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

The Sunday Paper just won’t die, and I’ve very happy about it.

Jesse sent in his article and pictures to UofMUSCLE@gmail.com. He followed the vast majority of guidelines which kept things easy for me too. Thanks Jesse!

Remember the Sunday Paper is open to anybody. If you have a M.U.S.C.L.E. topic/question/rant that you want the world to see, then please feel free to send it in. I know M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors would love an extra day of content.

M.U.S.C.L.E. Market Analysis – March 2017 Edition

Introduction
A common topic of discussion in the M.U.S.C.L.E. community, and perhaps the most common question any new collector or seller asks is “What are my figures worth?”. This turns out to be a very hard question to answer concisely. The price a figure sells for varies widely based on if they are sold singly, in small lots, or in large lots, and whether they are sold in auctions or at fixed prices. A variety of other variables, some known and others unknown, also contribute to large ranges in figure values. While figure values are often discussed, and some of these discussions are based on personal observations or recent sales, very few discussions of figure value rely heavily on any significant data. Being a topic of great interest to me, I decided to start tracking eBay sales to gain a better understanding of the M.U.S.C.L.E. market, and also to track emerging trends. In order to do so, I have done fairly simple eBay searches of completed auctions and began gathering data. For background, here is generally how I have been collecting data.

1. Record all MUSCLE auctions of more than 1 figure, including Buy-it-Now and true auctions.
2. For best offer auctions, use some sleuthing skills to get the true final value achieved.
3. Record the total cost of each auction (which is the final sale price plus the cost of shipping).
4. Track with each auction the number of figures, whether the auction was BIN or a true auction, and note any pertinent details (if lots are all color or all flesh or mixed, if lots contained Claw or Satan’s Cross, etc.).
5. Conduct additional searches for single figures sales on Satan’s Cross, Claw, Class A, Class B, and several popular sculpts (Sunshines, for example). These prices are not included in the monthly averages but are tracked independently.

So far, I have compiled data covering Dec 2016 through March of 2017, and the numbers are pretty interesting! So without further delay, let’s move on to the data.

March 2017 Review
March was a pretty busy month for M.U.S.C.L.E. sales on eBay, with the largest number of sales tracked and highest single figure average since December! The Claw market also shows signs of strength, with the highest monthly mean to date.

And that is the current state of the M.U.S.C.L.E. market. As the dataset grows, I hope to find new and interesting ways to analyze and display the data and enhance our understanding of the M.U.S.C.L.E. market. Until next month, happy hunting!

Thanks Jesse!

If you’re feeling inspired, then please sent in your article and pictures to UofMUSCLE@gmail.com.