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Kinkeshi (キン消し, lit. "KinnikuEraser") is an extensive and popular line of collectible erasers, an instance of the modern Japanese popular culture institution of keshi. The keshi it includes are monochromatic and derived from the Kinnikuman (キン肉マン) anime and manga franchise, whose primary motif is professional wrestling.

The line was launched in Japan in 1983, and licensed in 1985 for the American market as M.U.S.C.L.E. (reflecting Kinnikuman's English title of Muscleman). M.U.S.C.L.E. used a harder rubber than Kinkeshi; its U.S. sequel, Ultimate Muscle, had a small release of about twenty Kinkeshi, though a larger run of figures using a plastic softer than M.U.S.C.L.E. but not eraser-like was released exclusively in the USA.

Starting in Japan in 1983, Bandai's Kinkeshi line was two years later licensed to Mattel for exportation in United States and Canada where wrestling is popular; the line became "M.U.S.C.L.E." (Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere) in North America. The US line included 236 official figures, a boardgame, an NES game entitled M.U.S.C.L.E., a championship belt figure holder, and a wrestling ring playset. The figures were distributed in clear, blister-packed random four-packs, semiopaque garbage can 10-packs, and boxed fixed sculpt 28 packs. For a short time, the figures were also distributed as a bonus in Nestlé Quik (now known as Nesquik) cans.


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