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

The results from the previous AW aren’t terribly surprising.

Henry is still unsold. I’m guessing someone took a chance on the #162 figure. (If you bought it, then let us know the results. Chewed or error?)

The seven figures didn’t sell either. But they were relisted.

Were they relisted at $40? No.

They were relisted at $150. And, according to eBay, they sold.

Common sense says there is no way the lot sold for $150. But common sense seems to be a scarce commodity in the M.U.S.C.L.E. community these days. Or, at a minimum, with the buyer and seller.

After being featured in Auction Watch #306, the seller changed their listing’s price, auction title, main auction picture, and auction description. And I don’t get it.

We already touched on the price. What did the auction title become?

M.u.s.c.l.e. lot, featured in blog write up by renowned Muscle historian

Based on the auction description, I guess it is supposed to be an insult:

Renowned world expert in MUSCLE collecting has advised me to change the price in this listing. So I have taken his only lifelong commitment to heart. It has been re-priced with his input.

Picture in description had to be edited for language as he admits to his readers what type of person he really is in his own editorial.

The new auction title is correct. It is a “M.u.s.c.l.e. lot.” It was “featured in blog write up.” And I am a “renowned Muscle historian.”

I would never use those words, but it doesn’t make it wrong. Arguably, nobody has dug deeper into M.U.S.C.L.E. than me. That was always the point of this website; diving into the absolute minutia of M.U.S.C.L.E. history. It is an objective truth.

However, I never said to adjust his price. I seem to be crossing paths with the handful of M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors with very, very limited reading comprehension.

My favorite part was this sentence, “Picture in description had to be edited for language as he admits to his readers what type of person he really is in his own editorial.” Does he think he caught me?

I routinely admit I’m an asshole. I’ll admit it again right now. The earliest I could find was when I made myself AOTW in 2015. I found one in 2017. I know there are more.

But his second edit is pathetic. He didn’t want people to know I actually said, “It made me realize I am the asshole. I keep expecting change.” He needed to change it because it didn’t fit his narrative. Why not just edit the picture more? Crop it more efficiently and I look like a bigger asshole. It was lazy.

Was buying it was supposed to prove a point too? I’m all ears because I don’t know what the point was supposed to be.

Stupid people just do stupid things. Certainly not the first time and certainly not the last time. Those same people should know I can’t be shamed or embarrassed. I’ve run an almost daily M.U.S.C.L.E. blog for over a decade. If that doesn’t shame and embarrass me (and it should), then I’m pretty ok with who I am.

I love screaming into the abyss. If people hear it – cool. If people don’t – cool. This website, and my commentary, are an extension of my M.U.S.C.L.E. hobby. I’d rather sow some seeds of discontent than be obsequiously sycophantic to everything M.U.S.C.L.E. related.

The flames of eBay’s dumpster fire continue to rage. My normal M.U.S.C.L.E. search just bums me out. Instead I used some of my old searches; pre-kids, zero responsibilities, and time to burn. I ended up wasting way too much time, but it was fun.

The first auction, vintage Mini Miscellaneous Lot Of 8 Figure Toys collectible rare, doesn’t mention M.U.S.C.L.E. once. Or Monsters in My Pocket. Or Weird Ball Wrestlers. But there they are.

It was fun finding the Magenta #113 figure in that lot. It brought me back to when I was searching for everything. We weren’t sure if a sculpt was available in every color, so you had to look.

I picked up a handful of figures looking in those “odd” searches. The most notable in my memory was a Nestle Quik figure mixed in with cereal toys.

The second auction, Assorted Kids miscellaneous Toy Lot, features a Flesh #110 figure. Apparently Muscleman is more likely to be found in random lots (based on an n of 2).

Finding these two figures in random lots was more fun than buying the figures.

“That’s easy for you to say, you already have…”

Maybe.

But I think the best shots of nostalgia are free. Here’s a non-M.U.S.C.L.E. example. Maybe a year ago the family walked through an antique shop. The store had a Roger Maris baseball game. I showed the boys. I told them how I used to play it with my Dad. We talked about baseball when I was little. The baseball games I played as a kid. And so on.

My wife asked if I wanted to buy it. Not at all.

The next time the boys saw Grandpa they wanted to see all the old stuff. The wanted it pulled out to explore, play, and laugh at.

You could say that saccharin story is dumb. Again, maybe – but nostalgia doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to cost anything.

That just my opinion of a few lots, on a silly blog, by a “renowned Muscle historian.”