My favorite action
figure line of all time has to be Mego's World's Greatest
Super-Heroes line. Sure, other lines had better articulation, or just
plain looked better, but these will always have a special place in my
heart.
I probably first
saw them on display at Kmart, which was a regular shopping
destination for my mom when it came to getting clothes and household
items. This was where I bought my first cassette tape recorder
(purchased on layaway – remember that?). Kmart was, back in those
days, was a treasure trove of toys for the young geek... GI Joes
galore; AHI carded toys like Batmobiles, parachutists, friction
powered stunt cyclists, and more; and of course, Megos!
I know I was
familiar with their Action Jackson line, especially the TV
commercials with the animated opening and catchy theme...
Once you hear it,
you can't forget it, eh? Obviously, Action Jackson was Mego's answer
to G.I. Joe, but in a less expensive 8” scale. Famously, Mego would
reuse many Action Jackson accessories for later lines, and even the
Astronaut from the Planet of the Apes line would basically reuse
Action Jackson and the pilot's jumpsuit. Of course, this meant that
they already had molds for 8” male figures, and doing anything
different would just mean a few new molds, like for heads and the
occasional hand. They would do some different bodies, but that's for
later discussion.
The first figures
in the World's Greatest Super-Heroes line were Superman, Batman,
Robin, and Aquaman. Batman and Robin were originally released with
removable cowl and mask, and these are some of the highest-valued
Megos. This was the 1972 line, and in 1973, Spider-Man, Captain
America, and Tarzan were added, while in 1974, they added Supergirl,
Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Mr. Myxzptlx, The Riddler, the
Joker, the Penguin, and Captain Marvel (although he was called
“Shazam” on the packaging).
Now,
you would think, wouldn't you, that as much as I was into comics at a
fairly young age, and that also the fact that my brothers also liked
super-heroes a lot (we'd all watch Batman
and would pretty much faithfully watch Super Friends;
we were also great fans of The Fantastic Four and
Spiderman animated
series) that we would've got those Megos when they were first
released in 1972, right?
Oh, my friend, you
would be wrong. We didn't get them until Christmas of 1974. But it
was worth the wait, because we got Superman, Batman, Robin, Tarzan
and Spiderman, all at once! We would get the male Bat-Villains later,
but that's another tale.
So it was
Christmas, 1973. I was 11 years old, and the family was getting ready
for Christmas Eve services at the church we went to at the time
(coincidentally, the same church that had a rummage sale where I
bought my first-ever Beatles album, but that's another story for
another time). Dad had gotten my brothers and sisters out to the
station wagon, but my mom wasn't quite ready... and she asked me to
stay behind for a few minutes.
Our
stockings were dutifully hung on the wall (we didn't have a fireplace
at this house), patiently waiting for the arrival of Santa Claus. And
once my mom and I were the only ones in the house, she came out with
a bag from Kmart, out of which she started pulling those Megos, all
taken out of the packages, and told me to help her put them in the
stockings.
I was shocked, to
be honest... I mean, I don't think I really still believed in Santa
Claus at that age, but I think I still wanted to believe, just like I
wished that there were really superheroes out there who would save
the day when trouble reared its ugly head. I'd certainly never said
anything to my parents about not believing in Santa any more, so I'm
not sure why mom chose that year to let me in on things. At least on
some level, I had to have figured that if I at least acted like I
still believed, I'd still get Santa loot.
So my mind was
awhirl as I dutifully put the figures in the stockings. I have no
idea what went into my sisters' stockings, mind you... that is long
lost from my memory. So the joy of knowing we got the superheroes was
tempered with the irrevocable loss of part of my childhood innocence.
Mind you, I did not
let this get in the way of enjoying the action figures. I'd had GI
Joes for some time, and the biggest disappointment was that they were
of different scales, so they were incompatible for play, of course!
As I implied
above,we did get the Bat-Villains, male contingent, later, but those
were the last of the 8” figures we'd get (when I was in junior
high, however, I did buy a set of the original figures in Mego's
later Star Trek line, as well as the bridge set).
A few years later,
my brother Jeff got the magnetic Batman and Robin 12” figures, and
still later, I bought the Hulk Comic Action Hero, but that was it for
off-the-shelf Mego purchases. All the other superhero toys we got as
kids were those afore-mentioned AHI toys, and I specifically remember
having a friction-powered Batcycle with Batman figure, as well as a
Batman parachutist. Another AHI figure I recall getting was the Star
Trek phaser flashlight.
We did get other 8”
figures... the Famous Monsters figures of the Abominable Snowman and
the Fly. But those were the only other ones.
Oh, I knew of the
other figures... one couldn't help but notice them on the racks, as
well as the commercials as well as the ads in the comics themselves,
but I didn't get them. The best I was able to do was to make costumes
for my 12” GI Joe figures (I used to be into puppetry, where I
learned how to sew by hand, a handy skill when our Riddler figure's
seams came loose on his costume).
But in the late
1980s... ah, that was another matter. I'd started getting interested
in recapturing not ony my childhood, but also for what I'd wanted in
my childhood. After dabbling a bit in Super Powers figures, I made
the leap to collecting Megos and Mego-like figures. I went to toy
shows, initially as a buyer, and then later as a seller (although I
did my share of buying as well). I managed to get nearly all of the
Mego superheroes and villains, although some were missing accessories
(yes, including all the Teen Titans), some of the 12” figures, the
Planet of the Apes figures, some of the monsters, and then the Remco
monster figures after that... among many other things. I had only a
few of the accessories.
Well, come the
1990s, when I was out of work and needed to raise funds to pay rent
(and later, to afford a move to Wisconsin to be with my first wife,
Barbara), I had to start selling all my toys. Gone were the Megos,
Secret Wars, Super Powers and other figures, never to be replaced.
And
now, as I look on eBay for pictures of cool stuff to share here, I
occasionally see the prices being asked for Megos and wince... if I'd
only been able to hold on to them, until eBay came along, I could
have realized at least four to five times the price I sold them all
for... even better, if I didn't have to sell them at all, I would
have need for a lot more shelf space in my office. But that's the way
these things seem to go in my life. I accumulate cool stuff for a few
years, then things go bad, and I have to sell stuff off... collect
and sell, collect and sell. And I bet I'm not the only one who's had
that happen, eh?
But the Megos...
those were the items I wish I had, of all the collectibles I've
bought and sold, most of all.
Concept:
High school teacher finds mystic amulet that gives the wearer the
powers of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and these powers are used to
help rescue high school students and perform other beneficial
functions.
