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

I don’t know how many people watched this. Unless I’m missing something, and I might be, this auction was for the Class A Red #68. It sold for more than what the SGS sold for in October of 2012.

When I saw the final price my visceral reaction was sadness. I won’t be too melodramatic, because I understand collectors spend as much or more on other hobbies, but I thought about how much more good could have been done with that money. I am able to recognize that was my initial reaction. The more I thought about the auction, the more rationale my reactions became:

1. The M.U.S.C.L.E. Rule of Two is perfect. Being very self-aware, I understand how horribly arrogant that sounds. But it is true. Go back and reread that write-up – it is spot on. And yes, I’m basically talking about a simple bell curve. But when that idea is applied to M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting it perfectly explains M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting. Yes, in this situation it applies specifically to the bidding. But take a look at the bidding (to the right), it explains it pretty perfectly.

2. Alex Forbes does not have a Master set. This specific point probably doesn’t matter to many M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors. However, the M.U.S.C.L.E. community has (even without specifically naming him) generally accepted that one (maybe two) collectors had ever achieved a “master set.” He even purported to have a picture of all the figures (seen below).

Why does this matter? Alex has a long history lying about M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. If he was lying about having a “master set,” then how did he provide pictures of figures to Soupie’s archive? Were they dyed? Were they photoshopped?

The far bigger concern: How does this effect the M.U.S.C.L.E. color code? Photographic evidence should have been used to validate the idea. If the photographic evidence is bad, then perhaps the theory if flawed. Perhaps the tree(s) of Part 11 are different? If Alex’s picture of the Red #68 was faked, then several other submissions (thus several other parts and trees) are called into question.

3. Why do people continue to overspend on Class A figures? Collectors, and in my experience – specifically M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors, are very sensitive to the discussion of prices. I’ve talked about this kind of thing before – price, value, etc.. And I am the first to admit a Purple #153 is different.

But most Class A figures aren’t that popular of sculpts. The first few Class A figures might demand a premium, but there seems to be a point of diminishing returns. Here’s just one example. This Class A Magenta #134 sold for $31, and I’d argue the MUSCLEMANIA figures drove it up. A time before that, in a lot of three Class A figures, the Magenta #134 sold for $2.47. The price may go up and down a bit, but the original heat is gone.

Even a Purple #2 doesn’t have the heat it used to have. The one from that auction sold for $54.05. The unloved Class A figures tend to settle in the $20 range. My guess, the next Red #68 will sell for $100 – maybe $200 max.

Next up for the Epilogue, the AOTW tournament. AOTW #1 looks very hard to beat. I thought last week’s match-up was the best chance at upsetting the current champ. For a moment I even worried about AOTW #1 winning too much. Maybe that’s a good thing? If a bigger asshole doesn’t come along, then maybe we’ve hit a ceiling? I doubt it – but we’ll see.

Below is the match-up for this week. You can vote can in the upper right hand corner. It would be great if you added your rationale in the Comment section at the bottom of the page. I think other collectors would be interested in why you voted for a certain Asshole. Plus it will help with the seeding at the end of the year.

Without any further ado, the fourth AOTW match-up of 2014.

AOTW #1 #168 Flesh for $30

vs.

AOTW #5 A $450 Mixed Poster Set w/ Satan Cross

I’m not trying to convince anyone, but here’s part of the reason the AOTW #5 really stood out to me. A $225 Flesh set with Satan Cross did not sell (and was re-listed). With AOTW #1 continue to dominate the tournament? We’ll see.

– I missed Auction Watch again this week. This would have been the star.
– Does anyone else feel confused by this auction?
– $0.38 per figure feels like an ending, not opening, bid price to me.
– Can’t make a run at the AOTW title, but has a real love of the game.
– Speaking for all of Michigan, “Sorry about this one.”
– Nice lot of 122 figures with a Satan Cross.
– 52 color figures starting at $0.99.
– 74 4-packs is pretty cool to see. But that’s it for me. Those 4-packs are basically $13 each and look to be in fair to rough condition. At $955 for the lot I don’t think you could even get to even trying to re-sell them.
– I think the “Class A” might be keyword spamming.
– Is this guy an asshole or a dope? I couldn’t decide.
– Two Flesh 10-packs.
– Annnnnd…that is a bit weird.

Recently I said I wanted to have more fun with the site. I thought it might be funny and/or interesting to share a picture from my past with a story that goes along with it. As I was digging through some of my old shit I was struck by how shitty the pictures are. For example:

I didn’t have the energy/desire/time to set-up the scanner, so I snapped a quick picture. I think you get the point. I’m 99% sure this was taken with a disposable camera. What a hot mess. This type of terrible picture is pretty much a thing of the past (unless you’re Jimmy). The only person I know that settles for a terrible picture is my 3 year old. He’ll take 40 terrible pictures of the floor. Otherwise we get instant feedback that let’s us take good pictures.

I’m pretty sure this was Halloween 1997. Looking back about 17 years it’s strange the things that instantly stuck out to me:
1. Houston still had the Oilers.
2. The girls’ costumes seem demure – at least compared to costumes you see on Facebook today.
3. Thank god camera phones weren’t really a thing yet. Given the number of times I remember acting like an asshole I shutter to think how many times I don’t remember. If those were caught on film, I would be so disappointed. Plus I bet some memories would turn out to be way less cool.

As I flipped through most of my pictures, they are of the most boring shit. My pictures seem to focus on the boring moments between the fun ones. Hopefully as I continue to dig that will be less true.

Speaking of flashing back, this post took me back to 1998. Again, many things came to my mind as I watched the video. One of them was, I felt like I looked like a music snob. Could 1998 Chad look like he is having any less fun? 2014 Chad would tell him to relax – 1998 Chad is not that fucking cool.

But while I was on YouTube I checked in on the few UofM videos I had posted. I thought 1,000 views was pretty good for this video:

But, again. Could I have any less fun?!?!

“Errr. I’m a serious M.U.S.C.L.E. collector.” Looks like both the 2011 and 1998 Chad need to fucking relax a bit. 2014 Chad is so wise. (And now speaking in 3rd person. Looks like I tend to suck no matter the year.)

Lastly, our lady – rather Ladies of the Week. After Marilyn last week I was afraid I was starting to class the place up a bit. Not a lot, but from a negative six to maybe a negative five. When I found the first Lady of the Week (on the left) I was very afraid that I could slip all the way up to a negative four. I think our lady on the right keeps us at a steady negative five.