Bruce Lee Inspired Collections

Kato Comics by NOW Comics

Here are some Bruce Lee inspired merchandise that I managed to pick up...

First this single Kato comic book I picked up by NOW Comics. NOW Comics (a small Comic book publishing company) released a KATO Limited Series solo book back in 1991 which was written as inspired by the KATO character that Bruce Lee popularized as Green Hornet's sidekick. NOW Comics has been in the comic book business acquiring rights to publish popular Movies/TV shows such as Mr. T and The Force, Speed Racer, The Original Astro Boy, Alias, Terminator, Ghostbusters, Fright Night, Married with Children, and the aforementioned Green Hornet. In this comic, they established a continuity  wherein the TV Bruce Lee version of Kato was actually the son of the original Kato from the Radio Series reincarnation of the Character. He was given the name Hayashi as a homage to the Radio Series' voice actor's original name. I only managed to snag this No. 3 from what I think was a 4 part limited series. I believe this comic is now very hard to come by since NOW comics wasn't publishing a lot of comics being just a small size company in the comic book industry. The cover art looks awesome and screams Bruce Lee all over it. I'm hoping I could find the other three issues of this comic book though. It should be a nice addition to my Bruce Lee collection. (There was also a 6 issue limited series Malibu Comics version entitled Bruce Lee, I found one set selling at ebay, giving it a hard look).   

The second Bruce Lee inspired Item I have is the SOTA Street Fighter Fei Long Action Figure. Fei-Long is a character in the Street Fighter fighting video game series. He is Capcom's tribute to Martial Arts Legend Bruce Lee, who was the actual inspiration for Fei Long's design itself. He first appeared as one of the four "New Challengers" in Super Street Fighter 2 (along with T. Hawk, Cammy, and Dee Jay), which was released in 1993. He also appeared in the Street Fighter 2: The Animated Movie and also the anime, Street Fighter II V. Hands down this has got to be the best articulated Bruce Lee (if we consider this as Bruce Lee) action figure ever created. Though I'm not planning anytime soon on completing the SOTA Street Fighter toy line, I was compelled to make this purchase because this figure screams Bruce Lee to me.With over 30 plus points of articulation, He's got articulation on the toes, mid-foot pivots, ankles, shins, double-knees, ball jointed hips, a waist and a torso hinge, palm and wrist joints, double-elbows, biceps, shoulders, and a ball jointed head. He's also got five alternate Hands (2 fists, 2 open hands, and 1 pointing right hand) and an alternate Head to help you go through different Bruce Lee fighting stance and poses (too bad I never got the alternate hands and head because I bought it loose and incomplete). Below is a little demonstration and a small skit of what this Fei Long Action Figure (with sparring partner Mattel Batista) could do.

Prepare to get beaten

No problem Bruce

Turning Side Kick---Kiyaahhh

Elbow and Back hand slap

Punch Kick

Left Hand Palm Uppercut

Elbow to the Crotch

Want some more?

Round House Kick

Full force Side kick

And stay down...

That's all folks. I'm still rummaging through my Chinese Pop Culture related Action Figure collections before I go and feature my main line, DC and Marvel toy collections.

Still on tonight by the way, National Geographic Channel Asia's Bruce Lee tribute documentaries continues at 9pm HK time.