Four Finger Discount

In retrospect, it seems like the M.U.S.C.L.E. fad was a quick one in my toy collecting history. While things like Star Wars and Transformers and Batman have been in my life almost constantly since their introductions into my collecting habits, M.U.S.C.L.E. were fun to collect and waste money on for a short time, then something else distracted my young mind and I soon got rid of all of them and moved on. I had a whole lot of the pink/flesh tone ones and I think I gave up on them when they started to be made into various colors. When color variations begin, a toyline is dying.

I see random single M.U.S.C.L.E. figures on occasion at the Flea Market or other places, most often they are pretty dirty or roughed up, and I rarely give them much more than a glance. A little over a year ago I did buy up a bunch of them from a garage sale, and they are still as cool and cute and as quickly forgotten about as ever; although I did have fun giving them all names.

But of all the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures I owned as a child, one stands out in my mind as a toy I wish I had held on to and have always wanted to re-acquire.

And this past weekend I found him at the Flea Market!

This is M.U.S.C.L.E. figure #153, commonly referred to as 'The Claw.' I always thought his face looks a lot like a chicken, which may be intentional; his face is after all on 'the bird' finger. This fact may also explain the 'chicken' pox he seems to be suffering from.

The one I had as a kid was flesh tone, but hey, a green claw with a face is as acceptable as any other color around here, right? I'm no Clawist!

Anyways, Claw is definitely one of the coolest M.U.S.C.L.E. figures ever made, and I am glad to once again add him to my ridiculous collection.