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

I started putting this post together and I had my auctions selected, but Auction Watch #226 really sucked. Picture problems. Link problems. It’s the kind of white hot mess that sticks with me. It also makes me extra curious about the auctions. The first auction appears to have sold, but it never had a BIN. I wondered if the seller re-listed it; he didn’t. I did see his $49.99 lawn dart box. A steal compared to the $59.95 one. I fully recognize the stupidity in collecting little plastic figures, but what the fuck do you do with an empty lawn dart box?

The second auction is not currently listed. The third auction dropped the price from $29.92 to $24.68. Why bother?

That price change became even more confusing when it dawned on me that I had selected another listing by the same seller.

The first auction, light blue SUNSHINE 003 M.U.S.C.L.E. nice Muscle Men Kinnikuman CHEAPEST ON EBAY, was originally selected because of the price ($24.68) and one line from the auction listing:

I don’t think this will be listed for very long. you may wish to order this from me right away before anybody else sees it.

It is comically absurd to me. It made me want to list a Light Blue #3 for $0.01, but it isn’t worth my time. That was the original narrative for this auction. Even if I fully believed I could get $25 for a M.U.S.C.L.E. listing on eBay it still isn’t worth my time. I started to wonder what price would make it worth my time. That narrative derailed when I looked back at AW #226.

The Figure Guide is not a price guide. It was never meant to be a price guide. That hasn’t stopped sellers from trying to use it to inflate their prices. But if it is going to be used for that purpose, then doesn’t that suggest a supposed set of rules?

Class A is worth more than Class B.
Class B is worth more than Class C.

Those rules make it impossible for Class A to be equal to Class C.

I believe I have discovered the “M.U.S.C.L.E. Fallacy.” When M.U.S.C.L.E. sellers set a single figure BIN price there is no logic. None.

The evidence is overwhelming. For example, a $10 figure listed for both $60 and $30.

How about the same seller listing a Class C figure for $25 and a Class A figure for $25?

The examples are endless. We can try and make sense of the madness through postmortems, but the “M.U.S.C.L.E. Fallacy” controls all of the Buy-It-Now M.U.S.C.L.E. auctions.

The second auction, VINTAGE FACTORY ERROR VARIANT M.U.S.C.L.E. MUSCLE MEN WRESTLING TOY PVC FIGURE, is more difficult to assign a label. The figure is arguably one of the greatest errors ever documented, which makes the opening bid of nearly $20 imaginable.

However, error figures don’t have a history of selling for a premium. Error collectors are notoriously frugal spenders. Maybe the greatest example is the $32 SC error.

I wouldn’t be shocked if this auction wins on a single bid. I wish this auction would have started with a lower opening bid. I think it would have attracted more error collectors. I also believe the MRT could have come into play. I think a few people might have put in safety bids driving the price higher than the current opening bid.

“If they are willing to bid more, then why wouldn’t they just bid on the current price?”

Because that is the oddity of niche M.U.S.C.L.E. groups.

The final auction, Lot of (14) Original Vintage M.U.S.C.L.E. Men Figures Rare Hard To Find, might be the holy grail for niche M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors. It is a unusual color Akumoko figure with an obscene amount of flashing.

I love my pink Ashura-Bull, but this might be the best FLAF ever…if you’re in the microscopic niche of ugly color, error-like FLAF’s.

The most exciting part of the listing, for me, is the very fair $4.99 opening bid. I think that’s going to allow the three or four interested parties a fair chance to buy it.

The 13 Flesh M.U.S.C.L.E. figures are an afterthought. They look to be in, at best, fair condition. One of the figures is just pure garbage.

This week’s Auction Watch has an interesting pattern. The first auction is the highest priced, but should be the least expensive. The last auction has the lowest opening price, but I can see it selling for the most. The second auction fits perfectly in the middle. Let’s see if I’m correct.