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

This week’s Auction Watch really highlights the diversity that can be easily overlooked with M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting. It’s easy to quickly lump M.U.S.C.L.E. into a few narrow buckets: poster set, Flesh set, Color set, 4-pack’s, etc. It’s not that those buckets are untrue, rather there is beautiful diversity if collectors slow down and appreciate the minutia.

The first auction, M.U.S.C.L.E. KINNIKUMAN MEN VINTAGE POSTER FLESH MATTEL 1980’S MUST SEE!!!, isn’t really a great auction – but it’s a very good example.

Collecting M.U.S.C.L.E. posters could seem very simple: Flesh version and Color version. But poster auctions appear with great regularity and in a wide range of conditions. This allows nearly any collector to purchase a poster at a price point they are comfortable with. It also allows for collectors to continually attempt to upgrade their poster.

Searching for the next “upgrade” could be its own sub-group of M.U.S.C.L.E. culture. This auction, while overpriced, may instantly appeal to a collector looking to add a Flesh poster in good condition. But for the “upgrade” group they are going to notice that while the edges are pretty clean the poster has a fair amount of stars colored in.

At the current Buy-It-Now price this auction will not sell. However, it is possible that a buyer could make a successful offer to the seller.

The second auction, Huge lot of 308 M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, is arguably a perfect example of an auction of a large lot of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures.

I evolution of M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting has led to people wanting to know exactly what they are buying or getting in a lot of figures. They want to know if there is a Satan Cross or a Class A or some other figure they desire. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, part of the original appeal of M.U.S.C.L.E. was discovery – what was the 10-pack going to contain? Early M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting was full of discovery because collectors just bought lots and kept figures they liked. Sadly, much of that has gone away but a lot like this perfectly walks the line between showing what is included and keeping some of the mystery.

Any collector that looks at the pile hopes a desirable figure is hiding at the bottom of the pile. Logic is likely to win out, but every M.U.S.C.L.E. collector allows their brain to dream that dream for at least a few seconds.

The second auction will sell for $225.

The third auction, M.U.S.C.L.E. Class A #1 Purple muscle men, is a great example of the minutia that can exist within the very broad “buckets” of M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting.

The Purple #1 is a Class A figure. Class A figures, by and large, only appeal to collectors attempting to collect a Master set of Color M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. However, the #1 figure is a very popular figure – his popularity will bring far more interest to this auction. And this specific figure even appears to have a minor head warp which could even bring in the collectors of errors. That means three different M.U.S.C.L.E. sub-groups could be interested in this particular figure.

Given that this Purple #1 has a bit of a head warp, which is not at all uncommon with the #1 figure, it is difficult to predict if that will encourage or discourage bidding. The final price of the third auction will be $75.50.

The fourth auction, M.U.S.C.L.E. SUPER RARE FIGURE SATAN CROSS KINNIKUMAN, is for an Alpha Non-Poster figure – Satan Cross B.

For M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors nothing more needs to be said. Non-Poster figures need no hyperbole, especially Alpha Non-Poster figures. For non-M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors these are the confounding auctions. The auctions that make people say, “Why is that so expensive?”

Non-Poster figures have been selling for tremendous amounts of money lately. The fact that this is a Satan Cross figure, and arguably the most visually interesting, almost guarantee that this figure’s price will exceed the price of other recent Alpha Non-Poster auctions.

The final price of the fourth auction will be $3,301.