Classic Toy Spotlight: M.U.S.C.L.E by The Retro Reaper™

Back in the 80’s there were a ton of amazing toy brands that were available to children of that era and the toy industry was flourishing thanks to franchises such as He-Man & The Masters of the Universe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, G.I Joe, Transformers, World Wrestling Federation, C.O.P.S, and many more. But one line of action figures stands out as an interesting piece of history despite being only about an inch tall and much less colorful than their counterparts. M.U.S.C.L.E (Millions of Unusual Creatures Lurking Everywhere). M.U.S.C.L.E was distributed in the United States by Mattel and was a take on a franchise that was very popular in Japan called Kinkeshi, which was owned by Bandai. The Kinkeshi/M.U.S.C.L.E characters were based on intergalactic professional wrestlers and spawned into everything from comics, video games, cartoons, novelty items, and of course toys. The line launched in Japan in 1983 and in 1985 it found its way into the United States and before you knew it kids all over the country had dozens of these little toys laying around their rooms. The figures themselves were no bigger than an inch and were a light pink/flesh kind of color and often had some sort of a gimmick to them such as some being based on lizards, or monsters with 4 arms, while others were in the form of things such as televisions or brick walls. There was no real rhyme or reason to these toys other than they were very unique and extremely inexpensive which made them very accessible to a mass market. They were marketed in packs of 4, boxes of 28, small “trashcans” of 10, and other interesting packaging, and there was even a wrestling ring and a championship belt available. Mattel went all out for a year or two until production slowed down and the decision to re-release the same figures in multiple colors was made instead of producing different figures to go along with the initial batch (more on that later).

  I personally had tons of these little toys and I was always on the lookout for characters I didn’t have. I remember visiting department stores with my dad back in the late 80’s and begging him to pick me up a 4 pack every now and again and often times he would, and I can remember salivating over the championship belt which sadly I never did own. I was obsessed with these little toys when I was young. and despite never watching the cartoon or owning the video game on the NES I can say that I was certainly fanatical about the figures and their accessories. I even had quite a few of the purple/green/red/orange re-issues and proudly played with those as much as my original pink ones, though I always did prefer the originals for whatever reason. Everyone I knew had at least a dozen or so and whenever I visited friends houses I can remember always seeing them lying around bedrooms and basements. Heck, long into the early 90’s I can remember still seeing these toys in some discount stores and I’d often bump into M.U.S.C.L.E figures while visiting local flea markets. They just wouldn’t go away. Sometime around 2005 I was feeling nostalgic and purchased a near complete set of these figures on eBay and displayed them near my Star Wars figures until I left the action figure hobby altogether and sold everything off. Now I kind of wish I still had them.

In the early 2000’s something strange happened and rumors of a M.U.S.C.L.E figure that was super rare surfaced on the internet. There is a M.U.S.C.L.E figure known as Satan-Cross that many people claimed was rare due to it not appearing as part of the initial 233 shown on the official poster released by Mattel. There were enough people who had him and uploaded pictures to the internet to prove that the figure existed and soon enough it appeared on eBay fetching prices as high as $100, but the history of this figure was one of mystery and rumor. One rumor I read is that Satan Cross was originally supposed to be a part of the first wave of figures but Mattel decided not to release it because he had a hole in his back and was supposed to connect to another figure to create a special character. Executives apparently came to the conclusion that this may pose to complicated for American audiences and thus scrapped the figure only to find out later than he was already packaged in the initial shipments of the toys to retail outlets and it was too late to pluck him from the line. If this rumor is true than Satan-Cross probably only went out with the initial first few trucks worth of M.U.S.C.L.E figures shipped, which many claim are just the 4 packs, and this figure indeed is extremely rare and valuable. Another rumor is that Satan-Cross was produced as a figure that was going to be a part of a second wave of M.U.S.C.L.E’s and somehow found its way into shipments that were made toward the very end of the lifespan of these figures before Mattel decided to scrap the second wave in favor of re-issuing the same toys they already produced but in different colors. This particular rumor could be true and I find this to be the more practical of the two major rumors. Either way, Satan-Cross still fetches high prices on the collectors market and even though some collectors claim he’s no more rare than any of the 233 listed on the poster there are those who say he’s most certainly not a “common” M.U.S.C.L.E toy.

Something else happened in the mid 2000’s where more and more pictures of M.U.S.C.L.E figures appeared online that people have never seen before. At first many thought that it was a hoax but then factory sealed “trashcans” with these figures inside began popping up on eBay from notable and reputable collectors. Apparently there were even more mysterious figures floating around that either never saw an official release or were accidentally released and shipped to stores. One rumor I heard is that when M.U.S.C.L.E officially came to an end and those who worked on it were either transferred to other departments, or were let go, they were allowed to take many of the remaining stock home to family and friends and since Mattel was stuck with many figures that were supposed to be released in wave 2 they figured it was better than just melting them down and junking them out. Another popular rumor is that these figures were going to be a part of a second wave that was scrapped in favor of re-releasing M.U.S.C.L.E’s first wave as multi-colored and Mattel kept these, along with other overstock from other brands, inside of a warehouse that was sold and demolished sometime in the mid-90’s and those who worked on the project basically grabbed what they could for family members since the building was sold long ago and nobody was going to claim the merchandise. Either way, these “super rare” M.U.S.C.L.E toys are considered to be the holy grail for collectors of the line and only a handful of people have come forward with proof of owning these rare gems. Some of these figures have sold for anywhere between $1,000 to $4,500 on eBay depending upon condition, how many they had, and whether they’re inside of a sealed package or not. Make no mistake, in the world of collecting these figures these latest finds are considered the top of the tops for M.U.S.C.L.E fans and now that most of these figures are in possession of collectors I suspect that the chances of finding them for sale will become near impossible in the near future.

Today one should have no issue finding lots of these figures on eBay for a decent price, but don't expect to have a full set of the 233 as seen on the poster without forking over a decent price. You'll probably find small lots of 50-60 of these guys for like $10, or singles for $.50-$2.00 depending upon which character it is. But if you want to go after the super rare figures in this line expect to pay a ton of dough for them as they're becoming more and more rare. All in all the M.U.S.C.L.E line of figures was one of the more fun and interesting lines of toys from the 80's and they boast such a mysterious history that it makes the line attractive to history buff's too. At some point in the early 2000's the line was revived as "Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E" with a new animated series and new merchandise such as action figures, but it didn't last long and quickly faded from the public eye. One odd thing about this new revival was that the figures themselves went from being small, non-pose-able, and solid in color as they were in the 80's to being produced as large and fully articulated, similar to the Jakks WWE figures that were available at the time. Well, that about does it for this Classic Toy Spotlight. I hope you enjoyed what you've read and I'll be cooking up more great spotlights for future reading. Until next time.....