It appears that the monopoly held on custom M.U.S.C.L.E. figures by Marty Hansen (TheGodbeast) could be challenged by a currently unknown seller outside of the M.U.S.C.L.E. community. The seller, Alteriormotive, has several custom creations for sale on eBay currently. It is his color changing #153 figure auction, Custom *Color Changing* M.U.S.C.L.E. men Claw Figure, that is currently the most interesting and unique for M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors.
The auctions states:
This auction is for a custom COLOR CHANGING Claw Muscle Men figure! The figure is made from a thermochromic material which changes colors from black to pink when it reaches a tempature of 82F or higher! An awesome piece for any collector! Thanks for looking & please check out my other auctions! Please email me at MakeitGlow@yahoo.com for any questions!
It appears that this seller has approached the sale of his custom figures in a seemingly ideal manner. There is the clear auction description, a very enticing starting bid price, fair shipping charges, and stunning pictures. Even without all of those positives, this figure would have sold based solely on the beautiful picture of the figure changing color in the tap water.
Figure #153 is unequivocally the most popular M.U.S.C.L.E. figure. It draws attention from both non-M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors and the most diehard M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors. Many M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors focus their collections on one figure and #153 is often the figure selected. This figure will certainly garner a lot of attention, which makes predicting a price very difficult.
The current uniqueness of the figure will likely drive the price of this figure surprisingly high for a single figure. However this might be the result of fear-based bidding – collectors believing they will never have the chance to own another color-changing #153. This seems unlikely for the simple reason that the seller appears to make various custom figures. If there are still interested buyers, then it seems reasonable to believe custom figures will still be produced.
This auction will likely end near $60.
Auction Screen Shot
Auction Picture
Auction Picture 2
Auction Picture 3
Follow-Up: Apparently this auction avoided the phenomenon known as “Claw-mania,” which rendered the $60 prediction utterly ridiculous. The final bid was $16. The recent wave of low prices for custom figures is fantastic for M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors.
Final Auction Screen
#1 by galactiboy on November 18, 2009 - 5:09 pm
That is very cool!
#2 by Kevin on November 19, 2009 - 2:17 pm
I tried bidding on three of his creations and got outbid on all of them at the last second by the same bidder. I really wanted the green, glow-in-the-dark Claw. Always good times on eBay! 😀
#3 by Andrea on December 1, 2009 - 6:03 pm
These claws look so awesome. I wish I could get one! I have some swords from this creator and they are cool. 🙂