Toku Toy Box Gallery Special: TV-Kun Contest Prize Silver Kuwajiro

As a fan of mostly obscure tokusatsu but Metal Heroes in particular I pride myself in owning some seriously odd toys that most people don't know about. For years I hunted down every piece I could to complete my B-Robo Kabutack collection. And for a long time I was content, believing I had managed to get everything. Imagine my surprise when in early October 2016, I discovered a couple of previously unknown pieces from this line. One in particular that's so rare, NONE of my fellow Metal Hero collectors had ever seen or even heard of this piece. I would say most of the tokusatsu fandom in general hasn't. And there's a reason that this exceedingly rare piece is so rare, only 5 exist.

So it's with great honor I get to share an unprecedented look at the incredibly elusive TV-Kun Coloring Contest Exclusive Superchange Silver Chrome Kuwajiro! I am immeasurably proud to be able to share this incredibly rare collectible with you. More than you can possibly imagine. I happened upon this piece by total chance for a price that simply made it a once in a lifetime purchase. It could not be passed on. Read on for more information!

Packaging
Silver Kuwajiro's box is actually identical to the original releases'. No physical alterations have been made whatsoever to the box, insert, or stock photos on the packaging. Which can often times be very typical of special one off & or Luck Draw style releases. Given this figures ridiculously limited production run, I believe it would fit into the LD category. ACtually this figure is even more rare than the simultaneously released TV-Kun Gold Chrome Kabutack or the later release of Gold Chrome Robotack. These two figures were manufactured in runs of only 10, making Silver Kuwajiro exceedingly more rare than either of them. Though the gold ones do tend to be much more desirable.

Main Figure
Now, as with his box, Silver Kuwajiro is in fact physically identical to the original release. So I won't spend much time talking about the figure's functionality. The photos below and my previous gallery of the original Superchange Kuwajiro should more than take care of that.

To start, Silver Kuwajiro is obviously almost entirely chrome silver, aside from a few interior parts of the design which remain green. The factory applied labels on his body are all the same as the standard release of this figure as well, right down to the green accents on the Normal Mode eyes. But the paint job is just so radically different. For any component that isn't chrome silver, it's cast in gray/silver plastic. This mostly applies to his horns/mandibles and fists. This happens fairly often with these silver releases, similarly to my promotional Silver Chrome Gao Hunter set. This type of paint job has been typical previously with certain Lucky Draw items but in the last 2 decades is more often associated with Bandai Asia promotional releases. Often they release silver chrome repaints of DX Sentai mecha as giveaway items in specific markets, often in South Korea or Hong Kong. As has been the case with Gaoranger, Boukenger, and so on. These releases tend to be made in low-ish numbers, but they never compare to high end rarities like Lucky Draws or contest prizes.

However Silver Kuwajiro bucks that trend quite nicely. For those unaware this unique figure was only made available as a Japanese contest prize. In 1997 TV-Kun Magazine held a special coloring contest for fans of B-Robo Kabutack. Basically participants could send in their version of a character from the show in a unique color scheme of their own design. The top 5 entries would have their artwork reprinted in an issue of the magazine, and the winners would receive a Silver Kuwajiro as a prize. So that means that only 5 exist. I have no idea who the original owner of my Kuwajiro was, nor do I know who the winners of the other 4 were at this point. I've never seen any of the contest entries either sadly. But I just feel incredibly lucky to have stumbled across this figure like I did.

I've included a few shots of Silver Kuwajiro with some of my Silver Gaoranger figures for fun, and it's actually quite interesting to put him side by side with S.H. Figuarts Space Sheriff Gavan. All in all he's a pretty great compliment to any Metal Hero or unique chrome release collection.
As I mentioned above a Gold Chrome Kabutack was also released the same year as this figure in a similar coloring contest. Only 10 were awarded in that case, and I have yet to see a physical sample of one, but I'm actually working pretty hard to track one down currently. If and when I can afford the purchase, I'll be more than happy to share it with you here as well.

Accessories
Silver Kuwajiro gets an exact repack of what came with regular Kuwajiro, right down to the label sheet.
1 - Hasamic Cutter. This weapon needs to be assembled by cutting parts from a sprue first. It's a soft rubbery type plastic that you've undoubtedly encountered over the years with Bandai products. When assembled it can act as both sword and scissor-like cutting weapons. Perhaps an old predecessor to Kamen Rider Gattacks' Double Calibur?

1 - Label sheet. As with most any figure in this line a lebl sheet is included to replicate more show details. I have never used my label sheet and don't intend to. At some point in the future I'd like to get some quality repros made to use but that's for another time.

Now obviously I didn't take the parts off the sprue from the 1 of only 5 in existence toy. I just borrowed the cutter from my regular Kuwajiro.

Final Thoughts
What else is there to say really? B-Robo Kabutack was one of my favorite toylines ever already. And discovering the existence of this bad boy, and actually being able to purchase it, all within the same day, just filled me with a complex mixture of satisfying emotions. For the first time ever, with any of the lines I collect, I truly feel like I've got a leg up on any other collection. In fact only 4 other people in the world own this piece. It's not like Gaoranger where I will forever be seeking the multiple Silver & Gold chrome promos & lucky draws that never turn up for sale though. Somehow this toyline is almost possible to own everything from. If I can just grab that Gold Kabutack I'll be totally satisfied with it. Yes, this one figure did cost me a decent amount of money, but it was more than well worth it for this sense of satisfaction too. I hope you enjoyed this rare look at an exceedingly difficult to find piece. Let the hunt begin for the next big rarity!

Part 2!

Man, you own one of 5 in existence? I'm personally not into collecting rare toys like this, but even I can't deny how awesome it must be to own such a unique piece. Also this is probably the first and maybe only gallery which will ever exist of this toy. That's crazy.

But to be honest, as the simply toy buying fool I am, I still prefer the regular colored one

I'll echo Kiwami... you own one of the only five? Holy friggin' cow.

I'm so curious to know how much you paid for this!

Not bad, do wish they did paint the eyes just so they didn't blend in so much

Wow! That's pretty impressive! To own something that rare!
I love chrome! And that figure looks great covered entirely in chrome!

Wow what a find ,to own a rare toy must be super awesome

One of how many now? Wow.

It is always amazing to see one of these super rare toys. Thank you for sharing.

Must be pretty cool to own such a rare piece.