Super7 teased a ton of licenses including Mega Man M.U.S.C.L.E. - which is less a tease, more of an actual thing now! I asked if they were going to do more than one game from the series, and they smiled and didn't say no - so let's start with a look at Flesh Firing Mega Man, Fire Man, and Metall from the original game in the series, back when Capcom kept score. These particular Robot Masters have been merchandised quite a bit, despite the second game in the series being more popular and probably better known. Hopefully we get those next - but for now, we've got these.
The other series from Super7 tend to be a lot closer to the Kinnikuman-based source material, but Firing Mega Man doesn't. These are basically just straight-up trading figures, made of a glossier and more translucent plastic that doesn't show off the detail as nicely as the original Mattel plastic. It still looks decent and for the price, the set is pretty good. Mega Man is posed with one arm bent and another extended, firing his Mega Buster at... someone. The pose is unlike anything you've seen in this particular branded statement so far, with big eyes and proportions actually less deformed than the games which inspired the figure. Who'd have guessed? The smooth lines and not-quite-Astro Boy proportions are all here, so ol' Rock looks pretty swell. The helmet has all the right details for a convincingly faux-1980s quasi-Japanese collectible figure. Mine has weirdly bent legs, so sometimes he falls over - you may wish to correct this with heat.
Next up is the Robot Master Fire Man - and he looks good. By that, I mean not evil - it's a neat departure and it matches his blue buddy nicely. The boss character usually has angry eyes or big eyebrows to make him look sinister, while this one has big, round eyes and a covered mouth. The heat helmet is there, as are twin busters on his arms to fire flames flawlessly at his foes. He has no problems standing and all the details are here - big boots, shoulder armor with points, and a flame plume atop his hat. The fire adds a little height, and the pose is less confrontational than I might have expected. They did a nice job here, giving the character a distinctive look and feel from how I'm used to seeing him in games or artwork. Mostly. If anything, he looks a lot like the art from the Rockman Official Complete Works book down to the meters and details on his backside.
Rounding out the set is the dumpy, frumpy Metall. I swear I saw them called Hard Hats in old game magazines, and this version is based on the original game before their having feet was normal. The slightly elevated hat reveals a puddle of a being, with big eyeballs and a snail-like complexion spreading out from a pseudopod. It's simple and its low center of gravity means it can't topple over, and like Mega Man it looks really close to how the character is posed in the game. The little buggers are annoying, but they make for pretty good collectible figures. Given most subsequent takes on the robot look more like a mechanized being, this slightly more organic and oddball look feels very much of the early days of the NES. You remember that time, when Link looked sort of like Jughead and Birdo was one of the first trans characters in gaming.
As a fan of Mega Man, I really like these figures and hope the line expands multiple games in the series - and multiple game series. As a fan of M.U.S.C.L.E., well, these aren't really like those. They're their own thing, and as such I like them - I'd have liked to have seen Mega Man squeezed to different proportions, but it wouldn't stun me if Capcom didn't want to present one of their more popular characters in a bizarre, off-model product. (I'd have loved it.) This is a decent set, just recognize what you're buying if you're wanting Capcom collectibles and not classic Keshi connections.
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