Series 5--American

[brighteyes70s]

Which of the series 5 figures "have been" found on American cards or American boxes, and which ones have not? Curious. Also, since I've never owned any, do the I Micronauti lines still say Mego on their backs, or is their wording also in Italian?

[geotroid]

Good question. Off the cuff, here's what I believe is correct:

Italian only packaging:
King Atlas
Lantaurion
Green Baron
Pegasus
Red Falcon

Blizzard

Hyperion

Known English-language packaging:
Centaurus
Lobros
Kronos
Emperor
Megas

Ampzilla
Sharkos
Lobstros

Over the years, a few collectors reported seeing English language packaging variants in stores upon their release, but Mego was in such disarray during that time frame that no official records can verify that. A few folks in New York state vouched for that fact, though. May have something to do with the location of Mego's warehouse. Before Marty burned it down ;-)

More commonly, English-language packaged Series 5 toys went to distributors that paid hard cash for the product, including Grand Toys in Canada, which have their company name right on the packaging.

Other English-language packaging, such as the Emperor and Megas, were a result of distributer Lion Rock purchasing (or inheriting) some of Mego's inventory during their bankruptcy. So Lion Rock they released them under their own name.

Also, a friend told me he remembers seeing a Lobstros on a shelf in New Zealand back in the day. We can only guess who the distributer was, so I'll wager Grand Toys.

Bringing up the "Series 5" toys, which were prevalent in Italy, certainly segues nicely into one of the great Mego mysteries - finding detailed info on how the deal with Gig was brokered and carried out for the Italian market during Mego's collapse. And then the Inter-changeables came out, along with Nuovi Micronauti, i Fantanauti, Cavelleri Stellari, and the Greek el Greco Astro Warriors.

And the Red Falcon clones in the 90's.

All fingers point to Howie. . .

Everything I wrote above is basically regurgitated info researched by AcroRay. As always, Ray, step in here if I got anything wrong.

-geotroid

[brighteyes70s]

Thanks! Very helpful. I'm just trying to collect Mego items that were "at least" released in America, even if briefly. Foreign-only, although usually more in demand, isn't something I'm going after at this particular time.

[Drain]

I agree about the language versions sometimes being availible in the US. A childhood friend, bought a Hasbro Star War figure with the tri-language backer card in a store here in OR back in the day. I remember it was a Darth Vader because it had made in Taiwan stamped on the leg and mine that came on a US backer card had Hong Kong.
I wish someone would one day make a book showing each piece and all their parts and ways to tell the original Japanese Micro Men from Mego from Inter-Changables from Pasade. The parts marked Mego are easy but the rest.