On July 4th I posted the new Grunts. I’m so glad I didn’t post something 4th of July related. I hated seeing all of those types of posts on different sites. I took a look back at my holiday posts and those suck too. Holiday posts are dead on UofM. People are here for M.U.S.C.L.E. figures.
I hope I’m spending my weekend snapping some pictures of these guys. There’s a very good chance it won’t happen. There could be a lot of baseball played.
But I can’t fall too far behind. Three years can fly by if I’m not careful.
Searching for M.U.S.C.L.E. figures on eBay always yields some odd results. It’s a part of the experience. However, I’ve had this showing up in my search and I am fucking confused. Who is buying this thing?
I ask this question completely seriously, “What are they doing with it?”
I felt creepy just having the thing show up in my search. I felt even creepier when I clicked on it. My creep-meter exploded when I read the following in the auction description:
…their woman secret parts are quite realistic/detailed.
Oh dear.
Oh my.
I’m bleaching my eyes and burning the first few layers of skin off my body.
– $8.95. Guess the item. (You will be wrong.)
Wait. I’m going to try my two types of M.U.S.C.L.E. sellers on eBay idea. As of writing this post, there are 4,596 M.U.S.C.L.E. listings. That includes the previously mentioned “doll” and M.O.T.U.S.C.L.E and other stuff. I won’t be able willing to click through all of it.
I’ll only focus on the auction format listings. It seems safe to assume 99.9% of listings with a BIN aren’t starting at $0.99. (Please feel free to prove me wrong and post the listing in the Comments.)
Here are the results, from the remaining ~200, auction listings:
| $0.99 Listing – #1 – #2 – #3 |
Asshole – #1 – #2 – #3 – #4 – #5 – #6 – #7 – #9 – #10 – #10 – #11 – #12 – #13 – #14 – #15 – #16 – #17 – #18 – #19 – #20 – #21 – #22 – #23 – #24 – #25 – #26 – #27 – #28 – #29 – #30 – #31 – #32 – #33 – #34 – #35 – #36 – #37 – #38 – #39 – #40 – #41 – #42 (I’m skipping the next 12 from this guy.) – #43 – #44 – #45 – #46 – #47 – #48 – #49 – #50 – #51 – #52 – #53 – #54 |
Single Figure $0.99 – #1 – #2 – #3 – #4 – #5 – #6 – #7 – #8 – #9 – #10 – #11 – #12 – #13 – #14 – #15 – #16 – #17 – #18 – #19 – #20 – #21 – #22 |
That seems like a perfect snapshot of M.U.S.C.L.E. on eBay. Maybe an argument could be made for #17 and #18, from the center column, but I think the rule works. Again, please feel free to prove me wrong and post the listing in the Comments.
Finally, there is this. Perfect for the person that wants to deal with eBay M.U.S.C.L.E. Shenanigans. It is the same tube. It has the same indentation on the edge. Take a look at the pictures. It is very obvious.
Plus the seller states that they are from Schofield, WI. Magically, they do not list the location on the tube auction. Thankfully it is on their other auctions. Why does that matter?
It happens to be down the road from “Peter Martell.” He is known as fbmasterpgm on eBay and was the seller of the most recent Quik tube that was mired in shenanigans. His location was listed as Mosinee, WI.
Schofield, WI is only 11 miles down the road from Mosinee, WI. Maybe the greater Wausau metropolitan area is the hot bed of M.U.S.C.L.E. tubes?
This tube belongs to Brian. He bought it for $100 on January 18th, 2017. It should be in his collection.
I continue to feel very embarrassed for this seller.
UPDATE: The price has dropped from $600 to $399.99. He also added the item location to the listing. This changes nothing.
This earworm has crawled into my brain. You deal with it now.
#1 by walker26 on July 7, 2017 - 8:21 am
Tube dropped from $600 to $400. Still won’t sell at that price. He’ll be lucky to get $100 with the shenanigans he did earlier this year. Even without the shenanigans, maybeeeeee $150, but that might be stretching it a bit.
#2 by plasticfiend on July 7, 2017 - 11:03 am
LOL – I’m glad I’m not the only one that started getting those “dolls” showing up in my listings. I was like “WTH”???? My wife came over wondering what the heck I was looking at lol… who buys those things??
#3 by Jimmy on July 7, 2017 - 1:15 pm
Hm, so we’re saying $150 is a bit much, unless there are shenanigans? What happens to “$500”?
#4 by walker26 on July 7, 2017 - 3:56 pm
Jimmy, I’m guessing you’re talking about what I paid.
1. Yes, I did pay that
2. No, I don’t think it’s worth that today.
3. Was it worth it to me back when I paid that much for it? Yes because I’m a collector, and I wanted one of the those for a long time. I have yet to resale anything from my collection, so resale value to me is meaningless.
Or are you trolling for some kind of other answer?
#5 by walker26 on July 7, 2017 - 4:05 pm
Also, how do you get your line “so we’re saying $150…..” What the what????
My quote:
“He’ll be lucky to get $100 with the shenanigans he did earlier this year. Even without the shenanigans, maybeeeeee $150, but that might be stretching it a bit.”
Clearly I said
1. He’ll be lucky to get $100 with the shenanigans he did earlier in this year.
2. Without the shenanigans he would be lucky to get $150.
Obviously with those two lines I don’t think it’s worth any where close to $500.
#6 by Orgg on July 7, 2017 - 10:56 pm
I’m going to guess that artists buy them when they want to learn live figure drawing but are too bashful or not charismatic enough to be able to actually draw them from life?
#7 by Chad Perry on July 10, 2017 - 8:58 am
This is the most cup-half-full response I could have ever imagined. Well done sir.
#8 by Chad Perry on July 10, 2017 - 9:54 am
Take yourself out of the equation. And just look at the observable facts.
1. The tube shows up and a potential buyer hypes the auction.
2. The auction starts at $300 because of the offers that were received.
3. Bid increment is $5.
4. First bid is $500 – by the guy that hyped up the auction.
5. It is the only bid.
6. People express confusion and suspicion for such an odd situation.
7. Bidder tries to passionately explain behavior, but no one quite understands. The explanation seems to fly in the face of logic.
That’s pretty weird, just as a list of facts.
But now, exactly what Jimmy argued has come true, there is a precedence (as Jimmy said, “an inflated value”). The purchase at $500 hurt the community overall. It didn’t happen in isolation. It affected the community.
Now we have a completely “random” (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) seller with a price that hovers in that same neighborhood. It’s all very strange.
It becomes even more bizarre, when the guy that paid $500 says it should probably sell for $100~$150.
#9 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 12:35 pm
Yes I can see my bid of $500 weird. I wanted that badly from Peter. Fly in the face of logic or whatever, I really didn’t care then because like the Nestle Quik can, SRs, and Hauler it’s part of the story line of M.U.S.C.L.E. to me. I didn’t place the bid in regards to what others think it might be worth. Maybe I should have asked around, but my excitement drew me to bid what I did.
Could I have been more patient and just bid $5 at a time and gotten a better price? Yes. Oh well, such is life. Again, you have no idea how badly I wanted that “cardboard tube.” It’s a piece of the puzzle, piece of the history to me. If people watched another auction lately you would have seen I learned from that.
Ok, say $500 hurt the community. To fight against that a buyer only has to wait out seller, and watch the price drop, drop, and drop. The seller of a rarer item like the tube, can, or be it something else will soon realize that just because someone told them it went for $500 several years ago doesn’t mean it will go for that much again. This takes patience on the buyer’s part, but it works. I know I didn’t show that patience with the tube or most of my collection, but I did recently. Being married changes the way I do things. We buy nothing over a certain dollar amount without each others’ approval.
I based my $100-$150 on facts that since I bought mine that we’ve seen, what two or three show up, and I don’t think they’ve hit $200. If I’m wrong on them not hitting $200, then I stand corrected, but I think that is accurate.
If someone thinks I have anything to do with the seller in Wisconsin, nothing is stopping you from having that secret squirrel theory. I can tell you one thing, that person is full of doo doo if they think that way.
#10 by Chad Perry on July 10, 2017 - 12:50 pm
No, it doesn’t. That’s the problem.
I could point to lots of things, but I think this is a classic example.
#11 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 1:14 pm
Yes it does work. It worked for me earlier this year. Does it work for everything? No. The tube has already dropped from $600 to $400. $400 is still out there, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it drops again. Maybe not this week, next, or as quickly as buyers want it to drop, but it will probably drop.
#12 by Chad Perry on July 10, 2017 - 1:42 pm
No, it doesn’t. Shit-tastic prices always stay shit-tastic. $600 to $400 is a perfect example. I’ve posted this rant too many times on this site to repeat it here again.
What was earlier this year?
#13 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 2:10 pm
Hauler:
1. Started at $1450. No sale
*I’m guessing she found a link to the 2008 price, or someone from LRG informed her of the 2008 price.
2. Jumped to $2000, still no sale.
3. Down to $1800
4. Down to $1600
5. Down to $1400
6. Down to $1200, still no sale
The hauler was on Ebay for a long period of time. I agree it probably won’t work for most of everything, especially for the more common items. It will work once in a while.
#14 by Chad Perry on July 10, 2017 - 2:13 pm
So, your M.U.S.C.L.E. example, is a rare Hot Wheels item selling for a widely accepted price by Hot Wheels collectors.
#15 by Jimmy on July 10, 2017 - 2:23 pm
I mean, there are several issues regarding the tubes, starting with their authenticity. Say what you want, but common wisdom would dictate that never seeing them pop up, to seeing them pop up semi regularly seems pretty suspicious.
Having somebody try to drive up the price on the first one to go to auction (in an auction that YOU helped arranged, and YOU coached the seller on, by your own admission), seems doubly suspicious. You can call it “secret squirrel”, but my circle calls it “that douche is up to something.”
#16 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 3:09 pm
Chad, in your article of the discovery of the Hauler, you were saying it would sell at $1450.
#17 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 3:27 pm
Jimmy,
Yes, you caught me red handed. I’m guilty of:
1. Encouraging Peter to put the item up for auction in LRG.
2. Overpaying for a tube at a cost of $500.
Yes, I’m guilty for doing what I want with the money I earn in life.
I’m assuming this is Jimmy Rommel from LRG who is still upset with me because:
1. You had a SR, and initially the SR was offered through Private Message ONLY in LRG.
2. Upset that I only offered $550. Like I’m going to offer top dollar for a SR in a Private Message without it going to auction. And you think my payment of $500 for tube is silly????
*What is similar with your SR and Peter’s tube? I got you both to put the items up for auction, and that is how it should be done. Not in Private Message, nor how people get sellers to get auctions to end early in Ebay.*
3. Puts SR up for auction on LRG at the offer I made because it was the highest you received in a Private Message.
You’re welcome you got more money. Yes, be upset with me for that too.
#18 by walker26 on July 10, 2017 - 4:15 pm
Jimmy,
What exactly are you digging for in my conversations I had with Peter?
1. Yes, he did speak to me first about having the tube.
2. Yes, I did personally walk him through on how I would set up the auction in LRG.
3. Yes, I FULLY admit, I overpaid/jumped the gun/got overly excited/retarded out on paying……
4. Heck no do I think it’s worth that today. Lesson learned.
Yes, all those are facts. Please tell me exactly what you are looking for. I really don’t know what else to say. I chalk it up as a lesson learned.
#19 by Chad Perry on July 11, 2017 - 11:11 am
I can’t find that.
I’m not sure what my guess, in any article, brings to this discussion.
#20 by walker26 on July 11, 2017 - 2:59 pm
Epilogue Week of February 5th, you thought the price of near $2000 was still ok.
The hauler is a perfect example of how patience can pay off (not paying $2000). I took what I knew of the hauler (sale of one in August 2012 for $888, and the fact that 2008’s sale was right when the housing bubble burst).
Let’s switch to M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. I doubt very much a sale would happen if a SR had a BIN of $1500 today (minus a brand new one that has yet to be discovered). Has anybody purchased one for that price in the last several years? Has any switched hands in LRG lately at that cost? I don’t know. If I’m wrong, then I stand corrected.
I’m not saying that having patience will pay off every time. No, not at all. We still see people who think they have gold with Class A figures and don’t budge.
#21 by Jimmy on July 11, 2017 - 11:28 pm
First off, William, I am not upset with you at all. I don’t have to be upset to recognize that you are a shady, pompous ass that has been caught red-handed on several occasions and is known to cavort with people that are also well known in the community for engaging in dishonest practices.
#22 by walker26 on July 12, 2017 - 9:12 am
Update on tube: At $340 with Or Best Offer.
#23 by Chad Perry on July 12, 2017 - 9:41 am
Which is my entire point.
The Hauler is more of a singularity, and more of a Hot Wheels issue.
I’ll just end with this simple analogy. Pissing, maliciously or not, in the tiny M.U.S.C.L.E. pond causes ripples every time. Even subtly implying it doesn’t is just plain silly.
#24 by walker26 on July 14, 2017 - 10:20 am
“Pissing, maliciously or not,….” and “implying it doesn’t….”
I’m not going to apologize for spending the money I earn in life. Never going to happen. Are you trying to say there is some kind of rule book for collecting?
The facts of the tube of what happened with me and Peter:
1. Did Peter contact me first? Yes
2. Did I help him set up the auction on LRG, and did he set up the auction word for word of how I told him to? Yes
3. Did I overpay/jump the gun? Yes
4. If you or others think I have anything to do with the auction in Ebay from the seller in Wisconsin because it closed, and then reopened at $600 then you’re wrong.
***If I wanted to be malicious and vile I would have done it long ago when the Nestle Quik can without a lid showed up for auction in Ebay and ended at $199.***
It’s really a matter of people not realizing they don’t always get what they want, when they want it, and for the price they want to pay.
I like your smart alek comment “you can pay $500 or $150,” ha ha, just goes to show how little you are about things.
#25 by walker26 on July 14, 2017 - 10:28 am
Jimmy,
Your comment means a lot coming from someone who I remember from one of the last threads I read in LRG that you were upset with me not paying you top dollar through Private Message because you have a daughter. I have news for you:
1. I will never use my family to treat people like garbage like you did. My family is my responsibility, not that of collectors.
2. Jimmy, you say I was caught red handed. With what? Do you honestly think I was going to offer you top dollar for a SR through Private Message without it going to auction? You must have jokes.
3. What do you have on me with Peter? Nothingggggg, I say again, Nothingg, Not a darn thing.
So what he contacted me first about setting up the auction.
So what I overpaid. The last I checked other collectors aren’t the boss of my bank account.
Yes Jimmy, coming from someone who used his daughter as a crutch to go after another collector and spill your hate, I can truly say your that something I will never do in my life time.
#26 by Chad Perry on July 14, 2017 - 11:14 am
You’re 100% missing my point.
M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting is insanely small. Everything that people do in our hobby, because of its size, has an impact. Good. Bad. Minor. Major. There is an impact.
If you’re arguing something else, then I don’t know what it is.
#27 by walker26 on July 17, 2017 - 10:06 am
Yes, it does have an impact, and I learned to be a lot more patient. Why do you think I said it would go for $100-$150? I definitely don’t think it would go for that today. When did I say “if you want to pay $100 or $500” like your smart alec comment? Never.
Could I have handled that situation with Peter better? Yes, and it would have saved me a lot of money if I thought it out all the way. Obviously my excitement of landing the tube, another piece of the story, got the best of me, and I jumped the gun. Life happens, my lesson learned as apparent with hauler purchase.
Did I tell the seller from Wisconsin that it would go for $500 or more during the original sale? Nope. Someone from LRG I’m betting said something just like I’m certain someone from LRG said something to the lady who sold the hauler. To think that my purchase is responsible for someone else using it as an example of worth is nutty. The person who did that can do that, but then to put blame on me because of that is off. I’m sure I’m not the only one who laughed when I saw it for sale at $600. Just like the hauler at $2000, I knew the tube wouldn’t sale just like the hauler didn’t sale. I’m sure 99.9% of the collecting community knew it wouldn’t sale too. Ok, again, blame my purchase for that all you want, but some little birdie used it to cancel out the original sale.
Can M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors be more patient and/or realize that they won’t get items at the price they want? Yes. Ok the community is small, sales have a ripple effect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t wait for something. I’m sure most of LRG don’t use my purchases as a rule of thumb of value.
I don’t always get what I want, for what I want to pay. Create a separate savings account, and put money in it monthly to spend on toys.
#28 by Chad Perry on July 18, 2017 - 9:42 am
Perfect, we are in agreement. Done.
#29 by walker26 on July 19, 2017 - 10:25 am
Cool beans