Mysterious Mario Bros.

KeshiCorner

KeshiCorner

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Mysterious Mario Bros. (怪奇マリオブラザーズ) was an unofficial line of Mario toys depicting creepy and ghoulish versions of beloved Super Mario Bros. characters:

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These toys, created (apparently without permission) by veteran gachapon toy company Konno Sangyo, were direct parodies of the official Super Mario Bros. toys produced around that same time by Bandai and Amada, as seen in this diagram:

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Thanks to their bizarre appearance, murky origins, and overall rarity, the Mysterious Mario Bros. figures are now prized collectibles among both Mario collectors and keshi gomu figure collectors (keshi gomu is the name for this style of solid color rubber figure that enjoyed popularity throughout the 1980s and 1990s). When these do come up for sale, they command high prices!

Happily, I was able to get a hold of a few of these toys, and I produced 3D scans of them so that anyone can download the model files and appreciate their creepy appearance! I hope you enjoyed learning more about this strange tidbit of Mario merchandise history!

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Links to the model files available here:

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Hey! Sorry for the bump of this old thread, but I wanted to share that I've finished acquiring and 3D scanning all of the figures in this very rare set!

All 10 of the Mysterious Mario Bros. figures, which are unlicensed parodies of the official Super Mario Bros. keshi from Bandai, Amada, and Takahashi, are now 3D scanned and uploaded to the Internet Archive for anyone to access freely.

archive.org

Mysterious Mario Bros. 1986 Keshi Gomu Figures by Konno Sangyo, Complete Set : Konno Sangyo : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

This is an archive of 3D scans of Mysterious Mario Bros. (怪奇マリオブラザーズ), a line of 10 keshi gomu rubber figures depicting monstrous-looking...
archive.org

Here's a render I made of all the figures together, with off-putting paint jobs based on the example photos included in the original mini booklets these would have come with.
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Perhaps owing to their disturbing depictions of beloved Mario characters as well as the set's murky origins, these very rare figures from Japan have become prized treasures among keshi gomu figure collectors, and demand high prices. Incredibly, I've seen complete sets go for more than $500!

I hope you've enjoyed this exploration of this obscure and creepy corner of Mario merchandise history. Happy Halloween week!
 
All of these guys should be inspirations for the next live action Super Mario Bros. movie.
 
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