Duel Knights

Yesterday, I put together a few small models.

These are called Duel Knights. They are produced by a company called Kabaya and can usually be found in the toy aisle of most Japanese grocery stores. This particular set is called Sengoku Retsuden, which would roughly translate to "Extreme Transmission From the Warring States Period". I'm pretty sure all of the figures in this series are meant to represent historical figures, but I can only recognize one.

The first figure is called Gurenmaru. Guren means crimson but I'm unsure how to translate the maru portion of the names. He wields a huge sword that can be held in one or both hands or pegged into his leg. This is my favorite of the three for many reasons. I love the colors on him for one. I also enjoy the various horns and claws on his body. His weapon is the best part though. It's just so versatile and lends itself well to a wide range of poses.

Next up is Souryuumaru. His name translates to "blue dragon" though I've never seen this particular word for blue before handling this figure. His weapon is a longbow, though it is a heavily stylized one.

I recognize the stylings of this figure as those commonly associated with Date Masamune, in particular the eyepatch and crescent on his helmet.

Last is Shiroganemaru:

This is by far my least favorite of the three. The colors don't come together very well and the shoulder pads look pretty ridiculous. He also has very tiny feet and is rather top heavy, which makes standing him upright very difficult.

His name translates to "white steel". Though I'm unsure if this is a synonym for silver, it is pronounced the same way.

The weapons in this line were meant to be combined into a dragon, but I'm unfortunately missing one so I can't build it. Honestly though, the figures are more than enough.

For the price, these figures are pretty neat. They lack the durability to be great toys as some parts are fit too loose and will often fall off. However, they make excellent models for posing. They can support a lot of weight and have a wide range of motion.

Awesome!

I would like to add that constricting these things can be a bit of a pain due to their small size and the often ill-fitting pegs. I had to take a break after building each one due to the fact that my fingers hurt so much. Overall, I'd still recommend them.