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Monday Morning M.U.S.C.L.E. Musings #24


M.U.S.C.L.E. figure #36 (Kinkotsuman or Bones & Tendons Man)
by Professor Terry

Full Kikotsuman Collection

On M.U.S.C.L.E. branding and packaging it is portrayed that Buffaloman (or Terri-Bull) is the central antagonist of the toy line. In the Kinnikuman story and cartoon it is Kinkotsuman that is the main rival to Kinnikuman. I find this interesting that Mattel chose Buffaloman instead.

Maybe it’s the fact that Kinkotsuman is one of those really skinny M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. I generally can’t stand a lot of the skinny M.U.S.C.L.E. figures and this one is no exception. It doesn’t display well and it’s hard to stand a group of them up. Too bad the M.U.S.C.L.E. version wasn’t the sculpt they used for the 1991 Kinkeshi Series Kinkotsuman. Perhaps they didn’t select that figure because he holds a gun and Mattel did not want guns in their wrestling M.U.S.C.L.E. brand.

Romando, Banpresto,
and Kubrick Versions

So why do I have a collection of this figure? Well, the Japanese lines of the figure that are full color (Romando, Banpresto, and Kubrick) have a really nice color scheme. The figure also added a little more body fat compared to the M.U.S.C.L.E. figure. This makes the figure much more attractive on display. Plus, he is the main villain and I love the villain in every story.

The other reason I need to have a few Kinkotsuman figures on my display shelves is that I am a massive fan of his sidekick Iwao (M.U.S.C.L.E. #23 to be covered in future MMMM) and so the two of them share spare on the same shelves – like a Sith and his apprentice.

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This entry was posted on February 10, 2014, 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 The Orgg on February 10, 2014 - 9:16 pm

    Skullduggery, as Ultimate Muscle rechristened him, becomes a side character in the original series. I still like The Skullduggery ans Rocky Slabb team, though. They were great comic relief, especially when Detective Thomas Gunn joined them to take them to prison.

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  2. #2 by Ridureyu on February 10, 2014 - 9:50 pm

    Translators often have to look for cultural context as well as literal word-for-word translations…

    Bones & Tendon Man could probably be translated “Skin & Bones Man” if you wanted to keep the meaning. Muscleman vs. Skin-and-bones Man.

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