What do you think about Mego selling heads, outfits, and other accessories?

[Liu Bei]

Mattel and Hasbro are not having us order the Joker's jacket ,or a correct size Batman
head . These are nice fixes but not for parents, and kids that might buy these as Christmas
gifts.My family would return these and buy Marvel legends, before they would email some guy on line that is outside the Target purchase

That's another point I wanted to address. I do not believe children are Mego's target consumer. And if they are, they shouldn't be. Adult collectors are their core audience. I think that's true of most action figures in general, especially as it relates to older IP's. Children these days just aren't as interested in toys as they once were. Hasbro's numbers are declining because they still haven't figured that out. There is a lot of money to be made from the collector's market. Not so much with kids. That ship has sailed, in my opinion.

Name one kid today who ever even heard of Charlie's Angels or Cheers, or watches Universal Monster Movies.

That' my $0.02 on the matter. Thank you all for your feedback. I think it's awesome we're even able to talk and debate about Mego's future, instead of just Mego's past. Good times.

[CrimsonGhost]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I did not mean sell them at retail. When I referenced the Doc Mego / FTC model of business, it was not only in terms of the product, but in terms of how its sold. Online. I certainly don't think selling heads or loose outfits at retail brick and mortars would work, not by any stretch of the imagination.

What I meant was should Mego sell costumes and heads online, the same as FTC or Doc Mego (and others) have done, and still do?

With the amount of customizing being done in the Mego community, I honestly don't see how offering Trek uniforms, boots, and accessories would not be a good idea.

As I mentioned earlier, not only would it be useful for customizing, but it would also help loose collectors have a "complete" figure.

Regarding my answer, I didn't assume you meant to sell parts at retail. Mego didn't want to make a return as an online boutique so I don't see them acting like one now. Dr. Mego might eventually sell some parts on his site however, but who knows?

I can understand not wanting to pay the $35+ shipping to get one part from a carded FTC figure. That's where selling parts works for them. It also seems like they part out the slow sellers and probably make more on them than selling them complete. But it wouldn't bother me much to buy a $14.99 carded Mego at retail just for one part.

[CrimsonGhost]

As for Barbie, there are outfits and accessories sold online and in stores for Barbie. I'm not sure who made that argument, but it's not one I agree with. Additionally, let's assume the statement is true. Hasbro and Mattel don't offer accessories for their figures. Is that actually a good argument not to do it? It seems to me that the recipe for success is to offer something your competitors don't, not to decide that you should be just like them in every way.

Accessory packs were a common feature for toys for many years, from G.I. Joe to Barbie to Action Jackson. For serious collectors and customizers, I think the market is there. It's just that no major retailer has yet taken advantage of it. I'd love to see someone make a go at it.

I was the one who said that, but offering accessory packs is different than what you first stated. Those would obviously be at retail and of course you can get packs like that for Barbie, GIJoe, etc. Maybe Mego will make those, who knows. But neither Hasbro nor Mattel have a site where you can specifically buy Boba Fetts gun or Malibu Barbies sandals and whether that's good, bad, or otherwise, I wouldn't expect Mego to have one either.

[Killer Iguana]

Looks like you can buy parts here.

http://8inchsuperstore.com/new-mego/

[Liu Bei]

Looks like you can buy parts here.

http://8inchsuperstore.com/new-mego/

Wow. Yes you can. And that’s exactly what I think Mego should be doing. They are ceding that business when they should be capitalizing on it. In my opinion, anyway.

[MEGO Kid]

It'd be cool, but I don't think it'll happen on a Target scale. It remains to be seen if Megos even catch on again or not

[scott metzger]

There's no reason they can't sell figures at retail and sell some parts online as long as there's a market to support it. They know there's a market there or Paul wouldn't have had a site doing exactly this for the last couple decades. There's no reason they can't tap both markets if they feel doing so is lucrative, as long as licensing allows it (and since FTC parts things out with DC items with no problem, I doubt that's a roadblock). I know I'd be going broke getting heads, but I have limited use for a whole figure for customs (still have problems with the bodies). Extra Trek uniforms would also be a wallet stretcher for me.

[jayraytee]

It all comes down to knowing the audience or market.. Target chose some of the licenses and they don't know the market so you have peg warmers. They made just as many Tootie as they did Gorn or Kirk. I could see Dr Mego offering parts/clothes/accessories that are not included in the released figure. But I can't see him offering like Superman's suit or Wonder Woman's head for example. I think it would be cool if he offered something like a Bruce Wayne head or a Joker hat, things like that but he may be too busy with the current Mego to get too far into doing that kind of stuff.

[EmergencyIan]

Why not, exactly? Mail order, or internet sales if we want to use a more modern term, seems to be working pretty well at the moment. Or do you think that Mego couldn't do enough business to justify such a decision?

I just think you’re obsessed with the idea of Mego doing this. I can’t imagine they got back into busineas to start selling parts of their figures, not officially, at least. If anything, I think you’ll see them sold via Doc Mego and it won’t be near what FTC is doing.

- Ian

[palitoy]

While a completely viable long tail business model, I can't see Mego touching this. Their goal is mass market and unlike FTC, they don't have the infrastructure in place.

FTC began life as a mail order house that began to make it's own toys, Mego is just one part of the business that is istar entertainment. Both are leaning towards their strengths.

I can see boutique items from Dr.Mego expanding but that's probably it.

[Riderfan]

double post

[Riderfan]

Looks like you can buy parts here.

http://8inchsuperstore.com/new-mego/

Guess it wasn't just 'scalpers' buying up the 'good' figures...

[thunderbolt]

I can't think of another mass market company that offers parts in conjunction to their toys. Mattel doesn't offer Barbie parts, Hasbro doesn't offer Star Wars parts, and Mego won't offer Mego parts.

Lego does. If you lose or are missing a part they will send out a replacement and they also sell parts online.

[CrimsonGhost]

Lego does. If you lose or are missing a part they will send out a replacement and they also sell parts online.

That's true. I should have been more specific and said mass market action figure line or something. Legos entire business is parts!