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

My biggest complaint with both custom and original minifigures is keeping track of them. I guess my complaint is that there are too many good things. God damn it.

That’s why I get really excited when I easily find information about new figures – even better, part of the news is an attempt to make things easier for collectors!

The news I’m talking about is a second wave of Universe of Violence figures. I have been a very big fan of everything from Ironhaus Productions. But I have to admit, I feel bad.

As I was unknowingly preparing to descend into my exile the Infestors were going into their second and third releases. I loved those figures and still plan on doing reviews. I genuinely felt bad for not getting those great figures reviewed. They deserved all the attention in the world.

So the UofV news made me happy and then it made me sad.

– “…SHOW SOME SIGNS OF WEAR…” and a $49.99 BIN. It will give you a smile.
– The Item Specifics in the description made me smile. Lot of smiles so far.
– If I hadn’t taken a beat, and realized I don’t need these figures, this BIN would have forced me to act. Honestly, this might be the first BIN to do that. I can’t remember ever using a BIN. I could have but I don’t remember.
– I read this auction title in the voice of Howard Stern’s Ted Kennedy impression. Erra, my brain is not letting me, erra, read it in any other way.
– “These are NOT reissue or KO or reproduction items.” They are. And that’s why I’m bidding.
– This is going to kill things like this. Think he’d take $24?
– Starting at $0.99 for 90 figures.
– Before clicking, guess what is in this $65 M.U.S.C.L.E. lot.

As I scan through the M.U.S.C.L.E. items on eBay for the Epilogue, I have to take a break. The single figure auctions just make me shake my head. Ignoring the various prices, I can’t imagine the time and effort to handle all those single figures is worth it. My time is just too valuable.

I’m sure the argument is that “it only takes me seconds to list” and “I’m going to the post office anyways.” Even if you take a few minutes to pack it poorly and print the postage I can’t imagine it being worth it. That just feels like wasted time. Hell, the last time I sold a few items on eBay it seemed like wasted time.

Maybe I am the exception. Maybe other people enjoy managing and sending out these figures. Maybe it is their hobby. I can’t throw any stones from my glass university. But I can’t empathically enough state how thoroughly I don’t understand it.

Ok, just one quick thing on the price. Take this seller. They have basically 28 single figure auctions. At their, essentially, average price of $4.75 that lot of 28 figures would sell for $133.

– As of writing, this has no bids. Why? Seems ok to pretty good. Am I missing something?
– This auction made me think of our old friend The Futuristic Goalie. (Oof. Ugly layout. I should clean that up.)
– All that effort was a colossal waste of time. (You’ve got to read the auction description.)
– I might be losing my mind. For a millisecond I thought I saw a SGS.
– I was going to say the price isn’t bad. Jesse and Joey don’t agree.
– Someone figured out how to lower the price of #153 figures.

Remember Auction Watch #173? Of course you do. Well, I have a pretty cool update. I asked the seller (bigfatbrokeusedbookworm) of the three items that made me wonder if he would participate in an interview. He said, “Yes.”

We chatted through a few emails, but he hasn’t sent back his “official” interview. I am hoping it comes back very, very soon. I think this will be a super cool thing for collectors to read. And I think it is super cool that he is doing it.

I also asked our old friend, newhobby905, if he would participate. He said, “No.”

Part of the reason he declined was that he said I had called the figures fake on the site. That never happened. (I double checked.) He was also upset I wasn’t highlighting his figures that were selling for “500 or even 1000 dollars.” Of course, I can’t see any evidence of that in his feedback over the last six months. This could have been a good venue for him to show that evidence. He would certainly not look too crazy if he shared evidence of those sales.

I will share what I felt was the most insightful part of our exchange. He said he loved M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, doesn’t care if they sell, and likes looking and seeing them in his store. That really answered any further questions I had.

He also didn’t like being called the Asshole of the Week. The fact that one week he and I were both AOTW didn’t make him feel better. Maybe it’s too mean to name someone the AOTW? Maybe the title slices through their skin; painfully serrating their heart and agonizingly rousing their deepest emotions. Maybe I should stop AOTW?

Speaking of AOTW, here’s your winner: superstarsig.

This auction was originally highlighted in Auction Watch #170. He didn’t end up AOTW in that week’s Epilogue, but it was through the error of omission. I needed to correct that.

I shared most of my thoughts in AW #170. I don’t have much more to add. And I don’t want to be too repetitive.

I should add that this relisting is $6 less than the one in AW #170. If he keeps up this pace of reducing it $6 every month, then on May 15, 2024 it might be a pretty good deal.

That’s only 103 months away!

I’ll wrap up the Epilogue with a rambling anecdote that ties back to the Hell Chicken. As I uploading the Hell Chicken jpg I thought of the Chicken Lady, “Maybe there’s something funny there?”

Then I remembered I already had a Chicken Lady gif right here. I couldn’t come up with anything funny, but the post also had a Break Anchor video. It reminded me of going to see them last Friday. It also made me think, “Where was the other Break Anchor video posted?”

Boom. Right here.

I had a great time going to see them last Friday, so it feels like a great way to kick off another weekend. Here’s Break Anchor’s first track on their most recent CD.

That wasn’t really an anecdote. It was just rambling.