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

I find myself wanting to impress my kids – but in the most positive ways possible. Sure, sometimes I want to get one of the last 14 but most of the time I want to get them creatively and critically thinking. This seems like a fun way to do it. Fire, bacon, and eating. It’s sure to be a hit. Or they’ll say, “Isn’t the stove easier?”

If that doesn’t impress them, then this will.

– Not amazing.
– What’s more rare than a Purple #208? A Dark Blue #180.
– Is the GPK keeping this FAKE Dr. Bombay auction’s price up?
– 198 figures and keeps going higher. Wow.
– How many people missed the SC in this auction? I did at first glance.
– The “Satan’s Cross Spin Offs” are still up, but the $10.75 shipping shocks me more.
– Born that way or spikes scrubbed off?
– “LOT OF 33 RARE,” Umm…
– I see a total shit lot. Am I wrong?
– $74.99 – are you on fucking crack?
– 74 Flesh figures?!?! (Nothing crazy, I liked the two 74’s next to each other.)
– I bet people either love or hate the bootleg with these figures.
– At $0.99 jump on this one. But is that an original or re-cast of this figure?
– Tougher sell with one of the figures being broken.
– Great chance to pick these up cheap!
– I’m always curious to see the final price on customs like these.
– Color 10-Pack starting at $0.99.
– Wow. Very interesting Kickstarter article. Read it.
– Another good article, but you don’t have to read it.
– This is a $0.99 mixed lot I want to bid on.
– Very cool news if you like The IT Crowd – which should be all of you.

I’ve said before that I really dislike these figures, but that’s 100% unfair. I honestly believe you can’t review a figure until you hold it in your hands. That tactile experience is critical to fairly judging a figure. I’ve said all this before, so I won’t go on and on. Why am I sharing this? Because I just placed an order for these. Time to give these figures a fair shake.

After I wrote up the little blurb above, I saw this. God damn it. I liked David Healey’s MUSCLE MASK MASK MUSCLE, but this figure is terrible – and it’s been done before (scroll to the bottom of the page). The original version was the “weakest figure in the group” of the Yama-Bito 10-Pack. And to see a redux is just boring.

I’ve said before that #153 (the Claw) has become the Macarena of the M.U.S.C.L.E. world. It was hugely popular at one point, but now has morphed into a joke – except for the old ladies who love to hear it at weddings.

If you are a customizer, artist, or whatever – stop. Unless you can completely reimagine or transform the #153 figure than you shouldn’t be anywhere near it.

I saw this interesting article about D&D the other day. I was kind of surprised when I read it. The most surprising part was that D&D had become so rule based and people were going back to the more open-ended version of the game. I was simply mystified.

As a kid D&D was always about the role-playing aspect. We basically skipped the rules. Sure we basically understood the rules, but I don’t think we ever had a disagreement (let alone a discussion) about the rules. We kind of made our own. We just wanted to have fun.

We rolled dice, created characters, and made maps. Frankly, looking back, I think we liked making maps on the graph paper more than anything. We bought D&D books, but it was to learn about monsters, and shields, and magic we could add to our imagination. I guess it is naïve, but I didn’t know it could be anything other than that.

I know that I still have my D&D stuff packed away in my parent’s house. I might have to give it a try again with my boys – playing with our set of rules. (If I do find it, I’ll be sure to post one of the maps or characters or something.)

This week’s Video of the Week feels like a weird choice. I’m not an “outdoorsy” kind of guy. And I’ve never seen Bill Dance’s show. But his blooper reel actually made me laugh out loud when I watched it – and that almost never happens. Most internet videos make you smile or, at most, do one of the single-exhaling-snort-laugh.

UPDATE: What the fuck Bill? Apparently this video has been taken down. That’s a shame. No, it’s a fucking travesty – because it was funny as all hell. But do you know what? It wouldn’t be seen anywhere else. I think the clip was a few minutes long. Nobody is going to be forking over any money for that short few minutes of video.

I checked and you can buy FOUR volumes of Bill’s bloopers. Jesus christ. Four volumes Bill.

I could see wanting to take down videos if people had posted all four volumes of Bill’s bloopers. But those few minutes are the only reason I now know Bill’s name. If I was a lunatic, then I could buy a volume of his bloopers. It’s a shame that the best possible video for Bill to grow his brand awareness with non-fisherman was taken down.

Now I don’t have a Video of the Week or a Picture of the Week.

If you guys have either, then feel free to post it in the Comments.

And no porn – well, no hardcore porn. Just use good judgment.