Tweaked #197
Head Turned Slightly
At the time, the prevailing feeling was that it was just a lazy, cheap bootleg/counterfeit figure.
After the Art reorganization, the #197 was labeled a “Tweak” and the case seemed to be closed.
Recently Chris K. (also known as dixiebull at LRG) has kicked the door back open. He sent in some additional Frankenstein-like Amalgam figures (FLAF’s), which will be added to the archive soon, but he made an interesting claim. He said:
I know that the robin mask figure is not an amalgam, but it came with the other figures I bought and is clearly part of the same line/release.
Below are the pictures he sent:
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The appearance of these two new figures, plus the original green one, makes a brief comment from Ridureyu very interesting. He said:
I have an orange one, if that helps.
#197 Side-by-Side Comparison
Flesh #197 Courtesy of
Nathan's M.U.S.C.L.E. Blog!
What was once an odd #197 is starting to look like a previously undiscovered FLAF.
So what do collectors think?
Is this just a common bootleg “Tweak”?
Or is it a Frankenstein-like Amalgam Figure?
And if it is a FLAF, then we’re going to have to have another naming contest – which hasn’t happened since May of 2012. Finding that last contest also served as a reminder that Strong Men need to be added to the Masquerading M.U.S.C.L.E. Figures.
I’m not making a poll for this topic. I’m curious to know what collectors think – especially why they think it. Please post your thoughts in the Comments section below.
#1 by Chris Krutsinger on August 25, 2015 - 1:57 pm
Well I am surprised no one commented or had at least a passing interest in this..oh well. Anyways, I did a breakdown chart of all the respective bodies and heads of the 13 muscle figures this unknown producer kit bashed to make the amalgam figures. For some reason it looks like they had 14 figures available at least, the 14th being Robin Mask (D) as pictured above. For obvious reasons, they chose not to use Kendaman’s 186 head, as it is basically just a stump coming out of his body. For whatever reason, to rectify this they utilized Wolfman’s 156 head twice, on two different amalgam figures. Why they did not at this point take advantage of the 14th figure (Robin Mask D) is beyond me…maybe they didn’t like how it looked. Regardless, he was the odd man out as every other single head and body were used for the FLAF figures we all love (well, some of us love) today. They could have mixed them up more to include him, or even doubled up on another head, etc. Instead they just turned his head. How exciting. Who knows what goes on in the heads of a bootlegger?