" 

 ::you just don't know what you're talking about, but here we go: 
 *""The fact that they were not introduced until late 1990 excludes them from ""Toys of the 1980s"""" 
 ::OF COURSE!! but it has nothing to do with the Keshi category. Keshi are toys of 1970s, 1990s and 2000s as repeated one hundred times and demonstrated in the keshi JUST READ! 
 ::""and the fact that they are not gum rubber excludes them from being keshi."" 
 NOT GUM RUBBER? what are they made of? wood?! they are made just like all keshi toys! THEY ARE KESHI LINES INCLUDING TRANSPARENT PLASTIC PARTS! did you knew that?! the ""BeastFormer"" aka ""Battle Beast"" ARE KESHI!! WHAT CAN YOU READ ON THIS FLYER?? ""SOUL KESHI GUM"" IS MADE OF ""GUM""???? NO!!! [http://www.mandarake.co.jp/information/2006/06/02/nkn08/p1.jpg did you knew that?! 
 ::""It's a Japanese culture stub.  It is irrelevant"" 
 IT IS YOU WHO IS IRRELEVANT! keshi toys started in Japan but are used all over the world. THERE ARE KESHI MANUFACTURED IN GREECE, IN TAIWAN, IN CHINA!! what does these countries have to do with Japan? NOTHING! but they are KESHI! M.U.S.C.L.E. (Kinkeshi since '91) were manufactured in CHINA!!    
 Monster in my pocket are a complete copy of the Kinkeshi which were sold in the US as M.U.S.C.L.E. without the MUSCLE they would NEVER HAD Monster in my pocket!! so yes they are not japanese but they are directly related to Japan. how can you dare claiming they have nothing to do with the Japanese culture. who made the video game? KONAMI a japanese company! japanese considered them as part of their culture, just like you, just like me! Monster in my pocket are not American culture only related, they features many Scandinavian, Hebrew, Greek mythologies!! are the KRAKEN, the HYDRA, the TROLL, the GOBLIN, the MEDUSA, the VAMPIRE, the MUMMY, etc from the American mythology?! hell no! America did had even a name these mythic creatures were known in all Eurasia, almost all Monster in my pocket figure hae nothing to do with american culture and that's probably why they failed in the US!! the M.U.S.C.L.E. were huge in US and Canada probably because they are wrestlers, a sport popular  nowhere like in NorthAmerica! 80s toys are a strong evidence of the globalization and uniformization of a worldwide mass culture. all 80s kids from Asia, North America and Europe played with the same toys in the same time so they shared a common culture! you're ""it's not related to japanese culture"" is the biggest stupidity in the history. 
 MONSTER IN MY POCKET ARE SOLD IN JAPAN as KESHI GUM ""米のモンスター 消しゴム"" 
 MICRO MUSCLE WRESTLER: 
 #STARTED IN 2003: THEY ARE NOT 1980s TOYS!! 
 #MADE BY BANDAI OF AMERICA (ohh this an american brand!) 
 #SOLD ONLY IN THE USA!!!!!! (it has nothing to do with Japanese culture so!) 
 AND THEY ARE KESHI! 
 the keshi article is not a ""japanese culture"", nor a ""1980s toys"" article, it is a ""toy"" article and a WORLDWIDE ""popular culture"" article. actually it doesn't even has a category!! 
 so please, don't make me waste my time anymore with your stubborn kid attitude. when you don't know what you're talking about, PLEASE just shut the fuck up!!  "