Imaginext Series 11 Muscle Men Review! Bonus SpiderBaby!

If you're ever doubting just how much of an American staple MUSCLE were in the 80's, of course you can make note of it's present day reassurance for vintage and new products with collectors, but also, it's homages within bootlegs and production.

One such finds themselves within the blind bags of Imaginext Series 11.  Standing to scale with the rest of their Imaginext brethren, the duo of Muscle Men stands quite a bit taller, and overall larger, than their classic counterparts, but nothing about it feels wrong.  I've been stricter in the past, railing some mini-figures for size, materials used, or anything else not adhering to the keshi code, but holding them in my hand, I am a lost of venom and harsher critique.

I sit and wonder what could have loosened my grip from winging these two into the ocean, like I virtually did in my last review, and I think I have a conclusion.  What I've reasoned is that these are not MUSCLES or keshi figures produced by a different company.  This is Fisher-Price paying respects to a grand classic by taking one of their action figures and giving it the Kinkeshi twist.  It's the muscle-flesh tone, the rubbery flexibility, almost complete lack of paint or sticker application, and inarticulation, despite what the sculpt may perceive, that really stand out as important factors and details when considering keshi.

Did Fisher-Price make a perfect keshi figure?  No, but I don't think they attempted to.  Fisher-Price, however, knows exactly what a keshi figure is, and I think that's worth a few bonus points.

Coming close to the end of this calendar year, I might just be claiming these two from Imaginext might be the best you can do for your buck this year.  Don't miss these!  Provided its a lucky pull in a blind bag, this set is only five clams and an absolute steal, even if you pay double that or more otherwise in auction or on forums.

As a bonus, and maybe something that contributed to my glowing praise a bit, is my son's review of these Muscle Men.  Within moments, Spiderbaby the bucket monster was clashing, gnawing, and tossing these guys around.  The are both likely lost and only he knows of their mysterious location now.

Super 7's MUSCLE Mega Man Vs Shadow Devil Set Review!

With a little extra cash in my pocket, I took to forums, social media, and auction sites to find some goodies I had missed.  Sadly, what I found was the best stuff and the hottest stuff had instantly sold out when it dropped, and the inconvenience of having some spending dough now not then had me looking for things with big production numbers.  Who really in the west has that in spades than Super 7 right now?

I do a little search here and there, come across their new She-Ra Keshi Surprise stuff and I fall instantly in love.  That's going to be some stuff I cover very soon, but I also find that there was a Loot Crate exclusive Mega Man MUSCLE product too, so I figure for the sake of limited edition-ness, I should check that out first.

The product I find is a two figure set called Mega Man vs. Shadow Devil, and I'm really interested.  It seemed it should be affordable enough to patronize my interest, but also be a pretty solidly-themed product for those just getting into Mega Man MUSCLE.  From the pictures alone, I loved the hulking size of the Shadow Devil compared to the blue bomber, and it was only a matter of time before I scored my own through auction.

I recently received it, shredded the packaging regardless of limited edition, and got my hands on my very first Mega Man MUSCLE's from Super 7.

Out of the gate, I loved the colors, but something really didn't feel right with Mega Man.  Actually, to be frank, there wasn't a whole right with the main man and namesake of this series.  The color was nice, but the sculpt was really flat, only looking nice in the packaging it came in.  Pulling it out and checking it out from different angles did it no justice, as if the 2D nature of the game was something they were actively trying to preserve.  To make matters worse, my Mega Man couldn't even stand up, as his feet were bent in a way that made his already lack of depth even harder to balance.  Take a look at these images on the side.  It's hard not to be disappointed when it's staring you right in the face.  The shadow devil was pretty cool, however not really as flexible as I had imagined, but that wasn't the biggest of flaws here.

I've been singing Super 7's praises for some time now, but admittedly, all from a distance.  I certainly can't appreciate it enough that they have produced so much keshi-inspired products in the last few years to keep interests high, here in the west, but quality can't be this low, can it?

I'm not going to let one mini-figure sink the whole ship here, but maybe I can see why this was shipped to Loot Crate and packaged the way it was.  Certainly not the finest of their work, as I'm guessing their better sculpts are reserved for their sets closer to their store's vest.  Further investigation is needed.