A Collection of Toy Skeletons

Updated: 07/03/16: Dokuroman skeleton rating raised, due to fix available for mid-spine joint problem.
Updated: 08/05/16: New "Bag of Skeletons" available at Michael's.
Updated: 09/10/16: Added review of LEGO skeletons. 
Updated: 10/19/16: Added review of Dokuroman Pumpkin nightmare skeleton.
Updated: 08/15/17: Added review of Bag O' Bones by Boss Fight Studio. 
Updated: 08/15/18: Added review of Big Lots Jumbo Pose Skeleton bootleg

I like skeleton toys, a lot. They remind me of my favorite Disneyland rides, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "The Haunted Mansion". When they're done well, they can fit into many different themes. And, since skeletons are generic, toy companies don't have to pay for expensive licenses, or do stupid things like mold character-specific clothing on them, therefore locking them into only one franchise.

Skeletons (especially quality ones) have better articulation than humanoid characters, and can be endlessly customized. They can represent tattered medieval knights, armies of the dead, zombies, pirates, dead soldiers, space marines, etc. They can also be humorously and ironically placed into scenes of normal, everyday living, as shown on Flickr groups like "Skeleton Toy Figures".

I mainly buy skeletons in the 3"-6" range. I bought the skeletons listed below to increase the population in my 3/4 scale (1:15) world, some more successful than others. Below are my reviews of the different skeletons that I have.

FLAT HALLOWEEN SKELETON

Flat Halloween skeleton

Pros: Extremely cheap.
Cons: Everything.

No "bones" about it- this skeleton is crap. It's flat, 2D and the sculpting (especially the head) is terrible. I'm not sure if it's facing front or back. Not an action figure. Not a jiggler. It doesn't have a lot of play potential. This design has been around for a long time (since the 1960's) and was originally a 9" skeleton manufactured in Hong Kong. These can be found cheaply, in a bag with other plastic creatures like bugs, spiders, bats and rats. Creative crafters have found uses for this- as a template to make rubber stamps!

FLAT SKELETON
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$0.10
Year	2010		Location bought	Halloween store
Size	5.5in		POA	0
Scale	1:13		Rating (1-10)	1

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STRETCHY SKELETON

Stretchy skeleton

Pros: Fun to play with (when new), low price, good sculpt, comes in different colors.
Cons: Too soft and floppy. Cannot stand on its own. Does not last.

Well, at least this is a 3D skeleton and has a decent sculpt. But, it's too floppy and has the texture of a jellyfish. Even gummi-bears are firmer. Not an action figure. Not a jiggler. The toy is not made to last as the material seriously degrades within a few years. The outer layer becomes "crusty" and then stretching it would probably rip it apart completely. If only this mold were used to make a PVC skeleton! Now that would be a great toy!  Comes in 2 sizes: about 3" and about 6".

STRETCHY SKELETON
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$0.50
Year	2010		Location bought	grocery store gumball machine
Size	3.25 in & 5.5in		POA	infinite
Scale	1:24 & 1:13		Rating (1-10)	2

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SKELETON GARLAND

Skeleton garland

Pros: Durable, inexpensive. Good size and compatible with standard 1:12 scale dollhouses, or popular 6" action figure lines.
Cons: Poor (2 points) articulation, skull and collarbone not anatomically accurate, skull weirdly shaped. Not fun to play with.

Things are beginning to improve. This skeleton is 3D and can last decades. Or centuries. These are normally sold in packs of 4 around Halloween. The same body (but poorly painted) is sold at The Dollar Tree in a 4-pack for $1.00. Also sold at Walgreens. Only the legs move at the hip. That's it. Despite these limitations, crafters have been able to pose them for static Halloween displays by breaking/sawing the joints and regluing them in different positions. These have still-life diorama potential but are not action figures.

SKELETON GARLAND
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$1.25
Year	2010		Location bought	Michael's art/craft supply
Size	5.75in		POA	2
Scale	1:12		Rating (1-10)	4

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BAG OF SKELETONS

Bag of Skeletons from Michael's

Pros: Durable, inexpensive. Good size and compatible with standard 1:12 scale dollhouses, or popular 6" action figure lines, sculpt is an improvement over similarly-sized skeleton garland.
Cons: No articulation, not fun to play with.

This early in the season (first week of August), Michael's is already stocking Halloween items! I saw a new item, the "bag of skeletons" and expected them to be the same figures as their "skeleton garland", just repackaged. Upon closer examination, the skeletons are slightly and subtly different. Particularly the skull, which is more human-shaped and not shaped like a monkey skull. The grossly-deformed collarbone has been eliminated, and the backbone is not a separate piece anymore. The measly 2 points of articulation were also removed, but that's no great loss. The original design only allowed the garland skeletons to goose-step anyway. It's a given that any serious crafter or modeller is going to cut apart the joints, and re-glue them in different poses. The paint job is hit-and-miss. Each individual skeleton has a different paint job, indicating that these were hand painted at the factory, and not very well.

Comparison of new (left) and old (right) Michael's H'ween skeletons

So, why do I buy this crap? Well, since Michael's always has 40 to 50%-off coupons, this stuff comes cheap and buying 3 bags of these (18 skeletons total) costs as much as *ONE* Vitruvian HACKs skeleton. They have some uses as background characters, and it's possible to create some scary furniture with them, like a bone throne. I might even figure out how to add moveable joints to them someday.

BAG OF SKELETONS
Manufacturer	MSPCI (Michael's)		Price	$1.33 ($0.80 w/ coupon)
Year	2016		Location bought	Michael's art/craft supply
Size	5.75in		POA	0
Scale	1:12		Rating (1-10)	5

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BENDY SKELETON

Bendy skeleton

Pros: Cheap, durable, can stand on its own, can be posed, comes in different colors, fun to play with.
Cons: Overall sculpt not very anatomically accurate.

This is a wire bendy skeleton, with a PVC body and wires inside. It's a good desk toy, can hold a pose, and in a pinch, can (barely) work as an action figure. However, it's not very anatomically accurate, as the feet are huge, the arms are short and the torso is too thin. These are very inexpensive (I bought these in a 12 pack), and can make excellent party favors or Halloween Trick or Treat bag handouts.

BENDY SKELETON
Manufacturer	US Toy Company		Price	$0.42
Year	2013		Location bought	USToy.com
Size	5 in		POA	infinite
Scale	1:15		Rating (1-10)	6

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MODERN JIGGLER SKELETON

Modern jiggler skeleton

Pros: Inexpensive, flexible but not floppy, customizable.
Cons: Only pseudo-3D, overall sculpt not very anatomically accurate, most of the body is in a flat pose.

For a while, these were my only source for quasi-3D, flexible jigglers that looked OK next to Spooky Kookys and looked like they somewhat all belonged together. I found them in a novelty shop. Only the skull and ribcage are 3D, the rest of the body is pretty flat. Since they're made of PVC, they were customizable with a hot knife to shorten them and put them into better, more dynamic poses. They also look better when they wear clothing. Later, when October Toys released their superior new Skeleton Warriors figures, I no longer needed to hunt for any more of these jigglers.

MODERN JIGGLER SKELETON
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$1.29
Year	2010		Location bought	novelty shop
Size	5.5in		POA	infinite
Scale	1:13		Rating (1-10)	6

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TINY 1:35 MINI SKELETON

Tiny 1:35 skeleton

Pros: Good sculpt, well made, many uses for 1:35 model kit diorama builders
Cons: Zero points of articulation

Wow, a blast from my past! I found this in my old "hobby box" in the garage! I can recall the date, because I remember having this when I was making a Gene Simmons figurine in 1:32 scale as a teen. I'm pretty sure it came out of a gumball machine. It's about 1:35 scale (2 inches tall), made of styrene, and has a good, 3D sculpt. Some uses could be: small-scale Halloween graveyard dioramas, battlefield scene dioramas, D & D wargaming, cupcake toppers. I doubt that this sort of figurine could be sold to children anymore these days... people are more cognizant of the risk of it being swallowed by children or pets. Just to think... there was a time when this was considered a toy and was mass-produced and sold very cheaply.

It deserves a "6" rating, even though it's more akin to a static model.

Update: Just on a whim, I decided to put on a layer of Testor's black paint wash on it. Take a look at the result! Whoa, baby! What a difference! Gawk at all of the hidden details that the wash brought out, revealing just how good the sculpt is! I'm just speechless. This isn't a pricey 1:35 scale precision model kit or anything. It was a 70's-era gumball machine toy!

Tiny 1:35 gumball machine skeleton with paintwash

TINY 1:35 MINI SKELETON
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$0.10 or $0.25? (in 1978)
Year	1978		Location bought	grocery store gumball machine
Size	1.875 in		POA	0
Scale	1:35		Rating (1-10)	6

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LEGO SKELETON

LEGO skeleton

Pros: LEGO brand is well-known, widespread availability at retail stores, has impressive array of accessories, vehicles and buildings, has articulated joints, fun to play with, appeals to kids and adults.
Cons: Extremely stylized, very toy-like, not realistic, unable to fit into any other universe besides LEGO, cannot buy skeletons by themselves.

I've had LEGO skeletons for a long time, since 1997. LEGO is a universe all unto itself, as "scale", in its most conventional sense, is not relevant in a LEGO world. The LEGO minifigures, including the skeleton, are all 1.5" tall, but they are not 1:48 scale, since their heads, torsos and limbs do not follow normal body proportions in any way.

The LEGO skeleton has 5 points of articulation (head, ball-jointed arms, legs). They can fit into many LEGO themes, although my personal favorite involves mummy tombs. Unfortunately, one cannot buy the skeletons separately (to build an army), as they are sold packaged in boxes with other figures and LEGO bricks in themed sets. They can be found in multiples on ebay, averaging about $2.00 per skeleton. Another option is buying bootleg LEGO knockoffs. I found this little pirate set, by "Enlighten" at a Chinese housewares store for $1.79. It's actually pretty decent, and provides a lot of bang for the buck.

"Enlighten" bootleg LEGO set

LEGO SKELETON
Manufacturer	LEGO		Price	$8.00 (Oasis Ambush set)
Year	1998		Location bought	Toys R' Us
Size	1.5 in		POA	5
Scale	non-scale		Rating (1-10)	6.5

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DOKUROMAN ARMORED ACTION SKULL!

Dokuroman Armored Action Skull

Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically correct, moveable jawbone, compatible with popular 1:18 action figure lines.
Cons: Difficult to buy, delicate, spine ball joint pops out.

Boy, am I torn on this one! I really wanted to love these, and it was difficult to get them, but there is a critical design flaw: the ball joint where the lower spine meets the ribcage/upper spine constantly pops out. Kaiyodo really needs to re-engineer this particular joint. Otherwise, with 19 POAs, tons of tiny ball joints, and a low, low retail price, they are a marvel in this scale. They are actually gachapon (capsule) toys sold in vending machines in Japan. Currently marketed with a weapons/hands/base accessory pack. They could have been rated more highly, but I docked them by 1 or 2 points due to the problematic spine joint.

Update: After prowling around on some message boards, I had heard that  "Pledge Floor Care Finish" could help with the loose joints. After trying it, I will say that it actually works. I was able to fix problem joint in the middle of the skeleton, and now I can appreciate the toy a heck of a lot more, since it stopped falling apart. Rating has been bumped up from a 6 to a 7. Can't go higher because the ball joints simply do not have the range of motion or reliability that the combined hinge/swivel joints on other skeletons have.

DOKUROMAN ARMORED ACTION SKULL!
Manufacturer	Kaiyodo		Price	$4.00 (retail), $7.50 (scalper price)
Year	2016		Location bought	toy store in Tokyo, Japan
Size	4.25 in		POA	19
Scale	1:18		Rating (1-10)	6 7

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SPOOKY KOOKY SKELETON

Spooky Kooky skeleton

Pros: Whimsical sculpt. Lasts for decades, good play value.
Cons: Body proportions not anatomically accurate.

What can I say? I LOVE Spooky Kooky jigglers! I'd always wanted this particular one as a child. It was never meant to be an accurate representation of a skeleton. In particular, the head is extremely large. But, it was meant to be a part of a line of creepy dungeon dwellers, and none of them (even the humanoid ones) are normally proportioned. It's a good play figure and rear-view mirror dangler. The plasticized rubber is so good that it can last for 4 decades (and counting).

Fans of classic Aurora monster model kits will recognize the influence of "The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel-Mare" on this little skeleton jiggler.

SPOOKY KOOKY SKELETON
Manufacturer	Imperial Toys		Price	$0.49 (price in 1971), $5.00-$20.00 (current ebay price)
Year	1971		Location bought	ebay
Size	4.25 in		POA	infinite
Scale	1:15		Rating (1-10)	7

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DOKUROMAN PUMPKIN NIGHTMARE

Kaiyodo Dokuroman Pumpkin Nightmare

Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically correct, moveable jawbone, compatible with popular 1:18 action figure lines, includes extra hands and a large amount of bonus Halloween accessories
Cons: More delicate than other articulated skeletons. Ball joints do not have full range of motion.

Just in time for Halloween, Kaiyodo has produced a new series of their Dokuroman skeletons: Pumpkin Nightmare. Initially, it was not clear whether the Halloween accessories were just an add-on pack, but the newest ad copy showed that an entire skeleton, along with the Halloween-themed goodies came packaged together, all for only 400 yen each! Additionally, Kaiyodo had addressed their supply and distribution issues, and plenty of these became available, even to international buyers.

Once they arrived, I cracked open a pack immediately. Kaiyodo has made improvements to the problem spine joint and neckbone, and now they fit more deeply into the re-engineered sockets on the ribcage piece. Kudos to Kaiyodo for fixing these!

The pumpkin head is fairy large, and is designed to fit completely over Dokuroman's skull. They can also fit a Rement Pose skeleton as a turban! You get A LOT of pieces: 32,  including the new Halloween stuff (tree, cat, pumpkin head) and the improved base (now ABS, and not PVC) and TWO sets of hands, the clenched fist and the open spellcasting hands. I'm rating this a 7.5 for the improved joints and sockets as well as the added value of the accessories, all done without raising the retail price.

parts inventory for Dokuroman Pumpkin Nightmare

DOKUROMAN PUMPKIN NIGHTMARE
Manufacturer	Kaiyodo		Price	$4.00
Year	2016		Location bought	Toysanta (mail order)
Size	4.25 in		POA	19
Scale	1:18		Rating (1-10)	7.5

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RE-MENT POSE SKELETON

Pros: Whimsical sculpt. Excellent Revoltech-like joints, moveable jawbone, paint wash nicely applied, includes extra hands, lots of accessories available, appeals to all genders, whole family of skeletons available, fun to play with.
Cons: Mid-body spine joint is a bit floppy, odd scale, adult body proportions not accurate.

We're approaching the upper-end of quality now. The Re-Ment Pose skeleton from Japan is absolutely fantastic! The majority of the joints are tiny Revoltech-like ones that combine both a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel joint. It's pretty durable, and can take a shelf dive without falling apart. The sculpt is intentionally "kawaii" cute (the adult skeletons look like children- large head, short limbs, small torso). The Pose Skeleton and all its non-military, non-superhero accessories has a very large female following, which is unusual for skeleton action figures. An entire family is available: Mom, Dad, child and doggy and (soon) kitty!

The only slight disadvantage is the odd scale- 1:20, which makes Pose Skeleton and its accessories slightly small for standard 1:18 figures.

REMENT POSE SKELETON
Manufacturer	Re-Ment		Price	$8.00
Year	2015		Location bought	Amazon.com
Size	3.5 in		POA	24
Scale	1:20		Rating (1-10)	8

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BIG LOTS 7" JUMBO POSE SKELETON BOOTLEG

Pros: Amazingly inexpensive, good articulation, sturdy, MEGO-compatible.
Cons: Some mold flashing, cartoon-y proportions, legs incorrectly assembled at factory, overly-large joints.

For Halloween 2018, a new set of toy skeletons had just appeared at discount-big-box-store, Big Lots. These are basically bootlegs of Rement Pose skeletons, but much BIGGER! This bad bootleg boy is just a hair less than 7" (using calipers to measure). It's heavier than I expected, has a short torso, and very thick, stocky arm and leg bones. It's not anatomically correct, but is still clearly recognizable as a human skeleton. And... it's only 5 dollars!!!

Most of the joints are a large-ish combo swivel/hinge joint. The joint attaching the skull to the neck is a really tight fit and affects the ability of the jaw to open and close. Elbow (hinge joint only) and hands (swivel joint only) are exactly like the Rement Pose skeleton, but the bootleg is, of course, lacking the additional interchangeable hands. As-is, the knees cannot be bent in the correct direction, so it's necessary to pull out the legs and swap left for right, as well as the feet. Once this is done, the knee bends almost 90 degrees. It is able to stand by itself.

All in all, this is an amazing skeleton toy for the price! 24 POA! Sturdy and burly, it can be given to kids (unlike the original, delicate Pose skeleton). It's compatible with 8" MEGO figures and accessories, and some MEGO clothing. So versatile! And so cheap!

Big Lots 7" Jumbo Pose skeleton
Manufacturer	Unknown		Price	$5.00
Year	2018		Location bought	Big Lots
Size	7 in		POA	24
Scale	1:10		Rating (1-10)	8

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SKELETON WARRIORS TITAN SKELETON  

Skeleton Warriors Titan skeleton

Pros: Very sturdy, durable joints, reasonable price, comes in different colors, very good/excellent overall articulation, Glyos compatible, fun to play with.
Cons: Odd scale, stylized sculpt that some people find "cartoony", no back articulation.

These guys are a personal favorite of mine. I don't consider the Titan skeletons to be 1:18... I consider them to be 1:15, and they fit in very nicely with my 1:15 jigglers in a 1:15 world. The joints are durable, and so is the skeleton- it can easily take a drop to the floor without falling apart. They make heavy use of "Glybrid" joints, which combine a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel Glyos joint, which makes many parts interchangeable with figures from multiple companies that do Glyos. Articulation is very good... they can do most poses, but cannot bend their elbows or knees as deeply as some other skeleton figures can. They're large enough to wear soft goods- real tailored fabric clothing. And they're cheap enough to army-build, and you won't feel bad carving them up and applying body modifications to them at $10 a pop.

Some room for minor improvement: a hinged jaw, the addition of a wrist hinge, and some backbone articulation would be nice.

SKELETON WARRIORS TITAN SKELETON
Manufacturer	October Toys		Price	$10.00
Year	2015		Location bought	Octobertoys.com
Size	4.75 in		POA	26
Scale	1:15		Rating (1-10)	8

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BAG O' BONES BY BOSS FIGHT STUDIO

Pros: Unusually inexpensive for a Boss Fight Studios product. Lots of spare bone parts for dioramas, random weapons included, possible to assemble complete skeletons at 15% of retail price.
Cons: Bag is not guaranteed to contain a complete skeleton. Leg bones are often warped and incorrectly assembled.

Surprisingly, Boss Fight Studio offered blind bags of skeleton parts, called Bag O' Bones in late June/early July of 2017. Priced at only $3.99, each bag contained about 3 oz. of parts. Judging by their photos on Facebook, it looked like a complete skeleton was in the bag, so I took a chance and ordered 2 bags. Total cost: about $8.00, which is less than the price of a single standard factory-bagged skeleton.

When I opened my first bag, I evaluated the pile, and found a complete black skeleton in there- but it had to be assembled. I was pleased with my haul- I was already ahead. After waiting a few weeks, I cracked open the second bag. Combining the contents of 2 bags increases the chances of building complete skeletons exponentially. After separating the parts by color, I was able to build a total of 5 skeletons. The only downside is that some the parts are factory seconds/rejects- particularly the pre-assembled leg bones. Many were warped, and the knee joint was incorrectly put together at the factory. It's not a very easy process to remove the pins and reverse the joint, but with persistence, a dish of boiling water, a nail setter and flat-nosed jewelers pliers, I was successful. Overall, I am very happy with what I got. Genuine Boss Fight Studio skeletons at less than $2.00 each! And, there were enough fishbone daggers in the bags to supply each one of them with a weapon!

BAG O' BONES
Manufacturer	Boss Fight Studio		Price	$3.99 per bag
Year	2017		Location bought	bossfightshop.com
Size	3.875 in		POA	28
Scale	1:18		Rating (1-10)	8.5

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VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S SKELETON

Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. skeleton

Pros: Amazing articulation in a small scale, moveable jawbone, comes in different colors, lots of armor/weaponry available, perfectly compatible with 1:18 scale figures by other companies, anatomically accurate sculpt (with one exception).
Cons: Joints are stiff out of the bag, unusually flat ribcage, cannot cross legs, hand and foot occasionally pop off.

Although seemingly expensive for a 4" unaccessorized and unpainted figure, once you have one of these in hand, you can't help but gasp in awe over the amazingly-engineered joints! I would have NEVER thought that a wrist hinge & swivel joint, or double-jointed knees, or rocker ankles could be made in this size, but somehow Boss Fight Studio did it! It stands at 4" and with true adult body proportions, and is compatible with the many 3.75" and 4" action figure lines (GiJoe, Star Wars, Marvel, etc.). The double-jointed knees enable the skeleton to do deep knee bends but it comes at a cost: it lacks a knee rotation joint or the necessary range of hip joint movement to, say, sit on a folding chair and cross its legs. The Yoga lotus position is out.

The current VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S. wave is Greek mythology, so Iron Age accessories are available for these skeletons.

VITRUVIAN H.A.C.K.S. SKELETON
Manufacturer	Boss Fight Studio		Price	$12.99
Year	2016		Location bought	bossfightshop.com
Size	3.875 in		POA	28
Scale	1:18		Rating (1-10)	9

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KAIYODO REVOLTECH "JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS" SCI-FI SKLELETON

Kaiyodo Revoltech skeleton

Pros: Beautifully sculpted, anatomically accurate, moveable jawbone, great packaged accessories and base, excellent Revoltech joints, can effortlessly duplicate the full range of human motion.
Cons: Too expensive to army-build or customize.

The Rolls Royce of toy skeletons! Designed and manufactured by Kaiyodo, this is on the high-end of the scale and really shows the incredible quality of Japanese toys. It currently sells for $65-$70, but I was able to get a pre-owned one in Hong Kong for about $30. The sculpt is so good that it can be used as an artist's model. Fans of Ray Harryhausen may want to use this for stop-motion, but need to stiffen the joints first with (believe it or not) acrylic floor polish. The joints are true Revoltech, and all of them combine a hinge joint and a 360 degree swivel joint, giving the skeleton a full range of motion without any joints popping out. This skeleton has all of the advantages of Dokuroman, Pose Skeleton and Vitruvian H.A.C.K.S. skeletons, and none of the disadvantages.

But, the main issue is that these skeletons are expensive. Too expensive to buy in multiples or to customize. The scale is a little odd, too. At 5.5 inches, it looks puny compared to popular 6" action figures. The skeleton comes with extra hands, an extra sword & shield and a beautiful storage base.

KAIYODO REVOLTECH SKELETON
Manufacturer	Kaiyodo		Price	$30.00
Year	2010		Location bought	toy store in Hong Kong
Size	5.5 in		POA	33
Scale	1:13		Rating (1-10)	10

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