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Weird Mego musings: vintage Green Lantern

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  • RobTMego
    Career Member
    • Mar 15, 2013
    • 568

    #16
    Norman Alden was the voice of GA http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Norman-Alden/

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    • VintageJoe70
      Veteran Member
      • Oct 12, 2016
      • 461

      #17
      Originally posted by Toyman_Chris
      Don't get me wrong. I am a big GA fan (notice my avatar) Just a curious decision.

      More of my GA love!

      Besides star trek, the only other mego I got as a kid was the green arrow figure and his car...I too think GA is a really cool figure...thought about buying the repro they did of him a year or so back...
      https://www.flickr.com/photos/148083...57673799016342

      Comment

      • TrekStar
        Trek or Treat
        • Jan 20, 2011
        • 8354

        #18
        [QUOTE=PNGwynne;1292333]I'm glad for Green Arrow, he was a childhood favorite and it's a really beautiful figure. But yes, I'd love to know the specifics of Mego's R & D/marketing decisions. No Flash or Green Lantern, but a late wave of Teen Titans? Very weird, especially considering that GL was depicted on the Hall of Justice playset.[/QUOTE

        I always thought that Batman and Green Arrow were the two best DC mego entries, but I agree that Green Lantern and Flash should have been added when they incuded Green Arrow, they had Kid Flash but no Flash?

        Comment

        • Spyweb007
          Persistent Member
          • Apr 18, 2006
          • 1449

          #19
          It may just come down to the companies back then being less informed about comic books. This type of license for a toy line was new and comic books were considered kid stuff. Mego was breaking new ground with the Heroes, Apes and Trek stuff. I think it's impressive that they fleshed out the lines with as many characters as they did and they did an amazing job.

          Comment

          • hedrap
            Permanent Member
            • Feb 10, 2009
            • 4825

            #20
            This was debated sometime ago, (I think due to the RA choices), but it was pointed out to me that Green Arrow was also the backup feature in Action Comics starting in Feb 1973, which was certainly a best seller for DC during this period.

            So because of Superman, GA had a higher exposure to decision makers who would have known which titles were the biggest sellers, thereby assuming GA was more popular than GL. I'm guessing he ended up on Superfriends because Lantern could resolve anything Superman couldn't, making any villain pointless.

            I have to believe MEGO R&D looked at number of heads for mock use for a future GL, but the Marvel deal, personal favs like Tarzan and licensing tie-in like Shazam!, just knocked him out of rotation.

            Comment

            • TrekStar
              Trek or Treat
              • Jan 20, 2011
              • 8354

              #21
              Originally posted by hedrap
              This was debated sometime ago, (I think due to the RA choices), but it was pointed out to me that Green Arrow was also the backup feature in Action Comics starting in Feb 1973, which was certainly a best seller for DC during this period.

              So because of Superman, GA had a higher exposure to decision makers who would have known which titles were the biggest sellers, thereby assuming GA was more popular than GL. I'm guessing he ended up on Superfriends because Lantern could resolve anything Superman couldn't, making any villain pointless.

              I have to believe MEGO R&D looked at number of heads for mock use for a future GL, but the Marvel deal, personal favs like Tarzan and licensing tie-in like Shazam!, just knocked him out of rotation.
              So would that explain the absence of the Flash? I'm only curious since when the Teen Titans were released they all had mentors previously released by mego except Kid Flash. Could it be because Flash was not on the Superfriends cartoon
              at least I don't think he made an appearance?

              Comment

              • hedrap
                Permanent Member
                • Feb 10, 2009
                • 4825

                #22
                Originally posted by tjacwave50
                So would that explain the absence of the Flash? I'm only curious since when the Teen Titans were released they all had mentors previously released by mego except Kid Flash. Could it be because Flash was not on the Superfriends cartoon
                at least I don't think he made an appearance?
                This goes back to the kerfuffle over the Capt Marvel jr head. We all see the WGSH showing a steady shift towards Marvel then a last jump back to DC for Titans. There are differing opinions as to what Mego's logic was, but to me, it appears the deciding factor was if TV/Movie synergy was possible. They were creating tie-in products without having to pay a studio for that license.

                With Flash, GL, Hawkman, etc...they didn't make it to Superfriends until late '78 with Challenge. WGSH Titans were released in '77, no new WGSH were put out in '78, and then the sickle comes out for a dozen of the characters in '79. At the same time, Star Wars devours the market and changes the format. The timing couldn't have been worse for DC, HB and Mego.

                I've had a few ideas as to why it was Titans that went so late, but it really didn't matter who they could have released for Post-Kenner Star Wars. I think they were holding out for Star Trek:TMP and Superman The Movie, (both '79), and neither one delivered the visual excitement Star Wars had. What's the point of an action figure when the tie-in TV/Movie has no action to promote or market? Also, after Fox botched the Star Wars toy rights, all the licensing rules drastically changed.

                Comment

                • palitoy
                  live. laugh. lisa needs braces
                  • Jun 16, 2001
                  • 59200

                  #23
                  As someone who has spoken at length to the former creatives at Mego, the process wasn't nearly as complicated.

                  They didn't know the characters all that well other than the big names. I mean Spider-man was barely a decade old.

                  Real conversation with a decision maker albeit paraphrased

                  Me:Why didn't you do Flash?
                  Him: We did him, we offered him. Buyers didn't want those characters.
                  Me: You made The Flash?
                  Him; Yeah, Captain Flash with the lightning bolt on his chest. None of the other characters sold.

                  He's talking about Shazam. He also point blank told me that the later waves didn't sell as briskly as the original characters.

                  I have been told a number of times that DC and Marvel advised Mego on product ideas/figures/vehicles. I even have Sol Harrison saying that the Joker Mobile and Wayne Foundation were them. So Green Arrow probably came out of that. As for his car, they sold a ton of Batmobiles and the Spider-Car was a biggy, so it's not a huge surprise they tried for more.

                  Teen Titans- The comment that sticks out in my mind was "did it to make DC happy". So there must have been some pressure to make some new characters.

                  As for TV, yeah they had the master license to the characters and if they were going on TV, they were made aware. Hulk was a poor seller but by 1978, he's in the "Core Four" with Spidey, Batman and Superman.

                  Post 1978, Mego really extrapolated on their master license with Pocket Heroes, 12" heroes, Superman the Movie brand, diecast heroes and even pitched Magna Heroes in the US. So their new development moved away from the 8 inch figures in general.
                  Places to find PlaidStallions online: https://linktr.ee/Plaidstallions

                  Buy Toy-Ventures Magazine here:
                  http://www.plaidstallions.com/reboot/shop

                  Comment

                  • PNGwynne
                    Master of Fowl Play
                    • Jun 5, 2008
                    • 19444

                    #24
                    ^I'd read of this before, and I can concede the inclusion of Green Arrow as a spin from Superfriends, particularly with the Toth art nod. I think what throws a lot of Mego fans and collectors--myself included--is Green Lantern's inclusion on the Hall of Justice playset.

                    I guess I'd have wished for Flash, Green Lantern, Bizarro and Luthor if Mego had "to make DC happy." The free Superfriends advertising would still have been there, although "Challenge.." was Autumn '78. I mean , as is, the Teen Titans didn't sell well--but my choices might not have, either.

                    We'll never understand all the vagaries, I suppose. Heck, I'm still astonished that the Sheriff of Nottingham was not included in the Merry Men assortment.
                    WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.

                    Comment

                    • hedrap
                      Permanent Member
                      • Feb 10, 2009
                      • 4825

                      #25
                      Originally posted by palitoy
                      ...They didn't know the characters all that well other than the big names. I mean Spider-man was barely a decade old....

                      ...I have been told a number of times that DC and Marvel advised Mego on product ideas/figures/vehicles. I even have Sol Harrison saying that the Joker Mobile and Wayne Foundation were them. So Green Arrow probably came out of that. As for his car, they sold a ton of Batmobiles and the Spider-Car was a biggy, so it's not a huge surprise they tried for more.

                      Teen Titans- The comment that sticks out in my mind was "did it to make DC happy". So there must have been some pressure to make some new characters.

                      As for TV, yeah they had the master license to the characters and if they were going on TV, they were made aware. Hulk was a poor seller but by 1978, he's in the "Core Four" with Spidey, Batman and Superman.
                      That fits with what's known of the Big Two in the 70's.

                      When you look at DC's exposure...Batman '66-'68, Filmation '67+, Superfriends '72+, Shazam '74, Wonder Woman '75+...it's a glidepath with little effort. Producers wanted their characters so it required little effort on DC's part.

                      Marvel, though, was hellbent for TV. Friendly Neighborhood Spidey's syndication created the Electric Company opening and away he went. You then have "Hollywood Stan" from about '74, trying to sell any property, animation or live-action, and himself. I could see him pushing Weston or Abrams at this time for more Marvel WGSH. Brand ID was a big part of his studio pitches.

                      Comment

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