The three posts from five years ago fit neatly into three categories: (1) low; (2) medium; and (3) high.
Being a bit of a pessimist, I’ll start with the low. More failure. Poor Tommy never sold well. It’s a shame because I really do like the figure. There are lots of clichés that say failure is learning (or something like that).
Sometimes that cliché is true, because the failure of trying to be a minifigure store was good for me. It was a little disappointing at first, but I always hated it. I’m too fucking busy with stuff I actually care about. And even when I’m not busy – I’m too tired from when I was busy.
I almost admire people that are able to do it. I’ve learned I’m not one of those people. As I’ve been going through some Star Wars and M.U.S.C.L.E. stuff I’ve thought, “Maybe I should sell this?”
And then a wave of angst hits me. I don’t want to list it; answer questions; package it; print postage; or anything. Ugh, I hate that shit. But going through that with things like Tommy helped me to figure out what I liked best about having this website. I am thankful for that lesson.
The medium is the Epilogue. Once again the video has disappeared. I should start to keep a running count. (0 for 1)
Seeing Jon Malmstedt’s picture made me smile. That was a cool-ass picture. I still thought the Hillary picture was funny. I certainly wasn’t trying to be political when I posted it. I just thought it was the least-fun-lady-picture I could find. It feels weird that five years later it seems more like political statement. It was not. Did anyone else feel like that?
Finally, the high. It feels awkward to admit I like my own writing, but I liked the Bottleneck article. I felt like I had a good hypothesis. Five years later it feels pretty accurate.
The surprising wrinkle is that it has spread to all M.U.S.C.L.E. figures – not just Class A figures. I never would have expected that to happen. The ebb and flow of M.U.S.C.L.E. prices were a constant in the hobby. Not anymore. Or, not like it used to be.
I wonder how the hobby would have grown without the scams and shenanigans of the earliest days of M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting? Very quickly it went from fun and inclusive to splintered and suspicious. Things have gotten much, much better. I can point to far more positives than negatives these days.
When I think about what could have been the analogy of the star athlete comes to mind. An injury stops the trajectory towards fame and wealth and life still turns out pretty. But what would life be like with the fame and wealth?
The hobby has turned out ok, but what could the M.U.S.C.L.E. hobby have become?
My dream would be more answers and more figures in more hands. What is yours?
