Sorry, but all in all I don't see where you guys are going with this. I don't want to seem like a know it all or anything. sad.
Ah, patience grasshopper. Allow me to explain.
You're asking what's the significance of the majority of parts consisting of two trees? Well, did you know that of the 4 parts (4, 11, 12, and 16) that have only one tree, only 1 of them is missing a sculpt? The one missing a sculpt is part 11 -- it is actually missing two sculpts. (The norm per part seems to be 1 or 2 sculpts missing -- there are 6 parts missing 1 sculpt and 6 parts missing 2 sculpts.)
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I have a strong suspicion that Part 11 is ACTUALLY two trees -- not one. What would be the significance of this? Well, Part 11 would then be quite "normal." It would then fit the "norm" and be a part with two trees and missing two sculpts... Whereas the remaining three parts that only have one tree would all be missing NO sculpts. Do you see the trend?
Parts with multiple trees are MISSING sculpts, whereas parts with one tree are NOT missing sculpts. (Why would Mattel do this? Is it a coincidence? Executive: Make sure that you include in the MUSCLE line all the sculpts coming from parts with 1 tree -- but if a part has multiple tree, be sure to exclude some of the sculpts...)
![Posted Image](http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u170/Epistemophobiac/027.jpg)
(Keep in mind that there is only 1 Red figure found for this part -- the one the Arforbes recently found.)
Now before you say there is no way that Part 11 could be two trees, check this out:
![Posted Image](http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u170/Epistemophobiac/021.jpg)
Look at these 2 trees from Part 8. As I noted, the only thing different between them is that one was made in Grape and the other was not.
What would have happened if the one wasn't made in Grape? Yep, URS, you would have been forced to group those two trees as ONE tree because they had the same color combo! That means that it is possible that Part 11 is actually two trees.
How do we know for certain that these two trees... are indeed two trees? Because one of them was used to make the Grape figures. If these trees were actually one, there would be 9 Grape figures, not just 5. (Yes, it is extremely confusing!!)
The point is, I'm looking for patterns -- does the number of trees a part has affect the number of missing sculpts it has? Maybe! Does the number of total sculpts a part has, affect the number of missing sculpts? Maybe!
These are questions that have to be looked into.
These eight Parts strike me as outliers. Could they be more connected? Should everything have “two trees”?
Veers, I've been asking myself the same questions -- although I'm not sure you're thinking of the trees correctly.
Remember that the Kinnikuman parts did not all come out at the same time. There were a few parts (sets) released each year. Anyhow, as you can see below, the "average" number of sculpts in each part seems to be about 12 sculpts per part:
![Posted Image](http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u170/Epistemophobiac/Parts-MUSCLEandNon-MUSCLESculpts.jpg)
In any case, based on the physics of injection molding, only a certain number of sculpts could be placed on 1 tree (mold). So, the number of sculpts in each part (set) determined how many trees (molds) would be needed to make all of them.
If a Kinnikuman part had a lot of figures in it, it would presumably take more trees to make all the figures.
The average number of sculpts per tree is 4-5 (graph coming soon) and that seems right (which is another reason why I think the huge trees -- like the tree from Part 11 which has 12 sculpts, seem waaay to big). The fewer sculpts on a mold (tree) the better they would turn out, I imagine. Remember, the melted plastic has to flow into the mold and reach all the way to the end to fill all the sculpts perfectly. The more sculpts on a tree, the harder to fill them correctly.
So, Veers, I think you're on to something when you ask if "two trees" should be the standard. I look at it differently an ask, should each part have an EVEN number of trees. The problem is, some of the parts with two trees have two HUGE trees! Take Part 1 for instance:
![Posted Image](http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u170/Epistemophobiac/002.jpg)
Now, I have to ask... is it possible that the above two trees should actually be 4 trees? I'm not trying to stir controversy... but remember the average number of sculpts per tree is 4-5. That to me make sense. Although, the tree that arforbes found did have 8 sculpts on it... Still, questions have to be asked.
The other thing is, look at Part 12 that is made of a single tree. It's puny!
![Posted Image](http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u170/Epistemophobiac/028.jpg)
In any case, it's good to ask questions and look for connections. Don't be so quick to say someone is going down a dead end, especially if you don't quite understand what their following!
I still want to know:
(1) Why certain parts are missing sculpts
(2) Why certain trees are missing certain colors
(3) And why certain trees are rare/common in certain colors.
Edited by Soupie, 02 August 2007 - 12:34 PM.