Met a former Mego employee today...

[megozilla13]

Can't wait to hear more. Someone should try to get a job at that warehouse just to check the rafters and then quit.

mikej

[imp]

Can't wait to hear more. Someone should try to get a job at that warehouse just to check the rafters and then quit.

mikej

Let's not forget that Dan and Bill already did a good looking-around. Although the only Mego figures still in the building were the ones they brought with them (along with a copy of my Mego book; super-cool!). Check them out:



Then again, I don't know whether they climbed into the rafters or not.

Dan and Bill, considering this new intel, maybe you guys need to go back??!!

- Benjamin

[vulcan2074]

That's super cool.
Sammy

[TrekStar]

Here's another myth you could ask about next time you talk to him.

apparentley there was a warehouse fire that destroyed a good number of megos, especially the second wave
Trek aliens, Romulan-Andorian-Mugato and Talos, and that's why those particular ones are rare, supposedly
around 50% were lost and Mego decided not to bother taking the time to replace because of budget cost.

This would have been around 1976-77

[Blue Meanie]

Here's another myth you could ask about next time you talk to him.

apparentley there was a warehouse fire that destroyed a good number of megos, especially the second wave
Trek aliens, Romulan-Andorian-Mugato and Talos, and that's why those particular ones are rare, supposedly
around 50% were lost and Mego decided not to bother taking the time to replace because of budget cost.

This would have been around 1976-77

Will do. If anyone else can come up with some other questions to ask feel free to put it in this thread or message me.

[Blue Meanie]

Very cool Berto. Out of curiosity , how did you meet this individual ?

At a shop that I go into every 3 or 4 months to check if they get in any vintage toys. I was checking out a Batcoder walkie talkie thing and I asked the person in the store if I could see it and I said Remco instead of Mego...and he corrected me. I always thought that the Batcoder was a Remco piece. He said that he knows it was Mego because he worked for Mego.

http://www.megomuseum.com/play/batcoders.shtml

[imp]

Here's another myth you could ask about next time you talk to him.

apparentley there was a warehouse fire that destroyed a good number of megos, especially the second wave
Trek aliens, Romulan-Andorian-Mugato and Talos, and that's why those particular ones are rare, supposedly
around 50% were lost and Mego decided not to bother taking the time to replace because of budget cost.

This would have been around 1976-77

Let me save you the trouble: I already asked two different Mego warehouse staff (both of whom were there before, during and after that period), including the man who was in charge of the Bohemia facility: THIS IS 100% FALSE.

The other former warehouse staffer speculated that the urban legend may be related to Samet & Wells, which was a wholly-owned Mego subsidiary nearby, that manufactured stuffed toys for the 'Carnie' trade; He confirmed that the air did catch fire there once, and that it might be the basis of the "Mego Factory Fire" rumor.

- Benjamin

[cjefferys]

Awesome story Berto!

Funny about the whole legend of the "warehouse fire", I remember hearing about it (and the resulting rarity of the second series aliens) back in the 80's!

[samurainoir]

I love this thread so much.

Now... anyone know if the HK factory building is still around? I'm heading there in the fall.

[mego maniac mark]

At a shop that I go into every 3 or 4 months to check if they get in any vintage toys. I was checking out a Batcoder walkie talkie thing and I asked the person in the store if I could see it and I said Remco instead of Mego...and he corrected me. I always thought that the Batcoder was a Remco piece. He said that he knows it was Mego because he worked for Mego.

http://www.megomuseum.com/play/batcoders.shtml

How cool! Thanks for sharing

[noelani72]

very cool story!

[SKotK]

Let me save you the trouble: I already asked two different Mego warehouse staff (both of whom were there before, during and after that period), including the man who was in charge of the Bohemia facility: THIS IS 100% FALSE.

The other former warehouse staffer speculated that the urban legend may be related to Samet & Wells, which was a wholly-owned Mego subsidiary nearby, that manufactured stuffed toys for the 'Carnie' trade; He confirmed that the air did catch fire there once, and that it might be the basis of the "Mego Factory Fire" rumor.

- Benjamin

So, since that rumor has been laid to rest, I'm assuming we can attribute the low number of second wave ST Aliens simply to being the last wave of ST figures, resulting in fewer numbers of them out there when production stopped. Would that be a fair assessment?

It also seems possible they may have pulled the plug early on the whole line during the last wave, making those figures additionally scarce.

--SKot

[imp]

So, since that rumor has been laid to rest, I'm assuming we can attribute the low number of second wave ST Aliens simply to being the last wave of ST figures, resulting in fewer numbers of them out there when production stopped. Would that be a fair assessment? It also seems possible they may have pulled the plug early on the whole line during the last wave, making those figures additionally scarce.

I don't know enough about Mego Star Trek to speak intelligently about the hows and whys, but your assessment is certainly a valid assumption. All I can tell you, with absolute certainty, is that no warehouse fire had any impact on 8" Mego toys, because it didn't happen.

The whole 'warehouse fire' thing reminds me of something that happened to me in 1993, when I was Collecting the "Batman: The Animated Series" line: I was shopping at Meijer's, just days prior to moving from Michigan to Boston, MA and a new vehicle called the "Robin Dragster" had just hit the shelves. It was $14.99 and I held that thing in my hands for a good twenty minutes, hemming and hawing. I finally decided to leave it, reasoning that I could just buy the toy when I got to Massachusetts. Well as some of you may already know, the "Robin Dragster" never hit ANY stores in the Boston area. I searched for MONTHS, and finally I called Kenner's 1-800 Customer Care line.

… yep, one of Kenner's factories in China had suffered a massive fire and destroyed nearly all of those Vehicles. Worse still, the Customer Service rep assured me that Kenner had no intention of going back into production, warning me that "what's out there is what's out there." I immediately called everyone in my family and asked them to go to Meijer's and other area stores (e.g. Kmart) and try to find this vehicle for me. Alas, it was not to happen. They were <poof!> gone like Kaiser Söze.

- Benjamin

[Mr.Marion]

Let me save you the trouble: I already asked two different Mego warehouse staff (both of whom were there before, during and after that period), including the man who was in charge of the Bohemia facility: THIS IS 100% FALSE.

- Benjamin

Well there you have it.

[MegoMark71]

Berto, that is so freakin cool. I could bend that guys ear for hours. I look forward to your future posts on this.