The Search for Dokuroman (cool Japanese capsule toy skeleton)

Updated: 06/27/16: Comparison photos with Boss Fight Studio "Vitruvian HACKs" skeleton added

WHAT IS A GACHAPON?

I got wind of some 11cm skeletons (by Kaiyodo) from Japan on The Fwoosh. They're a bit taller than Rement Pose skeletons, and a bit smaller than the October Toys skeletons. They're sold as "gachapons" (also spelled as "gashapons"), which are little toys in plastic capsules sold out of vending machines, similar to the little toy junk in gumball machines that we see in the US at supermarkets, etc. but theirs are so much better.

The Japanese have made capsule toys practically an art form. The quality and variety of their capsule toys is astonishing. Some of them are practically miniature model kits! Unlike our gumball machine toys, theirs sell for 100-500 yen, which is like 1 to 5 dollars US.

Unfortunately, all the info available about Dokuroman is in Japanese, and a search on Google did not come up with much info in English. The following ad was published on the collectiondx.com website. How could you not want them?

from collectiondx.com

THE HUNT IS ON!

It appears that the release date was late Mar, 2016. That coincided with my April Disney vacation to Tokyo, so I hunted for places to shop in advance. The #1 place to get gachapons is at the Akihabara Gachapon Hall. It shows on Google Maps, but a traveler should know that finding shops in Japan is complicated. I had not been able to figure out how their addresses work, and the street names are hopeless. The information signs on the street are in Japanese. I had to stop many people to ask and I finally found it, off the main street in sort of an alleyway.

It was very hard to convey what I wanted, and they don't use the Latin alphabet. When I said "Kaiyodo Gachapon Dokuroman" and drew a terrible-looking skeleton, they understood. Unfortunately, Dokuroman was sold out. They did have some actual samples and a header card locked in a glass case, with a sign "not for sale". The standard price for them is 400 yen (about $4.00 US) if only they were available! At least I found some other gachapon that I liked.

Dokuroman display at Akihabara Gachapon Hall

I'm not absolutely sure if the skeletons are called "Dokuroman" or "Devgru" or "Armored Action Skull", so for now, I'll just refer to them as Dokuroman for the rest of this article.

Next was a huge shop that said "HOBBY" all over it- but their real store name is Volks. 6 floors of hobby stuff! They didn't have Dokuroman, but they had just about everything else that a hobbyist could want as far as paints, tools, airbrush accessories and the most insane action figures and model kits ever. Like a precision model kit of a subway train interior, subway ticket gate, ticket dispensing machine, or a toilet, in 1:12 scale.

I lucked out that my tourist guidebook listed "Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby". It was really hard to find because the guide did not mention it was on the 5th floor of a building with no signage in English visible from street level. After circling the block many times on foot, someone showed me where it was. Since they're the retail store for Kaiyodo, you'd think they'd have Kaiyodo Dokuroman, right? They were unfortunately sold out of the skeletons, but they had 4 or 5 machines still dispensing the Dokuroman weapons. They understood that people want the skeletons (badly) so they helpfully had a sign in English that clarified that the machines were dispensing only the weapons kit, and the skeletons were sold out. They had some samples locked in a glass case, again with a "not for sale" sign. How the fates mock me! So close, yet so far away.

Tourist guide ad for Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby

In that same building, other shops had toys and figures. Finally, on the third floor, I asked for "Kaiyodo Gachapon Dokuroman" and they pointed at the shelf behind me. At last! These were the actual skeletons. Not in a capsule, but in a clear plastic bag and selling for above retail. Some of them cost more than others. Maybe some are rarer or more in demand? You really can't fault them for scalping toys that are in high demand, just like toy dealers do here in the States. So, should I pay scalpers prices? I came a long way and expended a lot of effort, and I didn't want to go home empty-handed.

So yeah, I bit the bullet and paid the price. The original retail of 400 yen ($4.00) is a pretty low price for what you get. The scalpers price is more in line with the value of the toy. Clearly the Japanese love these skeletons and are buying them up like crazy in their own country, leaving few/none for foreign tourists. (BTW on the second leg of my trip, going to Hong Kong, Dokuroman was also sold out there, too.)

Not sure what the store name is, but they had skeletons for sale!

My hunt for Dokurman entailed an awful lot of walking, so along the way, I stopped and examined many, many other gachapon machines on the street until I finally found what I was looking for.

DOKUROMAN SKELETON REVIEW

Finally having them in hand, they really are tiny marvels. This is what they look like, in package. They come in a little plastic bag, sealed with a Kaiyodo sticker. The bag includes a plain basic plastic base, the skeleton parts (which have to be assembled), a helmet and an instruction sheet.

Kaiyodo Dokuroman in package

I couldn't wait a few days to get home to open the skeleton, so I opened a package in the hotel. It has a lot of small, delicate-looking parts. It is not the type of toy you'd give to an 8 year old. I think 14-and-up would be age-appropriate.

Here's what they look like in unassembled form. 24 pieces!

Kaiyodo Dokuroman parts (24 of them)

The parts only need minor sanding to remove the sprue nub. Dokuroman is not that easy to assemble. The neck bone has sharp ridges that hurt ones fingers as one attempts to connect it. It helps to have some knowledge of anatomy because it's really easy to screw up by putting the wrong bone in the wrong place.

Here's the flyer/instruction sheet for the skeletons:

Dokuroman flyer/instruction sheet front

Dokuroman flyer/instruction sheet back

The ball joints are tiny, and not all of them make a satisfying "click" when joined. They're not as sturdy as Glyos, but that can't really be expected in this scale. As the hands, legs and arms are moved to pose the skeleton, sometimes the ball joint pops out. They look like scaled-down versions of the Revoltech skeletons. The feet are very much like Revoltech, down to the "high heels" and the inability of the skeleton to stand by itself.

Dokuroman's jawbone is a separate piece, and is moveable. There is a hole on the top of the skull, to accommodate the PVC helmet that is included in the package. If one does not want to use the helmet, then the hole would have to be filled, or an alternate skull from the weapons pack (sold separately) can be used.

Here's the fully-assembled bad boy (photo taken in hotel room).

These are just awesome, and at an incredibly low retail price. They're not perfect (because of the ball joints occasionally popping out when posed) but for a capsule toy they're quite amazing.

Review of Dokuroman in comparison to other toy skeletons is in my article "A Collection of Toy Skeletons".

DOKUROMAN WEAPONS KIT

Since I was able to buy the Dokuroman weapons kit straight out of the gachapon machine at Kaiyodo Hobby Lobby, here's a photo of the capsule. It is sealed with a Kaiyodo sticker bearing a number "7" (the skeletons themselves are sealed with a Kaiyodo #6 sticker). It is large (by US standards) at 2-1/2" in diameter, and acorn-shaped. It costs 300 yen (about 3 dollars US).

Dokuroman weapons kit in capsule

Here's the weapons kit in the bag, with instruction sheet.

Kaiyodo Dokuroman weapons kit in package

Here's the flyer/instruction sheet for the weapons:

Dokuroman weapon flyer/instruction sheet front

Dokuroman weapon flyer/instruction sheet back

The contents of the capsule: weapon, tiny, tiny weapon support stand, alternate skull, alternate hands and a base.

The weapons do not look like the original advertisement on the website "collectiondx". They are, in fact, better than the ad. The ad must be showing pre-production samples, as the actual weapons are dark grey, not tan, and they are not as ridiculously out-of-scale as the ad makes them appear.

This particular gun is a Sokom Mk13 sniper rifle. The rifle barrel and rifle stands are separate parts. The barrel has a very fragile connector, so I would not recommend taking it apart repeatedly. Just assemble it once and leave it be.

close-up of weapons kit

The alternate skull in this pack looks like it had half its face shot off. The extra hands are meant to fit with the specific weapon in the package.

The base is more elaborate than the simple bases that come with the original skeleton. These bases have some sort of skeleton body part lying on the ground. The body part is molded-on and painted, although it would look better if the body part was a separate piece.

 

DOKUROMAN + WEAPONS PACK

After a lot of procrastinating, I finally assembled Dokuroman with one of his weapons packs. I swapped the skull for the shot-off-face one, which, BTW does not have a moveable jaw. I swapped out the hands and the base. I should mention that the hands do not grip the weapons too tightly, so using a 2-handed grip is best. Dokuroman can also use compatibly-scaled Marauder weaponry. Marauder guns cost less than a dollar each, but of course, do not have an alternate skull, hands or base for Dokuroman.

Dokuroman with Dokuroman rifle (L) and Marauder rifle (R)

SCALE INFORMATION

Here's Dokuroman with some other figures.

With Rement Pose skeleton and 2003-era Gi Joe Cobra

I would say that Dokuroman is 1:18 scale. He is technically a lot taller than a Rement Pose skeleton, and they have very different body proportions, but they are compatible. In comparison to a Gi Joe Cobra trooper, Dokuroman is tall and lanky, but in-scale.

With October Toys skeleton

I don't think that the October Toys skeleton and Dokuroman are in-scale with each other. Even if there is only a half-inch difference in height, the hands, feet and body proportions are too different and they cannot share accessories. Dokuroman is probably more anatomically-correct, but the burly October Toys skeleton can tolerate harder play and posing without falling apart.  

With Revoltech skeleton

Dokuroman is very closely related in design to the Revoltech skeleton. They look almost identical, but in different sizes. The Revoltech skeleton has better joints, but costs A LOT more. They are also of very different scales.

With Vitruvian-HACKs skeleton

How does Dokuroman measure up to Boss Fight Studio's Vitruvian HACKs skeletons? They are obviously the same scale, and accessories are easily interchangeable. The height difference is accounted for by Dokuroman's much longer lower spine. With the recent price increase of V-Hacks and the lower price of the newly re-released Dokuroman, it's hard to decide on which is "better". You can get THREE Dokuromen for the cost of one V-Hacks skeleton now.

CONCLUSIONS and WRAP UP

And that's it! Dokuroman skeletons and weapons packs. I had 2000 yen leftover from my trip, and I kinda wish I pumped more 100 yen coins into the machine, but I wasn't sure if I need to hail a cab to the airport so I needed to have money in reserve.

Based on what you get and the overwhelming demand for these skeletons and accessories, Kaiyodo has a real winner here. I certainly hope that a re-release is in the works, because everybody wants these small, inexpensive, detailed, articulated skeletons, domestically in Japan as well as internationally (Hong Kong, and Western countries, via Internet mail-order).

RELATED PAGES:

Pirate Hats (for action figures) DIY Tutorial
"Captain Bar" DIY Dollhouse becomes Pirate Bar
Toy Shopping in Tokyo's Akihabara and Hong Kong's Mong Kok district 
Miniature DIY Pirate Gachapon Machine 
A Collection of Toy Skeletons
More Gacha-Love, shipped from Japan!  
Tokyo's Akihabara Again and Gacha-Love, 2017


Kaiyodo Dokuroman, gachapon, gashapon, DEVGRU, skeleton, CapsuleQ, Fight!

Imperial Toys Loony Kookys (1974) aka Silly Sports jigglers

In 1974, Imperial Toys (Los Angeles, Ca) started another line of wacky humanoid, monster-esque jigglers: the Loony Kookys. They were similar in many ways to the ever-popular Spooky Kooky jiggler line, although the Loonys were lacking the inherent cruelty and evil of the "forgotten prisoners" concept. Perhaps that was intentional, given the 1971 "torture toys" controversy over Aurora's "Monster Scenes" model kits.

LOONY KOOKYS- ORIGINAL 1970's RUN:

Loony Kookys were small (about 4"), very flexible, rubbery oily jiggler humanoids marketed by the Imperial Toy Corporation. They are also known as "Silly Sports jigglers" by current collectors.

Like their Spooky Kooky brethren, there were a total of six different figures. They were sold in a countertop cardboard box for 39 cents each. They had "HONG KONG" stamped into various body parts. But unlike their imprisoned brothers, they had no trace of "BRABO" stamps anywhere. Instead, they had "IMPERIAL TOYS", along with the Imperial Toys crown logo, stamped into their bodies. This indicates that this series was intentionally designed and manufactured for Imperial Toys alone.

from 1975 Imperial Toys catalog. Photo courtesy of Plaid Stallions

The Rogues Gallery: the Loony Kooky Six 

[Loony Kooky #1] Waiter/Maitre d'. Based on his prominence on the box art, I'd consider him to be the "leader" of the Loonys. He's posed awkwardly, running sideways. He is carrying a tray with a wine bottle and wine glass all molded together with him.

Waiter/Maitre d'

[Loony Kooky #2] 3-Legged runner/relay racer. He's carrying a molded-on baton. What makes him monster-ish is the full size, third leg.

3-Legged runner/relay racer

[Loony Kooky #3] Siamese Twin boxer. Another nod to monsters. The boxer has a smaller co-joined twin coming out of his shorts. The smaller twin, apparently conscious and functional, has his own pair of tiny boxing gloves. It is unclear if the Siamese twin boxer is qualified for a solo match, or whether he's actually a tag-team.

Siamese Twin boxer

[Loony Kooky #4] Scuba diver. A relatively normal human being. He has a small, permanently-attached life preserver around his very tiny torso.

Scuba diver

[Loony Kooky #5] Crazy Tennis player. Another normal human being. He's carrying 3 tennis racquets, and, since all of them have tennis balls, I think it's implied that he hits 3 tennis balls with 3 racquets simultaneously. He can even hit balls with a racquet held in his mouth!

Crazy Tennis player

[Loony Kooky #6] Drum Majorette/Cheerleader. Sometimes mistaken for a "witch doctor". It's really easy to see the cause of the confusion, but when using a magnifying glass, what looks like "bones in her ears" are really "bows in her hair". And, the outfit does have a resemblance to a Napoleonic soldier's uniform, hence- she's a drum majorette and the only female among either of the Kooky lines.

Drum Majorette/Cheerleader

COLLECTABILITY AND PACKAGING

Loony Kookys are very collectable and considerably rarer and more expensive than Spooky Kookys. Based on the Imperial Toys catalogs, the shelf-life of the Loonys was very short- only 2 years (1974 and 1975) and then they were dropped from the catalogs (and presumably from retail store shelves). Shown below is a 2013 ebay auction where a mix of Spooky Kookys and Loony Kookys sold for $247.50. Since the Spooky Kookys in the lot were not particularly rare, the bid was obviously mainly for the Loonys.

Spooky Kooky and Loony Kooky lot (photo from ebay)

There are few examples of the box art. The only ones I could find were the small image from the Plaid Stallions website, and the homemade box that I had received my Loony Kooky set in.

Loony Kookys in repro mini box (photo from ebay)

The box art was not scanned or printed very well on my sample so I had to spend a lot of time cleaning up the old tape stains, tears, faded colors, writing on box, illegible lettering and incorrect aspect ratio. Here is my cleaned-up version which (hopefully) is a better representation of the original Loony Kooky box art:

cleaned-up version of repro Loony Kooky mini box

1990's REISSUES- THE SECOND GOLDEN AGE

Several years ago, I saw a set of Loony Kookys, in different colors for sale on ebay. I lost (or missed) the auction, and the jigglers went to a user going by the name Astronit. I asked Astronit few questions, and found out that they were stamped "Made in China", just like the mid-1990's Spooky Kooky reissues. I suspected that the Loony Kooky reissues were related, because the factory paint colors were so similar to the paint colors on mid-1990's Spooky Kooky reissues.

The new paint jobs are more complex than the original ones.I like them better. But, it would be very labor intensive and not-very-profitable to manufacture these on a large scale, even with slave labor in factories in China. This would probably explain why these reissue figures are so hard to find.

Loony Kooky reissues by Gigantor

I had recently obtained my own set of the Loony Kooky reissues. Upon close examination, I saw that the old "IMPERIAL TOYS" and crown stamps had been removed. Several of the jigglers had a very hard-to-see new logo on them: the familiar drawing of a mountain, with the letters "T" and "S" intertwined, all inside a circle, with the very faint word "GIGANTOR"! This fits the reissue Loonys nicely into Gigantor's mid-1990's resurgence, when many HONG KONG-era oily jigglers reappeared, but all stamped "MADE IN CHINA".

As for distribution, the reissued Loonys have an interesting story. Some had landed as prizes in arcades at the mall with key rings attached to them, circa 2000/2001!

 

MY CONCLUSIONS

If one were to consider the notion of integrating the Spooky Kookys with Loony Kookys, I have some bad news. The two lines are not truly compatible. The Loonys are smaller, lighter, skinnier and much more fragile. They are unable to sit down, stand up or even lean against a wall unassisted. Their head/body/limb proportions are entirely different (making the Spooky Kookys look downright robust). If the thinness of the limbs can be forgiven, the small and very flat torsos are the deal-breaker. They're more like 2½D instead of 3D.

Putting them side-by-side, Spooky Kookys and Loony Kookys are clearly from two different worlds and never the twain shall meet. There really is no way of making the two lines look good together.

size incompatibility between Spooky Kookys and Loony Kookys

They apparently were designed to dangle from a string (for example, from a car rear view mirror) and that's where they shine. The scuba diver may have some bathtub play value, but the others... well, I'm still trying to figure out what I can do with them.

Any kid in the 70's would quickly realize that you can't make clothes for them, or give them a MEGO rifle, or play Hogan's Heroes with them, or put them in a wrestling ring, or put them in a torture chamber with Aurora's Monster Scenes models, or play Planet of the Apes with them, or put them in toy jeeps or wagons, or even have them run hotels, stores or trading posts. Not to mention how easily they'd fall apart under normal play. I can see why the line only lasted for 2 years at retail.

RELATED PAGES:

Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 1
Imperial Toys Spooky Kooky jigglers, Part 2
Spooky Kooky Dungeon Dioramas

Got additional information, or corrections, or photos to share? Write to me and I will gladly incorporate any new information in this blog!