UofMUSCLE.com – M.U.S.C.L.E. Figures from Mattel

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

That’s how I feel right now. I have more content than I do time and energy. But does anyone really want to hear me complain? No.

First I want to suggest a comic book. I have a close friend that has written a comic book called The Arcane Awakening (you can read a ton more about it at his website MessBucketComics.com). I’ll spare you any of the hyperbole that often accompanies comic book reviews. It would probably sound even worse since I personally know the guy that wrote it. However I would strongly encourage you to check it out. For three main reasons:

#1 – It’s different. The premise is essentially that the Bible is true and Satan has found his way to Earth. His appearance springs to life dormant angelic-like bloodlines. It’s an interesting and fertile universe. And for those worried about the Bible aspect – don’t. It’s not preachy or churchy.
#2 – It’s a graphic novel. I have personally grown tired of the monthly comic book format. I’ll spare you my full rant. By providing the entire first story we get the instant gratification we all really want.
#3 – I want to see more. For me, this is the highest praise I can give a new comic book. I remember when I first read Mouse Guard. I felt like I wanted to see more – it went on to be an Eisner Award winning book and span a successful line of comics, plus a role-playing game and figures. I also felt like I wanted to see more when I first read Freshman. It went on to be horrendously terrible. I hope The Arcane Awakening follows in Mouse Guard’s footsteps. We’ll see. But right now, I can tell you that I want to see more.

If you want to order a copy, check out the Mess Bucket Comics online store.

After two days I was hoping the WWE M.U.S.C.L.E. figure campaign would be going a little bit better. Roughly 50 people “Liking” after two days does not bode well for the effort. This article made me feel a little better, but Mattel is going to need a lot more than that and 50 Likes to green-light these figures. Keep spreading the word!

I plan on rolling out the antique Website Review to give Eric Nilla’s blog and online store the attention it deserves, but in the meantime go check them both out.

– H.A.C.K. Wave 2 – the bear leaves me speechless.
– Great Gorewad Monster review over at MiniFiguresXD. I need to purchase a set for Art 300.
– This Stan Cross is at $10.50 as I write this. It should end there too.
– Hey, those are some nice pictures!
– Have my eyes stopped working? Is that silver?
– You have to have balls of steel to sell a painted figure this bad.
– If you like bootlegs, treat yourself to a set of these.
– I don’t know why “could be TGB” made me giggle?
– Does anyone know what these are? Kitbashed keshi?
– What happened to poor #77?
– We all know weird stuff can come up when you search M.U.S.C.L.E., but this was…equal parts weird and fascinating.
– $75. I wasn’t in such a good mood, he’d be AOTW.
– 11 MUSCLEMANIA figures. Yes please!!!
– Canada + M.U.S.C.L.E = Class A (Honestly, I didn’t even check)

The Picture of the Week could have been any of the “Spinning Head Sunshine” pictures. Brownnoize Productions and MuscleThings.com are re-teaming to create – well, words really fail me. Just take a look.

It will be a figure base for the #195 M.U.S.C.L.E. figure. Even better, given their concerns about inconsistencies of old #195 figures, they will also be creating new #195 inspired pieces. With custom figures like this and the possible reemergence of M.U.S.C.L.E. from Mattel, has there been a better time to be a M.U.S.C.L.E. collector since the clearance days of late 1987?

The answer, of course, is no.

I’m sure all of us nerds have seen Thomas Jane’s self-made Punisher short. You could probably argue about the overall quality of it, but you can’t deny how cool it was for him to do it.

I guess something called the Olympics is also taking place right now. I’ve found it hard to move past Michelle Jenneke. I can’t put my finger on why this is so wildly hypnotizing. This is Hypnotoad level stuff.