How to restart the WGSH line (without M/DC licenses)!

[fumetti]

It just struck me as I was reading a hot new comic series called Superpowers (by the great Alex Ross).

EMCE could revive the WGSH by starting off with golden age superheroes in the public domain!

Daredevil!
Blue Beetle
The Black Terror!
Fighting Yank!
The Green Lama!
Pyroman!
The Flame!
Miss Masque!
The Yellow Claw!

(EMCE could do worse than piggy-backing the immense popularity of Alex Ross.)

If it sold well, it might encourage Marvel and DC to grant a new license for Mego-style superheroes. It's an idea, anyway....

[thunderbolt]

Can't use Daredevil or The Blue Beetle names, but other than that, its a good idea.

[MIB41]

Interesting but I think EMCE is sticking with anything that is tried and true from the Mego archives. I believe the public domain characters would be too risky at this stage because they want to continue building that successful momentum to get the attention of the big licenses like DC & Marvel. Once they are in, all of our dreams will come to fruition.

[fumetti]

Interesting but I think EMCE is sticking with anything that is tried and true from the Mego archives. I believe the public domain characters would be too risky at this stage because they want to continue building that successful momentum to get the attention of the big licenses like DC & Marvel. Once they are in, all of our dreams will come to fruition.

This thread is in response to a comment by DrMego that EMCE is looking at doing a project of their own (I forget the exact wording). So it's already out there that they want to go beyond the Mego archives.

I'm pretty sure EMCE would get more interest in public domain superheroes than, say, redoing the Dukes of Hazzard or Happy Days. Especially if they can get the product on the shelves before the Dynamite series "Superpowers" ends. They might even get Alex Ross to do the backing card. Now THAT would guarantee a lot of sales. Plenty of "I want everything by Alex Ross" fans out there.

[GreenLantern9999]

Plus I wouldn't call those the Worlds GREATEST Super Heroes.

[AAAAA]

What you want to do is create your own heros, find names that are not copyrighted (Harder than you think) and create a comic book & include it in with the figure.
I talk to Paul about that last year, I sent him some Mock ups figures and some art work , He like idea.

[argent007]

I think public domain heroes would sell better than new creations. Also, either would sell better than Happy Days and Dukes of Hazzard.

[jds1911a1]

Dukes and Happy Days were HUGE shows in Mego's hayday so it was a smart License (most kids I knew had bo luke and Fonz alongside thier wgsh) but i never thought the CTVT decison to revive happy days was wise. It has a very niche fan base who aren't usually toy collectors. even more that argument for lucy and married w children.
EMCE using star trek is smart. Doc hits several collector markets and a nostgalgia market at once. I suspect POTA was the same thinking. At this point I have accepted that we will never see him allowed to market marvel and DC and will be happy with his continued development of new ST figures. I just hope we see belly shirt kirk or mirror mirror spock and sulu.

[fumetti]

I'm not knocking the 70s line in any way. What they produced then was based on the toy buying interests of the time. Today is somewhat different. Those of us buying "Megos" today aren't kids but nostalgic adults. The biggest excitement of the EMCE Star Trek line isn't about Kirk, Spock, and Klingons but Chekov and Sulu, and the rarer Aliens. We have unresolved childhood issues!

And looking over the recent "wish lists," it appears that fans are getting excited about a possible Mego version of pretty much any established sci-fi/fantasy property. To me, that suggests that at the heart of most desires is a link back to a pre-existing established character.

This thread is a suggestion that addresses that want, while giving the WGSH fans some new purchases of their own.

[spamn]

I'd love these figures, but the general public's unfamiliarity with them probably limits their mass marketability.

[fumetti]

I'd love these figures, but the general public's unfamiliarity with them probably limits their mass marketability.

Are these new lines actually intended for mass markets? Isn't the production run small, like 3,000 or so?

Mego fans are the top demographic. And my guess is that they're predominantly older folks who had the originals as kids. And most of those seem to be superhero fans.

Piggy backed with a current hot creator and hot new title (particularly with an ADVERTISEMENT in Superpowers itself) would overcome a lot of that unfamiliarity.

[fumetti]

And there's the marketing strategy.

Advertise everywhere Superpowers is advertised, sold, or reviewed.

Key places:
Wizard magazine
Ads on popular comic book websites
Superpowers comic itself
Selling the figures through Amazon

Use the phrase "Golden Age" in the line's title and you'll get a lot of hits off search engines.

[thunderbolt]

I'd love these figures, but the general public's unfamiliarity with them probably limits their mass marketability.

These aren't made for the mass market, they target the comic shop and toy collector market.

[spamn]

These aren't made for the mass market, they target the comic shop and toy collector market.

Even so. Star Trek has a lot more fans than a bunch of heroes who were out of print before Mego made figures.

How many of us read these characters as a kid? No nostalgia factor, no fanbase. Seems like a reeeeeeeally small market that'd get these.

Getting Alex Ross package art could help, though. Hell, I'd buy 'em. There's a great book out there published in the last ten years called Terra Obscura that used a lot of them.

I doubt made-up heroes would be any better, for the same reason.

I'd think the way to go would be new properties in mego style rather than old ones.

But I'm no marketing type person, so whadda I know?