The Russians Are Coming - 2

Read this series from Part 1

Danila Undresses

 Another hunky bodybuilder arrives at the Russian Guys studio aiming to impress with his physique. 

I'm impressed already with this unconventional back view, showing his attractive body shaping.
He's an aspiring model completely unaware of what is planned for him.

The background used in this picture and the next one give the appearance of a credible photo studio with plain, modern 'industrial' walling and accessories beloved of edgy photographers.

No dungeons or hotel bedrooms here!

Danila Overpowered

No sooner has Danila shed his T-shirt than he's pounced on by a hooded thug who KO's him.

We get a nice preview of the physique that's just been requisitioned for examination.

The bad guys here always wear hoods or sun shades that make them look gangsterish

Danila Hogtied

Unconscious, the bodybuilder is stripped to underwear and tied up with rope.
The hog-tie is an unusual concession to tradition at Russian Guys,
it's a position that makes the most of his muscles.

The floor he's lying on looks dry and clean.
It creates a disturbing sense of clinical purpose.

 

Other new arrivals at the 'studio' loose their clothes more crudely.
Stas is described as a football hooligan, a skinny thug.
That means its quite OK to destroy his vest/singlet before getting started.

Zhenya Undressed

This soldier's clothes get more respect and consideration during removal.
 Zhenya's fine military physique is well worthy of a gradual unveiling,
It really would be a waste to simply rip his gear off.
This approach is only feasible if he's unconscious of course.

Konstantin Debagged

Konstantin is also out for the count unaware as his jeans are undone and tugged off his legs.

He thought he was in for a medical, but the comfort of this couch will be fleeting

Vitaly tamed

By contrast, Vitalys 'Bully Guy' persona earns him an overpowering by force,
attacked by two hooded thugs he remains conscious, able to wonder why

as his T-shirt and jeans are ripped and pulled off his body

 Vitaly's attackers dangle him by his wrists, with ankles tied together, toes just touching the ground.

The yawning door of that container must look an ominous sight to him in this predicament.
 The cheery yellow of his trunks makes an incongruous contrast to the bleak surroundings

When the preliminaries of restraint are done and all is secure, 

there's time for the model to reflect on what might be to come.

I featured this man in Part 1 and previously in a review of Torture Central a few years ago.

I love his orange shorts, not cool but they suggest an individualistic, cheerful personality

Possibly a man who will find the demands of his captors difficult and shocking.

We already saw the bewilderment of the 'swimmer' in Part 1, when he realised where he was.

But 'he doth protest too much' and his reward is a mouthful of the ubiquitous bamboo pole

It's not overly effective as a silencer, but it will render his protestations unintelligible 

and deliver an aching jaw that he will remember before he speaks in future.

'The Stallion' is another bewildered man, he volunteered for something completely different to this.

He's described as a stripper and his artfully edgy hair style indicates someone who likes to be noticed.
Probably in a more flattering pose than this, I imagine.

  But then what sort of man describes himself as a stallion, for heavens sake? 

Admittedly his body warrants attention and puts on a fine display in this position.

I'm not always a fan of ball gags, they tend to distort the face but they've chosen a sensible colour for him and he wears it well. It seems to fit in nicely in with the suggestion of an arrogant man brought down to earth with a bump, his situation exemplified by his being taped to a concrete block. 

Humiliating but also flattering his strength in a weird way!

Occasionally at Russian Guys, captives are delivered into total nudity.
This model is designated simply as the 'New Employee', what an induction!

It's perhaps the harshest way to lose your clothing as a captive, to have the garments cut off you.

It's a more drastic loss than simple undressing, which at least offers the hope of their eventual return.

Cutting is more clinical and calculating than the shock tactic of ripping them away, 

Having to watch them slowly being destroyed on your body, seeing them mutilated and made useless

is a heart-breaking loss and comes with the added scare of blades manoeuvring close to the skin.

For Zhenya, having been stripped totally naked by his captors there is the further humiliation

 of being posed on a precarious, display pedestal in a curtained off, private room, 

there to be inspected by a succession of evil-looking men,

Close by, hang a selection of intimidating instruments of punishment

which he can peruse as he is waiting....... and imagine what they might feel like.

Vasily on his knees

It's even more confusing when they dress you in black latex and oil you up.
Allocating to you a role that is darkly mysterious and sexual even.
Perhaps the time to really start worrying though
 is when they chain you to a concrete block.

 Vasily looks suitably hot under the collar and wondering what's coming next.

There's another image of Vasily in his original, dodgy underwear in my review of Torture Central

more in Part 3

Read this series from Part 1

The Russian Captured Boys site provides a limited free archive of their most recent offerings.

There's a good retrospective collection of Russian Captured Boys highlights at Metalbondnyc

The Russians are coming - 1

Memorable restraint images from Russian Captured Boys

Andrei in Chains

As an example of restraint this takes some beating. No wonder Andrei looks frustrated. Not only is he restricted by these heavyweight chains, he's weighed down by them, a constant reminder of captivity. 

That's a fate worthy of a superhero.

After this he's forced to do exercises wearing them
(image referenced is in Snakes and Chains post) 

Maxim's bamboo leverage restraint

 I don't know the exact term for this form of restraint, where arms and legs are tied in a flexed position with a stave of some sort trapped in crook of the joint, but it's totally immobilising.
Mischievous-looking Maxim here seems to be just beginning to appreciate that it's not a joke. 

In time he may also discover that the bamboo poles can put uncomfortable pressure on his joints if the ties are tight. They act as levers, particularly thick ones like this. Historically in South East Asia shibari bondage was used not only to restrain prisoners of war but to incapacitate them. The use of bamboo for the poles here together with a futon-style platform and paper screens references those origins.

Petr's arm lift

The bamboo is used differently here to create a reverse arm lift. It forces Petr to balance inelegantly on his toes, in order to alleviate the pressure on his shoulder joints. Foot fans will appreciate his lines. The other three poles are acting purely as decorative encumbrances at this moment
but they can be used to impose leg separation on the captive.

The Swimmer - On the bamboo ladder

As this bewildered soul has just discovered.
I've called him 'the swimmer' on account of the design of his trunks and his lithe muscularity. His confused look makes this picture tingle with possibilities. He's reacting to the unexpected warm-up slaps he's getting, but the bamboo ladder restraint frame is unusual enough to be suggestive of mysterious, exotic and demanding rituals. It is also a compact, more accessible alternative to conventional spread-eagling on a table or between uprights.

Vladimir (?) - Suspended on a cross

This is an impressive restraint image owing much to the model's tremendous physique, which is beautifully displayed giving an impression of true strength without excessive bulk. His shaved abdomen looks great. You can see his 'bits' have been 'enhanced' but his male-ness doesn't really need the help.

At first sight it looks like a crucifixion, but the captive is actually suspended by a combination of arm slings and  ankle restraints that won't allow him to put his feet on the ground. It's a double-edged sword of two uncomfortable positions that can be alternated but not escaped.

Ilya Pole Tied

This is potentially an even more fiendish restraint. A hoist levers Ilya's arms backwards but the upright pole limits his ability to change position to mitigate the pressure.  He is forced to adopt an involuntary submissive pose.


The effect of this tension on his body is most striking.
Firstly the muscularity of his arms is highlighted.
Second, his head is forced forward and down,
 which seems to accentuate the shape of his pecs and the washboard ripple of his abdominals.
Meanwhile, the keen cut of his underpants brings out some bulky, sexy, thigh muscularity.

Suspension Bondage 1

For a supple, young man this suspension position isn't problematic unless it's excessively prolonged. It's causes the buttocks to be beautifully displayed and that's further enhanced in this case by the subtle patterning of his underpants. I haven't been able to find out this model's name

Suspension Bondage 2

His long slender leg lines are brought out in this view 

and if you seek out more images from the set there are views of his back muscles

Roman is one of the best looking men in the Russian Captured Boys stable  and this intimate shot captures a sense of acceptance and reflection that enhances his masculine credentials.

Roman suspended

When drawn up by the chain into a suspended position,

 his stressed physique in this image is impressive.

It's a marvellous study of pure restraint 

unencumbered by the mechanics of the display.

'Guy Next Door' suspended and clamped

A similar suspension test is arranged for this model, supplemented by nipple clamps. If we were to go by the profuse sweating that is suggested by the gleaming highlights on his triceps, he would be long past the stage of worrying about the minor nuisance on his pecs. I suspect that the sheen is actually oil but I'm happy with that. The matching of a sober expression with a stretched out body produces another striking image that is about personality and inner emotions as much as outward physical appearance.

I previously featured this model, memorably clad in orange shorts,
 in a review of Torture Central a few years ago.

~

If you appreciate the beauty of the human body and of it's response to tension and pressure, you can understand how shibari came to be thought of as a sort of performance art. Judging from the images in this article, the men behind Russian Captured Boys seem to understand this. But their approach to bondage is much simpler, less sophisticated than shibari and that throws greater emphasis onto the intrinsic qualities of their models. The sparing use of clothing also contributes, avoiding the distraction of  explicit nudity which would otherwise overshadow everything else. It certainly doesn't prevent these images from being erotic. More on this next time.

Continued in Part 2

Priapus of Milet becomes All Time Most Popular Post in 2019

Priapus of Milet - Antechamber

A scene from 'Antechamber' by Priapus in which a husky, red head explores a post-holocaust labyrinth
 and is taken captive by robot-skeletons with a taste for tormenting human men.

Here they escort him to his next experience.

See the full series at Telemachus12

~

According to my Blogger 'hit stats', out of all the mitchmen articles published to date, 

those registering the most hits since publication were as shown below.

Table 1 mitchmen Articles With Most Hits Since Publication to end 2018

Posn (last yr)	Title of Post (& link)	Year of Pub'n	2018 Hits	2019 Hits
1 (2)	Priapus of Milet - 1	2012	23787	30906
2 (1)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel	2010	24020	26717
3 (6)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cavelo	2008	16830	23837
4 (5)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Jotto	2009	13786	17666
5 (4)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Malex	2010	14385	16033
6 (18)	The Milking Factory	2017	5817	15238
7 (-)	IFNB – A Fantasy World of Bodybuilders	2018	2519	14184
8 (6)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Franco	2009	11600	12849
9 (7)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Martin of Holland	2010	9500	11071
10 (10)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – The Hun	2009	6878	9814
11 (9)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Heredia	2009	7284	8676
12 (8)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Platter	2012	7430	8410
13 (17)	A Christmas Criminal by Mitchell (1-5)	2015	5946	8202
14 (10)	My Initiation	2012	6878	8059
15 (12)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Leo	2010	6442	7569
16 (-)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Julius	2009	4162	7460
17 (-)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Kalabro	2009	5618	7240
18 (14)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Klaus von Brandenburg	2009	6098	7122
19 (-)	Milking Factories - 3	2018	974	6929
20 (13)	A Tribute to Bound Gods	2011	6145	6926

A couple of years ago I was gloomily pondering the rather static nature of this annual survey. How different things look now! Several recent articles featuring modern art styles have raced up the rankings and there are now 4 in the top 20 shaking up the order and dislodging old favourites such as (this year), Mahoney and Michael Mitchell (no relation!).

This year Priapus of Milet – 1 which arguably started the 'new wave' revolution way back(!) in 2012 finally dislodged A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel from the No 1 position and has already established a commanding lead. With this artist regularly producing stunning new work over at Telemachus12 (see header picture) it's hard to see anyone catching him soon.

Mike Carcel on the other hand seems to have stopped publishing. Nowadays it's getting harder to find appropriate hosts for his rather demanding subject matter and his position in this survey is in danger of being taken over by A-Z of Fetish Artists – Cavelo next year. 
But both these artists are themselves under threat from behind.

Beyond these three leaders, the main action is the arrival of 'posts of the year', The Milking Factory and IFNB – A Fantasy World of Bodybuilder Morphs at 6 & 7 respectively both having risen dramatically this year (64 places for IFNB!). A second Milking Factories – 3 article also sneaked into 19^th place in an equally astonishing rise from nowhere last year, others seem to share my view that the lead image in this article (by Cupcakes666) is magnificent. These posts have yet to prove their longevity but it seems likely that one of them will be challenging the top 3 next time despite the huge gap of over 8,000 hits to be bridged. It's an exciting change to the established order.

The two arrivals at 6 & 7 have split a gaggle of A-Z artists who have juggled positions this year (as usual) but continued to maintain significant hit rates, even after 10 years on the blog. Most of them have been pushed down a place or two by the upstarts but A-Z of Fetish Artists – Jotto (up 1) and A-Z of Fetish Artists – The Hun (no change) managed to resist the tide of change better than the others with Jotto recording a significantly increased hit rate, up by a third. Not to be dismissed just yet!

In these circumstances I am delighted (as you might expect) that my own 'A Christmas Criminal' story rose a creditable 4 places to 13. Admittedly, I do advertise it continuously in the blog sidebar but it is a piece I'm proud of. If 8,000 men have read it and enjoyed it, I am highly delighted.

Further down, two more 10 year old articles, A-Z of Fetish Artists – Julius and A-Z of Fetish Artists – Kalabro entered the top 20 for the first time. Julius' cause has probably been helped by my comprehensive revision of his original A-Z article and my occasional posts of 'doctored' frames from his stories, although I haven't done one for a while to give him more impetus. Kalabro has been hovering just outside the top 20 for a while and I have no doubt that the runaway success of the Milking Factory has given him added impetus. That first article was based on a group of pictures by him and it was they which inspired the whole series. So take a bow Kalabro!

For comparison, my 'Index of Artists' page reached 40807 hits at the end of 2019 (up from 26846) which would have earned top spot in this ranking if I counted it as a post. It shows the tremendous interest in artists who work in our field.

Years not presently represented in the survey

• 2013 – The top contender is still my 2nd article on Mike Carcel but it slid again to 38 (33),
• 2014 - Bound & Gagged Magazine - 4 which rose from 24 to 22
• 2016 - A-Z of Fetish Artists - WoodunArt at 63 (69)
• 2019 – Milking Factories-4 entered the table at 93 (-)

Average hit rates

The total cumulative hits method of assessing popularity is obviously biased towards older articles so it's interesting to compare average hits per year since publication - see table below. In this list, multi-part articles are represented by the highest scoring individual post only and I have left out 2019 posts which don't even have a full year yet and are covered by a separate table. (If I had included them they would have bagged many of the top 10 spots!) I've included 5 extra articles as well, to counterbalance the preponderance of 2017-18 articles

Table 2 Articles with the Highest Average Hits per year Since Publication

Article	Published	Hits per year	Position (& last year)	'Total Hits' position
IFNB – A Fantasy World of Bodybuilders	2018	7820	1 (-)	7
The Milking Factory	2017	5317	2 (2)	6
Priapus of Milet - 1	2012	4010	3 (1)	1
The Art of Homoeros - 6	2018	3871	4 (-)	35
A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel	2010	2810	5 (3)	2
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cavelo	2008	2507	6 (4)	3
A New Life For Our Air Force Boys	2017	2103	7 (7)	43
A Christmas Criminal (ep 1-5)	2015	2038	8 (5)	13
Hunk Hunt – Mitch Colby 5	2017	1954	9 (6)	14
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Jotto	2009	1858	10 (9)	4
The Art of Sparkieshock	2018	1776	11 (-)	88
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Malex	2010	1686	12 (8)	5
A-Z of Fetish Artists - Franco	2009	1352	13 (10)	8
Tentacles in action	2018	1223	14 (-)	111
Bound & Gagged Magazine - 4	2014	1189	15 (12)	22

Last year the usual suspects still bagged most of the top spots, but this year the challenge from the newcomers, two of whom are already in the top echelons, is clear.

This method tends to benefit popular, newer articles in the short term and there are some other interesting beneficiaries this year just outside the top 10 - The Art of Sparkieshock and Tentacles in action. Historically these articles disappear just as quickly as they appeared if they do not keep up their high initial hit rates (remember Woodunart?). However there are signs of 2 'middle aged' posts consolidating a more permanent position in the top group as their average gradually becomes 'less dilutable' by the passing years, namely A Christmas Criminal at 8 and Bound & Gagged Magazine – 4 at 15. I suspect Chirenon's A New Life For Our Air Force Boys which has remained in 7^th place despite the influx above it may also fall into this category.

I'm gradually revising and extending my oldest A-Z entries, the main beneficiaries this year were (with latest and previous positions) Brick 71 (83), RJ Blake 121 (-), Turquine 59 (59), Hasegawa 195 (-), plus late in the year I did Kaarlo who is presently not qualified for the table (887 hits). Also in December, the articles on Manflesh 27 (22) and Facchini 79 (89) were augmented by the transfer of galleries from the old Yahoo! Group but too late to affect this years figures.

The articles I post to this blog are very much based on my own interests and fancies but the results of this survey do help me plan future offerings. My readers preferences doesn't always match my own (where are Les, JoeT and Link?). Nevertheless it's gratifying to see such interest in the great artists who often have a fairly low visibility on the web.

Remember, this comparison is only made for entertainment, since I don't really know how accurate Google's stats are, I suspect they don't even count people who just browse through the blog roll.

Thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support.

IFNB is the Most Popular 'All Comers' Post in 2019

 A recent post at IFNB showing a Mr Alpha contestant and his support assistant

 celebrating victory with a cup of juice.

According to my Blogger 'hit stats', out of all the mitchmen articles published to date,
those registering the most hits during 2019 were as shown below.

Table 1 – mitchmen Articles with Most Hits in 2019

Position (& last year)	Article	Published	Hits in 2019	Hits in 2018
1 (6)	IFNB A Fantasy World of BodyBuilders	2018	11665	2516
2 (3)	The Milking Factory	2017	9421	4406
3 (2)	Priapus of Milet - 1	2012	7119	5722
4 (1)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Cavelo	2008	7007	6574
5 (-)	Milking Factories -3	2018	5955	974
6 (-)	The Art of Homoeros – 6 (cross )	2018	4593	699
7 (5)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Jotto	2009	3880	2836
8 (10)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Julius	2009	3298	2208
9 (7)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – The Hun	2009	2936	2507
10 (-)	Milking Factories – 4	2019	2820	-
11 (4)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Mike Carcel	2010	2697	2894
12 (-)	The Art of Homoeros -1 (beefcake)	2018	2592	1110
13 (-)	Chirenon 'A New Life For Our Airforce Boys'	2017	2536	1686
14 (-)	Another Milking Factory (No 2)	2018	2328	867
15 (11)	Mitchell A Christmas Criminal (ep 1-5)	2015	2256	2169
16 (-)	Homoeros Gallery	2019	2238	50 (est)
17 (8)	Hunk Hunt – Mitch Colby 5 (spank GIF)	2017	1954	2489
18 (-)	The Art of Sparkieshock	2018	1933	1045
19 (-)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Teddy of Paris	2014	1778	799
20 (-)	The Art of Homoeros – 4 (abused)	2018	1741	861
21 (12)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Malex	2010	1686	1691
22 (18 )	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Kalabro	2009	1622	1311
23 (13)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Martin of Holland	2010	1571	1550
24 (9)	Bound & Gagged Magazine - 4	2014	1567	2217
25 (-)	A-Z of Fetish Artists – Franco (Part 2)	2017	1524	888
26 (16)	Vintage Spanking Art	2014	1459	1342
27= (19 =)	A-Z of Fetish Artists - Heredia	2009	1392	1202
27= (-)	Tentacles in Action	2018	1392	864
29 (-)	IFNB is most popular new 'mitchmen' post of 2018	2019	1302	-
30	Mitchell's Last Chance Saloon	2018	1284	477

This table only shows hits registered during 2019 but for all articles, not just those first published in 2019. The titles in all the tables link to the original posts. Please tell me if you have difficulty with any links. Stats collected 31/12/19

These tables are usually dominated by the older articles on classic artists, but this year relative newcomers have overturned that. IFNB A Fantasy World of BodyBuilders, in it's first full year captured the top spot overtaking the original Milking Factory article which was already poised for success last year at No3. IFNB finished ahead by a substantial margin. There was an equally large gap down to Priapus of Milet-1 at No 3 (down 1 place). The phenomenal popularity of the IFNB and Milking Factory posts was very obvious to me during the year and the winning total was 75% higher than last year's winner A-Z of Fetish Artists – Cavelo (down to 4). Cavelo recorded just under 10% more hits but that wasn't anywhere near enough to hold back the new wave, or to prevent Priapus of Milet - 1 regaining the upper hand in their 3 year tussle. Priapus showed a 25% rise in hits which was the same as the overall increase in visits to the blog.

While The Milking Factory was pipped for top spot there was compensation of sorts from 3 other posts in the series which came in at 5, 10 and 14. With 2 further articles in the series appearing in the 2019 new articles list, this is definitely 'The Year of the Milking Factory'.

The other tsunami to sweep the chart this year was of course Homoeros who snatched 4 places (6, 12, 16, 20) including the surprise success of the Homoeros Gallery article which I talked about in the new articles list. His crucifixion images (The Art of Homoeros – 6) seem to attract most interest, more than double that of the first article in the series (The Art of Homoeros -1) which is a good indicator of the interest in his wider work.

Given the dominance of these multi-part series I'm also showing, this year, the next 10 articles in the table who might otherwise have made the higher positions. Most of these are ejectees from the 2018 top 20 but there are some interesting new entrants towards the bottom.

The notable (and gratifying) increase in visits to the blog recently (they've doubled in the last 3years) has helped to drive up the hit rates for new articles. The top 20 cut-off figure this year was 1741, compared with last years 1202, and this puts the historic performance of older articles under pressure. It will be interesting to see what the cumulative hit chart looks like this year. The visits picture this year went a bit crazy with extreme fluctuations from month to month which I can't explain. It doesn't seem to relate to the new posts I am making, because most visitors still go to the older stuff, as you will see if you look at the top 10 gadget which I added this year. The modest presence of two 2019 articles in the top 20 also reflects this preference.

One casualty of this turmoil was former perennial chart-topper Mike Carcel which dropped to No 11 with a small decline in new hits for the second consecutive year. I have lost track of where he is posting now (if anywhere) which may account for this dip. However Cavelo, Jotto, Julius and The Hun made a good fist of defending the 'old school' presence with decent increases in views. That was supplemented by the unexpected appearance of Teddy of Paris at No19. It's the first time he has registered in any of these charts and I'm absolutely delighted that his superb art is still garnering admirers. The continuing high levels of interest in traditional, fetish art sets the bar for new arrivals who have yet to show their own durability.

Two other distinctive representatives of the new wave made also welcome entries this year Chirenon 'A New Life For Our Airforce Boys' and The Art of Sparkieshock are representatives of fetish-inspired art that's very much of the 21^st century

On a personal note it's nice to see A Christmas Criminal (ep 1-5) hanging on to a top 20 spot at 15. This article also effectively carried the flag for spanking this year. I don't regard myself as a spanking artist, but it features prominently in this particular story. There was also spanking support from Hunk Hunt – Mitch Colby 5 (which contains a spanking GIF). Mitch Colby (no relation!) is also the sole wrestling representative in the list and his is the only photography article. Of the rest, 3 articles are photo-manips, 11 are computer based art and 5 traditional art. It adds up to a resounding vote for imaginative, creative art.

That conclusion is reinforced by the 'Index of Artists' Page which recorded 13951 hits in 2019 (up 30%). This feature of the blog (introduced in 2015) is probably mainly responsible for the increase in visits overall, total blog visits this year were 696K, up 24% from 2018. The growth also coincides to some extent with a switch of focus at the blog from traditional, historic fetish art to more modern exponents as the A-Z series came to a close. Either way I'm glad visitors are finding the index useful and hope it will lead many more newcomers to a fantastic heritage of gay art they never saw before.

Total mitchmen blog visits for all years are now 3.57 million (2.88)

Next time I will reveal the all time table of cumulative hits

did Mike Carcel keep his spot at the top?

Thanks to all of you for your continuing interest and support.

The Twelfth Day of Christmas (Bareass Blogs Special No 40)

Bareass Bottoms-Up Band Beating the Retreat

"We've made sure those 12 bloody drummers 

won't be coming down our street on a Sunday morning next year!"

(and by a happy chance 12th night falls on a Sunday this year! 😉)

Originally published in greyscale as part of my

"This Christmas will be .....different" series

(which is available in full at mitchmen club at Adonis Male) 

Go to No 41

 View Bareass series from No 1

Milking Factory 4 is mitchmen Most Popular New Post of 2019

 At this time of year it is my custom to review the last year's posts to see which attracted the most visitors. This year I have changed my approach by including some posts from the previous year which were published too late to get fair recognition last time and ranking them all based on a time-averaged hit rate. The full rationale for this change is explained here.

Detail of Sarander's 'Alien Semen Farm' (from Milking Factories-4)

According to my Blogger 'view count' stats, the 20 posts listed below
 are the most-visited mitchmen articles out of the 127 published in 2019
 This total compares with 119 in 2018. The titles have links to the individual posts.

2019 Most Popular Post Table based on average hit rate (not total hits)
2019 Rank (total hits rank)	Title	Hit Rate pa	Publication Date
1 (1)	Milking Factories – 4	2949	Jan
2 (2)	Homoeros Gallery	2186	Dec '18
3 (7)	Milking Factories No 5 – The Development Lab	1811	May
4 (5)	Kasee's Wrestling Humiliation	1672	Mar
5 (11)	The Art of Ephorox	1535	May
6 (13)	Milk Outlets	1361	Jun
7 (4)	IFNB is most popular new 'mitchmen' post of 2018	1316	Jan
8 (18)	The Art of German Twister	1185	July
9 (6)	The Art of Ivan Bubentkov	1136	Dec '18
10 (16)	The Art of Hasegawa (New)	1036 est	Jun
11 (20)	Get Carter!	883	May
12 (10)	The Art of Colt 1	865	Nov '18
13 (14)	The Art Of Oscar Waldes	833	May
14 (8)	The Art of Bowen	830	Sep '18
15 (9)	Little Known Incidents of WWII (No 4) – Unlucky in War	745	Aug '18
16 (19)	Mitchell's Fetish Art for April – Sports Star Captured	718	Apr
17 (22)	Taken Off The Streets - 1	688	Apr
18 (12)	Little Known Incidents of WWII (No 8) – Bizarre Brutality 2	668	Dec '18
19 (23)	The Art of Turquine (Update 1)	652	Apr
20 (15)	Most popular 'mitchmen posts of all time (end 2018)	640	Jan
21 (17)	The Humiliation of Ray	624	Feb
22 (21)	Seamus O'Reilly, Beautifully Bound in 'Simon's Night In' (Part 2)	617	Mar

Stats collected on 31st December 2019

This new style ranking contains a large number (6) of 2018 posts but 4 of them (including the highest 3) were published in December or November 2018 so their inclusion is not very hard to justify. I excluded Wrestling Arsenal (also from December 2018) because it actually made the 2018 list - an exceptional occurrence. The 2 posts from earlier in 2018 are slightly more controversial, but their hit counts have been averaged over a much longer period and so demonstrate a significant sustained interest which what this exercise aims to identify. However I have also included 2 extra 2019 posts in the list to allow readers to cancel out these 'anomalies' if they wish

The rankings in brackets are based on the old-style 'total hits' method which obviously favours older articles but doesn't change the top spots as much as you might expect.

The list is dominated by the three 'Milking Factory' posts at 1, 3 and 7 which have emulated the spectacular success of their predecessors, helped a little, I suspect, by the introduction of the 'Popular Posts' sidebar at the blog which has been dominated by this series recently and channels more readers to view them. The winner this year (reproduced above) was way ahead of the second-placed article but at 2949 did not quite manage to catch the previous years scores of Wrestling Arsenal (an exceptional 9195) and IFNB (3096). Wrestling Arsenal would have also finished 5^th in this years list had I included it, but enough is enough!

The success of the Milking articles was not a surprise but the appearance of Homoeros Gallery at No2 was. This article is no more than a guide to that artist's websites but there was a surge in visits in the closing weeks of the year which lifted it into this lofty position. 
It's a reflection of the level of interest in the artist.

Seeing 'Kasee's Humiliation' at No 4 did please me. This is (almost)the 'wrestling' article I have always wanted to write, ever since I saw a handsome novice being thoroughly humiliated by an old hand on late night TV many years ago. (I say 'almost' because the 'victim' in the match I remember more resembled Kasee's tormentor, Cason, and his nemesis was much bigger and older). Anyway, Kasee and his handsome tormentor followed up the previous success of wrestling articles on Wrestling Arsenal (2018) and Mitch Colby (2017). The 'Humiliation of Chace La Chance' (great body, terrible name!),  published in May, narrowly missed inclusion but has a chance(!) of making next years list.

There are 8 'Art of ...' articles in the list this year headed up by the excellent Ephorox, a long overdue arrival at this blog. Ivan Bubentkov was a notable and worthy beneficiary of the change in my ranking inclusion criteria, I recently discovered more of his work I hope to share here in 2020. The retrospective feel of his art was complemented by 2 golden oldies – Colt and Hasegawa. These two are genuinely great artists and I'm glad my followers appreciate them too. Modern artists TooBoShoo and Chuckie79 missed the hit count criteria this year but look certain to feature in next years list. Only 3 of the top 20 articles were based purely on photographs (Kasee, Get Carter! and Taken off the Street-1). It reminds me that although I like to have a varied magazine format at this blog, most visitors come for the Art.

The Hasegawa article is another minor anomaly in this years list. This was a comprehensive rewrite of my 2009 A-Z article on him but, unusually for 'upgrades', I published it completely anew this year. That's why I've included it in the 2019 list (plus the fact that I admire him so much!). I had to adjust the hit count to isolate this years figure. Unfortunately, (and astonishingly) the original article had never made it's way into my 'top articles' spreadsheet so I had no record of the opening count for 2019, I've had to rely on memory, hence the est(imate) tag in the table, but I am certain he's in the right position.

Hasegawa was part of an informal 'Asian Festival' which I instigated this year, prompted by the slightly embarrassing realisation that Chace La Chance's opponent, Jessie Lee, was probably the first model of Asian heritage to ever get decent exposure here (although I have featured Asian artists here many times, so don't shout at me!). Most of these articles were in the second half of the year and missed this year's cut. I plan to run this feature into the New Year with posts on Fundoshi and the Speedo erotica that Asian men seem to have made their own.

I've put more of myself into the blog in recent years so I'm gratified to see one of my own pictures (and it's one of my personal favourites) in the top 20 again this year - Sports Star Kidnap at No 16. I was surprised however that the colourised 'nude' version didn't attract so many viewings. Perhaps many of you share my prediliction for modest, traditional underwear wearers in fetish encounters! Even more unexpectedly, 2 of my 'War Comic cuts' squeezed in at 15 and 18 (also helped by the rule change this year). These articles don't seem to generate much excitement when they are first published but the interesting fetish content (captives staked out or tied to railway lines) seems to have been recognised more gradually over the course of the year.

The appearance of last years MPP, 'Top Post' analyses at 7 and 20 is also flattering in a way and suggests new visitors are finding them interesting and helpful but I'd have preferred these places to have been occupied by meatier articles.

These small, personal successes have been some compensation for the upheaval of Yahoo zapping my permanent gallery which had been on display at the mitchmen group since 2007. As I write the fate of the mailing list seems to be hanging in the balance too, but we all move on and the replacement 'Club' at Adonis Male is shaping up to be an even better showcase.

Remember, this comparison is only made for entertainment, since I don't really know how accurate Google's stats are, I suspect they don't even count people who just browse through the blog roll.

Thank you to all my readers for your interest in my blog,
I will publish the updated all-time list of favourites shortly.

Happy New Year!