The History of MUSCLE (aka M.U.S.C.L.E.) 

My mother never understood why I needed all of them. Muscle men were the driving force of my grammar school economy.

I forgot all about muscle men. I fought them every single day when I was little. Gave them all names, gave them each a finishing move, i built my own ring with a square peice of wood, 4 nails and some rubber bands. These were my favorite toys growing up.

The reason I still have these adorable pink "uglies" is because when I was 4 years old my grandfather would give me a pack of them everytime I came to see him before he died of cancer just before I turned 5

When a friend of mine died several years ago he had a figure he renamed screaming baby man. My friends and I all placed our screaming baby man on his casket. Sucks when friends die but this weird thing you used to be able to buy in grocery store bubble gum machines will have a solid place in the hearts of a half dozen guys I know. By the way, we used them as miniature substitutes during D&D games, board games (monopoly I get to be screaming baby man) there's lots if ways to use little figures :)

I collected these as a little kid lol

I’m 47 and still have all my MUSCLE figures! I used to give them their own names, had that poster and played that video game. That game was so fun! I’d still love that poster.

These guys beat the crap out of my green Army men on a daily basis.

I got one out of a Nesquik can back in the '80s. My friends and I never knew their names, so we just came up with them on our own.

they also had a show on fox kids in the 00s Ultimate Muscle

I still have mine, haha. I remember making a wrestling ring for them from a piece of wood, 4 nails and rubber bands for the ropes.

What do you do with them? Kids of the 80s had an imagination and figured it out. Great toys

My late grandma pretty much summed it up when she asked my 11 year old self, "What do you do with them?" I didn't have an answer.

best score ever, found a bag of 40 at good will for a buck, made my decade, was my favorite when I was a kid

These were a craze at my school for a couple of years! We would fight them on the desk by flicking our muscleman against the other. Whoever knocked the opponent off the desk won their opponents muscle. Got a bit crazy - especially if you had that bridge/tunnel/stone one that was a surefire bet!

My biggest memory of them... that distinctive Muscle smell. And my mom getting mad that they kept ending up in the washer ever week, lol.

When I was in high school, I suffered a suplex in Phys Ed which knocked the wind out of me. That Christmas, my Phys Ed teacher, dressed as Santa, called me down during assembly, and told me 'I hear you need some bodyguards'. He gave me this HUGE pack of MUSCLE figures. I have to admit, I laughed. Then wrote a TTRPG for it within the week. First full roleplaying game I ever wrote, and when I moved to another province, I sold it for $10, along with all the figures.

I had tons of these guys and i made up powers and stories for each of them.

The designs on these were so cool for something just generic without stories. Hearing the backstory it explains why the design was so neat

Had the 28 pack, garbage can and several 4 packs, lusted after the board game ( but never got it) and would fall asleep looking at the poster-planning out which ones I would get next. Those are my M.U.S.C.L.E. credentials.

I loved watching my best friend play with these. He made the coolest sound effects and kept me entertained for hours.

oh man. this is an interesting thing to know from a japanese perspective. i remember when i lived in the US and when i mentioned Kinnikuman some of my friends knew the Kinkeshi yet they never really knew what the manga or anime it originally came from. to simply put it, kinnikuman was dragonball z before dragon ball existed and it was huge in japan. so americans just buying the Kinkeshi and not knowing the coolness of the story and characters just feels left out to me. its like collecting Pokemon without knowing anything about Pokemon at all. Kinnikuman wa great and i still loved it. it was one of the few mangas that came out in the 70s and 80s where the reader could send a drawing of a wrestler they drew and the actual artist would use it in the story. in the end of each book, there were pages of fan letters and drawing the kids sent out. and it was awesome to see a character come to life drawn by the kids.

holy balls! at one time in my childhood i collected boxes of these; thirty five years later and i’ve forgotten all about them! i recognize so many of these and that’s... sad. but also AMAZING!! just wow man.

I can’t believe they only ran for 2 years considering how much of my childhood they consumed 😳

I curse the day my mom sold them all at a garage sale, well over a hundred of them! Sad face for sure.

My older brother would paint his like little warhammer miniatures and have battles. When I started collecting monster in my pocket it changed the whole theater of war

I spent all of my pocket money and used all of my birthday and xmas requests on these guys while they were being sold. Loved and played with them for years. Most had names. I attached Medic to a plastic parachute and lost him in a wall-trained shrub. Rockman was my favourite because he was almost invincible (obviously not against the likes of Hammerhead or Drillbit). Had a 5 litre plastic tub full of them (mostly pinkies). Gave them all away to a neighbour's kid when I was a "cool" teenager. Miss them Terribully now.

Part of the appeal of these to kids like me was that they were so futbuck strange that there HAD to be a backstory to them all. But it's always left up to our imagination, which we eagerly did. Cool to know that there was a backstory to these things in Japan

I can still remember their smell

Using our Muscle collection, my brother and i would build LEGO forts and ship/vehicles and have full scale wars using rubber band guns as well. Hours of priceless childhood.

MUSCLE was awesome back in the day. The Figures were so random that you could make up all kind of backstory about them.

In Italy they were konwn as “Exogini” and each One of them was given a name. They were sold in pyramid shaped boxes containing 20 or 50 pieces.

These were one of my favs as a kid I had an eye injury that had me going to see doctors for two years weekly. I looked forward to my mom picking me up muscles every weekly trip. I had all but about 17 or 18 of em before she passed away and I stopped caring about toys. Good times....

how about "History of Monsters in my Pocket"?

We played "Thump Wars" with these as children, and I had tons of them (and won a bunch from thump war matches). Basic gist of the game was to draw 2 chalk circles on the ground (about 2 foot dia) touching each other. Stand opposing armies of muscle up in both circles facing each other in whatever layout you want. Players choose a "thumper" from one of their figures and sets it up anywhere inside the circle but behind their army. They then use a finger to hit (flick, aka thump) their "thumper" figure into the other army. The thumper is then recovered and placed in your ranks of muscle men that you felt was fairly protected. The goal was to knock down all the other army's men. Any that were knocked outside the circle were given to the other player to be used in the next game (and kept). Knocking down the "thumper" muscle man constituted an automatic victory (which is why you try to protect it). Many a sore bleeding finger did i have playing this game every chance we got, and i loved it. I still have and cherish my bag of hard won muscle men.

I only had about a dozen of these guys. It's crazy how I instantly recognize those specific figures over 30 years later.

Honestly, these sound like a great creative activity for kids. Without back stories or even names, kids are free to come up with anything they want. And they do look like a lot of fun.

They still make new "kinkeshi" figures in Japan and you can see them from time to time. Also, there is a second generation of the manga/anime called Kinniku Man Nisei. Nisei means "second generation" Also-also, you can buy much more advanced/expensive action figures that are marketed to collectors here in Japan. I personally have a painted and articulated one in my closet.

I loved these toys because of their character designs. They were so awesome. I had both the pink ones and the blue ones. Sadly I did not have very many. But that's the joy of having friends with them.

I absolutely loved the smell of a newly opened pack of M.U.S.C.L.E. action figures!!!

Just pulled out a box of all of my muscle men as I'm typing this.... The nostalgia is flowing.. 80s baby✌️

Who's got the time to name all those figures? Action figure collectors, that's who!

I've still got a bunch of these from my childhood, I knew nothing about them until I saw this vid, didn't even know what they were about when I got them.

Well done segment sir....

A friend and I melted the Hulk Hogan looking one with a magnifying glass on a sunny day while chanting "Burn Hulkster Burn". I never would have dredged up that little tidbit of childhood memory without stumbling across this video.

My homie had that poster growing up. It was fun just to look at it and see which guys we liked.

I had the Ultimate Muscle figures from the 2000s they printed them very similarly with the solid colors but also had painted ones and some gold ones. I loved all the designs and making them "fight" as a kid.

Wish i kept my old 80s toys

Watching these videos has made me realize just how many toys I had as a kid... and now I wonder how I and my parents found space for them all.

i remember these as a kid in the 80's

I just found this channel a couple of days ago and can't stop watching. Anyhow, these are probably my favorite childhood toys. We basically ran an indy league with them when we were kids. Kept titles, records, booked lots of complex stories. Haha. Good times and awesome toys.

Any chance of doing a follow up video with Ultimate Muscle? It's the sequel series of Kinnikuman starring Muscleman's son Kid Muscle.

I really wish there were more figures out there today that didn’t prescribe who everyone was and what you were supposed to do with them. That’s part of imagination. That’s part of playing with toys. The Muscle figures were imaginative, and seeing all the crazy designs was part of the fun.

Hell yeah! I remember these and collected a bunch. A buddy of mine and I made our own wrestling ring with a block of wood , 4 nails and 3 rubber bands👍

my neighbor's grandson had a bunch of these and we'd play with them all the time. I also recently watched the anime, ultimate muscle, which is a must watch for any anime loving wrestling fan (I just wish it got a complete series release).

This really made me miss my childhood...

I had that Mega-Match Game, which I now remember was the "battle arena" for all of my M.U.S.C.L.E. figures. I have not even thought of these toys in years until stumbling upon this video, with images sparking memories I'd forgotten were there. Looking back, it's amazing how many of them my mother and grandmother bought me. Despite growing up relatively poor, these videos resurface memories that make me realize in hindsight just how lucky and spoiled I was as a child of the 80's.

My mom use to put them every year on my birthday cake as cake topers.lol I loved them lil figures.☺☺☺

What a blast from the past! I loved these little guys when I was a kid!

I still have a couple those figures my kid loves them, Dan please make a monster in my pocket video

I wish I could go back to when I was ...yes... 14years old and loved the hell out of these

i had two cans i would make them fight my army ants... what are army ants?!?!?! Well that's another story.

I had Star Wars, He-Man, G.I. Joe and Transformers figures when I was a kid in the 80's but MUSCLE were the only figures I felt compelled to collect. I remember searching through toy stores for new ones and the joy of finding one I didn't have. That joy was also followed by the itch to go find more. There was something about them. Ah memories.

I had a ton of muscle figures.

I was obsessed with collecting every variation of these guys as a kid. I had no strategy or process, so I failed miserably, but the fixation was there.

I seem to recall a variation of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures that were marketed to girls. They were called C.U.T.I.E., or something like that. Anyways, I was into pen and paper roleplaying games when I got interested in M U.S.L.E. and had a notebook where I'd write down names and statistics for my guys, just like an RPG character.

The hand was my fave , I had every single one and the poster that showed each one.

Another great video!!! I had a bunch of them back in the day!! I had 50 or so and got the battle ring (which was lame). I only learned it was part of a manga when they did Ultimate Muscle in the early 2000s.

I had a lot of these as a kid, they were some of my favorite toys. So much that as an adult I just had to fill out my collection. I can proudly say my collection is now complete.

They actually came in a clear plastic container. My vivid imagination remembers a trash can looking package. I also had WWF thumb wrestlers in the 80's. An tons of garbage pail kids stuck to my trapper keeper.

These were one of my favorite things as a kid

Had a good bunch of them and the wrestling ring. The ring was great until one of the clamps broke. After that it was pretty much over.

My dad made me a small wrestling ring for these guys using a square piece of wood, four screws for the turnbuckles, and then three rubber bands stretched across the whole thing for the ring ropes. I would pile them all into the ring at once, and have a battle royal by shaking the ring until they started falling out and the last guy left in the ring was the winner.

I remember having a bucket full and not knowing who's good or bad

I'd forgotten all about these, but I had a bunch - what a blast from the past!

I know my brother and I had plenty of these growing up. Loved the video, but where was the brief mention of Ultimate MUSCLE relaunch from the early 2000's? It had the American cartoon, video game, and 6" figures to boot!

Had 2 of these as a kid. Then got introduced to the ultimate muscle anime before I ever knew the figures were connected to the franchise. Good video!

points for "hobo teeth"

My buddy and I had hundreds... We made a ring, out of wood, dow rods, and essentially paracord... We had a system for move selections, and impartial decisions using dice, during the matches... We had our own federations, champions, and contender lists... When we got together, we had inter-federation pay per views... We had so much fun with these odd little things... Don't know what happened to my original collection, but I have been collecting them again, just to have them... Easily one of my favorite toy lines growing up!

I had about 80 different ones AND the wrestling... arena? I hated the ones that were just walls or bricks or pyramids and the weird potato looking guy. I thought these were really cool post He-Man craze (for me at least)

Thank you so much for this video!!!. I loved these (in)action figures as a kid. Was recently dropped a box on my head for my birthday and it was several hundred of these beautiful pink bastards!!!!! At 42 years old I was transported to 1986........ thank you for caring.

As a kid I never came across MUSCLE, but I loved Monsters in my Pocket which are basically the same thing. And of course like any self respecting toy collector, I came to appreciate MUSCLE later on anyway.

I had maybe 40 or 50 off the list back in the day. Man, this brought back so many memories!

How about the history of micromachines

I used to get all my toys from garage sales in the early 90's. My mom got me a shoe box full of these when I was little. Never knew what the were from but I loved them.

Collected muscle, played the Nintendo game... Damb I'm old.

I had these all back in the day. I made a small wrestling ring out of wood with rubber band ropes. My friends and I would have huge wrestling tournaments and lots of trades. I had a huge amount of fun with these as a kid. I still have about 50 that I was able to hold on to. They are now in a large clear glass jar on my dresser. Thanks for the video!

Revisiting MUSCLE with different licensed franchises is a brilliant idea. Why am I only just hearing about this now? Might need to go scope out that He-Man set a bit...

They were my favorite toy at the after school program where I had to stay for 2 - 3 hours every day. I loved them!

I loved these guys. Thank you for taking me here RU-vid Algo.

Its ridiculous how many hours i put into playing with the 40 of these i had. Tournaments, royal rumbles, tag matches, long reigns, upsets, grudges, backstabbing. This all came from watching wwf, cartoons and the soap operas that would play in the background. I still have them stashed somewhere if i find them i'll set up my favorites on a shelf.

The best fun was coming up with your own names for each new collected. Thats what did it for me

I remember playing with mine under the front porch and leaving them there when we moved. I always wondered if they were still there. 🤔

I vividly remember the toys still circulating during my time in elementary school, but didn’t know any of the story. I’m surprised that the line was discontinued in the late 80s, but I remember them still being a popular toy at school in the early 2000s

These were some of my most favorite toys in the late 80's when I was 7-10 years old. Great vid!!!!!

I had a bunch of these as a kid. I even managed to get the wrestling ring. It was awesome. They were a blast to collect. I collected a few in my mid-20s too and painted up some of them. I've sold them since though. Only so much room to store things I don't actually need.

Minuscule Uncles Solving Crimes Literally Everywhere made me laugh out loud

Forgot all about these til I just saw the video. Wow... I got a wee bit more giddy about the memories. I made mine wrestle each other but mainly, my horde was set up around the living room to be gunned down by my spring-loaded, suction-tipped dart gun. Ah. Thanks for the memories!

I grew up in the 90s so I didn't ever see any of these figures but I did play the NES game at a friends house. Years later when 4Kids dubbed the Ultimate Muscle anime I remember instantly recognizing the classic characters despite never seeing the original anime.

Wow. I remember these toys when I was a kid growing up. Awesome memories

I had a handful of M.U.S.C.L.E. men and played with them a bunch. I always liked the really cool designs of them, that's what really drew me to them as a kid.