Auction Watch #185


I am the first to admit I don’t know about Kinnikuman. At best I have a superficial understanding. The first auction, Vintage / Kinnikuman children bowl / Terryman Ramenman eggs boiled, makes me wish I had become an expert.

The price is shocking to me. The price caught my attention as much as the bowl itself. I know so little that I can’t even guess if that is fair or outrageous. Ok, I can guess that it is outrageous. You can get a pretty fancy bowl for nearly $2,000.

Throwing the price aside, I think it is a charming little bowl. If it’s China, then that’s even better. It doesn’t look like plastic to me.

It can’t be plastic. Would anyone pay $1,750 for a plastic children’s bowl? I guess it’s possible. Someone paid $3,113 for a few ounces of plastic.

The second auction, Muscle Men- M.U.S.C.L.E. Vintage Toys Rare Yellow Trash Can-Can Full Of Monsters, is even more shocking than the bowl’s price tag.

I would guess that most M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors don’t know how this item ties into M.U.S.C.L.E. history. It is very understandable and forgivable. But I would encourage people to read about this really interesting minutia of 10-pack history.

As much as I love this pieces place in M.U.S.C.L.E. history, I wouldn’t bite on a $50 BIN. Thankfully there’s a $0.99 opening bid and super fair shipping. This is literally the last thing I need in my collection, but I’m so charmed by its minutia.

I wonder if other M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors feel the same? Maybe the better question is who values the can more Canfull of Monsters and Monster Toss collectors or M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors that love this little oddity.

Speaking of oddities, the third auction is a little bit strange.

The third auction, 39 Vintage Mattel M.U.S.C.L.E. Muscle Men NESTLE QUICK promo Figures, confuses me. This seller might be a magician. Maybe he made a deal with the devil? Maybe he sold his soul to keep discovering Nestle Quik figures?

Ok. Maybe he’s just selling some extras from the 50 figure lot. Maybe the buyer didn’t want all the figures. But that seems too weird. Why wouldn’t the buyer take all the figures he paid for and re-sell the “extras” himself.

If they are 39 new Quik figures, then why are all of these showing up? And in such huge quantities.

And I haven’t said it before, but I never looked as closely to the pictures. Do these Quik figures look too loose to you?

I won’t say the third auction is raising red flags for me, but it is raising my initial nervous-worry flag.

The fourth auction, #151 Kanderaman Grape – M.U.S.C.L.E. Kinnikuman 1985 – From Board Game, is one of the silliest M.U.S.C.L.E. auctions I have ever seen. That statement could easily be taken as hyperbole, but I am 100% serious.

Sure, the price is silly. Given the numerous overpriced auctions that M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors are forced to sift through, absurd single figure prices aren’t especially noteworthy. The idea of a $249.90 board game set is pretty funny, but it certainly doesn’t make this one of the silliest M.U.S.C.L.E. auctions.

I believe it is the silliest because collecting the board game figures separately is one of the most frustrating activities that can easily be avoided. The board game figures are often sold inexpensively and in a complete set. Even when they are in a lot they tend to be together. Undertaking the single figure approach, at or above the price point of an entire set, is simply one of the silliest M.U.S.C.L.E. things I have ever seen.

Auction Watch #184 highlighted a seller with six auctions of Class A figures with $0.99 opening bids. With eBay full of fools, believing they can demand absurd prices just because a figure is “Class A,” it was refreshing and inspiring to see his auctions.

I don’t know how much they sold for. Auction Watch #184 didn’t have the individual links and feedback hasn’t been posted on eBay for those specific auctions. (If you know, then please post it in the Comments below.)

I hope those $0.99 Class A auctions helped to inspire a wonderful new trend for M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors. This potential trend appears to have support based on the appearance of two $0.99 Class A auctions from eBay seller “lint-speed.”

The fifth auction, Muscle Men- M.U.S.C.L.E. Vintage Toys 1980s Class A #145, is the more interesting of lint-speed’s two figures. The figure is a great sculpt and looks wonderful in Light Blue.

It seems like the #145 would be a figure that demands top dollar, but the last UofM documented sale had a final price of $23.50.

The sixth auction, Muscle Men- M.U.S.C.L.E. Vintage Toys 1980s Class A #31 Terri, is less sexy. It is not a popular sculpt. But sometimes these are some of the most interesting to watch because they could go for a few cents or a few hundred dollars. Both of those options would be extreme. It seems reasonable to expect this figure to go for around $10~$20.

The final three auctions are from the person responsible for the recent trend of Class A auctions starting at $0.99. Starting an auction at $0.99 could be a little scary for some sellers. For Sugarpappy’s current three auctions the only scary part will be the final prices.

The three figures below are attractive, popular, desirable, and some of the most difficult Class A figures for collectors to easily obtain. I’m glad I don’t need to add them to my collection. I wouldn’t even venture a final price for these figures. These figures will have classic crazy M.U.S.C.L.E. prices.

Or maybe not. That’s the fun.

The only guarantee is that the MRT will be in full effect.

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  1. #1 by Neverwhere on March 2, 2016 - 9:42 am

    Regarding the #151 Kanderaman Grape auction. The guy originally had it touted as being a Class A figure (obviously mixing up the grape and purple figures). I actually felt bad and sent him a message explaining the difference and that his wasn’t a Class A. He wrote back thanking me for the heads up. So he took out the part of the description saying it was a class A, but he DIDN’T CHANGE THE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH PRICE. I was foolish for doing anything to help the guy.

  2. #2 by Chad Perry on March 2, 2016 - 10:22 am

    Ha! That makes it even funnier!

  3. #3 by Nick on March 2, 2016 - 11:22 am

    I bought my #145 lb from Mckinnon on ebay for 40 bucks shipped from the UK and the last #31 Terryman was sold for $63.75 in a small lot of 10.

    in auction watch #184
    the Green #50 sold for $72.53
    the Salmon #109 sold for $77.65
    the Light blue #82 sold for $56.53
    the Blue #86 sold for $46.12
    the Magenta #179 sold for $71.41
    the Salmon #179 sold for $0.74

  4. #4 by bloth on March 2, 2016 - 2:09 pm

    A nondescript $1750 bowl with 3 lousy photos is pretty interesting. We need to frame all of our sales with the disclamer “According to the book of Kinnikuman”.

    I need one of those books.

  5. #5 by Chad Perry on September 1, 2018 - 1:02 pm

    The LB #145 sold for $50.

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