Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

I'm sure this has been mentioned on the News forum, but just in case...

The TMNT toy line is make figures of Usagi and Gen for the upcoming episodes of "Big Brawl," due out next season (Sept 11, actually, is part 2). Some design pictures:
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/u ... _sheet.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/g ... _sheet.jpg

And some sculpt pics of the Usagi figure:
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi01.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi02.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi03.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi04.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi05.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi06.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi07.jpg
http://www.ninjaturtles.com/toys/2004/usagi/usagi08.jpg

Phew. As you can see from the photos, Usagi is somewhat more stylized in the cartoon and his ears are a little small for the size of his head. And for some reason, his swords are cylindrical (but maybe those are just "prop swords" to give him something to hold so he doesn't look silly) Also, he has no mon or even the scar above his left eye--but maybe those will be painted in.

Just thought you'd all like to see a preview.

Ah....those links seem to be having some problems....they are all "FORBIDDEN" access pages....

[quote="Indiana Usagi"]Phew. As you can see from the photos, Usagi is somewhat more stylized in the cartoon and his ears are a little small for the size of his head. And for some reason, his swords are cylindrical (but maybe those are just "prop swords" to give him something to hold so he doesn't look silly) Also, he has no mon or even the scar above his left eye--but maybe those will be painted in.

quote]

For safety reasons, the swords are not as thin or as sharp as real blades. The mon was intentionally left off, because Usagi's sleeves are tied with a cord interferring with the mon on his chest and sleeves. We also decided to leave the mon off his back. Usagi's scar was on the model sheets, but sometimes not on the animation. We decided to leave it off the toy as well, besides it seemed redundant with those heavy brows that he has.

But he is white.

Good to know, Mr. Sakai. I always wondered what Miyamaoto Usagi would look like in a forresty brown tone.

But yes, apparently they are all forbidden, which is strange...You can still visit them if you plug it into the URL, I believe. Maybe it's because they are trademarked pages.

I do have another question, though: are Usagi's swords going to be made in the style of Leonardo's (i.e. flimsy plastic in the shape of katana), or is it going to be a different material? Because right now, he kind of looks like an angry traffic director with those orange flashlights.

"Turn left...I SAID LEFT!!"

Oh yes, and one more quick thing: I remember reading on one of the older posts that Gen was "collapsible." Does he get sucked out into the vaccuum of space at one point here (he doesn't die in the episode, does he? ), or does this Gen have some kind of bone-marrow problem where he sort of lose cohesion around the joints?

No, seriously, though, I saw this in the designs and I couldn't help but wonder...I don't suppose you could explain?

Or is this some secret to the episode and i'll just have to wait and see?