Newbie wanting information on body types

[thatblockoguy]

Hello
Getting into ReMego has been on my radar for years but I've always been intimidated by the comments on the forums regarding which body types are best and where to order from.
I only own several of the Mattel and FTC figures and I understand why people are dissatisfied with the quality. The original Megos I owned as a kid seemed sturdier, or at least the shoulder and crotch joints did.
I've been visiting FTC's clothing and accessory pages for a while now and the sheer variety of items is proving irresistible to the kid in me that remembers swapping costumes on my figures and creating my own insignias and backstories.
So my first question is which are the best bodies to use and where do I order them from.
Beyond that what tips can you suggest to get started.
Thank you all in advance

[darkbros]

Best Bodies IMHO are (in order)
Male
1. David Lee's Type S Body --order here

2. Casta-way Bodies ( hard to find , try ebay)

3. Dr. Mego's Bodies can be bought here, or Golld Ol Mego Type 2 Bodies found on ebay

Female
1. OEM Mego Poseable Female Bodies ---ebay

2. Dr. Mego's Repro Female Bodies--bought here

3. Mattel's RAH Female Bodies --Only two figures were produced with this body, Wonder Woman and Cheetah, Cheetah is the easiest and cheapest of the two to find. Search ebay.

Heads:
This simply comes down to can you paint or nah? If you can paint, then search ebay or go to Austin's page
and check out the selection of heads you can get for your figures. IF nah, then the heads offered by CTVT are your best bet, followed by ebay.

Tips to consider : This I've learned since returning to customizing in this scale
1. ClassicTVToys clothing and suits fit Mego Type 2, and Dr. Mego Bodies great, on the Type-S they need alterations to make it work ( De-stitching the feet to fix crotch issues, etc)

2. Boots and Gloves and belts, while varying in degree of quality, work the same across all bodies. CTVT stuff can have quality control problems big time ( I recently got shipped a pair of boots that
had a noticeable split you could see in the package, and rather than deal with the headache of calling CTVT, I fixed it myself with some loctite) so caveat emperor

3. Dr Mego's suits fit across all body types well ( including Mattel RAH) but costs can be prohibitive, and stock runs out fairly quickly.

4. Castaway suits are also nice, but are scarce and hard to come by.

5. if you have the coin, spend it on etsy with MacWade Studios and get your body suits made to order. These are really good quality suits that fit really really well.

Last, enjoy the hobby, take breaks often, and don't get discouraged. I find when I'm getting discouraged ( either do to high credit card bill or lack of creative spark)
I take a break and go do something else ( read, spend time with family, etc) and then I'll come back to it. Remmeber its a hobby first, and hobbies are meant
to be enjoyed.

[thatblockoguy]

Thank you so much for the advice
I think Dr. Mego makes the most sense for me body wise but could you explain the differences between these bodies and the ones made by FTC
I see that dr mego's have screws in the back
But beyond that how do the joints and internal construction differ ?

[PNGwynne]

I still use vintage Mego if I can.

Honestly though--and I'm not one to toot FTC's horn--their newest China-made bodies are comparable to Mego but tend to be strung tightly, which can be a disadvantage.

Type S are superb.

[darkbros]

The Doc Mego bodies do have screws as do the Type S. The screws in Doc's are to help keep the pelvis from cracking , but are still banded construction, meaning that the arms and legs are held in place by bands.
The Type S is a bandless constructed body, much like today's newer 6inch figures are, and simply use notch pegs to hold the arms and legs in place.

FTC's 66 bodies, sold on the CTVT website as "Made in China" are good bodies, but yes they are strung waaaay to tightly, and you may find yourself replacing bands after a few poses, as they tend to snap either the arm or leg peg,
or cause the band to snap altogether.
Bandless bodies are the future of the hobby.

[thunderbolt]

After replacing the bands in an ftc body with O-rings they are much much better.

[greensavage2000]

Here's a pic of a Doc Mego swivel arm body. It's a something I've been working on but you can see the body.

[LardLad]

I picked up a Type S body to replace a damaged EMCE Romulan. I think the Type S is great, but the thickness of the plastic means I can't use the EMCE Romulan head with it. Would the Doc Mego take the EMCE head?

[PNGwynne]

^Yes, Emce uses DM bodies. Conversely, you could dremel down the Type -S to accommodate the Romulan neck.

[thatblockoguy]

Ok so now I'm leaning to the S type bodies
Out of curiosity which bodies are used in the diamond select mego style figures
( cap, Thor etc)

[PNGwynne]

Emce and by extension DST use Dr. Mego (DM) bodies. Biff Bang Pow also uses DM bodies.

[thatblockoguy]

I really want to thank you guys. You're all really demystifying this for me.
Just watched a video review ( of sorts) on an FTC robin being switched for the type S body. Awesome. Are there any body part accessories (ex molded glove hands from FTC) have been found to not be compatible with the S type body?

[darkbros]

Pretty much everything is compatible, if not with some slight alteration
( ex using heat shrink tubing to enable FTC gloved hands to fit into Type-S Arm sockets).

Clothing is the main thing to watch out for with Type S...FTC bodysuits and Tunics tend to run
smaller and thus can rip or tear trying to put on Type-s Bodies. Doc's and Castaway clothing has no issue.