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M.U.S.C.L.E. originated from the Japanese
comic and toy line "Kinnikuman". Kinnikuman
translated into English basically means "MUSCLE Man" Kinnikumen, are a
race of Super Men, and the premise of the comics had to do with
good vs. evil, and lots of wrestling!
There were many
characters, and most of those had their likeness transformed
into toys, as well as numerous other types of merchandising.
The toy line, comic, and cartoons were an instant hit in Japan.
So big in fact, that in the mid 80's during the professional
wrestling craze that was sweeping the states, MATTEL saw
big potential for the toy line here.
Mattel worked with
Bandai, and proceeded to Americanize the Kinnikuman franchise. The end result was a toy line
that was simply called M.U.S.C.L.E. The acronym stands for Millions of Unusual Creatures Lurking Everywhere. The creatures hit the
shelves in 1985, and while the story behind the toy line was very different from that of
Kinnikuman, the base set of action figures were very similar (if not identical in
some cases) to their Japanese counterparts.
For more info about
Kinnikuman, visit the following links..
Jason
and Tsubasa's M.U.S.C.L.E. and Kinnikuman Site
www.littlerubberguys.com
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