5th Anniversary

[RickD]

I absolutely love the Mailer Megos. Everything about them. I have had more fun reading this thread then any other thread since joining


Rick

[imp]

Hey Vinny,

Excellent points you make!

We have to be able to discuss possibilities/ scenarios/ human error to find out the historical truth. While Occam's razor will definitely lead us to say the path of least assumption is most likely the correct one, i dont think it can eliminate all possibilities. We have to be able to question the past or theories/ maxims, they have to be open to discussion to be proven right or wrong. " the unexamined life is not worth living"

Beautifully stated, and I completely agree with you. And I think there is another maxim, upon which we may both agree:

WITH MEGO, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

It seems we also both differentiate between POSSIBILITY and LIKELIHOOD. And thanks to the photos you just shared, we may have some additional analysis fodder. Allow me to respond in the order you posted the figures in question…

Box # 48-24505 with the aquaman in question and its just a hand written A on the box, so i believe this is just from the previous owner, perhaps he was packing up a few items and needed to mark them , so he would not mix them up

I AGREE. 100% There are no retailer Mailer Boxes for Aquaman. There may exist a Mego Mailer Box, stamped "1303" or "51303" but I have never seen one.

The box the hulk came in has brown tape shellaced over the # stamped on the box in two places and the # M51307 written over it

Rob Chatlin and I have discussed Mailer Boxes at great length, including the strange Batman that featured a mimeograph/xerox label with inventory information, suggesting the possibility some catalog houses' fulfillment folks (Ward, Penny, et al.) DID futz with inventory, maybe switch boxes, etc. There is no evidence to suggest anyone at the factory level (in Hong Kong) ever did this, though. So the problem I have with this item, is that it is the MEGO item code written on it (M51307). Thus, I am inclined to rule out any catalog houses' fulfillment folks, because every catalog retailer had their own inventory/cataloging/numbering systems. In other words, they wouldn't know what "51307" is. That said, there were other retailers (e.g. HEROES WORLD) who sold Mailer Boxes with Mego item numbers, so perhaps this came from Heroes World? Again, with Mego, anything is possible. So this one is a toss-up. All we know for certain, is that that "51307" is Mego's item number for Shazam, NOT Hulk.

The box the catwoman came in # 48-24424 has the name catwoman written on one of the flaps and a shipping label from montgomery wards affixed to it, but there is not a character name written on it

Now this item just became A LOT MORE INTERESTING! I did a little research, and get this: Your "Catwoman" box was originally intended for Superman in the 1974 Ward catalog. It HAD to be 1974, because the tag shows the price of $2.39 apiece. 1974 is the ONLY year that WGSH from Ward cost $2.39 (they were $2.19 in 1973, $2.84 in 1975, and prices continued to rise).

What's more, guess who ELSE was available in the 1974 Ward catalog?

You guessed it: CATWOMAN.

So given this new information, I am inclined to believe what you have is authentic. Not accurate, mind you (i.e. a Superman figure in a Superman box), but authentic (meaning I believe the swap could have been done by a Ward fulfillment employee, not the original owner or an after-market collector). I think we have both possibility and likelihood.

Here are a couple questions to maybe pursue the possibility versus likelihood question: 1) How are the condition of the figure and polybag? 2) Do they both look minty and authentic?

Thanks again for a highly enjoyable thread. I could talk about this stuff all day!

-b

[kresge1]

Ben
I love talking "shop" with you!!
I have included some pics of the catwoman and her polybag.
She is minty fresh with a plastic hair piece and her blue tunic has faded to purple
Also the bag she is the crinkly type like the one your superman came in that i won through hakes auction. She also came with another polybag folded up in her box,but its smooth and not crinkly but it has that classic browned piece of scotch tape affixed to all the baggies..The plot thickens!!
Cant wait to hear your thoughts on this
027.jpg028.jpg029.jpg

[imp]

I love talking "shop" with you!!

Likewise. And your massive Mego Mailer Box collection gives us plenty of 'shop' to talk.

I have included some pics of the catwoman and her polybag. She is minty fresh with a plastic hair piece and her blue tunic has faded to purple… Cant wait to hear your thoughts on this

Yeah, that's crazy minty goodness. So to recap what we know:

Montgomery Ward offered Catwoman in exactly one Christmas catalog, in 1974, then never again. Montgomery Ward charged $2.39 for each WGSH figure in exactly one Christmas catalog, in 1974, then never again for that price. You have a mint Montgomery Ward Mailer Box with a 1974 label and "Catwoman" written in a fine and clear hand, paired with a mint Mailer Box Catwoman. If we stipulate that Montgomery Ward fulfillment employees occasionally re-purposed Mailer Boxes -- and there is plenty of evidence to suggest Sears, Penney, Ward and other catalog house all did so -- then I think it's very reasonable to assume that you have an authentic, MIB 1974 Montgomery Ward Mailer Box Catwoman.

In fact, I think it is both possible and likely.

That's what I would vote, anyway.

-b

[PNGwynne]

This minutiae is endlessly facinating to me, it makes my OCD tingle lol.

And Kresge, that is a staggering amout of Megoes.

This sort of analysis & open, sharing discussion is exactly what makes the Museum so special.

[kresge1]

Ben
Thank you again. As long you don't mind my pursuit of knowledge in regards to all things Mego . Then please expect more questions

[kresge1]

Thanks Scott! I hope I got the name correct

[PNGwynne]

^Yes, correct.

[imp]

It pleases me to read that some of you guys are enjoying this thread as much as Vinny and I are.

Vinny, maybe this can become a new collecting goal for you: A complete set of Mailer Box Super-Heroes from the 1974 Montgomery Ward Christmas Catalog. You already have a few of these babies:



…as if a complete set of MIB Secret Identity outfits wouldn't be difficult enough to attain!

By the bye, I just noticed a tantalizing tidbit: See the 1974 Ward catalog pic above? Notice how all the WGSH cost $2.39? EXCEPT CATWOMAN, which -- according to the fine print -- cost $2.99? Perhaps Ward ran into some customer trouble. Perhaps Ward had some trouble with their inventory or labeling system. Perhaps Ward decided it wasn't worth generating a brand new SKU and labeling for just a single character. Perhaps all the orders Ward received for Catwoman, were accompanied by a payment of just $2.39. Perhaps as a result, Ward just said, "forget it" and fulfilled all Catwoman orders for $2.39 and used the same standard label they used for the other WGSH offered that year… perhaps hand-writing "Catwoman" on the box as necessary.

Perhaps the Catwoman Mailer Box you own is representative of the only way any of them were ever shipped…! Perhaps there is no Montgomery Ward Catwoman Mailer Box (specifically, pre-printed with HER OWN Ward item number), and as a result perhaps Ward didn't bother to print out their own sticker labels.

Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Fascinating and fun stuff to consider!

-b
p.s By all means, I am always interested in talking shop. Please feel free to post new topics or questions here, or start a new thread in this forum, or shoot me an Email, whatever. Maybe not PM though; I need to clear out my PM box, which is always seems to be full. But I love talking WGSH, especially packaging.

[kresge1]

Ben
Would love to complete that mail order catalog page as a subset for you. Lets see if I can. Would love to snag a Spider-Man mailer! Mxy would be near impossible since he was only offered once. The alter ego mailer is near impossible And $$$ as hell.", but I am game!
If you know of any mailers for sale, keep me informed!

[palitoy]

You know, getting on this mailer box band wagon. About 9 years ago, I came across a pile of Aquaman figures in mailer boxes. They weren't great figures, one had glow in the dark hands, the other Scarecrow hands. The paints on the figures were rotten. I imagine that this was the same batch that came on those Superman cards and just shoved into anything by the factory to get them sold.

Never checked the numbers, seems logical now but I had a new born at the time.

[imp]

You know, getting on this mailer box band wagon. About 9 years ago, I came across a pile of Aquaman figures in mailer boxes. They weren't great figures, one had glow in the dark hands, the other Scarecrow hands. The paints on the figures were rotten. I imagine that this was the same batch that came on those Superman cards and just shoved into anything by the factory to get them sold.

Yes! I wonder if those were part of the same Dorothy/Tin Man lot I used to encounter. My recollection, from dealers and toy show people who came across large quantities of them, is that they came from some U.S. odd-lot type distributor… someone who bought out entire warehouses of inventory over-runs and deadstock. In other words, I was under the impression that it was the U.S. distributor who paired those figures with those boxes.

I always liked to imagine the same distributor was responsible, in the early 1990s, for the strange appearance (in boutique gift stores) of Wizard of Oz Mego figures packed in poly-bags with Header cards. But your recollection that the Aquaman figures themselves were inferior products (i.e. bad paint jobs) adds a fun wrinkle. Your take is that they came out of HK already packed into old Mailer Boxes (Wizard of Oz or otherwise), right? Fascinating. I guess I am not surprised the figures were cobbled together from remnants. After all, the 'Franken-Aqauman' figures packed on ©1979 Superman cards often have re-purposed parts. You mention one parts re-purposing of which I was unaware: Scarecrow hands! Wow!

So cool… I love this stuff.

-b

[imp]

FWIW RE: Mailer Box Aquaman figures, I was further inclined to blame a domestic deadstock distributor specifically because of the proliferation of Wizard of Oz materials (parts and packaging). I mean, what year did Mego completely stop producing/offering their Wizard of Oz line? 1978, maybe? 1979? It seems factories in HK, where space is so limited, would be hard-pressed to sit on any unused inventory for years and years, let alone for more than a decade. I would think any Chinese factory would blow such merch out the door as soon as possible, at any price possible.

But maybe the HK factory did pack them in old WOZ Mailer Boxes and blow them out back in, say, 1979, where they sat in some U.S. distributor's warehouse for 11+ years until some intern stumbled across the boxes and sold them off?

I really don't know. Just thinkin'…

-b

[palitoy]

Well, a lot of those Franken Aquamen turned up in the UK in the 1990s, where they had been sitting. I am just inclined to think those figures with Type 2 lion rock monster hands originated from Hong Kong. The people I got these from had been sitting on them for ages. I knew them in the 1980s.

Also, in the 1980s, those blow molded "Super Powers" figures appeared wearing a mix of Captain Action and Mego 12" parts. Straight from Hong Kong they was.

A Canadian chain called "Dollarama" has been selling "Warriors of Virtue" figures from 1997 this year, 15 year old action figures just started cropping up. I keep wondering what else they're gonna find.

[Earth 2 Chris]

5 years...!!! Man, I cannot believe that. When so many collector books are light on details, (and many more are wrong on those) WGT was the first such book where I felt completely confident that what I was reading was 100% accurate. And such a beauty to look at. I still leaf through it regularly!!!

Chris