April 2004 - Recently there have been some rumors posted on forums and even news sites regarding the Ultimate Muscle line from Bandai. With all the questionable info we decided to conduct our own search to see what was going on, and here's the news straight from Bandai . Basically, the answer is neither a definite 'no' or 'yes', but a definitive 'maybe'.
The Ultimate Muscle line is basically in limbo, they are currently not working on it and do consider it a dead line. The brand managers for it have moved on and so there is no expectation for more product beyond series 2.
However, Ultimate Muscle Series 2 was sculpted and produced in limited numbers (we were unable to get the actual production figures) and they are being warehoused awaiting a buyer and have been for some time.
That's the official information from Bandai, now for some personal speculation.
From our experience in the market, the most likely outcomes from here are either that eventually they will be destroyed if they never get sold to free up the storage space, or (and this is the more likely of the two) they will get sold to a mass retailer at a discount. This opens up close-out stores and quite possibly KB Toys (who has been buying more close-outs and also carried Godzilla for Bandai).
So will they come out? Honestly, no one can say for sure since it depends on whether a buyer appears, but if they do hit stores they will be there for only a short time until they sell through, and there won't be any more. So keep those eyes open at stores and on the Toy Buzz!
