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SATAN CROSS
 Here's
a guy that's had everyone in the hobby
puzzled for years. He's definitely a legitimate M.U.S.C.L.E. and has
been found several times in unopened American 4 packs. This
M.U.S.C.L.E. is featured in many of the Kinnikuman comics and cartoons
from Japan, and his name is Satan Cross. Some Japanese sites I've
come across have loosely translated his name as Saturn Cross.
During the early years of our hobby, collectors used to refer to him as
The Erols M.U.S.C.L.E., although I'm not entirely sure why.
I remember when I
first found this figure in my collection. I was sorting
M.U.S.C.L.E.'s using the M.U.S.C.L.E. poster as a guide, and I couldn't
find this figure anywhere. I quickly scanned the figure, put it
up on my site, and started e-mailing all of the M.U.S.C.L.E. Heads to
see if anyone else had this figure in their collections. Sure
enough, a few of us were in possession of this figure that was nowhere
to be found on the poster. What really had us perplexed though,
was the hole in his back. Some speculated that the figure was a
pencil topper, but the general consensus among collectors was that the
opening was meant for some kind of accessory. This figure had no name other than The rare 4-armed
M.U.S.C.L.E., and The Erols M.U.S.C.L.E.
Enter Patrick
Gresham! Pat was a member of The M.P.S., and was a big fan of
Kinnikuman (The Japanese comics and toy line which M.U.S.C.L.E. spawned
from). Patrick is the one who schooled the entire M.U.S.C.L.E.
community on Satan Cross and what he was all about. The
information he provided was showcased on the front cover of The
M.U.S.C.L.E. Times Newsletter from Winter 1998.
In the Kinnikumen
comics, this wrestler actually connects to another wrestler, hence his
extra arms and face in his abdomen. The other wrestler basically sticks
his head through this wrestlers back. When it's all said and
done, you've got a four legged, four armed, two headed wrestler.
Together they fight as one, making a nearly unstoppable foe. In
the comic, they detach from one another and also fight as a
team. There have never been any reports of an attachment made for
this figure, although some Japanese Kinnikuman figures did have these
type of pieces.
You can see one here. Satan Cross is
still one of the most sought after figures in the M.U.S.C.L.E. toy
line, and I have personally seen it fetch upwards of $30.00-$40.00 on
e-bay. Lately we've seen more collectors coming forward saying
they've had, or currently have this figure in their collections,
leading us to believe it's not as rare as we once thought.
Is the figure
common? Many in the hobby will disagree with me when I say certainly
not. First.. you need to take into account that
this figure was only available in PINK. Second..
this figure was never available in packaging other than PINK 4
packs. And third.. there were a lot less pink 4
packs made than colored ones. These three things alone qualify in
my mind that Satan Cross at the very least, is more scarce than most other M.U.S.C.L.E's. If everyone had, or could get a Satan Cross, then
they wouldn't be fetching $30.00 - $40.00 online. It's as simple
as that.
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M.U.S.C.L.E.
Man and Terri Bull from
The Hard Knockin' Rockin' Ring
Here are a couple more figures not
featured on The M.U.S.C.L.E. Poster. These are exclusive figures
which were only available with the
The Hard Knockin'
Rockin' Wrestling Ring. The M.U.S.C.L.E. Man figure is
actually a smaller sculpt of M.U.S.C.L.E. #141 on the poster. He's
got a wider waist, and is almost an eight of an inch shorter than #141.
It's likely that the difference in sculpts had to do
with how the figure fit into the prongs of the wrestling ring.
The only other variance to the sculpt is a more rectangular belt
buckle. The Terri Bull figure was available in one other color
which was neon green, and was packaged with the
board game.
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