Hot dogs endorsed by Takeru Kobayashi are available for sale at http://www.rastellidirect.com/kobidog/. A pack of 24 hot dogs costs $19.99.

July 5, 2013 at 11:21 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Kobayashi (小林尊), Merchandise | Permalink * Comments (9)

9 Comments »

  1. anonymous said

    July 5, 2013 @ 11:36 pm

    What chutzpah. We should spend $19.99 on a pack of hot dogs endorsed by a traitor who dumped all his MLE friends for selfish reasons. I would much rather invest $3 in Seiken PPV shows from 2007

  2. Anon said

    July 6, 2013 @ 1:16 am

    @11:36 – MLE contract conditions: “Shea told SB Nation’s Nelson that MLE offered Kobayashi a $25,000 contract for four events, with up to $100,000 if he won — but that “Any prize monies awarded by the holder of the event would be recouped by MLE.” In other words, Kobayashi would be held under an exclusive contract by the MLE, limited to 4 events and, if the prize money he won from those events totaled more than $100,000, MLE would keep the remains.”

    Who betrayed who? The man who put competitive eating on the grid, or the mafia-esque Shea brothers?

  3. Anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 4:18 am

    The new KDogs price does not include shipping which is, according to the checkout cart Subtotal: $19.99 Sales Tax: $0.00 Shipping: $12.95.

  4. Anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 7:10 am

    1:16 am, in any contract each person acts in their own best interests. Why bother otherwise. You think the contract offerred to Koby wasn’t “fair” but you did not see it for one and even if true, MLE is not a charity but a business. They did not get to be able to get Koby and the eaters on ESPN and worldwide publicity by not being good businessmen. Betrayal is hardly a word to apply here. Yes, Kobayashi did a huge amount for competitive eating. But he did not do anything alone, not at all. He could have come and gone. Without MLE working to make CE more and more known, Kobayashi would have been just another footnote.

  5. anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 7:14 am

    116 depending on the length of the contract it sound like a pretty good deal. He wants his cake and eat it too? The Sheas had to make something on the deal. I am assuming that two of the events were Nathans and Buffalo? Nathans is 10 grand or am i wrong? and Buffalo is $2500 for first prize. . If Kobi made more money in that first year of independence than he would have with the Sheas, then post his earnings report so everyone can see who came out ahead

  6. anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 7:47 am

    Kobayashi was never a true blue member of the IFOCE. Never a circuit eater. Aside from Nathans he never competed in any of the other events which he would have won handily I am sure all his expenses would have been taken care of along with appearance fees. So now what is he left with? Broken contract with Hoffman figuring they could dupe a couple of immigrants from Japan that know very little about the business aspect, into falling for a scam. And they almost did. At that point Kobi could have used a bit of financial expertise from good ole George

  7. Anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 8:37 am

    7:47 has it right. And his manager isn’t really from Japan actually but rather from California. Truth be told she speaks Japanese but does not read it. Kobayashi was really never a member of IFOCE just like the person said. He could have been if he had someone really looking out for his interests and arranging for him to come to the US and work out deals with MLE. But he went along without knowing much about anything and without any English skills. In spite of his being here for a few years, his English has hardly progressed and will never be such that he can be on his own. HIs prospects are very limited unless he could pull off a deal like the one he might had with Hoffmans. But with a manager/girlfriend and no lawyer or agent, he is definitely going to what……..well, he isn’t going anywhere in my opinion. And with everything that has happened and these actually phony events which I think are the brainchild of Maggie, he is going downhill fast. He will have had an “American” adventure but where will he finally live? His visa cannot last forever. He isn’t going to become an American citizen for sure. Mystery perhaps but not really. He just never spoke enough English for people to interview him without a translator. He was better off being a mystery. And since Joey beat him so many times, he is not super human and a mystery.

  8. Anonymous said

    July 6, 2013 @ 10:36 am

    @11:36 that be a waste of 3 bucks

  9. TheTruth said

    July 6, 2013 @ 10:41 am

    100% Kobyashi Approved…but not 100% beef…

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