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Nerd Therapy Session: (Super) Girl Trouble

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    Museum Robot
    • May 9, 2007
    • 5788

    Nerd Therapy Session: (Super) Girl Trouble


    For this installment, I’ll be skipping back to the mid 1970s, which is pretty appropriate considering this blog. Like many of you, I grew up in what was a golden age of action figures, the Mego era.





    We 70s kids had an amazing breadth of licensed characters and they were mostly all in the same scale. Sure, 60s kids had Captain Action and GI Joe, which are awesome but could they team up Starsky and Davey Crockett to battle the collaborations of Dracula and Dr Zaius?

    I rest my case.

    The biggest toy line for me at the time was the Mego World’s Greatest Superheroes line, I dreamt of all the ancillary characters on the sides of the boxes and in the comic ads. My “collection” at the time consisted mainly of the “A list” characters as they were the easiest found in my neck of the woods. I didn’t see some of the other characters until I became a toy collector.


    The figures I truly coveted, more than anything, were the Supergals, primarily Batgirl and Supergirl. I at the time, didn’t know why they made my six year old heart flutter but I frantically searched each time we went to the mall or Woolco.


    Around this time, an “incident” occurred. I turned six and had the standard party, which likely consisted of hot dogs, a home made cake (I think this one) and a couple of hours playing in my room with school friends who didn’t normally come over.


    While digging through my toy drawers one of my guests looked up and said “Why do you have Barbies?”. I totally panicked, I had forgotten that there were a handful of Barbie dolls in my mix and quickly replied “Oh my sister put those there!”.


    That statement was entirely true.

    My sister was something of a Tomboy and also five years my senior, her Barbie phase was a passing fancy and one I relished, as I followed her around with my Big Jim camper for a few weeks.

    When she was done with them, they were just got absorbed into my stuff. Barbie’s were pretty good extras or fill ins for the Super gals and their feet were delicious (I had a “chew on things” habit as a kid/grown man) so it really didn’t matter to me.


    I just never factored in that this might turn into one of those playground rumours that haunted you for the rest of your life. Like the kid who got caught picking his nose and eating it in kindergarten. That guy delivered a pizza to my house when I was in college and I remember thinking “hope he didn't touch it”. That's some powerful social glue.

    My claims were met with a sort of “uh-hunh” from my friends and let go. I skirted becoming the pariah of the school yard through some sort of distraction.

    A few months later, probably March of 1977, I found myself at the mall with both my Mother and my Grandmother. There is a certain confidence to this combination in the fact that I know I’m going to get a toy.

    In the middle of the mall was Dominion Playworld, while it’s name conjures up nothing but terrible blandness, it was in fact, an orange and brown wonderland of toy goodness.

    It was also an oasis, before you got there you had to trudge through the clothing departments of both “Simpson’s-Sears” and “Eaton’s”, not to mention a good hour in “Marks and Spencer”. I did all of this with a smile knowing that toy heaven was around the corner.

    When we finally got there, I was surprised by an end cap of Mego Superheroes on cards! I’d never seen anything but boxed superheroes prior to this. I could barely contain myself when I saw her on the front of the row, Mego-freakin-Supergirl in all her glory.



    With cat like reflexes, I snapped her up and ran to my grandmother who didn’t put up any sort of fight. We headed for the check out aisle.

    Then reality came crashing down. What if I was caught with a girl doll? What was I doing? I kept revisiting that moment in time over and over again. Which was stupid, my only friend on the street didn’t go to my school, nor did he judge me. I could have gotten away with this but alas, hindsight is 20/20.

    I put her down and swapped her for the closest thing, Doctor McCoy from Star Trek. Yes, I switched the most beautiful woman I’d seen at that point for delicious ol' Deforrest Kelly, it’s true. As fun as “bones” was (and I still have him to this day), I felt like a coward.

    This process would be regularly repeated with a Catwoman doll at the Pinocchio’s toys in the midtown mall for the next two years, psyching myself up to buy her and chickening out time and time again.

    Supergirl was never to be seen again, Dominion Playworld would take a serious slide in “Mego Quality” by 1978, only ever carrying Hulk and Spider-Man, which came on cards that only showed Hulk and Spider-Man.
    By the end of the decade, the only Mego you could buy there were the dusty, unsold stacks of “Superman’s arch enemy” Mr Myxiswhatshisname. I broke down and bought one right after seeing “Superman 2”, probably my first nostalgic toy purchase.

    In 1978, Star Wars took over the culture and I vividly remember showing off my Princess Leia figure to friendsat school, the only thing I heard was “cool”. The stigma had been removed and I owned every Leia, Kate McCrae and "bald lady from Star Trek" that the toy world had to offer....For more Fashion Mockery and 70's toy love visit us at Plaid Stallions.com


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  • Earth 2 Chris
    Verbose Member
    • Mar 7, 2004
    • 32498

    #2
    Another awesome and totally relevant-to-the-group story.

    Since this is a therapy session, I'd like to take the floor now.

    I never had any of the 8" Super Gals as a kid, since by the time I was heavily into Mego I think production of them had stopped, despite their presence on packaging.

    I did get the 12" Wonder Woman for one of my birthdays. I think it was when I was 3 or 4. Even then, I felt weird about it. I used my sister's Charlie's Angels dolls with my Megos (so they could be rescued by them; I know, sexist), but this was something all together different. This was MINE and at that point I think she was the only 12" Mego I had. I remember avoiding her for the most part, and stealing her glasses and jacket for my 8" Mego Superman.

    Years later I received a 8" Mego Daisy Duke along with the other 3 male Dukes characters. Even though Daisy was just as doll like, I justified her existence in my toy collection because she came with the set. I even had a Daisy Jeep made by some other company that she fit in.

    I did feel a bit odd buying the Teela and Evil-Lyn figures from MOTU, but by then I had the "Collect Them All!" bug, and I actually managed to do it with MOTU from 82 to 86. I recall some minor ribbing at school for saying I owned them, but I think we all appreciated Filmations' female character designs enough to let it slide!

    When Wonder Woman came back around in the Super Powers line, my mania was too deep. I risked ridicule if caught with her (she was deemed girlier than Teela for some reason), but I could not have a gaping hole in my plastic DCU. Since she was the only female in the line (Golden Pharaoh and Cyclotron over Batgirl and Supergirl?) I didn't have to make the sacrifice again.

    Females in the G.I. Joe: RAH line weren't easily found, but I had no problem buying Lady Jaye, Zaranna and Jinx, and those were pushing right into the end of my toy buying years. They were G.I. Joes. They had guns. They were cool.

    Chris
    sigpic

    Comment

    • JediJaida
      Talkative Member
      • Jun 14, 2008
      • 5671

      #3
      The only Supergals I ever had were Batgirl and Wonder Woman.

      I kept Wonder Woman for YEARS, until the costume finally went to pieces, and her hair became the victim of a fashionable bob cut.

      Dunno what happened to BG, DM, and all my others, but I hung onto WW.

      Someday, I may clean all the dirt from her face, and try to redo her eyebrows, as well as give her a reroot.

      It seems all I have left of her is the head, but that's okay. I managed to score a not so new one on ebay, and I love her to pieces.
      JediJaida

      Comment

      • MIB41
        Eloquent Member
        • Sep 25, 2005
        • 15631

        #4
        Great story! I felt similar as you with the Supergals. My interest however was with Batgirl. Loved the cowl on her and was fascinated to have one. But I didn't have the balls to ask for one. But my neighborhood pal, Bob, was less controlled by the 'shame' factor. In retrospect that's funny since he became a minister. Bob didn't collect Megos like I did as a kid. But he had no problem doing things on a dare, so that worked into my plans nicely. I simply told him I needed this figure and would owe him a favor if he would check her out for me. He was not even remotely phased. He simply rolled his eyes and took my money and the figure up to the checkout counter. Afterwards he handed me the bagged item and said, "Feel better now?" I was elated. But I had to keep the figure hidden from my dad. He would have flipped if he had seen me packing a Batgirl figure into my Batcycle.

        Comment

        • 4NDR01D
          Alpha Centauri....OR DIE!
          • Jan 22, 2008
          • 3266

          #5
          One of the first toys I ever bought with my own money was Scarlett from GI Joe. I didn't think anything of it until I got home and my mom thought it was strange that I'd buy a "girl" action figure. Hadn't even crossed my mind to be honest.

          Comment

          • UnderdogDJLSW
            To Fear is Not Logical...
            • Feb 17, 2008
            • 4883

            #6
            I never seemed to have the problem of thinking I shouldn't have the Super Gals as a kid. To me it was all about the characters that I saw on TV. Hence, in my collection from when I was a kid are BG, WW, and CW. I do not recall even having a comic in the 70s with Supergirl in it so she never made it onto my "get" list. I do remember having a friend over who asked me why I had the Uhura 'doll' with my Star Trek set and I thought he has odd for asking me that because, again, she was on the show. Why shouldn't she be a character that I had. What I find amazing, looking back, is that my mom never batted an eyelash when I kept asking to get more characters (male or female). If I add my original ST & WGSH together, that was a good collection.
            It's all good!

            Comment

            • cjefferys
              Duke of Gloat
              • Apr 23, 2006
              • 10180

              #7
              Another great story! Luckily I didn't have this dilemma, my sister was two years younger than me and one year she got Wonder Woman and Catwoman for Christmas. She didn't care if I played with her toys sometimes, so I managed to get my Supergal fix by playing with those two (and later on she got a Supergirl too. Score!). I also played with the 12" Wonder Woman and Princess Leia she got later on too. I guess sometimes sisters come in handy!

              Comment

              • torgospizza
                Theocrat of Pan Tang
                • Aug 19, 2010
                • 2747

                #8
                It's funny you mentioned with Star Wars was okay to buy girl figures. I was kind of the same way, in that prior to SW, the only female figure I ever had was Zira, and she was part of a Montgomery Wards or Sears set I got for Christmas. I honestly don't even recall seeing Uhura or the Super Gals for sale. I probably would have been too shy to get one, anyway. Princess Leia was different, though, oddly.

                Comment

                • LadyZod
                  Superman's Gal Pal
                  • Jan 27, 2007
                  • 1803

                  #9
                  I'm on the flip side. All I ever wanted was a Batman and Robin... and my mom bought me a Batgirl.
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                  My life through toys: Tales from the Toybox!
                  Check out my art:
                  Art Portfolio@Redbubble
                  Art Portfolio@Tumblr

                  Comment

                  • samurainoir
                    Eloquent Member
                    • Dec 26, 2006
                    • 18758

                    #10
                    Folks should check out Chris Ware's Graphic Novel Rusty Brown (serialized in Acme Novelty Library).

                    It covers this exact painful ground regarding the Mego Supergals in what can only be described as excruciating and emotionally wrenching detail.



                    Last edited by samurainoir; Jan 29, '12, 2:08 AM.
                    My store in the MEGO MALL!

                    BUY THE CAPTAIN CANUCK ACTION FIGURE HERE!

                    Comment

                    • torgospizza
                      Theocrat of Pan Tang
                      • Aug 19, 2010
                      • 2747

                      #11
                      Originally posted by samurainoir
                      Folks should check out Chris Ware's Graphic Novel Rusty Brown (serialized in Acme Novelty Library).
                      I try to avoid Rusty if I can--hits a little too close to home, sometimes! Guy even looks like me.

                      Seriously, though, Ware seems to know a good deal about some collectors and their mindset. Not the average, normal type we have here, I'd say; yet, a certain type I've run into time and again throughout the years. Very much like a dude I used to know that would intentionally rip people off on eBay and was really into eclectic stuff like Quisp collectibles or Pogo Possum figures from Biz detergent.
                      Last edited by torgospizza; Jan 29, '12, 3:18 AM.

                      Comment

                      • Splitty
                        Career Member
                        • Jan 25, 2012
                        • 586

                        #12
                        You boys weren't the only ones who had problems.
                        The three non-Barbie dolls of my childhood: A Retrospective.

                        So I idolized Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman so much. I wanted to be JUST like her when I grew up. To the point of one day I was crying on the bus, and my dad (who was our school busdriver actually) asked what was wrong. According to him I confessed I could never be like her because I had freckles. He told me that actually Lynda Carter did too, you just couldn't see under all the makeup, which made me feel insanely better (he later told me he lied).

                        So when I heard scuttlebutt there was a 12" mego just on the market (never laying eyes upon it in the store), I finagled my parents to get it for me for Christmas. I have never ever been so excited for Christmas in my entire life as I was that year. I could not WAIT until I had a little plastic effigy Linda Carter so I could become it. As I more eagerly than ever before ripped the package opened, I was HORRIFIED at this monstrous spangle legged overly-tan stony faced evil hypnotic eye frizzy haired thing. Where was my alabaster skinned cherub faced curvy eyes twinkling Wonder Woman??

                        The first night I was highly suspicious I would hear the pitter patter of little demonic feet by me bedside and scritchy scratch of unusually sharp fingernails for a doll. Having survived the night, I gave up and made her into the witch villainess in all my fantasy/sci-fi epic stories.

                        As a side note, her fingernails are extremely sharp and would literally grab onto my clothes as I moved her around. To top that, she lost one of her hands, which I have never found, and am even still expecting to find it under one of my pillows. Or see it scuttling under my bed.

                        So this is what came out of that doomed package (with a few years wear on it):


                        and this is what I gave up and turned it into (it's true form):


                        So then I heard there were 12" Star Wars figures including Princess Leia. My backup heroine I wanted to be!! Oh joy! This HAD to be better!
                        And...upon Christmas day I ripped open the box, and wut?! A man in drag?!! darn it.

                        THEN I was in a Goodwill store (this may have been before, I don't remember dates so good anymore) and lo and behold, A MEGO BATGIRL!! The most beautiful figure I've ever seen in my life. I grabbed her in mah little hands and ran to my dad. He told me to put it back while he thought about it (we were poor, and they rarely treated us, gosh darn it). About 10 minutes later he said yeah, go get it. I race back and, of course, SHE'S GONE!! crap in a hat. My poor little crushed heart.

                        So, SIGH, every single year for Christmas after that all I ever got was ONE stupid pink dressed Barbie with a dumb happy face from some relative or the other. ACK!!

                        As a follow up, I have SO gotten a mego Batgirl since then and continue to buy frighting and scary things that ARE NOT PINK.

                        The end.
                        Last edited by Splitty; Jan 29, '12, 9:05 PM.
                        I gots Toyyyyzzzzz

                        Comment

                        • 4NDR01D
                          Alpha Centauri....OR DIE!
                          • Jan 22, 2008
                          • 3266

                          #13
                          Originally posted by samurainoir
                          Folks should check out Chris Ware's Graphic Novel Rusty Brown (serialized in Acme Novelty Library).

                          It covers this exact painful ground regarding the Mego Supergals in what can only be described as excruciating and emotionally wrenching detail.
                          Funny, I was just introduced to this artist's work this week at a birthday party for a friend. Probably the worst thing you can do (or best if you want to shut me up) is give me beer and comics like this.
                          It wasnt Rusty Brown tho, it was Jimmy Corrigin SKITW.
                          How I haven't heard of him till now is beyond me.

                          Comment

                          • The Nawd
                            Nawd your head for yes.
                            • Feb 15, 2011
                            • 339

                            #14
                            This story involves my late father.

                            Sometime in 1981 (I no longer remember the exact date):

                            My dad usually gave me a very small allowance from his loose change. Mostly it was pennies, nickles and dimes. Sometimes rarely I'd get lucky with a quarter or two. He almost never gave me "folding money" as he called it back then.

                            One day I asked him to take me with him to the drug store were I bought most of my comic books, gag items (joy buzzer and the like) and some small toys. Since he was going there anyway, he took me.

                            Here's the reason why I had him take me. You see, several months earlier the owner had found a counter box display in the storeroom of old MEGO Super-Gals still in their boxes that an ex-employee had either missed putting out or had hidden, and the owner put them out for sale, the boxes were all taped shut by the owner so kids couldn't just swipe them. And they were all selling very slowly.

                            While my dad was doing whatever he was there to do, I picked up a MEGO Supergirl to play with that I had been keeping an eye on. At the time she was one of my favorite comic book characters. I once owned several Superman Family issues. Anyway, I was going to pay for her myself with my allowance I had saved up from the past few months.

                            As my dad saw what I was holding while we were walking to the register he grabbed my forearm near the wrist and squeezed it really hard until I couldn't hold the figure anymore, I screamed out in pain, dad hastilly put it back, gave me his truck keys and ordered/yelled at me to get in his truck and wait for him. I remember seeing the cashier looking shocked and concerned as she had never seen dad act this way to me at all before.

                            While waiting in the truck, I held my arm and cried right until dad came out got in the truck and told me to quit crying. He said he wasn't going to buy it for me because it was too expensive. I told him that I had planned on buying it. He asked me "You!? With what?". I said "With this." and pulled out my loose change. I had just the right amount, including sales tax. Then I told him about how I had been saving up my allowance. Then he got his face right up into my face asked me "Where did you really get it?". I looked him in the eye (frickin' hard not to that blasted close) and told him how I had really been saving it up just so I could buy that Supergirl. He believed me.

                            As we were going home he actually forbade me from buying her and threatened that he was going to start checking my toy box for her if he thought I ever snuck one into my room. I started crying again, and he pulled over and yelled at me to quit crying before he takes me out and spanks me with his belt. And I was told not to tell my mom what happened. I tried my best not to cry on the way home.

                            Well, when I got into the house my mom could plainly see that I had been crying and asked me what was wrong. I told her to "Ask dad, I'm not allowed to say!". Dad heard what I said and got angry, but he did tell her what happened when she asked him. Then mom got really angry at dad, and reminded him since it was my allowance money now and no longer his loose change anymore I could spend it any way that I liked. My dad slept on the couch that night.

                            The next day or maybe the day after that my mom had gotten me a few MEGO figures including Bo and Luke from the Dukes line when she had gone shopping at K-Mart. No Supergirl.

                            What my mom did made me very happy.

                            You might think that would be the end of the story right? Bzzzzzzzzzzzz! Wrong!

                            After that on two different ocassions I walked in on my dad going trough my toy box in my bedroom. Remember his threat from earlier? On the third time I caught him, my mom came home a little early from a slow day at her job while he was still looking. I told her what he was doing. Mom stopped him and they had an arguement (I couldn't hear what was said), afterwards dad quit going through my toy box. He slept on the couch the next few nights.


                            FYI - This was not typical behavior coming from my father when he was alive. He never had a problem with my Princess Leia figure or any other female figures I got as presents or bought for myself.

                            I told him about all this years later when I was an adult. He remembered some of it and he apologized to me, we hugged, he apologized again and said that even he didn't really know why he would do that. The best we were able to piece together over the next few days from both of our memories and figure out was that he more than likely had a bad week at work and took it out on me.

                            To this day I don't own a MEGO Supergirl and likely never will. But I've been thinking about putting together a custom outfit Supergirl later on this year with repo parts during the past few months. Something "Elseworld's Finest Supergirl & Batgirl" inspired. I think I'd like that.

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