Captain America Toys!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Cindy and I cover Captain America toys from Captain Action to Hot Toys, making a long stop in Megoville in the latest episode of Super Mates

http://traffic.libsyn.com/supermates/SuperMates_E53_Captain_America_Toys.mp3

Chris

[Werewolf]

Neat, I will give it a listen this weekend.

BTW: Is that your collection? Very nice.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Yeah, it's mine. Definitely not the biggest, but I enjoy it. I've always been more of a DC collector, despite Cap being my favorite Marvel hero.

We go beyond my own collection in the episode.

Chris

[Marvelmania]

Will always love any Captain America toys!!!!! Of coursethis is my favorite one yet Chris!!!!!!

[MIB41]

That was a great listen Chris! I always enjoyed the Ideal Captain Action Cap. Like most qualities in that line, some of the quirky interpretations make it so enduring.

Reb Brown’s two television movies are, for me, the two best examples of what the limitations of 70’s television and a small budget gave us. To this day, my head hurts trying to reconcile a motorcycle helmet as cap’s mask. It gets even more inept in the second movie after he gets a real mask but wears it under the helmet anyway.

I can envision some studio executive sitting at the table during a proposal for Cap and saying, “ Hey! Kids love Evel Knievel. Let’s turn Cap into a modern stunt-cycle hero!” You KNOW that happened… It’s when you see that kind of mentality that it becomes even more miraculous that the Incredible Hulk turned out as thoughtful as it did.

I always loved the Mego Cap because, to me, those eyes were an actual attempt to recreate Kirby’s interpretation. Plus he’s the ONLY Mego to ever get the forehead shadow painted on his head. So I give loads of props for Mego trying to go for a direct Kirby reference. I think that gets past allot of people because they read it too literal.

I think one of my most vivid memories about Mego Cap involved the 12 inch version. In the late 70’s and early 80’s, Children’s Palace came to town. I think if I time stamp that properly, they got to Louisville even before TRU broke ground here. But anyway, that store carried lots of the Mego overstock from foreign territories as well as some leftover domestic pieces (including the 12 inch Cap).

But what you have to note is I was in high school by the early 80’s and to my peers, this was stuff best left behind from the mid 70’s. Now of course these days, it’s accepted and probably more common place to see adults fighting with the kids for the toys because of how vast and diverse the market is. But back then, there was a thick line drawn in the sand as to what was juvenile and what was mature. Heck, I had a hard enough time being a KISS fan let alone wanting to hold unto to my childhood heroes.

So anyway I came across the 12 inch Cap on the shelf one day and just fell in love with him. And for a kid working part time, any money spent was real money for me. So I stood there and looked at him, with that consideration. Then I realized someone from school might see me. Then I broke out into a sweat. So imagine peer pressure against a Mego! LOL. It’s true though. There was no liberal school of thought at that time for young men and toys. The idea of being a Mego “collector” was barely in its infancy, if it existed at all. And with no internet to find others who felt the same way, I often thought I was the ONLY person on the planet who still liked these. Ahem… I was mistaken.

Sadly, the pressure got the best of me and I walked away regretting it for the longest of times. But I did nab one decades later in the box and for a good price. Clearly not as good a deal as what I could have gotten that day in the early 80’s, but a purchase that reminded me how much I let the thoughts of others ‘toy’ with me when I was a young person. Ah, the lessons of youth. Alice Cooper got it wrong. When I was 18, part of me still felt like a boy, but I had to be a man so I didn’t like it.

The Cap movie from 1990 has always gone through a love-hate relationship with me. I like the fact they tried to keep it tied closely to his comic origins, but gosh almighty the casting was all over the place – Ned Beatty (of Superman), Ronny Cox (of Robocop fame at that time) to Darren McGavin?!! My beloved Night Stalker was a corrupt politician? What a headache it was trying to tie all of these iconic actors into this pea soup script of misguided, but well meaning, plot points. At the end of the day I have to tip my hat and say at least they had the balls to try it. That was better than anyone else was doing up to that point for Marvel properties. But they were correct to release it directly to home video instead of theaters.

The modern movies have been nothing short of glorious and so much more than I ever DARED hope. I’m really looking forward to Civil War. And I’m with you Chris. I REALLY hope they don’t follow the story points too closely.

Great podcast Chris/Cindy. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[palitoy]

Well, i certainly love this subject matter.

[rykerw1701]

That's a cool collection. So much great CA stuff to choose from to build it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Will always love any Captain America toys!!!!! Of coursethis is my favorite one yet Chris!!!!!!

When I put my photo shoot together, I thought to myself "This is just one shelf in Tim's collection." You are the Cap toy master!

So anyway I came across the 12 inch Cap on the shelf one day and just fell in love with him. And for a kid working part time, any money spent was real money for me. So I stood there and looked at him, with that consideration. Then I realized someone from school might see me. Then I broke out into a sweat. So imagine peer pressure against a Mego! LOL. It’s true though. There was no liberal school of thought at that time for young men and toys. The idea of being a Mego “collector” was barely in its infancy, if it existed at all. And with no internet to find others who felt the same way, I often thought I was the ONLY person on the planet who still liked these. Ahem… I was mistaken.

Sadly, the pressure got the best of me and I walked away regretting it for the longest of times. But I did nab one decades later in the box and for a good price. Clearly not as good a deal as what I could have gotten that day in the early 80’s, but a purchase that reminded me how much I let the thoughts of others ‘toy’ with me when I was a young person. Ah, the lessons of youth. Alice Cooper got it wrong. When I was 18, part of me still felt like a boy, but I had to be a man so I didn’t like it.

Been there myself Tom. I worked at Wal-Mart in high school during the early 90s, so I very discreetly squirelled away some BTAS figures here and there while on the clock, hoping my co-workers would never spot me. They knew I was a comic guy, but the toys were a bridge too far to be TOO open about back then.

The Cap movie from 1990 has always gone through a love-hate relationship with me. I like the fact they tried to keep it tied closely to his comic origins, but gosh almighty the casting was all over the place – Ned Beatty (of Superman), Ronny Cox (of Robocop fame at that time) to Darren McGavin?!! My beloved Night Stalker was a corrupt politician? What a headache it was trying to tie all of these iconic actors into this pea soup script of misguided, but well meaning, plot points. At the end of the day I have to tip my hat and say at least they had the balls to try it. That was better than anyone else was doing up to that point for Marvel properties. But they were correct to release it directly to home video instead of theaters.

The Cap movie is a lot like the Corman FF flick, although Cap had a bigger budget, and some legitimate name actors to add a veneer of respectability. It should be better than it is, but it's just not. It didn't have quite enough of a budget to pull off the scope they were after.

Well, i certainly love this subject matter.

I figured you might! You get name dropped a lot as well.

Chris

[Marvelmania]

Thank you kind sir. I always love to listen to your casts. You both are doing a terrific job and make it fun, entertaining and knowledgeable.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^Thanks Tim! That means a lot. Glad you're enjoying the show!

Chris

[TrekStar]

Very cool Captain America collection, gotta love the Captain Americar, sweet.

[Earth 2 Chris]

If my foggy memory serves, that Mego Captain Americar once belonged to R Chatlin, who I bought it from.

Chris