Beginner: (I highly recommend getting a feel for the first two listed as they provide a lot of information)
1. Nathan's M.U.S.C.L.E. Blog (By Tortle) Good website that has a lot of information about M.U.S.C.L.E. to include what packs they were sold in, accessories for M.U.S.C.L.E., information about the rare figures, kinnikuman (Japan’s version of M.U.S.C.L.E.).
2. General Veers' University Of M.U.S.C.L.E. Is full of good information. Information is pretty easy to find. Everything is clearly labeled. If you want to get an idea for how much a Purple Claw has gone for, you click Auction Watch, scroll through the posts, and/or type Purple Claw in search to see if it comes up. If you want some information about the Nestle Quik tie into M.U.S.C.L.E. click on Advertising and Promotion, scroll through the posts, and/or type Nestle Quik in search. So on and so forth.
3. Site Map At University Of M.U.S.C.L.E. This is a nice visual with hyperlinks of what categories exist in Veers’ site.
4. Ebay Search By Veers Veers’ write up on how to search for M.U.S.C.L.E. within Ebay.
5. Craigslist Search By Veers Veers’ write up on how to search for M.U.S.L.E. within Craigslist.
6. Another good search to use in Ebay: (kinnikuman,kinnikumen,muscle,muscles,m.u.s.c.l.e.,kinniku, M.U.S.C.L.E. men)
a. Copy and paste everything into Ebay all at once, even the ().
b. I average high 600 to low 900 auctions in the action figures category for this search in Ebay.
7. You have been warned if you decide to deal with these people These people are on bad user list for one reason or another. Information of their doings is also provided. If you have an issue with a member of LRG I recommend copying and pasting what facts you have, and send to Jkaris or any other moderator.
Advanced:
8. Classification Guide This is NOT a price guide. This is simply a guide to show what figures are more difficult to get. Many figures were exclusive to Canada, so that is why they’re more difficult to get (Class A). The purple claw isn’t considered rare because we’ve seen more lately; however, it’s HIGHLY sought after. That is why it’s Class A. This guide was created by Veers with the help of the collecting community. See attached document. It's an update to Veers' work done by ALLSPORTDVD.
Biffard added this to Veers' guide a while back and gives a good explanation of the guide:
"The M.U.S.C.L.E. Collection Checklist is designed to help collectors stay organized as they complete their collection. I want to thank both http://www.nathansmusclepage.com for providing the pictures and http://blog.uofmuscle.com for providing the color classification. The M.U.S.C.L.E. Collection Checklist consists of figures 1-236. The color classification includes M.U.S.C.L.E. figures from the poster, figures 1 – 233, they generally fall into 3 classifications: Class C, Class B, and Class A. Not all M.U.S.C.L.E.s fall into these categories. Some M.U.S.C.L.E.s were not made in certain colors, I did not mark M.U.S.C.L.E.s that are not made in certain colors. I mention this so that no one will look for something that doesn’t exist."
"The color classification is the same as on The M.U.S.C.L.E. Figure Guide from
http://blog.uofmuscle.com and is explained as follows: “The first is Class C. These are the figures that always appear. They appear at garage sales, online auctions, resale shops, and any other place that M.U.S.C.L.E. figures could be found. For example all of the Flesh poster figures are categorized as Class C figures. The second classification is Class B. These should not be thought of as “more rare†than Class C figures, but rather as a transitional group of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. In many cases, these figures could easily slide into a Class C or Class A ranking because an arbitrary number needed to be set to differentiate the groups. The discovery of one large lot of figures could easily push any of these figures into a Class C ranking. The most unique ranking is that of Class A. Class A figures are not rare. Rather they are more challenging for most collectors to uncover because of their propensity for being almost singularly located in Western Canada.â€
9. Archeology 400 – The Joe Morrison Interview “Executive Vice President of Marketing at Mattel when M.U.S.C.L.E. was ready to launch.†General Veers' interview with Joe Morrison tries to shed some light on the mysterious super rares and why they were made.
10. Archeology 400 - The Implications of the Joe Morrison Interview
11. All known super rare, rare, and unique figures with prices they have gone for and who owns them Jkaris keeps good tabs on this, but keep in mind that this is only as good as what information is provided to Jkaris too. If an auction ends on Ebay, it’s pretty obvious who and how much; however, if a figure changes hands without it being brought out to the open the information gets lost.
12. Price thread on the unique (but not rare) figure called Satan Cross Satan Cross is a very popular figure with collectors. It's like the rare figures in ONLY the sense that he isn’t on the poster. It's by no means rare. He is always showing up on Ebay. It's a very easy to find figure; however, the uniqueness of this figure not being on the poster and it being a highly liked figure causes it to go for $25 - $50. The figure has sold for less and more than that. It’s like a rollercoaster. It has its high prices, then will go down. You just have to be lucky enough to hit it on its low end. This figure is the only nonposter figure to be found inside a sealed 4 pack.
13. Information about Kinkeshi Super Rares Look at post #50 in this thread. NamaNiku gives some interesting information about the story behind Japan's Super Rare figures.
Ebay Help:
14. How to ban people from buying your item in Ebay:
a. Login to Ebay
b. Go to Customer Support
c. Type block bidder in search
d. Click on Managing bidders and buyers on right
e. Click on blocking bidders and buyers in upper middle
f. Click on Block bidders or buyers from your listings page hyperlink
g. Enter name(s), if more than one separate each with a comma, then space
15. Need To Call Ebay Customer Support? If you need to call Ebay, use this link, and you’ll get a one-time passcode you’ll have to use within 15 minutes. You'll also need to be logged in.
Other M.U.S.C.L.E. info:
M.U.S.C.L.E. Cleaning Methods
M.U.S.C.L.E. Checklists
Track your MUSCLE collection
D.I.Y. (do it yourself) M.U.S.C.L.E. Poster
Attached Files
Edited by walker13.1, 11 April 2013 - 07:36 AM.