Keshigomu Archives

October 1, 2025September 26, 2025

The Colorful World of Keshigomu Star Wars Part 4!

Welcome to the fourth, and final, installment of a colorful look at Star Wars Japanese Erasers, Keshigomu (Keshi for short). When last we met, we learned about the Takara line of characters and vehicles. But there were actually more Takara keshi. An entire other line that are some of the rarest, biggest, and most unique!

This “Jumbo” line consists of an interesting mix of larger versions of some of the previously discussed characters and vehicles, different sculpts of other characters, and even characters that are not available in any other eraser form. As stated before, the term Jumbo is relative. These erasers are about twenty-five percent taller than their counterparts in the regular line, with most being up to 2.25 inches tall. It is most likely that these were released in larger versions of the capsule machines. I am sure many Japanese collectors have first-hand knowledge of how they were distributed but I have not confirmed my hypothesis yet. Regardless, they are among the rarest Japanese items from Star Wars and seldom come up for sale. Compound this with the array of colors (opaque and translucent) each came in, and you have a nearly impossible chance of completing this set. If you only focus on one character or vehicle, you have a decent chance but still challenging.

There are thirteen jumbo characters and vehicles from Takara. Over half of them are nearly identical to the smaller versions. They are C-3PO, Jawa, Millennium Falcon, R2-D2, Stormtrooper, Tusken Raider, and X-Wing. The ones that have noticeably different sculpts are Chewbacca, Darth Vader, and Landspeeder. And, finally, the ones that are not available in other keshi lines are Bantha with Tusken Raider rider, Dewback with Sandtrooper rider, and R5-D4. It’s interesting to note that since Japan did not have the Kenner Dewback or R5-D4 action figure and there was not a Bantha for the original toy line, these three jumbo erasers represent the only dimensional versions of those characters available in Japan during the release of the first film.

The last major area of Star Wars keshi are the unlicensed ones. Collectors often refer to them as “bootlegs” but that is a misnomer since they are not fake versions of existing items but rather merchandise created without a license to do so. Just like other unlicensed items, these erasers run the gamut from clear rip-off identical representations to similar/vaguely looking characters but with plausible deniability that they are not meant to be Star Wars items. Often they are promoted as “Space Warriors” or some other safe-from-copyright-infringement name. Among Star Wars collectors, there is no consensus as to which of these “inspired by” creations get included in collections and which are too removed in appearance to be considered a Star Wars collectible. For example, some will collect all domed-robots as R2 units and others will say that once you add facial features or appendages such as hands or bipedal legs it no longer is similar enough to R2-D2 to count. Hence, there can never be a definitive list of these unlicensed keshi; everyone draws the line at different spots. So, I will just include a photo of some of the ones I have collected. As usual, these are found in a rainbow of colors.

Now that we are at an end of our rather lengthy treatise on Japanese erasers (probably much longer than you would have guessed even possible), you might have noticed an interesting fact. Every eraser discussed has been from the original release of the first Star Wars film in 1978! That’s right, as prolific as it was then, by Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, there was no one making keshi for either of those two movies. Fast forward to the reawakening of Star Wars saga merchandise in the 1990s, there was still no keshi. During the tsunami of Episode 1 products where seemingly everything under the sun had a Star Wars label slapped on it, keshi were noticeably absent. Throughout the rest of the prequels and even the animated runs of The Clone Wars and Rebels, you guessed it…still no keshi. It was not until 2015, with the release of The Force Awakens, that keshigomu were once again part of the Star Wars portfolio in Japan. A company names Sun Star Stationery created two lines sold in blind boxes. One line for Episode VII and one spanning the first six films. Since then, there have been some others including an interesting set of keshi sold in mini-metal lunch boxes for The Mandalorian. Hopefully this trend will continue so future generations of Japanese school children will have the benefit of going to school ready to play (I mean correct written mistakes) with erasers that are definitely not toys.

Check out the Colorful World of Keshigomu Parts 1, 2 and 3!

August 15, 2025August 15, 2025

The Colorful World of Keshigomu Star Wars Part 3!

The Colorful World of Keshigoum Star Wars Part 3

It is time for part 3 of the colorful world of keshigomu (keshi) Star Wars! Keshi, as you hopefully remember, are the small rubber erasers that have been popular in Japan over the past half century. Of course, we are focusing on Star Wars. In 1978, when Star Wars was first released in theaters across Japan, myriad licensees put their own spin on the now-classic characters and events from that Galaxy far away. None were more prolific than Takara toy company. Most collectors recognize Takara as the sub-licensee of Kenner responsible for distributing the original action figures in Japan, but their contributions go well beyond that. There were dozens of different Star Wars keshi made by Takara and sold in capsule machines (remember think gumball machines). Due to the small size of the capsules, it is not uncommon to find heavily stooped or bent keshi. They are not suffering some spinal injury, just years of confinement in a plastic prison that didn’t allow them to stand tall, so to speak.

Three different “series” were available concurrently. Collectors have separated them into different series based on their attributes rather than release dates. So, as we discuss these, remember if you were a child in Japan in 1978 putting your hard-earned yen into the capsule machine, you could get a keshi from any one of these three “series.” In fact, here’s a display card that would have been inside the capsule machine to give prospective customers a glimpse of what they might receive.

The first series has been dubbed the “12-back” series by collectors. Many vintage action figure collectors will recognize that term as applied to the first twelve Kenner Star Wars action figures because the back of the original blister cards showed twelve figures. They consisted of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi, C-3PO, R2-D2, Stormtrooper, Death Squad Commander, Sand People, and the Jawa. The 12 keshi match exactly those original 12 action figures. Clearly a deliberate decision on the part of Takara. These 12 characters are slightly larger than the other Takara keshi. Most are about two inches high with R2-D2 and the Jawa being smaller. Like all good keshi, they came in a full spectrum of colors including two different yellows. Possible versions are Black, White, Lemon Yellow, Desert Yellow, Blue, Green, Pink, and Orange. I am always surprised by the omission of red from these early lines.

The second “series” (remember they are concurrent with the 12-backs) have been called the “base series.” In many lines, a base series connotes the standard, non-special versions such as the regular cards in a trading card set. However, in this instance “base” is actually derived from the fact that the characters each stand on a base. This Keshi set is more action posed and slightly smaller than the static 12-backs. Also, there are far fewer characters depicted but, since some have multiple poses, there are actually more in this series than 12-backs. Thirteen to be precise. Two poses for C-3PO, Stormtrooper, and Chewbacca; one pose each for Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan, and R2-D2; while Darth Vader has the most with three different poses. The other characters are not represented at all. Again, the same color palette was available for these erasers. Due to their smaller nature, facial likenesses, especially with the humans, is not very accurate and the sculptor clearly took some liberties designing the weaponry. But a very fun line nonetheless. Sticklers for detail will note that the R2-D2 in the base series does not, in fact, have a base. The base of his legs are thicker than the 12-back version. So, what I have told you is true…from a certain point of view. Another quick way to distinguish the 12-back R2-D2 from the base version is the pronounced indentation under the dome of the 12-back version.

The third concurrent Takara series were all vehicles and roughly the same size as the base series, slightly smaller than the 12-backs. The vehicles were also available in the same colors as the other two series. This vehicle series consists of the Landspeeder, Millennium Falcon, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Darth Vader’s bent-winged TIE Fighter, and a Star Destroyer that is much flatter and wider than depicted in the films. It is closer to an equilateral triangle. If you are keeping track at home that’s almost 250 variations on these three Takara series if you want all combinations. And, let’s face it, who doesn’t want all combinations!

Eagle-eyed readers have probably noted the metal R2-D2 in the center of the capsule machine display card. Even stretching the bounds of credibility, it’s not possible to call that an eraser. In fact, it was the top-prize in the capsules: the R2-D2 100-yen coin holder. Few lucky enthusiasts received this instead of a rubber keshi. It has a spring in the body of the droid that held coins and allowed you to remove them like a pez dispenser, presumably so you could buy more keshi.

This seems like a good place to stop this month’s Keshi installment but, don’t fret, our story is not at the end. Just like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy trilogy had a fourth book “So long and thanks for all the fish,” our Keshigomu magnum opus trilogy will also have a fourth part “of Jumbos and Bootlegs.”

Check out parts one and two of the Keshi blogs!

June 9, 2025June 9, 2025

The Colorful World of Keshigomu Star Wars Part 2!

Let’s continue our look at the colorful world of Keshigomu (rubber erasers), the popular Star Wars collectibles from Japan! If you missed out on part one you can click here to look at the Maruka Toy Company series of small erasers from 1978. For part two we are turning our attention to the Jumbo series, also by Maruka Toy Company in 1978!

Although the series is called “Jumbo”, don’t let that fool you. To paraphrase a wise Jedi Master, “Size…is relative.” Whereas the small series are about 1.5 inches high, this larger series are roughly 2.5 inches high. Another easily noticeable difference, is that the Jumbos come in individual bags with colorful headers depicting a photo of the character or vehicle for that keshi. The small keshi, you will recall, were sold in bags of 50 random pieces, or in blind bags of five. These were sold individually. An attractive display box holding these erasers would sit on the counter of small mom and pop shops, confectionary stores, or kiosks. The first series of the Jumbo line consisted of many of the same characters and vehicles that made up the smaller counterparts: R2-D2, C-3PO, Landspeeder, Millennium Falcon, X-Wing, and Y-Wing. Fans of the Empire were out of luck. Also, just like the small series, the Jumbo were made in opaque and translucent versions of each color. It is worth noting that the opaque versions are significantly more difficult to find than the clear ones. Another fun observation when looking at the Jumbo series is that the Millennium Falcon has two cockpits!

At some point after the first series, a second series was briefly released. This much rarer set is considered by most collectors to be the most difficult to find. Another six Jumbo keshi make up the second series: Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Sandcrawler, Star Destroyer, Vader’s TIE Fighter, and R2-D2. But wait a second, I hear you saying to your computer screen, wasn’t R2-D2 in the first series? Good catch, however, the first series R2-D2 has two legs and the second series version sports three legs. If you want a major challenge, try tracking down even one of these second series Jumbo keshi.

The final area we will discuss regarding the Maruka Toy Company’s vintage keshi involves their “Magic Ruler” (or stencil) line. At the same time they released their large and small keshi, Maruka released a set of ten small plastic stencils that featured outlines of Star Wars characters and vehicles. The trick was that the outlines were separated into right and left halves so that when you traced them together the full character would appear like magic. Don’t worry, no need to burn anyone at the stake, it’s really science. Now that you have extinguished your mob torches, you are probably all asking what does that have to do with keshi? I am glad you asked. These magic ruler stencils came in several different colors but they were sold in solid black plastic bags so you couldn’t tell what character or color you were buying. Once you purchased it, you opened the bag at the counter and if you were lucky enough to get a black plastic magic ruler, the store owner also gave you one of the Jumbo keshi as a prize. There were only three black stencils in each counter display box. Collectors today occasionally find sealed boxes of the magic ruler stencils. If they were to open the box, in addition to the 36 black bagged stencils, there are also three bagged Jumbo keshi that the store owner would remove and set behind the counter to be handed out as prizes. Yet another way young Japanese students could get their insatiable fix for erasers to help them fix the countless errors they were writing. After all, as we discussed last time, that was the sole purpose of the keshi. They were certainly not toys.

For our third installment in the colorful keshi trilogy (which may or may not be longer than a trilogy depending on how verbose I feel) we will look at those erasers made by another famous Japanese company, Takara. Stay tuned!