#m.u.s.c.l.e.

[1980sactionfigures]

Assorted Four-Pack - M.U.S.C.L.E. (Mattel)

[rad-ramenkingles]

Redo of my old Kinnikuman pixel work. First one 2009, Second one 2011, Third one 2024. More to come... - Ramen

[lordsmaf]

oh no, brace yourselves, I feel an old hyperfixation coming back

[yanchagraffiti]

Gachapon Gundams, Gundam ZZ and Kinnikuman/M.U.S.C.L.E. kinkeshi.

[titleknown]

Given the nature of how it was based off of a manga/anime (Kinnikuman) that was never imported to the US, it should probably not surprise you to learn that there were larger-scale figures of some of the characters from M.U.S.C.L.E.

What may surprise you, as past the link shows, is how they actually made a fair few of the really weird ones, including that fucking hand...

[roomfullofstuff]

[saturneers]

As we finish up using the toys, action figures, 3D prints and other props for the production they will be offered for sale or auction :)

[solarsonicsoda]

Rating 500+ Theme Tunes - #5: Ultimate Muscle

Wrestling and anime is such a beautiful tag team to be seen so rarely. Ultimate Muscle is the localised name for Kinnikuman: Second Generation, which is actually a sequel to the original Kinnukuman. The original never reached the West outside of some weird M.U.S.C.L.E. toys, but this sequel was localised for the FoxBox block, a.k.a 4Kids, as well as airing on Kix and other channels internationally. It follows Kid Muscle and other superhero wrestlers continuing the legacy of their famous parents.

For the number one wrestling fan you know, I actually didn't watch that much Ultimate Muscle. However, that was still a good deal, and was not for a lack of trying. This show aired on Kix over here in the UK, which I would often watch whenever there was nothing on its sister channel Pop. This show's airing schedule there never really lined up for me, and I would often miss it as a result.

At the same time, I thought this show was real cool! I really like the way it looks today, and I always enjoyed the outlandish takes on the world of wrestling! So many of Kid Muscle's moves are super cool to be honest with you. I would absolutely love to watch through this one today, even if some of the humour and tone are not exactly aimed at me. I just love a cool wrestling story!

Looks like there's been enough talk. It's TIME for the THEME SONG RANKING!

Ultimate Muscle Theme Tune

This theme song is absolutely ridiculous. Giant brassy notes, endless rhymes, "Strength and speed and... flatulence?". Absolutely no notes. I think it's super super goofy, but I gotta be honest with you: I love it and it works. Say what you will about it as a dub, but this song fits that dub to a tee as far as I remember. It's a really catchy tune too, I'm always singing it to myself with all the different voices they incorporate, all four of them. Mike Pollock as Meat, you will always be famous. It's a truly wild song, but I think you simply have to love it. You can't make SIX consecutive rhymes without being somewhat beloved.

This one might be controversial, but I actually think this is getting an A! I promise there's some themes I dislike...

Stay tuned for more and be sure to send in any suggestions for other shows you'd like to see done (after the 500 already in the pipeline that is). Check out the intro to this series here, and it's tier list time.

[gregarnott]

M.U.S.C.L.E. Men

[graphicpolicy]

Around the Tubes

While you wait for the weekend to begin, here's two comic news articles from around the web. #comics #comicbooks

It’s almost the weekend! What geeky things are you all doing? Sound off in the comments below! While you wait for the weekend to begin, here’s two comic news articles from around the web. CBR – Kinnikuman and M.U.S.C.L.E : The Complete History – Bring back M.U.S.C.L.E.! We really miss out collection (and honestly had no idea anything about them other than being cool wrestling figures). KPBS –…

[1980sactionfigures]

#1 Thug Busters Set - M.U.S.C.L.E. (Mattel)

[rad-ramenkingles]

Just following up the last post with a good portion of my old work from 2011. Just to prime you all for the remakes I will drop soon. I personally don't like a good amount of my stuff structure wise here, but I think some of my color choices aren't half bad. So I have implemented some of those colors into the new works coming up. (First Image is actual sprite size, the rest are 200 upscaled for the eyes to more easily see) - Ramen

[karltface]

I've been hunting in the wilds of eBay, and found small but satisfying game.

A tad more translucent than photos would suggest, these crudely painted and badly warped Madballs knockoffs have surprisingly good sculpts, I must say. These sort of jiggly rubber beasties are always a hit with me; they lend a whimsical touch. In an arcade prize booth sort of way.

Backed with questionable suction cups, these sort of toys were common finds in vending machines, carnivals, and discount stores. Pretty much everywhere around Halloween.

If it's hard to tell what's going on with these guys' faces, you're not alone. I still don't know offhand who half these guys are under those weirdly puffy sculpts. But it's a trio of Weird Ball Wrestlers, from the always-fun Mel Appel company. They'd already aped Weird-ohs and Madballs, so when M.U.S.C.L.E. exploded onto the scene amidst pyrotechnics and hair metal in '85, they folded that in too, plopping their Weird Ball designs onto wrestler bodies and storming the pegs of pharmacies and the really cool grocery stores.

Here they are with my existing collection: I'm up to 5 of the 6 sculpts, with plenty of extras for trade should the need arise. Oddly, there are 42 characters in the trading cards, so these 6 must have been favorites among the developers.

As the gold standard of knockoff toys, Mel Appel is always tempting, but as I limit myself to wrasslers, this stack took a decade or so. One of my fun little back-burner projects.

[yanchagraffiti]

Kinnikuman

1984 Bandai Hobby Creation Catalog

[titleknown]

HELLOWEEN #18: LORIAN

-LORIAN is a Master Thief of Hell with 500 successful heists and 6,000 stone of Gold warranted for her arrest. She may create candles who's light none but the summoner may see, make a man invisible, allow merging into shadows and give advice on the creation of plans and distractions for theft.

She appears as a great hand of glory with a human face in the center. Do not allow any others into the room when she is summoned, or else she will not appear. Do not allow any valuables you would prefer not to lose within the room of her summoning, as they will be gone when she is.-

...I will confess, I had to go to some lengths to get an interview with Lorian. She is infamous amongst Hell as a thief, as I heard loudly and profusely from Acabus, but nobody really knew her name, they simply called her "The Invisible Hand," along with other... epithets I would rather not print.

For all her actions, she seemed to have absolutely no social connections amongst Hell, an intriguing rarity amongst its politics. So, I decided to summon her, external to Hell, in a plane where... well, I feel I mustn't reveal too many of my methods.

The first thing she did was search the whole room for things to; I presume; steal, only to give up in frustration. Then she came to me to ask about services, payment, ect-cetera, and was not only surprised, but consternated to realize I had simply done the summoning as a request to talk.

Her insistence that she had nothing to talk about herself, that what she was "didn't matter to anybody," and that she "was only worth what she could do" melted away with shocking rapidity with my questioning, as the poor thing ended up breaking down into tears.  

From what I could surmise as I... attempted to comfort her, she seems very lonely in a way that suggests an immense desire for companionship, but cynical and selfish in ways that suggest it was unreciprocated. 

Not surprising within the cutthroat politics of Hell, but a testament to the way in which Hell is a place of alienation...

-Xavier X. Xolomon , Monsterologist and Understudy to The Librarian Of Babel

-----------------------------

The design, as one might guess, was based on the Hand from the old M.U.S.C.L.E. toyline (Which has its own bizarre backstory too long to get into) combined with the Hand of Glory, but her story... 

...well, I was thinking of ways to attach something to the design, and I thought of how hands often symbolize singular action but also alienation. The Invisible Hand of the Free Market, the Hand of Glory, another thing one often does with their right hand, ect-cetera. 

That combined with the Hand of Glory inspo basically worked to make this design an actual character. So yeah!

As per usual the whole descriptions, designs, ectcetera from this project are free to use as you see fit under a CC-BY 4.0 license so long as I; Thomas F. Johnson, am credited as their creator!

[roomfullofstuff]