Since this finally happened it makes this SUS from five years ago even funnier to me. You can tell, even then, I knew it just needed to be over and done.
But the urgency-trait left my collecting/hobby DNA many years ago. Thank god.
Yesterday I mentioned that somebody needed to, basically, tell Art to relax and slow down on his Non-Poster figures. I believe it’s good advice for all M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors. What’s the rush?
Seriously. Specific to M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting, what is the undeniable advantage to being in a hurry? I imagine some collectors are too embarrassed to admit they want to be the first person to collect a Master Set. Long-time M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors know that Alex Forbes claimed to have one, but nobody really believes it anymore. Turns out if you pile up unending lies, then everything you’ve ever claimed is viewed through that lens. Who knew? Well, everybody except Alex.
But what if he wasn’t lying? What if people are actually racing to be second? I know it’s not probable, but it is possible. Then why rush? Or translated, why overpay? I’m not judging. I’m seriously asking.
I need three more figures (a new post is coming, what’s the rush?), but I won’t win them on eBay. It’s not worth it to me. I know other Master Set Fools need them too. Once they buy them, then I’ll continue to wait on finding mine. Hopefully for much less.
My opinion? I disagree. Collectors might argue about Class A prices dropping if you look at different figures. I think Purple #93 is a nice, but far from perfect, example. I think the real winning example is Purple #153. That price has been dropping like a rock. $425 was the most recent sale price. Three years ago it was $426.67. Before that $500, and before that $570, and before that (in 2017) $1,051.
Did the Purple #153 become less popular? No. The Purple #153 Fools, like the Master Set Fools, had purchased their figure. There were less people willing to over spend.
I want to be clear. No judgment here. I’m just sharing what I have witnessed over the last 20 or so years. And I can even point to the start of Purple #153 madness – $122.50. That’s what I paid in 2006. It was an insane price at the time, but I hadn’t learned patience.
There’s no best way to collect. Everybody is on their own path. But M.U.S.C.L.E. collecting is a weird little niche and a painfully finite collection. Having been around it for so long I’ve seen plenty of people rush for the “finish line.” They’re all gone. I know crossing the finish line will be very bittersweet for me. That’s why I encourage collectors to enjoy the ride. I’m trying to keep the ride going for as long as possible.
One of the things I love about MMMM is that the posts are self-contained, little vignettes. Looking back at MMMM #58 I feel like it breaks that mold.
Five years later I’m curious about these figures. Did Terry get more? Did Terry learn more? What other oddities has he come across?
I better not say too much more about Terry. Some people could get upset. I always forget about my mythical powers when it comes to Terry on this website. 😉
The Quik Virtual Archive got an update five years ago. I was about to say, “Geez, when did we last update that thing?” But I quikly (see what I did there?) realized, “I haven’t really cared.”
That probably sounds bad to some people. It probably should. But the archive posts are usually higher in effort and much more minimal in return. Those posts aren’t very popular. It can be difficult staying motivated.
Want some proof? The archive link was broken (I fixed it today) in the post and nobody mentioned it. All of the pictures, when clicked, don’t go to the full version. They lead to the same thumbnail. Nobody mentioned it. And, in the archive, those figures still have the same thumbnail issue. Nobody mentioned that either.
AW #176 is, frankly, a little dull five years later. But I was surprised to see this comment:
I am the seller of the M.U.S.C.L.E. Men #002 : Terri-Bull B – Salmon. All of the figures I posted we’re about to be tossed away and or given to charity I can not believe it but with less than 24 hours to go this figure is up to $37 !! I am not a collector but just couldn’t bear to see these (and the other 150+) tossed out. I sold the others mostly class A’s for just over 100. Never thought any 1 figure would get this much interest.
Does anybody remember her and her auctions? I don’t. Shame on me for not chasing her down as a potential candidate for eBay Entrepreneur Exchange. Hell, maybe I did. If I did, then she said, “no.”
That would match-up with the Epilogue from that time. Can you believe there was mention of interviewing old collectors in that post? We could have had this sooner, but I don’t think it would have been as good. The timing wasn’t right.
It’s also interesting to bring up the idea of recasting figures again. More recently I brought up the idea, but my joke landed with a thud (but I can’t remember where the ‘thud’ actually happened).
If collectors still want certain figures, and creators are unwilling to rerelease them, then why shouldn’t people create bootlegs? Wasn’t that the original justification of casting the earliest resin M.U.S.C.L.E. copies?
It was just this week that a Clawshine figure sold for $36.55. If Marty and Jason don’t want to create more, then what would be the downside to a resin copy? There was never an uproar when original M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, no longer made, were recast in resin.
The “it’s art” argument doesn’t work for me. Because, by that logic, you have to also claim Keiji Hirota’s original sculpts are not art – which is why they were ok to copy.
