East meets West. Old meets new. These are cliches but it’s a fact nonetheless that Japan produces plenty of inventive examples of this intermingling.
We recently reported the release of the Samurai C-3PO Action Figure, a brilliant mash-up that reimagines the Star Wars droid as a Sengoku-era warrior.
Another example can be found in the world of ornamental dolls and armor sets put on display to celebrate Children’s Day each May. Yoshitoku, the centuries-old maker of such “yoroi” armor sets and warrior display dolls, has turned to American pop culture to spice up its catalog. It previously produced two Darth Vader items that were inevitably awesome.
Now it has moved from George Lucas to DC Comics. The Batman Samurai Warrior Display Doll and Batman Yoroi Samurai Armor Display Set originally refigure the Caped Crusader as a Japanese samurai. The results are superbly crafted and visually unique collector’s items.
Like the Samurai C-3PO, famed character sculptor Takayuki Takeya was involved in helping to realize the details, which include Batman motifs in the sword hilt, helmet, belt, and wall screen.
This is the samurai display figure/doll.
Here is the yoroi armor set.
Available in strictly limited numbers, the Batman Samurai Warrior Display Doll and Batman Yoroi Samurai Armor Display Set are available for international order from Japan Trend Shop.
