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

Did you read the entire AW last week? I bet there was a lot of skimming.

If you didn’t read it all, then there are two main results: (1) the #165 prediction was correct; and (2) there just aren’t many buyers left. There was an average of two buyers per listing. Two. And one of those bidders won the auction.

People trying to sell Class A figures must be dyeing. (Not only a great joke, but foreshadowing for a future post too.)

This week eBay was pretty off-putting. As of today, there were only two listings I wanted to talk about. The first listing, Kinnikuman M.U.S.C.L.E. Muscle Men 3D Figure Satan Cross Dr Bombay Ramenman Claw, was equal parts interesting and confusing.

Seeing 3D printed M.U.S.C.L.E. figures was interesting to me. I don’t remember seeing them before.

However, 3D printing has such a wide variety of quality. The output can be pretty damn impressive or it can look like my kids built it in Minecraft. The seller said, “3D printing is not a perfect process.” Duh. I don’t think the pictures help figure out the quality level. My guess at this moment, is that the figures are fair.

With all of that said, why would someone pay $80 for these? These aren’t art to me. These are awesome 3D tests, but that doesn’t mean anybody should pay a “premium” price. If the guy doesn’t want them anymore, then just start the listing at $1.

Maybe I’m being unfair to 3D printing? No, the bar is pretty high.

The second listing, M.U.S.C.L.E. Men Class A 086 Kinnikuman Do Bellman Dark Blue and Class B 058, will be done by the time this posts. Normally I wouldn’t select a listing like this one. But we’ve had quite a few Class A listings lately – let’s capture this final price too.

The opening bid is $15. I don’t think it will sell.

Not because it’s a bad figure; not because it isn’t worth the price. But because I don’t believe there are still people that want/need it. Sure, eventually a prospector might pick it up; confident they will be able to resell it later at top dollar.

I genuinely believe those days are over.

UPDATE: Well, it sold. Nothing like waking up and being wrong. However, there was only one bidder. And they got an awesome deal. I think the last one sold for around $60. (I’ll try to find the link.)