Yeah me too. My family was kind of poor as well and the only Transformers I had were the mini bots like Bumblebee, Cosmos etc and of course MUSCLE and while I didn't have a ton of them I had about 2 dozen and I loved them and played with them for hours. Oh and we also had knock off Go Bots that I would buy at the local drug store but I still enjoyed them and had fun with them as a kid. I learned to be humble and grateful for what I got and for what I worked hard in yard work and allowance to earn the toys that I bought and now as an adult I own every toy I had as a kid, always wanted or wished I had...now in my game room. I'm now 50 years old and still enjoy my toy collection.
Truth! I almost never had more than one of any given type of toy (unless acquired second-hand from a garage sale or something), but I had enough of these little dudes to fill up a tiny trash can. (Still small, but quite a bit bigger than the ones they came in.) At some point my dad realized I was even making my own toys out of trash I found in our backyard. I had a Dr. kit that I got probably for Christmas or something, and I made my own patient out a piece of fabric foam. He was impressed with my ingenuity.
My brother and I would use them as the "3rd army" enemy to our wars. (It was Army men Vs Army Ants Vs Muscle Things) It gave us an excuse and a back story, which allowed us to combine Green, Tan, and Grey army men to the same team to battle these "monsters". Some of the simplest toys ended up being the best.
Army ants were great. I've still got about a dozen of them in good shape. Nearly all of my muscle men have missing body parts and old paint on them. I got pretty creative with my wars.
I lived in Japan in the 80s and these were in every grocery store and 7/11. I would drop a ¥25 coin or two to get them whenever I could. I remember one store had a broken machine that would always drop two pods everytime! When we moved back to the US, M.U.S.C.L.E. had just started to become a thing. I had a bunch of figures no one else did! Plus, I knew all the lore and had a few magazines to show. The other boys definitely were jealous.
@@synthstatic9889 Living there back in the 80s was a trip. They were crazy for everything American, but it was ever so slightly askew. Most of the manga I read were post-apocalyptic or highly romanticized stories of the future. When you think about it, it makes sense. Japan IS a post-apocalyptic society. No one else had had a nuclear weapon used against them in wartime. I really think that it has scarred the psyche of the culture.
Loved these - remember looking through every blister pack on display at the local Kay Bee toys and couldn't find one that had the "Hand" figure. I had to have that "Hand" figure.....Tired to look through the translucent 10 packs, but couldn't tell what was in those either. My Mom told me to pick a 10 pack and we would just hope to be lucky. After getting home, we opened it, and right on top was the "Hand" - i was so happy LOL!!! So was Mom. I picked up a couple of unopened, unpunched 4 pack blisters about 10 years ago - i treasure them......
@@Kaimax61 I remember the pseudo-wrestling organization "Kaiju Big Battel" and it reminded me a lot of Kinnikuman. I want to say they're still around, some of the "wrestlers" in that outfit have some wild gimmicks.
I always grabbed the ones that I had to play with in the car on road trips. A couple of pencils and a pad of paper for drawing and some little action figures were all I needed.
Nice, I used to dream up characters and backstories for mine. There was one I decided was Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget just because he wore similar gauntlets.
Funny you would say that because I was going to make a comment that I thought as my generation got older we started collecting DND metal miniatures for gaming when we grew out of our muscle men
@@asafoetidajones8181 That's cool, and funny, you will almost have to Modify them Otherwise I think they'd be fairly recognizable by most people especially of a certain age group LOL
My first ever school fight was over Muscles. We made a game at my school with them and played for keeps, but since it was some weird freeform game the rules were fluid. I lost the fight, be we all lost the war since the school soon banned them. Funny enough, we also agreed that the Claw was the real best one, and would stare in awe when someone had him.
It's kind of amazing that these toys did as well as they did, with no real form of media attached to it. Then again, no syndicator in the 80s would dare touch Kinnikuman.
they were really cheap compared to things like GI Joe or Transformers, but still were a name brand product instead of being perceived as a knock off. that let poor kids collect a bunch of figures without being made fun of for not having the "right" figures for that type of thing.
I fell hard for this toyline, never left a toy store without at least a four character blister pack. I loved them so much for their absolutely weird design and lack of backstory, was happy to make my own stories for these little pink goofs.
I LOVED these… I had a few cans, and picked up the card backs whenever I could. I even had the ring. A kid beat me up, and tried to steal some figures I had. I just held on to them, and curled up like a ball while he kicked me over, and over again. He managed to take one, and I got up and started swinging until a yard attendant came to stop us. I screamed “he took my stuff!” She made him give me my figure back, and we both got suspended. Those were the days…
It’s funny you mention that. I just found a container of my Muscle figures and Battle Beasts in my mom’s attic. I’m still trying to find the best way to display them, despite my wife’s reservations. 😂
I loved this toy line! we had the ring and i think 50ish muscles, My favorite was the one that looked like just a hand. However, it fell into the crevasse in which the front seat belt of our 1984 Cavlier dissapeared into. So somewhere, maybe, there is a 1984 Cavalier with hidden treasure inside the passenger side seat belt hole.
7:42 oh wow. I have both of these still, I never did try to learn the significance of the characters outside of whatever narrative I gave them as a kid. 😄👍
In the late 70s Toys'r'Us had these things called Canful of Monsters in the party favors section. They were plastic garbage cans containing little rubber monster figures. I found out later that they were from Ultraman, though no Ultras were included. At about 3:12 you can see some of the designs. I still have at least three of them, including two of the Windom character.
Pretty I had those. Were they kind of a MUSCLE knock off with different colors? I just remember them and muscle men always being at the bottom of the toy box, lol
@@Peppersfirst No, the Canful of Monsters contained mini rubber figures of various monsters from the Japanese show "Ultraman". They were from the same company as MUSCLE and did use the same garbage can mold. The Canful of Monsters cans came in red, green or yellow. The MUSCLE cans only came in a sort of semi-transparent finish.
When I was in 4th grade, our class did a little mock economy thing where every kid got a bunch of fake money and we could buy/sell whatever we wanted in class for like a week. It just so happened a bunch of kids wanted to get rid of their MUSCLE toys right at that time, which I had none of before then. I made out like a bandit, selling whatever random crap I had lying around and spending all the proceeds on huge piles of MUSCLE figures which these guys were all but giving away. I'm sure I ended up with over 100 of them. And I had so much fun with those things!
Hope you're enjoying it so far! Heads up for anyone curious, a lot of the anime does have a lot of padding. They're not filler arcs as we know them today but more like each arc gets extended (usually by lots of one liners and jokes that are sometimes a bit more distasteful than the manga). Personally I enjoy it, you get a lot more out of the more obscure characters like Kinnikuman's parents, but if you don't want the extra then reading the manga is just as fun. Also also heads up, the original anime diverges kinda heavily near the end of the Ultimate Tag Team arc, the cliffnotes and who beats who are the same ofc, but its worth knowing in case. Oh yeah also also also headsup the fansub i found for the battle for the throne anime has a translators note that kind of spoils events in the reboot series. Its when Chojin Enma is on screen and that's all I can say without spoiling things myself. Sorry~
Where can I watch the original 80s series? I used to have some episodes recorded on a VHS from Japan back in the 80s. Please let me know, I really want to watch it.
Thanks much for the Vid! Still have all the ones i had from childhood in a zipper pouch. My mom sewed a Muscle logo on to it so it looked like the pouch was branded. ❤️🔥
Do you ever go to toy shows? I see them fairly often at toy shows- sometimes you can get a good deal on them if the dealer is willing to haggle with you lol.
I think the most important neglected piece of info was the new anime called Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc which is on Netflix right now. The SH Figuarts was actually a cancelled line that ran through the 2010's. The new SHF preorder for Kinnikuman is based on the new 2024 anime which uses a completely different mold than the original release. Ultimate Muscle actually did suffer a lot of changes by 4Kids especially in the dialogue.
These guys were awesome! I had a ton of them as a kid. Loved how they came in a trash can. They were very detailed for such tiny little figures, and so many designs! Great fun and memories :)
Had a bunch of these when I was a kid in the 80s. Such a cool little toy. Couldn't bring any Transformers, GI Joe or Masters of the Universe toys with me on short trips but they'd let me bring some MUSCLE figures since I could just shove some in my pocket and it wasn't a big deal if I lost a few of them. The detail on those things was pretty incredible and the designs were varied and numerous.
This provided me with some very warm nostalgia and some memories of bitter loss. There were at least a few days when I was a kid that I remember fondly. I wish I could go back and play with them one last time.
i was definitely a MUSCLE collector as a kid and still have all of them, collected a lot of little figures from vending machines and packages. They're Just Neat Little Guys!
I had a bunch of these (because everyone did), but I wasn't really into wrestling. However, when Army Ants came out came out a couple years later, I LOVED those. Mini toys were great; I had some of the die-cast Star Wars minis too!
Ah Kinnikuman strikes again! The last time I encountered this was when the manga for the sequel Kinnikuman Legacy, aka Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. showed up nearly 20 years ago. The Gachapon connection now makes sense that I see how big the figures were in scale.
My mom worked at a place called Longs Drug Store, kind of like a Walgreens back in the day. She always brought these things home for my brother and I. I saw several we had in the video, and they were cool back then! Oddly enough, they come to mind every now and then and I wish I still had a few laying around.
I never grew up with these toys but I love the Kinnikuman frachise. It specifically combines by favorite niches into each other perfectly, Wrestling, Anime, and Tokusatsu. I've also been practically religiously been keeping up with the current manga and was happy to see you showed the cover of a more recent arc to show it off. Plus a few months ago a continuation of the original Kinnikuman run aired on Netflix called Perfect Origin Arc. And surprisingly it's getting a second season in January of next year, probably the most volatile time for the series right now to get a third boom in the states.
I LOVED these as a kid and had tons of them!!!! But at 46 I have no idea where they escaped to. Every now and again I will go through a box and find a few floating around in there and it totally brings me back!!!! I wish I still had them all. I even had the ring until my cousin stepped on it and broke a peg off it . But I hamade my own ring with a square piece of wood, nails for the posts and electrical tape for turnbuckles for the rubber band ropes!
I remember Muscle toys because my cousins had them, I wish they made the original anime dubbed in English for American kids! But I’m glad we got the reboot Ultimate Muscle thanks to Fox box kids block, even though I was already in high school when Ultimate Muscle was made, my friends watched it because of its satire of WWE and WCW!
despite the US not getting the original show, and as such, MUSCLE being more of a niche that isn't specifically tied to the original product, Kinnikuman is insanely popular in *Chile* of all places. Somehow they managed to get a dub of the anime done and running until Episode 52, which is crazy when you consider what a nightmare this show must've been for syndication.
(Yo soy muy fiel al estofado de carne~) personally been bingewatching the dub and it's interesting how little actually gets cut, jokes that no one outside Japan would get are more or less kept intact as is most of the violence. Notably however, many scenes featuring Brockenman and Brocken Jr. are trimmed down for obvious reasons.
I got a bag of about a hundred of them from Goodwill, when I was a kid, and had endless fun playing with them! In 2008, I was in Tokyo and came upon a toy store where they had about 3 dozen of the figures but updated and painted with incredible detail. I had no idea the little pink figures I'd played with for years were a big deal! About 10 years ago, I donated a majority of my collection to the Austin Toy Museum to help them complete their collection but still have some hanging around. They brought me a lot of joy throughout the years. Thanks for the video!
I LOVE Kinnikuman. It's my favorite animal, it's so stupidly funny but also heartwarming. I had lots of MUSCLE as a kid then when Ultimate Muscle showed up, I realized that there was entire universe I had missed out on. Now after reading much of the Manga and watching lots of the Anime, I'm a solid fan. I hunted down the complete box set of figures from a Japanese online toy store about ten years ago for $200ish. Love it! If only there had been a way to make early Ramenman and Brocken work for America in the 80s, Kinnikuman could have been the next He-Man
I still collect these and other keshi to this day. Best toy of the 80s! For a little while in 1986, you could take them to school as "erasers" before the teachers got wise. Sorry, Mrs. Johnson!
I still have a bunch of these around here somewhere. As a kid, I was fixated on collecting the cube-ish guys. I knew nothing about any lore, and until this video had completely forgotten the name of the toy line, but I played with those things alongside my Transformers and GI Joes all the time.
Dude! I am so glad you did this! Absolutely love these little toys!! Please please please please, look into doing GUTS next. It's like if muscle and GI Joe had a baby... A very cheap, affordable baby
I used to have a ton of Muscle Men back in the 80's, but I lost most of my collection when I left it at the playground one day. When I was 19-20, I tried checking the internet to see if I could buy more anywhere, but instead I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of choosing your search terms carefully!
Man, I had like 60 of the things. Found the bucket where I kept them when I was cleaning out my mom's house after she died. I had left it out in a shed outdoors, and they had basically turned to powder after 25 years in the Tucson heat. Those things were shit hot back in the day. The wealthier kids in my school all had complete collections. I managed to flesh mine out when K-mart was liquidating the 10pack garbage cans for $1 and the 28 packs for $5, but that was long after the fad was done.
I have some and the "board game" still. Some of my figures are straight from Japan. They did a "knock off" a few years back called Z.O.M.B.I.E.S that featured horror/action based figures like Chuck Norris and Bruce Campbell. Target tossed them onto clearance fairly quick so it was cheap to get them all.
S.L.U.G. Zombies, yeah? I missed out on Series 1, which I think were sold as single figures in blind boxes. But I was able to put together Series 2-4 from Target & Toys R Us. Target had Christmas themed ones too.
I have wondered my whole life why that one figure had a hole in his back. Now I know. LOL. Seriously I loved those toys as a kid. Had a whole box full played with them constantly, made up my own story and lore and had so much fun. I had the ring but broke it within a few weeks as it turned out some figures didn't fit into the stands... no matter how hard you shoved them in. But my dad then put a piece of cardboard and glued it on to make it more like a real ring, and I think I had more fun with that creating my own wrestling matches then I ever would have if I hadn't broken it.
I remember when I was about five or six, I found a torn-open blister pack in a toy-shop, resulting in several of the figures falling onto the floor., and I figured that made it okay for me to take one. My mom later called me out for acting guilty, and made me give it back and apologize. Beyond that, I still think they're pretty cool.
I loved M.U.S.C.L.E. I had a bunch of figures, the boxing ring, the board game, and the NES game. It was a good and weird time to be into toys in the 80s.
I clicked this video so fast. 5 year old me was obsessed with M.U.S.C.L.E. Men and it led to a life-long love and admiration of professional wrestling.
To this day, I think Kinkeshi/M.U.S.C.L.E. is one of the coolest toy lines made in the 80s. A simple idea, taken to an extreme of creative breadth that is still just amazing. This year, for a birthday present to myself, I got the big Kinkeshi box from a Japanese seller on eBay. It took me hours to unwrap every figure in the box, but I'm finally living the dream of collecting them all -- and then some!
So oddly enough I just saw these things for the first time at the Austin Toy Museum last week and had no idea what they were despite recognizing virtually every other action figure and toy line IP they had there from the late 70's into the 2000's. Thanks for solving the mystery for me Dan!
I was hoping you would have mentioned the GameCube game. That game, was easily the most played game in my house as you could create your own characters, name them and then choose your finishing move and name that as well. My friends who were in their early 20's had a field day coming up with the most foul and offensive names imaginable, especially for the finishing moves. But I also collected the toys in the 80's for the reason you mentioned; they were affordable. I also collected some knock off's, the main one was a bunch of ninjas, usually red, yellow and black that had glow in the dark features. Anyone remember what they were called?
I had just been wondering if there were any RUclips videos about these toys. I recall the insane envy seeing a rich friend’s MUSCLE collection filling a 20 gallon barrel.
I never saw these anywhere except for my grandparents house. They had a box of them, and while they weren’t my favourite of the toys there, they are the ones I have the most vivid memories of.
I had a bunch as a kid, as well as the wrestling ring. I used to have a line of kids waiting to duel me on the playground. Only need about 35 more to compete the whole US set. Side note: great seeing you again at LegionsCon, man. Cheers!
I've still got a plastic tub full of of M.U.S.C.L.E. Things around here somewhere... I remember having an inordinate number of the Claw Hand Guy and the Brick Top Guy, which I was quite happy about.
😂 damn right... I was such a wrestling nut that I eventually wrestled as an adult in NWA ECW and ROH. MY brothers and I had 3 titles and for a while we The New Von Erichs (the only Black World 6 Man Champions 😂) I'm 49 now, so that life is behind me but I wouldn't change a thing. I had the best dad in the world, he financed and supported it all.
The fun thing is that in my country we actually got the show (and it was very popular) but didn't get the figures nor any other type of official merch.
Origins is one of my all time favorite lines so I'll probably get 2 one too open and the other in box. Its a cool looking figure specially because it does remind me of Mr. T.
Looking back at collecting these - it was really weird. I never was lacking in anything - my parents gave me all sorts of toys for Christmas (well...Santa gave them to me) and my birthday, but, unlike most of my peers, I did not have an allowance per se. My father gave me ten, or later, twenty cents a day which could be lost simply by not doing a single chore such as making your bed or keeping your room clean. Things were so far above that price range that I eventually just gave up trying to earn the pennies he offered (Children are not really known for their forward thinking/saving habits) and stayed broke and happy rather than bust my butt for a dollar a week. But I would get money from grandparents and at different holidays and to make it go as far as possible M.U.S.C.L.E. was the way to go! I had tons of these things, and I think I still have a few that have made into bins and boxes that have traveled with me throughout my life! Boy the nostalgia is strong with this one!
I was absolutely wide-eyed for the wrestling belt when I was a kid. As an adult, it's just wild to imagine wearing around the display case for your toys. 😂
I remember playing with these in the 80s. I became a fan of the Kinnikuman franchise when America got the Kinnikuman Nisei / Ultimate Muscle anime and manga in the early 2000s. Now I own two official Kinnikuman kenkeshi: Ramenman and my absolute favorite character, Buffaloman. 😊
No way! This is a crazy blast from the past... We had them in the UK too. Not seen or thought of this for decades........... Used to have a big biscuit tin full of these. Would love to get my hands on some dubbed or subtitled Kinnikuman video collections......
6:15 Pouring one to the curb for Kay•Bee Toy Stores. 🍺✌️ I was obsessed with these things when I was a kid. Loved the designs, and yes I bought them in all variety packs… including taking multiple swings at the garbage can 10-pack in the hopes that I’d get one that never came in the blister packs.
I was very surprised and excited when only a few years ago, I discovered a small, plastic lunchbox that had belonged to my brother when we were kids (of the 80s) and my mom had kept for years afterward. Inside of the lunchbox was, as would be relevant for me to even mention, a sizeable collection of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures that my brother and I had collected back when they had been released in the mid 80s. Most of them are the colored versions, but there is a fair amount of original "flesh colored" figures as well. One of my personal favorites, and still have, is the figure that looks like three columns of an ancient Greek or Roman structure. Don't know what his original name is/was, so my brother and I just called him, "Roman Empire."
My little bro loved these. Had a Tupperware container full of 'em. Even had the wrestling ring and the board game. Sadly, he never got the belt. I learned about the Mega Man figures a couple years ago. Never got after it, though, so I probably missed an opportunity. C'est la vie. Adults gotta adult. 💸😓💸
WOW THIS IS HILARIOUS! I grew up watching the Anime, "ULTIMATE MUSCLE (Kinnikuman)!" which these toy are based on. I really loved the show, even though it was kind of a comedy-style anime.... It was still really good!! Lmfao at the toys... I've thought about Ultimate Muscle here and there throughout the years... Definitely iconic... I should watch it again. I remember trying to once, and not going through with it.
I got some of these as a kid and I just loved how weird and interesting and varied they were! Same for Garbage Pail Kids collector cards. I was there for anything with awesome/weird art.
My family was poor, so I had few name-brand Star Wars/Transformers/He-Man type toys, but these were cheap and sold in bulk, so I had a ton of 'em.
Ditto all out the quarter machine, as long as you got something right?
LOL! Me too! 🙌🏾 BEING POOR
Garage sale toys…….
Yeah me too. My family was kind of poor as well and the only Transformers I had were the mini bots like Bumblebee, Cosmos etc and of course MUSCLE and while I didn't have a ton of them I had about 2 dozen and I loved them and played with them for hours. Oh and we also had knock off Go Bots that I would buy at the local drug store but I still enjoyed them and had fun with them as a kid. I learned to be humble and grateful for what I got and for what I worked hard in yard work and allowance to earn the toys that I bought and now as an adult I own every toy I had as a kid, always wanted or wished I had...now in my game room. I'm now 50 years old and still enjoy my toy collection.
Truth! I almost never had more than one of any given type of toy (unless acquired second-hand from a garage sale or something), but I had enough of these little dudes to fill up a tiny trash can. (Still small, but quite a bit bigger than the ones they came in.)
At some point my dad realized I was even making my own toys out of trash I found in our backyard. I had a Dr. kit that I got probably for Christmas or something, and I made my own patient out a piece of fabric foam. He was impressed with my ingenuity.
I couldn’t even tell you why but I was OBSESSED with these things.
Same, had tons and couldn't get enough...lol
I still have a bunch of mine somewhere.
It’s the OG wrestling booker simulator
I just discovered a bag of these that's been moved with me for decades without seeing the light of day
@CinHotlanta lucky you! I wish I still had mine.
My brother and I would use them as the "3rd army" enemy to our wars. (It was Army men Vs Army Ants Vs Muscle Things) It gave us an excuse and a back story, which allowed us to combine Green, Tan, and Grey army men to the same team to battle these "monsters". Some of the simplest toys ended up being the best.
Army Ants!
Army ants were great. I've still got about a dozen of them in good shape. Nearly all of my muscle men have missing body parts and old paint on them. I got pretty creative with my wars.
I did the same thing had army ants and these and gi Joe's they used to fight like hell
And Battle Beasts!!
My nephews had these. With no info, we made up backstories for them. A lot of fun!
I lived in Japan in the 80s and these were in every grocery store and 7/11. I would drop a ¥25 coin or two to get them whenever I could. I remember one store had a broken machine that would always drop two pods everytime!
When we moved back to the US, M.U.S.C.L.E. had just started to become a thing. I had a bunch of figures no one else did! Plus, I knew all the lore and had a few magazines to show. The other boys definitely were jealous.
This is a great story, thanks for sharing! That broken machine sounds awesome, very lucky
I remember when Japan was the future.
@@synthstatic9889 Living there back in the 80s was a trip. They were crazy for everything American, but it was ever so slightly askew. Most of the manga I read were post-apocalyptic or highly romanticized stories of the future.
When you think about it, it makes sense. Japan IS a post-apocalyptic society. No one else had had a nuclear weapon used against them in wartime. I really think that it has scarred the psyche of the culture.
@@buzzkillmarquiswow that makes sense why everything in anome is so dark and twisted 😂
Loved these - remember looking through every blister pack on display at the local Kay Bee toys and couldn't find one that had the "Hand" figure. I had to have that "Hand" figure.....Tired to look through the translucent 10 packs, but couldn't tell what was in those either. My Mom told me to pick a 10 pack and we would just hope to be lucky. After getting home, we opened it, and right on top was the "Hand" - i was so happy LOL!!! So was Mom. I picked up a couple of unopened, unpunched 4 pack blisters about 10 years ago - i treasure them......
NICE, GREAT JOB ON GETTING THE HAND!
Congrats. The hunt is the best part of collecting.
Fun fact. These(along with the original comics) were where Samoa Joe got his finishing move the Muscle Buster.
wasn't there a wrestler who dressed as Curry Man?
@@hippiepeter Christopher Daniels, but not exact borderline stereotype like the character lol.
It was already being used by luchadors in the 90s.
@@Kaimax61 I remember the pseudo-wrestling organization "Kaiju Big Battel" and it reminded me a lot of Kinnikuman. I want to say they're still around, some of the "wrestlers" in that outfit have some wild gimmicks.
Fun fact, Ramenman is possibly the most favorite character in Japan and mainly China.
I always grabbed the ones that I had to play with in the car on road trips. A couple of pencils and a pad of paper for drawing and some little action figures were all I needed.
Yes! Those were different times for sure.
Wow! How could you survive a road trip without phone or Nintendo Switch?! (that's what a modern kid would say)
We use them for larger than mansized creatures at the DnD table
Nice, I used to dream up characters and backstories for mine. There was one I decided was Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget just because he wore similar gauntlets.
That is fantastic use of imagination! Two thumbs way up! 👍👍 Wish kids today had that same SKILL....
Funny you would say that because I was going to make a comment that I thought as my generation got older we started collecting DND metal miniatures for gaming when we grew out of our muscle men
I do too, but I modify, base, and paint them like normal minis. Their plastic takes paint and glue well and is easy to drill and carve.
@@asafoetidajones8181 That's cool, and funny, you will almost have to Modify them Otherwise I think they'd be fairly recognizable by most people especially of a certain age group LOL
Kinnikuman figs. are still big in Japan to this day. They even have metal versions now which are still sold in capsule machines.
I would love to collect those
there's a new Kinnikuman anime on netflix!
Also, not actually mentioned in this video - kinniku translates into "muscle" - so the name in the US kind of makes sense?
My first ever school fight was over Muscles. We made a game at my school with them and played for keeps, but since it was some weird freeform game the rules were fluid. I lost the fight, be we all lost the war since the school soon banned them. Funny enough, we also agreed that the Claw was the real best one, and would stare in awe when someone had him.
Yeah, the claw is what everyone wanted.
It's kind of amazing that these toys did as well as they did, with no real form of media attached to it. Then again, no syndicator in the 80s would dare touch Kinnikuman.
The commercial and trash can were enough
they were really cheap compared to things like GI Joe or Transformers, but still were a name brand product instead of being perceived as a knock off. that let poor kids collect a bunch of figures without being made fun of for not having the "right" figures for that type of thing.
@perfectallycromulent a major part was the pocket ability and being able to take some to school 🏫 🙃
It started as a cartoon in Japan did you watch the video
My mom would buy them for me because they were the cheapest thing in the storm
I fell hard for this toyline, never left a toy store without at least a four character blister pack. I loved them so much for their absolutely weird design and lack of backstory, was happy to make my own stories for these little pink goofs.
i had so many of these as kids, loved them
Its the proto rival of monster in my pocket.
@@te9591 I had both they were all cool imo though I liked the colours of Monster in my Pocket
I LOVED these…
I had a few cans, and picked up the card backs whenever I could. I even had the ring. A kid beat me up, and tried to steal some figures I had. I just held on to them, and curled up like a ball while he kicked me over, and over again. He managed to take one, and I got up and started swinging until a yard attendant came to stop us. I screamed “he took my stuff!” She made him give me my figure back, and we both got suspended. Those were the days…
These, and Battle Beasts, are the only toys from my 80s childhood that I feel nostalgic about.
It’s funny you mention that. I just found a container of my Muscle figures and Battle Beasts in my mom’s attic. I’m still trying to find the best way to display them, despite my wife’s reservations. 😂
Still have a gallon ziplock bag full of em!!!
Will you send them to me please
Lucky!!
I have a sandwich bag full myself
Mine are stuffed into a Folger's coffee can, and the board game is with the rest of my board games.
Oh yea? I still have the checklist poster!
(but seriously, yea, that's awesome. I still have most of mine in a bag somewhere in storage)
I loved this toy line! we had the ring and i think 50ish muscles, My favorite was the one that looked like just a hand. However, it fell into the crevasse in which the front seat belt of our 1984 Cavlier dissapeared into. So somewhere, maybe, there is a 1984 Cavalier with hidden treasure inside the passenger side seat belt hole.
7:42
oh wow. I have both of these still, I never did try to learn the significance of the characters outside of whatever narrative I gave them as a kid.
😄👍
I knew nothing about these little guys other than that they were everywhere growing up! Great video, thanks!
In the late 70s Toys'r'Us had these things called Canful of Monsters in the party favors section. They were plastic garbage cans containing little rubber monster figures. I found out later that they were from Ultraman, though no Ultras were included. At about 3:12 you can see some of the designs. I still have at least three of them, including two of the Windom character.
Pretty I had those. Were they kind of a MUSCLE knock off with different colors? I just remember them and muscle men always being at the bottom of the toy box, lol
@@Peppersfirst No, the Canful of Monsters contained mini rubber figures of various monsters from the Japanese show "Ultraman". They were from the same company as MUSCLE and did use the same garbage can mold. The Canful of Monsters cans came in red, green or yellow. The MUSCLE cans only came in a sort of semi-transparent finish.
@@Peppersfirst You might be thinking of Monster in My Pocket...
@@LlanoRiverBlue Yes, Mobster in my Pocket was a kind of spin off toy from Muscle, as was Cuties, which was a similar line for girls.
When I was in 4th grade, our class did a little mock economy thing where every kid got a bunch of fake money and we could buy/sell whatever we wanted in class for like a week. It just so happened a bunch of kids wanted to get rid of their MUSCLE toys right at that time, which I had none of before then. I made out like a bandit, selling whatever random crap I had lying around and spending all the proceeds on huge piles of MUSCLE figures which these guys were all but giving away. I'm sure I ended up with over 100 of them. And I had so much fun with those things!
I'm currently watching through the original Kinnikuman so that I can watch the new Netflix series. Thanks for the vid!
Hope you're enjoying it so far!
Heads up for anyone curious, a lot of the anime does have a lot of padding. They're not filler arcs as we know them today but more like each arc gets extended (usually by lots of one liners and jokes that are sometimes a bit more distasteful than the manga). Personally I enjoy it, you get a lot more out of the more obscure characters like Kinnikuman's parents, but if you don't want the extra then reading the manga is just as fun.
Also also heads up, the original anime diverges kinda heavily near the end of the Ultimate Tag Team arc, the cliffnotes and who beats who are the same ofc, but its worth knowing in case.
Oh yeah also also also headsup the fansub i found for the battle for the throne anime has a translators note that kind of spoils events in the reboot series. Its when Chojin Enma is on screen and that's all I can say without spoiling things myself. Sorry~
Where can I watch the original 80s series? I used to have some episodes recorded on a VHS from Japan back in the 80s. Please let me know, I really want to watch it.
@@satanwest2923 idk where to watch it legitimately, but plenty of 🏴☠️ sites will have it. 9anime kissanime etc. Be careful out there.
Thanks much for the Vid! Still have all the ones i had from childhood in a zipper pouch. My mom sewed a Muscle logo on to it so it looked like the pouch was branded. ❤️🔥
I have a toy fantasy of finding a bag full at a garage sale or antique store. Had a couple but that was it.
Do you ever go to toy shows? I see them fairly often at toy shows- sometimes you can get a good deal on them if the dealer is willing to haggle with you lol.
Because they were packed so terribly here in the US, I would go through the bin of these at Revco and always find a loose one or two I’d take.
I think the most important neglected piece of info was the new anime called Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc which is on Netflix right now. The SH Figuarts was actually a cancelled line that ran through the 2010's. The new SHF preorder for Kinnikuman is based on the new 2024 anime which uses a completely different mold than the original release. Ultimate Muscle actually did suffer a lot of changes by 4Kids especially in the dialogue.
how did it suffer,beetlebomb was translated perfectly from the original material
@@alexfield3950 he is actually called Geronimo in the Japanese version. Yeah he is supposed to be native American!
@@hannahmabbott7370 I know,I was making a joke
Always cool to revisit old topics and see how things have changed over the years.
Thanks for the return to the Americanized version of Kinnikuman
These were my favorite toys to play with back in the day... my favorite was the guy that looked like a globe
I loved the one that looked like a wall/arch.
These guys were awesome! I had a ton of them as a kid. Loved how they came in a trash can. They were very detailed for such tiny little figures, and so many designs! Great fun and memories :)
Had a bunch of these when I was a kid in the 80s. Such a cool little toy. Couldn't bring any Transformers, GI Joe or Masters of the Universe toys with me on short trips but they'd let me bring some MUSCLE figures since I could just shove some in my pocket and it wasn't a big deal if I lost a few of them. The detail on those things was pretty incredible and the designs were varied and numerous.
This provided me with some very warm nostalgia and some memories of bitter loss. There were at least a few days when I was a kid that I remember fondly. I wish I could go back and play with them one last time.
I absolutely love these pink guys, and I still have a lot of them. Great review 👍
i was definitely a MUSCLE collector as a kid and still have all of them, collected a lot of little figures from vending machines and packages. They're Just Neat Little Guys!
Surprised you didn't mentioned the original Kinnikuman manga got soft rebooted and a new anime debuted in Netflix a couple months ago.
Yeah, that the brand is STILL GOING feels like kind of a big detail to leave out.
A good slice of fun. Thanks, guys.
I had a bunch of these (because everyone did), but I wasn't really into wrestling. However, when Army Ants came out came out a couple years later, I LOVED those. Mini toys were great; I had some of the die-cast Star Wars minis too!
OMG Army Ants!
I had those mini Star Wars metal figures, and the Ion Canon play set! I loved that thing as a kid!
Army ants were awesome!
@@darthpaul99 wish I still had them! I had the Falcon and the Bespin playset
Ah Kinnikuman strikes again! The last time I encountered this was when the manga for the sequel Kinnikuman Legacy, aka Ultimate M.U.S.C.L.E. showed up nearly 20 years ago. The Gachapon connection now makes sense that I see how big the figures were in scale.
My mom worked at a place called Longs Drug Store, kind of like a Walgreens back in the day. She always brought these things home for my brother and I. I saw several we had in the video, and they were cool back then! Oddly enough, they come to mind every now and then and I wish I still had a few laying around.
I never grew up with these toys but I love the Kinnikuman frachise. It specifically combines by favorite niches into each other perfectly, Wrestling, Anime, and Tokusatsu. I've also been practically religiously been keeping up with the current manga and was happy to see you showed the cover of a more recent arc to show it off.
Plus a few months ago a continuation of the original Kinnikuman run aired on Netflix called Perfect Origin Arc. And surprisingly it's getting a second season in January of next year, probably the most volatile time for the series right now to get a third boom in the states.
My brother and I had them and one time we tried to melt them together to make a statue! Lol.
I LOVED these as a kid and had tons of them!!!! But at 46 I have no idea where they escaped to. Every now and again I will go through a box and find a few floating around in there and it totally brings me back!!!! I wish I still had them all. I even had the ring until my cousin stepped on it and broke a peg off it . But I hamade my own ring with a square piece of wood, nails for the posts and electrical tape for turnbuckles for the rubber band ropes!
Thank you so much, for this blast to the past. I had forgotten all about them, until now. So cool!
I remember Muscle toys because my cousins had them, I wish they made the original anime dubbed in English for American kids! But I’m glad we got the reboot Ultimate Muscle thanks to Fox box kids block, even though I was already in high school when Ultimate Muscle was made, my friends watched it because of its satire of WWE and WCW!
despite the US not getting the original show, and as such, MUSCLE being more of a niche that isn't specifically tied to the original product, Kinnikuman is insanely popular in *Chile* of all places. Somehow they managed to get a dub of the anime done and running until Episode 52, which is crazy when you consider what a nightmare this show must've been for syndication.
(Yo soy muy fiel al estofado de carne~)
personally been bingewatching the dub and it's interesting how little actually gets cut, jokes that no one outside Japan would get are more or less kept intact as is most of the violence. Notably however, many scenes featuring Brockenman and Brocken Jr. are trimmed down for obvious reasons.
You really should have put the suit on. Love your Channel, love you as the host. You all do such a great job thank you.
I got a bag of about a hundred of them from Goodwill, when I was a kid, and had endless fun playing with them!
In 2008, I was in Tokyo and came upon a toy store where they had about 3 dozen of the figures but updated and painted with incredible detail. I had no idea the little pink figures I'd played with for years were a big deal!
About 10 years ago, I donated a majority of my collection to the Austin Toy Museum to help them complete their collection but still have some hanging around. They brought me a lot of joy throughout the years. Thanks for the video!
I LOVE Kinnikuman. It's my favorite animal, it's so stupidly funny but also heartwarming. I had lots of MUSCLE as a kid then when Ultimate Muscle showed up, I realized that there was entire universe I had missed out on. Now after reading much of the Manga and watching lots of the Anime, I'm a solid fan. I hunted down the complete box set of figures from a Japanese online toy store about ten years ago for $200ish. Love it! If only there had been a way to make early Ramenman and Brocken work for America in the 80s, Kinnikuman could have been the next He-Man
Oh man... scrolling mindlessly through and saw this, and I was immediately taken back to my childhood. I forgot all about these. Thank you!
I still collect these and other keshi to this day. Best toy of the 80s! For a little while in 1986, you could take them to school as "erasers" before the teachers got wise. Sorry, Mrs. Johnson!
Dude, I never thought I'd see these again. I had a bunch of them. I have no idea what happened to them. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I still have a bunch of these around here somewhere. As a kid, I was fixated on collecting the cube-ish guys. I knew nothing about any lore, and until this video had completely forgotten the name of the toy line, but I played with those things alongside my Transformers and GI Joes all the time.
WOW I remember these!
I collected so many of them!
I might have my collection stored away in a box somewhere!
Thanks for that blast from the past!
Dude! I am so glad you did this! Absolutely love these little toys!! Please please please please, look into doing GUTS next. It's like if muscle and GI Joe had a baby... A very cheap, affordable baby
I used to have a ton of Muscle Men back in the 80's, but I lost most of my collection when I left it at the playground one day. When I was 19-20, I tried checking the internet to see if I could buy more anywhere, but instead I learned a valuable lesson about the importance of choosing your search terms carefully!
My friend and I are still intermittently using his collection of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures for our tabletop roleplaying games.
These muscle go great if you have a mini wrestling ring!
Man, I had like 60 of the things. Found the bucket where I kept them when I was cleaning out my mom's house after she died. I had left it out in a shed outdoors, and they had basically turned to powder after 25 years in the Tucson heat. Those things were shit hot back in the day. The wealthier kids in my school all had complete collections. I managed to flesh mine out when K-mart was liquidating the 10pack garbage cans for $1 and the 28 packs for $5, but that was long after the fad was done.
I have some and the "board game" still. Some of my figures are straight from Japan.
They did a "knock off" a few years back called Z.O.M.B.I.E.S that featured horror/action based figures like Chuck Norris and Bruce Campbell. Target tossed them onto clearance fairly quick so it was cheap to get them all.
S.L.U.G. Zombies, yeah? I missed out on Series 1, which I think were sold as single figures in blind boxes. But I was able to put together Series 2-4 from Target & Toys R Us. Target had Christmas themed ones too.
@@ioncewasmikey I think that was their name. Did they come in a coffin shaped box and also a carded blister pack?
@@katenunyabizness9221 Yep, those are the ones!
I have wondered my whole life why that one figure had a hole in his back. Now I know. LOL.
Seriously I loved those toys as a kid. Had a whole box full played with them constantly, made up my own story and lore and had so much fun. I had the ring but broke it within a few weeks as it turned out some figures didn't fit into the stands... no matter how hard you shoved them in. But my dad then put a piece of cardboard and glued it on to make it more like a real ring, and I think I had more fun with that creating my own wrestling matches then I ever would have if I hadn't broken it.
Oh man these take me back! 😊😊😊😊
I was literally just in Nakano Broadway and found a bunch of these figures literally the day you posted this, so wild.
I remember when I was about five or six, I found a torn-open blister pack in a toy-shop, resulting in several of the figures falling onto the floor., and I figured that made it okay for me to take one. My mom later called me out for acting guilty, and made me give it back and apologize.
Beyond that, I still think they're pretty cool.
Lol .that was funny. I must have always seen some toy package opened in a toy store many times
I loved M.U.S.C.L.E. I had a bunch of figures, the boxing ring, the board game, and the NES game. It was a good and weird time to be into toys in the 80s.
I clicked this video so fast. 5 year old me was obsessed with M.U.S.C.L.E. Men and it led to a life-long love and admiration of professional wrestling.
To this day, I think Kinkeshi/M.U.S.C.L.E. is one of the coolest toy lines made in the 80s. A simple idea, taken to an extreme of creative breadth that is still just amazing. This year, for a birthday present to myself, I got the big Kinkeshi box from a Japanese seller on eBay. It took me hours to unwrap every figure in the box, but I'm finally living the dream of collecting them all -- and then some!
I remember playing with them in the front yard, with my friend Jeff. Good times! 👍
So oddly enough I just saw these things for the first time at the Austin Toy Museum last week and had no idea what they were despite recognizing virtually every other action figure and toy line IP they had there from the late 70's into the 2000's. Thanks for solving the mystery for me Dan!
I was hoping you would have mentioned the GameCube game. That game, was easily the most played game in my house as you could create your own characters, name them and then choose your finishing move and name that as well. My friends who were in their early 20's had a field day coming up with the most foul and offensive names imaginable, especially for the finishing moves. But I also collected the toys in the 80's for the reason you mentioned; they were affordable. I also collected some knock off's, the main one was a bunch of ninjas, usually red, yellow and black that had glow in the dark features. Anyone remember what they were called?
I love these. I collect the Kinkeshi and the American stuff including having the ring, the game, an unopened 4-pack, unopened can, and opened box set.
I still have a small container full of these from when i was a kid in the 80S. No idea why, but these were so much fun!
My neighbor had these when I was a kid. Great Stuff, as always!
I had just been wondering if there were any RUclips videos about these toys. I recall the insane envy seeing a rich friend’s MUSCLE collection filling a 20 gallon barrel.
I never saw these anywhere except for my grandparents house. They had a box of them, and while they weren’t my favourite of the toys there, they are the ones I have the most vivid memories of.
I had a bunch as a kid, as well as the wrestling ring. I used to have a line of kids waiting to duel me on the playground. Only need about 35 more to compete the whole US set.
Side note: great seeing you again at LegionsCon, man. Cheers!
M.U.S.C.L.E. missed me, but I did collect Monster in My Pocket. I still remember getting a purple Great Beast and squealing with joy
*ULTIMATE MUSCLE!* 💪
KINNIKU BUSTER!
8:40 The Harts price sticker on the box just brought some additional distant memories of the 80s
I've still got a plastic tub full of of M.U.S.C.L.E. Things around here somewhere... I remember having an inordinate number of the Claw Hand Guy and the Brick Top Guy, which I was quite happy about.
Childhood memory unlocked! We had some of these growing up, I have no idea where we got them from..
At the height of WWF and NWA MUSCLE grew to be my favorite toy and my Dad didnt even complain buying them
😂 damn right... I was such a wrestling nut that I eventually wrestled as an adult in NWA ECW and ROH. MY brothers and I had 3 titles and for a while we The New Von Erichs (the only Black World 6 Man Champions 😂) I'm 49 now, so that life is behind me but I wouldn't change a thing. I had the best dad in the world, he financed and supported it all.
i loved these things, and had dozens. i had a whole mythology built up in my head. one of my all-time favorite toys
How I loved these little guys when I was a kid. Very blessed that my parents got me some of them. Good times, good times.
My grandma bought a few packages of these. A bunch got stuck in the vacuum cleaner.
The fun thing is that in my country we actually got the show (and it was very popular) but didn't get the figures nor any other type of official merch.
Origins is one of my all time favorite lines so I'll probably get 2 one too open and the other in box. Its a cool looking figure specially because it does remind me of Mr. T.
bro are you talkin about Geldor? This is the thread about M.U.S.C.L.E.
I'm definitely getting Geldor though 😄
Looking back at collecting these - it was really weird. I never was lacking in anything - my parents gave me all sorts of toys for Christmas (well...Santa gave them to me) and my birthday, but, unlike most of my peers, I did not have an allowance per se. My father gave me ten, or later, twenty cents a day which could be lost simply by not doing a single chore such as making your bed or keeping your room clean. Things were so far above that price range that I eventually just gave up trying to earn the pennies he offered (Children are not really known for their forward thinking/saving habits) and stayed broke and happy rather than bust my butt for a dollar a week. But I would get money from grandparents and at different holidays and to make it go as far as possible M.U.S.C.L.E. was the way to go! I had tons of these things, and I think I still have a few that have made into bins and boxes that have traveled with me throughout my life! Boy the nostalgia is strong with this one!
This meant so much to me the details and variety made me so happy 😊
I was absolutely wide-eyed for the wrestling belt when I was a kid. As an adult, it's just wild to imagine wearing around the display case for your toys. 😂
Damn, this unlocked a core memory for me. I completely forgot that I had a massive collection of these!
I remember playing with these in the 80s. I became a fan of the Kinnikuman franchise when America got the Kinnikuman Nisei / Ultimate Muscle anime and manga in the early 2000s. Now I own two official Kinnikuman kenkeshi: Ramenman and my absolute favorite character, Buffaloman. 😊
Awesome and thorough video! Thanks for not mentioning C.U.T.I.E.
No way! This is a crazy blast from the past... We had them in the UK too. Not seen or thought of this for decades........... Used to have a big biscuit tin full of these.
Would love to get my hands on some dubbed or subtitled Kinnikuman video collections......
6:15 Pouring one to the curb for Kay•Bee Toy Stores. 🍺✌️
I was obsessed with these things when I was a kid. Loved the designs, and yes I bought them in all variety packs… including taking multiple swings at the garbage can 10-pack in the hopes that I’d get one that never came in the blister packs.
I can kinda remember playing with these that my Mom bought some for me out of a quarter machine!
I’m having a rough week, this show is always a comfort series.
I was very surprised and excited when only a few years ago, I discovered a small, plastic lunchbox that had belonged to my brother when we were kids (of the 80s) and my mom had kept for years afterward. Inside of the lunchbox was, as would be relevant for me to even mention, a sizeable collection of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures that my brother and I had collected back when they had been released in the mid 80s. Most of them are the colored versions, but there is a fair amount of original "flesh colored" figures as well. One of my personal favorites, and still have, is the figure that looks like three columns of an ancient Greek or Roman structure. Don't know what his original name is/was, so my brother and I just called him, "Roman Empire."
My little bro loved these. Had a Tupperware container full of 'em. Even had the wrestling ring and the board game. Sadly, he never got the belt.
I learned about the Mega Man figures a couple years ago. Never got after it, though, so I probably missed an opportunity. C'est la vie. Adults gotta adult. 💸😓💸
WOW THIS IS HILARIOUS! I grew up watching the Anime, "ULTIMATE MUSCLE (Kinnikuman)!" which these toy are based on.
I really loved the show, even though it was kind of a comedy-style anime.... It was still really good!!
Lmfao at the toys...
I've thought about Ultimate Muscle here and there throughout the years... Definitely iconic... I should watch it again. I remember trying to once, and not going through with it.
Loved these back in the day! Love yalls stuff here. Did I miss the video on Homies? Would love to see a video on that if youse haven't done one yet.
I got some of these as a kid and I just loved how weird and interesting and varied they were! Same for Garbage Pail Kids collector cards. I was there for anything with awesome/weird art.