In 1985, Mattel brought Bandai’s Kinkeshitoyline to American shelves as M.U.S.C.L.E,standing for “Millions of Unusual Small Creatures Lurking Everywhere.” While the original Bandai lines came with the added context of being based the popular Kinnikumanmanga and anime, the descriptor of “unusual small creatures” was the most American audiences were given, making the line a bizarre enigma for eighties kids. A vague wrestling motif (taken from Kinnikuman) was applied to the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures’ packaging and accessories, which declare that “They’re weird, wild wrestlers!” Beyond this description, all two hundred and thirty-three characters went without further backstories. In fact, just the hero character “Muscleman” (Kinnikuman himself) and “Terri-Bull” (“Buffaloman” in the original Kinnikuman) were even named — the rest was left to kids imaginations, and that open-endedness turned M.U.S.C.L.E. into a favorite toyline for many kids for its two years on shelves.
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Mattel’s unique release strategy for M.U.S.C.L.E. made it easier for kids and challenging for completionist adults to collect. The figurines were primarily sold in completely randomized packages of four or ten, as well as larger (loosely) themed twenty-eight packs. The four-packs retailed for a lower cost than the average action figure in 1985 or ’86, making it easier for a kid to amass an impressive collection of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures on a budget of spare change and their weekly allowance. Owing to their low price point, the figures are plentiful, seeming to make their way into virtually every toy collection of the era, although the first law of toy collecting dictates that as a collector edges closer to having them all, they will inevitablynever come across those last five or ten missing characters. That’s why auctions like this <a href="https://comicvibe.com/your-guide-to-20-upcoming-lgbtq-romance-adaptations/” title=”Your Guide to 20 Upcoming LGBTQ+ Romance Adaptations”>upcoming lot at Heritage advertise and emphasize having key characters like “the Claw,” a giant disembodied hand and a cult favorite of M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors, included. Given the aforementioned random release strategy, coming across the exact fan favorite character mint-on-card is exceptionally rare.
How M.U.S.C.L.E. Became the Most Memorably Weird Toy of the Eighties
Kinnikumanwas created in 1979 by Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, and was designed by the pair as a loose parody of Ultraman. The plot followed the masked wrestler Kinnikuman (translated roughly as “Muscleman”), deposed prince of the planet Kinniku, as he competed against the wrestlers of the wicked Chojin in a quest to prove himself worthy of Kinniku’s throne. Terri-Bull / Buffaloman was one of many villains Kinnikuman faced in the ring, and would become an ally to Kinnikuman after being defeated in combat. Such was also the case for Ramenman, Ashuraman, Robin Mask, and numerous other characters who appeared in the Kinkeshi(and subsequently M.U.S.C.L.E.) toylines. The Japanese name for the line, “kinkeshi,” is a portmanteau of Kinnikumanand “keshi,” a type of soft rubber, eraser-like figurine popular in Japan. Though a popular toy in Japan, keshi figures lack the same cache in the American market, meaning that when M.U.S.C.L.E. debuted, there was not another toyline like it. Its scale, designs, and open-ended world were unlike virtually anything else on the market.
It’s not unusual for an American toy company to take an existing product from Japan and rebrand it for Western audiences. Most famously, this was the origin story of the Transformers, but this practice also spawned lines like Mego’s Micronauts,Mattel’s Shogun Warriors, and even Tonka’s Go-Bots. Where M.U.S.C.L.E. varies is that it eschewed the tie-in comic book or animated series that was used by these other properties to help familiarize kids with the line and its characters. M.U.S.C.L.E, for better or for worse, was a blank slate. Mattel’s marketing materials give a littlebackground, specifying that “Muscleman and his heroic Tag Team, the Thug Busters, are ready for all challengers. The terrible Terri-Bull and his evil cohorts [sic], the Cosmic Crunchers, want to take the world to the mat.” For the most part, which characters fit into each faction was left in the hands of kids, outside of the twenty-eight designated “Thug Busters” and “Cosmic Crunchers” included in the faction-themed packs Mattel sold. Two additional twenty-eight packs, the “Mighty Maulers” and the “Cosmic Showdown” were also available.
These twenty-eight packs were less popular than the modestly-priced four-packs, and are difficult to locate on the secondary market. More common are the ten-packs, which were sold in plastic garbage cans; a fair number of kids held onto these and used them to store their M.U.S.C.L.E. collections. Additional expressions for the line enhanced the wrestling theme, with a “Hard Knockin’ Wrestling Ring” playset, a wearable “Battlin’ Belt” that could house a small number of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, and the “Mega Match” game, which created turn-based gameplay for wrestling matches between the figurines. The “Hard Knockin’ Wrestling Ring” had play mechanics similar to Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots: the players clipped one figure each into a plastic stand controlled by a joystick, enabling them to “fight” until one figure was knocked loose from the plastic clip. The playset and game are relatively rare, and command triple-digits price-points mint in box.
What Makes M.U.S.C.L.E. One of the Most Challenging Toylines of Its Era to Collect
A promotional mail-away from Mattel threw down the gauntlet for collectors: a poster featured all two hundred and thirty-three M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, emblazoned with the rhetorical question of “Can you collect them all?” As mentioned in the introduction, the randomized nature of M.U.S.C.L.E‘s distribution meant that the answer to this was “no” for all but the most diligent, obsessive fan — and that doesn’t become much easier for them, even as an adult. The lack of agreed upon names adds another degree of difficulty, as seeking out individual characters on auction sites is hampered by trying to figure out which name the seller might have the character listed under. Some American M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors have taken to using the Japanese names, while other stick with the informal nicknames adopted by the American collecting community. As an example, “the Claw” advertised by Heritage’s M.U.S.C.L.E. auction listing is a collector nickname for a character known in Kinnikuman as “Sunigator Shotai.” Some eBay listings for the figure use both names, some one or the other, some use neither.
Beyond the incredibly wide character selection, Mattel introduced another challenge to assembling a complete set of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures: different colored rubber. Later waves of M.U.S.C.L.E. came in eye-catching blues, reds, oranges, and greens. Including color variants, there are more than a thousand M.U.S.C.L.E. figures, though most collectors content themselves with trying to assemble a complete set of characters. M.U.S.C.L.E. is an easy line to collect, and a tough line to complete; each of these characteristics makes it attractive to different kinds of collectors. For some, M.U.S.C.L.E. is a fun line to informally gather a handful of from conventions, flea markets, and collectible stores. They’re cheap, readily available, and full of creative, strange designs like the Moai-inspired “Amoiman” or the shark-headed “Jawsman.” Patience and research might be needed to track down the line’s most elusive releases, and there is nothing hardcore collectors love more than a challenge. To a lesser extent, that’s also the appeal of mint-on-card auctions like the Heritage listing: it captures some of the line’s best characters in a rare state of preservation, creating a unique display piece that emphasizes just what makes M.U.S.C.L.E. unique.
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