M.U.S.C.L.E.

[Spiff-O-Matic]

Can we add MUSCLE figures? I just got a lot of 40.

http://www.musclefigures.com/guides/figure-checklists/

[KidTDragon]

This one's going to be tricky. As I recall, these guys were all randomly packed except for those big boxes. That's gonna make associating figures with packages... interesting.

Engledogg, SoS, any thoughts on how to handle this?

[Spiff-O-Matic]

Names and numbers - http://www.musclefigures.com/guides/figure-classifications/1-10/

Packaging - http://www.musclefigures.com/guides/products-guide/

[KidTDragon]

Oo, that site'll come in handy when it comes time to build the database.

The problem with M.U.S.C.L.E. figures is that the 4- and 10-packs had random figures in them. With our current system, we'd have to have millions of 4-pack and 10-pack product entries, each one containing every possible combination of the 200+ figures that came in those packs.

I remember some time ago Shmax was talking about adding a drop-down menu to products that came with some randomly-packed element, like the Mini-Spies that came with the G1 Minicars. This would allow users to choose the random element that came with their product when adding it to their collection without requiring us to add, say, 12 versions of G1 Brawn, each one containing one of the 12 different kinds of Mini-Spies. That could allow us to set up 4-pack and 10-pack products and users could fill in whatever figures they have. Unfortunately, I don't know if that's still being worked on or if it was abandoned. It also may not be the most ideal solution considering most M.U.S.C.L.E. collectors only track the figures and not the packages.

EDIT: One possibility that I just thought of: We could maybe enter each figure individually as its own "product" that contained the figure as the only part. That would allow users to keep track of individual figures without having to add multiple 10-packs to their collection using the drop-down scenario mentioned above. However, this may introduce some problems; this method would be "cheating" since there are no figures that are actually individually packed that way.

[KidTDragon]

Sorry to leave you hanging so long on this, spliff. We came up with, well, more of a workaround than a solution. I've added this product record as a "catch-all" for all of the figures that came in 4- and 10-packs (I'm thinking of excluding figures that were only available in the 28-packs, the ring, and the board game from this record, but I'm not dead-set on that idea). We'll create part records for each figure in each available color in this product record, and each figure will have a listed quantity of 10 in case users want to track duplicate figures that they may own. Let me know if you encounter any hitches with this set-up.

[Spiff-O-Matic]

No worries Kid! I'm wondering though, maybe the flesh (pink) figure should be the primary, and the other colors should be like accessories underneath it? I only suggest this because the way they're currently listed out is really kind of unwieldy to look at. Since the flesh colors were the original release, those should be the primary part? Otherwise, listing out all 200+ figures in each color will make the page 1.26 miles long (approximately).

[KidTDragon]

Hm, that's a valid concern. Making the colored figs accessories to the pink figs isn't the most satisfying solution, but given our current limitations I guess it's that or make a separate product record for each color. I'm a M.U.S.C.L.E. collector but I don't participate in the fandom aspect of it. Which do you think collectors would prefer: colors as accessories to pinks, or each color getting its own product record?

(Wow, this post would sound really horrible if we weren't talking about M.U.S.C.L.E.s.)

EDIT: Going by your submissions, I'm guessing you're in the "colors as accessories" camp. Carry on, then.

[Spiff-O-Matic]

I talked a bit with Shmax himself about it this morning and he suggested the "colors as accessories" method. I just think it makes looking at them easier. He assures me things like this are on top of the priority list for Shmax 2.0.

You know how we have the made-up names to use for photo submissions that aren't our own? Can we have one for MuscleFigures.com, since I can pull the ones I don't personally have to shoot form their site as placeholders?

[shmax]

Can we have one for MuscleFigures.com, since I can pull the ones I don't personally have to shoot form their site as placeholders?

Only if you can get permission! Just contact them, and tell them that we'll credit each photo to them with a link to their site, and see what they say...

[Spiff-O-Matic]

I haven't heard back yet from them, so I'll assume for now we can't use their photos.

Kid, I'm wondering where the names came from that you used on some of the figures? For example, 006 you named "Shocadile (Frill-Necked Lizard)", but his name on the MuscleFigures Site (http://www.musclefigures.com/guides/figure-gallery/) is the original Kinnikuman one of "Erimaki Tokage". Shouldn't we use those names instead?

[engledogg]

I have no knowledge of these things, but is there any chance that these guys had different names in Japan, sorta like the Battle Beasts vs. Beastformers?  For example, White Leo (Japan) vs. Pirate Lion (U.S.).

If so, then use whatever names were used in the U.S. for the U.S. packaging.

MIKE
engledogg

[shmax]

shmax 2.0 TODO: support for localized names.

[Spiff-O-Matic]

According to this wiki page, the only 2 figures that had Americanized names were 001 and 002, Muscleman and Terri-bull. I'll just use the names found in the previously link figure gallery for all of the figures I add (which also lists 001 and 002 with their Americanized names).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkeshi

I was just curious where KidT got the names form he did use.

[KidTDragon]

Kid, I'm wondering where the names came from that you used on some of the figures? For example, 006 you named "Shocadile (Frill-Necked Lizard)", but his name on the MuscleFigures Site (http://www.musclefigures.com/guides/figure-gallery/) is the original Kinnikuman one of "Erimaki Tokage". Shouldn't we use those names instead?

I have no knowledge of these things, but is there any chance that these guys had different names in Japan, sorta like the Battle Beasts vs. Beastformers?  For example, White Leo (Japan) vs. Pirate Lion (U.S.).

If so, then use whatever names were used in the U.S. for the U.S. packaging.

MIKE
engledogg

For those who don't know, the M.U.S.C.L.E. figures were originally released in Japan as toys for the Kinnikuman manga and anime. Mattel licensed the molds and released them as M.U.S.C.L.E. in the U.S. sans Kinnikuman's story, and only gave official names to Muscleman (Kinnikuman in Japan) and Terri-Bull (Buffaloman). Since no other figures were given names, collectors took to using their names from Kinnikuman, presumably to reduce confusion. However, in 2006-ish, Kinnikuman's sequel Kinnikuman Nisei got released in the U.S. as Ultimate MUSCLE, and unlike M.U.S.C.L.E., Ultimate MUSCLE brought Kinnikuman Nisei's anime and manga along with the toys. Nisei has a good amount of cameos from characters from Kinnikuman, which means some un-named figures in M.U.S.C.L.E. that appeared in Ultimate MUSCLE were finally given official names in the U.S. #006 (Erimaki Tokage), for example, was given the name "Shocadile" in Ultimate MUSCLE. In keeping with what Engledogg said about U.S. vs. Japanese names, #006 is getting named "Shocadile" on shmax.com and his Japanese name is being entered in the "Search Keywords" field so he'll still show up in a search for "Erimaki Tokage" (or Sneagator, his actual name). This is the plan for any M.U.S.C.L.E. character that got an official U.S. name in Ultimate MUSCLE.

Whew! Did that clear things up or make them worse?

[Spiff-O-Matic]

Cleared it up great, but where do I see this name list?