary parts on the larger figures. For example, the bug head on the dragon's tail.

Also, these sets used a lot of stickers that tend to not stay on very well.

Thankfully, that nuisance has been corrected for the most recent series.

If you’re into things like Transformers or Super Sentai Mecha or toys like Legos, I’d recommend Mugenbines. They are fun, inexpensive toys with a lot of play value.