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Monday Morning M.U.S.C.L.E. Musings #6


The “Claw” (M.U.S.C.L.E. Figure #153)
by Professor Terry

Terry’s ‘Claw’ Collection

The last two weeks have been spent packing up all my toys (and I have a lot of toys) to move to a new and better location. Now Professor Terry returns with a focus on the unofficial face of the M.U.S.C.L.E. line – the Claw.

Anyone who has come across the M.U.S.C.L.E. toy line picks up pretty quickly that the Claw sculpt is the all-round most popular figure in the line. But why is it highly sought after? I personally find many other sculpts much more appealing than the Claw – especially because I have seen so many other great figures from the different lines from the Kinnikuman toys. I’m not alone in that thought, Japan has overlooked the#153 sculpt as the only other line with a Claw is the Romando line – and they did a really poor job.

Because the Claw is popular, there are a lot of options available in the custom market. I picked up 10 custom Claw figures for $36 in an Ebay auction. That lot included four color change figures, change color, a couple glow in the dark figures, and one made from metal!

The Deka Claw (left) created by Eric Nilla and the Romando version.

For those, like me, that like the Deka figures Eric Nilla came up with his Deka Claw.

Of course anyone who is interested in collecting Claw figures comes to the question of whether to purchase a Class A Purple #153. I have not made that purchase and don’t intend to make it. I can buy many, many figures I like for the same amount of money.

This got me thinking, the last Purple Claw sold for $880. What else can you buy for $880? A quick search turned up 271 Pinball Machines, 16 different vehicles (including a Porsche 944), millions of flat screen TV’s.

Would I rather have my choice of 271 Pinball Machines? Yes, because I collect Pinballs. Would someone else? Possibly not. I do see other Class A sculpts approaching the price of a purple Claw, but I would rather my custom purple #153 for $20.

However, any M.U.S.C.L.E. collection isn’t complete without the Claw. Which brings me back to the first question posed – why is it a highly sought after figure? Quite simply, because it’s COOL!

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This entry was posted on June 3, 2013, 6:00 am and is filed under UofM News. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

  1. #1 by Zectron on June 3, 2013 - 5:10 pm

    I always thought the claw managed to bring in not only people who like muscle figures but also fans of old style horror and monster movies. It would be a perfect monster for one of those cheesy saturday afternoon black and white movies everyone used to watch. Not much of a stretch to image The Claw VS. The Blob! Or even an old sci-fi flick where the claw is some kind of invader from another planet. I have friends who always stop to look at what toys i have on my shelf and even if they don’t care at all about muscle figures the claw very often grabs their attention.

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  2. #2 by Wolf Voigt on June 3, 2013 - 7:53 pm

    Great to see some of these familiar customs. Cool to see their still being circulated.

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