EPOCH - KINTETSU BUFFALOES

Corinthian continued their creative partnership with Japanese company EPOCH, who they collaborated with when producing the Japan national figures and also the NJPW wrestlers, to release a series of Japanese Professional Baseball figures.

 

​

The figures being on oval bases, however no collector cards or collectors information leaflet was produced. All figures were assigned a collector code which started with EPB (Epoch Professional Baseball)  with the Kintetsu Buffaloes codes being EPB016, 017, 018 and 019.

 

 

Here were have perhaps the rarest figures ever released by Corinthian, it is a set of 4 from a Japan Baseball team called Kintetsu Buffaloes.

 

 

The set of 4 Kintetsu Buffaloes figures were never made available for general sale, they were given away to fans who attended games, now the home of the Kintetsu Buffaloes up until 1997 was the Fujiidera Stadium, however from 1997 onwards the team played their home games at the all new stadium called the Osaka Dome.

 

 

My theory is that the figures were made and given away to celebrate the opening of the new stadium, perhaps they were only given away at the grand opening of the Osaka Dome and the Buffaloes first home game of the season, however i have absolutely no proof of that, i am just trying to find logical reason as to why they were produced, how they were distributed and why they are literally impossible to find.

 

 

I do not have any images of the figures in original packaging, my assumption is they would have been in a sealed sachet but it is also likely they were simply loose figures and handed to fans upon entry. 

 

 

I do not know how many were made and i would not even like to guess, but what i do know is that only a couple of collectors have them that i know off and acquiring a full set of 4 is an all but impossible task, and are regarded as 'grail pieces' by collectors.

 

 

The 4 players released in the home jersey of the Kintetsu Buffaloes are Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, Akinori Otsuka, Norihiro Nakamura and Phil Clark, all come with removeable baseball cap which bears the Kintetsu Buffaloes logo as designed by Okamoto Taro.

 

 

If any collector has more information  on this set, or is looking to sell the figures, please get in touch  - craig@corinthianarchive.co.uk