137 replies to this topic

[Scumdogg]

So this is way out of my league for the time being, but just out of curiosity, how many of the super-rares was Alex still holding onto? A pretty substantial amount, right? That's kind of really depressing, because even if he is selling off more stuff now that he's been kicked out of here, he seems just about incapable of doing it without some sort of scam involved...and i imagine it could get even nastier if there are recognizable names from here bidding on his stuff, in the case of a SR auction? Even if he didn't shill it up, who here would be really comfortable sending the guy several hundred dollars at this point?

I doubt i'll ever be able to justify the price on one myself (well, maybe one day ), but it kind of really bothers me that a bunch of them are in such a precarious spot right now.

[Kevin Mayle]

Though, while he was here, he was trying to sell his colored SR's (the ones in his signature). There just weren't any takers for the price he was asking. He's probably a little too involved in the buying and selling of MUSCLEs right now to quit just yet. Without the easy avenues to manipulate the market and no community to be a part of anymore, he may let his collection dwindle over the next few years to just a complete flesh set, and one of each of every available color. Just for nostalgia and a love for MUSCLEs. It may still even be fun for him to continue tracking down the remaining colors that should exist, but haven't turned up yet. I really don't think he could stop the hunt for them, cold-turkey. But I think he may sell those SRs. He can't get them all, so it will always be an incomplete set. He has those sculpts as Kinkeshi anyway, and he could probably make quite a few grand by throwing them up on Ebay. People will buy them. He may have been shady, but I don't think he ever welched. Getting banned may sting a bit, and he might not want to sell them out of spite, but eventually that will wear off, and the lure of the money those figs could bring him might do the trick. Alex, if you're reading this, I want you to know, you don't seem like a bad person, you just got too greedy and started deceiving and manipulating your friends. Hopefully you can learn from what happened when it all caught up with you, re-evaluate your priorities, and grow as a person. You're an extreme dude, but try and channel that extremeness in a more positive direction.

[Jet-Mech]

Hopefully you can learn from what happened when it all caught up with you, re-evaluate your priorities, and grow as a person.

Not to be a negative Nancy, but if he could do that – he would have done it after Yapiel.

Some people have to learn everything the hard way, while some just won't learn at all. Alex, unfortunately, seems to have been a case of the latter.

[Donkeykid77]

DK, I agreed with your entire post until you got to the part about me being a BB expert. Now, ask me about BBSD and I can help -- but otherwise... not so much.

Hahahaha....I thought the same thing too.

Well, since you are so well informed on SDs,
I figured you probably knew 'bout the rest of the BBworld too. \

dAROOkIE

[hunterrose2000]

He may have been shady, but I don't think he ever welched.

Not only is it unlikely that he can grow from this anymore than he could have grown from "yapiel", as Veers said, but 1) he did "welch" by passing off crappy, damaged, inked-up figures in sales and trades, and 2) he never had to completely welch (i.e. take the money and run) because he used his scams to make sure he got the price he wanted. Better to be stealthy, get the right price and keep making sales than to blatantly screw someone on one sale and cut off all future business. So, his lack of 100% welching is not a sign of good character--it's consistent with self-interest. I don't think he has any moral compunction against welching, so I could see him resorting to that.

On the other hand, given that he has so much to sell, pulling hit and run scams would probably be too much effort...you have to set up account after account once you burn each one, and at some point, the complaints on big ticket items could lead to more serious investigation and legal action by ebay.

Edited by hunterrose2000, 06 June 2008 - 02:54 PM.

[Jamesullivan]

Let me start by saying its nice to see my namein the 1st post. So here is some homemade M.U.S.C.L.E. S.P.A.M.
http://www.youtube.com/Jamesullivan
Free videos that I don't get paid for, but unfortanately collecting is not free. I have lived in NYC my whole life and I am well aware of the buy and beware unwritten law. Example 1-I still buy hot dogs from vendors in the city when I know the ingredients are that of pig's intestines and the vendors are usually not the cleanest of people, but the hot dogs are good.
Example 2-I buy hot dogs at NY Mets baseball games when I know they cost $4.50 and they are just regular ballpark brand, though the slightly enhanced taste is worth it to me.

My only friend on this board is gone, well I would be lying if I said I didn't get banned from the Christy Hemme(Red Head's Society Forum), and to this day I still do not why, but I never pressed the issue and just let it be. However I will tell you my buying tactics with my collection.

Before I got the internet ('06) I did want to reattain the complete set. Pink figures only. To be honest I probably would of paid $5,000.00 for a complete set, until I discovered how cheap these toys still were. This did not change my mindset though, and I was willing to still spend this amount on a complete set, and I had no intentions of buying numerous lots to make it. My plan was to get the poster, find a set for sale, and then spend whatever was left over from the $5,000.00 on M.U.S.C.L.E. related items. Before I ever got a Ebay account I use to search for the items I seeked on Ebay. I noticed a Dr. Bombay for a high price. Since I still had some figures from my original collection, I never forgot which figures were in the set. I also told myself that anyone can duplicate a different sculpture in the 1980's made to look like a M.U.S.C.L.E. and sell them as "super rares". Am I the kind of person who will live on tea and cheap breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I can budget these things into my life, YES I AM.
Example 3- I have a gold and white gold cross I had casted, platinum bail, NESW engraved on the back, a stone set in the center in the front, and some other nice attachment in rose, white, and yellow gold attached, with silver rings and a UN symbol. It cost alot to put it together, but I am a crafty artist for my myself like that.
 My_World1.jpg   21.4K   22 downloads
Then I found out I was going to Arizona for work for over a month stay. I looked at the Bombay auction, contacted seller and met him there. As soon as he started to try to explain the authenticity of the figure, I immediately cut him off, told him I was committed to buying the figure all myself, asked him if he wanted tea, as I drank my tea I gathered all I could on my list and a few others for a couple of thousand. I was more happy with the complete set, and was always optimistic about the others. The point I am trying to make is that if you consider how much it would of cost to obtain the complete set in the 80's-lets say over a $100.00, then factor in the fact they are no longer sold, well you all should really be expecting to pay more than some pricing list in a ToyFare magazine(IMO).

So do I care if I was lied to, to be honest I could care not. Do I even know if Alex is his name, or perhaps that picture of him was just a worker for someone else in the "Forbes" family business, I do not really care. I got what I wanted from him and if I didn't want to make the deal, there was nothing he was going to do to make me change my mind. So before I get on him, lets note that some people regret after the fact, and that is really a bad trait. Yes its possible I could of got everything for free in a little unknown store in Japan(probably with some Samurai Ninja guy working there, LOL), but buying should not be the problem. Now knowing that he intently tried to make a market of his own, is the same as M.U.S.C.L.E. making colored figures(again IMO).

I have no plans to collect more figures, though I think there is a Ultimate Muscle figure that looks pink(no offers please, I will get him on my own) to go with my figure or 2 from each similiar toyline. Its alot of fun and if someone is interested I have even more fun sharing my hobby, but I keep my figures, unless I feel generous, and its not from my only complete set.

Since AF is still shown as a friend of mine here on LRG, then he still is, if his picture disappears then he is not. Just a message to Arforbes, and I quote"there is nothing worse than a sales pitch, not even a uneducated buyer" but also remember, and I quote"You are a good salesman, so remember in another 25 years you can continue all this insanity;)

How do I feel about 2 Bombays, well I am fine with it, if I ever wanted a figure there was no ther of(like my cross) I would give "GodBeast" an offer and a design he could not refuse, and also a contract stating any other finding of this mold will be very costly, LOL, and let me add I think those creations by GodBeast are very educational and awesome peices.

So in truth I only got to the top of the second page before I decided to skip the rest of the reading and post. Maybe someother time as its getting late.

To finish let me invite everyone here in a challenge. That challenge is do something you like with your M.U.S.C.L.E.s in your spare time(like make wrestling videos, you can all be a part of the U.M.W.(Universal M.U.S.C.L.E. Wrestling- which noone owns)), and if you have no spare time then just look at them once in awhile to make sure they are safe. Also as a reminder, it is nice to save 1 set, and let the other figures(on Ebay, ETC.) go to people who are hoping to have their own.

P.S.P.A.M. Check out who sent me a signed picture I bought on EBAY, I am a sucker for pretty wrestling chicks like Stunt
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or Christy!

[hunterrose2000]

I think what Veers might have been trying to say is...

[asator]

So, wait...

Are you saying that Alex sold you a super rare, the figures on your list (to complete your flesh set I assume), and a few others, for a couple of thousand?


Dollars?







Like, American Dollars?






No wonder you were willing to pay $138 for that common figure a while back, Alex had you thinking these things were all worth thousands of dollars.

Edited by asator, 10 June 2008 - 08:28 AM.

[Beligerant1]

I'm not really sure I understand what JamesSullivan was trying to say, but if he wants to buy my complete flesh set, i'll give it to him for %50 off, only $2500!

[jkaris]

Ok guys, I do believe this thread has lived it's life. Time to put it to bed.