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Webbed-Hand Aquaman: Search for Atlantis?

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  • imp
    Mego Book Author
    • Apr 20, 2003
    • 1579

    Webbed-Hand Aquaman: Search for Atlantis?

    Tonight, I posted a new Blog, exploring Mego's mysterious "Webbed-Hand" Aquaman. Featuring a never-before-seen photograph of the solitary example of this phenomenal WGSH artifact (thanks to our own Roberto!), I also present a new, potentially related fact for your consideration.

    Read the blog, and let's discuss.

    Benjamin
    Last edited by imp; Feb 22, '08, 12:01 AM.
  • SUP-Ronin
    Stuck in a laundry shoot.
    • Oct 8, 2007
    • 3146

    #2
    That is a new one for me. Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
    "Steel-like jaws clacked away, each bite slashing flesh from my body - I used my knife and my hands, and when they were gone, my bloody stumps - and yet the turtles came."

    Comment

    • sauce
      Removed
      • Jun 24, 2007
      • 3491

      #3
      WOW! Roberto must have access to some underwater archives.....
      and unrelated to aquaman, in reading the notes in your blog post, i'm curious if mego ever made those trampoline games.

      Comment

      • imp
        Mego Book Author
        • Apr 20, 2003
        • 1579

        #4
        Originally posted by nayrbgo
        WOW! Roberto must have access to some underwater archives.....
        and unrelated to aquaman, in reading the notes in your blog post, i'm curious if mego ever made those trampoline games.
        "Trampoline games?" You lost me there. Which ones are you referring to?

        Benjamin

        Comment

        • Bionic Joe
          Persistent Member
          • Dec 10, 2006
          • 1749

          #5
          I've always wondered if the only knew example is a proto type that was never mass produced?

          Comment

          • sauce
            Removed
            • Jun 24, 2007
            • 3491

            #6
            on the right hand page, above the sub mariner/aquaman highlighted notes: "(Skill) Trampolene [sic] Games"

            Comment

            • imp
              Mego Book Author
              • Apr 20, 2003
              • 1579

              #7
              Originally posted by spockfan74
              I've always wondered if the only knew example is a proto type that was never mass produced?
              Good question. "Prototype" seems to be an oft-misued term, as many people use the word to imply "early edition," without consideration of the production process.

              I worked as an Art Director for a Los Angeles-based toy company that manufactured almost exclusively in Hong Kong and Mainland China (much like Mego). We always used the term "prototype" to refer to the preliminary product design for which I was responsible. Such prototypes were hand-made samples or even 2-dimensional drawings/renderings of the concept. That said, many who work in toy manufacturing cite the "prototype" as the first example produced by the manufacturer (BTW, we always called that item an "early production sample").

              The reason I mention this, is that it digs deeper into the production process and mystery of the "Webbed-Hand" figure. For those who have personally inspected the "Webbed-Hand" Aquaman figure, there is no disputing the fact that the hands are the result of a complete manufacturing process. That is to say, they are neither rudimentary ('hand-made') mock-ups, nor are they modified from existing hands. The factory must have produced (an unknown quantity) of these hands!

              I realize this is somewhat beside the point, but I think it's important to note that the solitary specimen bears the markings of having been mass-produced.

              So where are the other 300-1,000 specimens surely manufactured?!

              The mystery remains.

              Benjamin

              Comment

              • imp
                Mego Book Author
                • Apr 20, 2003
                • 1579

                #8
                Originally posted by nayrbgo
                on the right hand page, above the sub mariner/aquaman highlighted notes: "(Skill) Trampolene [sic] Games"
                Aha! Gotcha. Sorry, I was so focused on the "underwater" themes, I didn't make a note of Vinny's other product ideas.

                Benjamin

                Comment

                • Bionic Joe
                  Persistent Member
                  • Dec 10, 2006
                  • 1749

                  #9
                  Thanks for answering my question Benjamin, As i haven't been lucky enough to see him upclose But one thing still beats me is since Aquaman was such a poor seller why spend money on retooling his hands?
                  Last edited by Bionic Joe; Feb 22, '08, 1:50 AM.

                  Comment

                  • imp
                    Mego Book Author
                    • Apr 20, 2003
                    • 1579

                    #10
                    Originally posted by spockfan74
                    Thanks for answering my question Benjamin, As i haven't been lucky enough to see him upclose But one thing still beats me is since Aquaman was such a poor seller why spend money on retooling his hands?
                    Now you're REALLY getting to the heart of what bothers ALL Mego collectors!

                    When it comes to this particular Mego product, mysteries abound. Was this really originally intended to be a WGSH/Aquaman product, suggesting Mego saw potential profit in an otherwise unvendible character that — for 6+ years — resulted in low casepack quantities and weak overall sales?

                    Was the toy's development prompted by the successful movie "Jaws?" Probably not, since there are several years between the country's "shark" fever (1975/76) and the Mego product (1978).

                    Were the hands and/or shark figure developed for TV's "Man from Atlantis" or similarly aquatic concept (e.g. the mysterious "Search for Atlantis")? Several people have aggressively asserted this was not the case.

                    Sadly, I don't know whether the answers are actually out there waiting to be discovered. But it is fascinating nonetheless, and certainly worthy of additional discussion.

                    Benjamin

                    Comment

                    • SlipperyLilSuckers
                      MeGoing
                      • May 14, 2003
                      • 9031

                      #11
                      I read that Aquaman bit in the book with great interest as he is a favourite of mine. It will be very interesting to hear the answer when it is eventually tracked down. I am tempted to customize an Aquaman's hands since I like them so much.

                      Comment

                      • Hulk
                        Mayor of Megoville
                        • May 10, 2003
                        • 16007

                        #12
                        Neal Kublan confirmed Webby was defnitely machine made, and that the mimimum run they would have even considered would have been 1000 units. One day he will show up again, but until then, Berto still gets my nod for owning the rarest Mego known.


                        Comment

                        • imp
                          Mego Book Author
                          • Apr 20, 2003
                          • 1579

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Hulk
                          Neal Kublan confirmed Webby was defnitely machine made, and that the mimimum run they would have even considered would have been 1000 units.
                          Good point, Paul!

                          1,000 'production samples' would be astronomically high for a small outfit like the company I worked for, but a run of 1,000 such units would be relatively small for a company as large as Mego in 1978 (In 1976, Mego was acknowledged as the 6th largest toy company in the entire world!).

                          For a company as massive as Mego at the time, 'production' samples, 'buyer' samples and 'catalog' samples alone would require hundreds of units, if not thousands.

                          The point is, there is little doubt Mego produced more than one set of "Webbed Hands." This adds to the mystery surrounding 'Berto's solitary specimen, but still doesn't address the greater mystery of the reasoning behind the playset's development!

                          This is the kind of thing that makes me lose sleep.

                          Benjamin

                          Comment

                          • megoscott
                            Founding Partner
                            • Nov 17, 2006
                            • 8710

                            #14
                            I just don't see how it can be anything but Man From Atlantis. The webbed hand is too specific. How and why it ended up on an Aquaman is baffliing...

                            I think this trademark discovery is very interesting. It's Search for Atlantis, but not Man from Atlantis...might they have been considering an end-run around the actual show and making their own genric Atlantis concept that ripped off the idea of webbed hands? Are webbed hands are a visual idea that can't be trademarked or made proprietary? I can't imagine the rights to the mildly popular Patrick Duffy show would have been so expensive they'd have gone the generic route to save money...but perhaps they thought they could expand beyond the show's concept and make a line that had even more fantastic elements...

                            Anyway, to me this is a clue that lends a lot weight to the idea that the hands were created for an abandoned project. Then maybe someone suggests merging the idea with Aquaman...Or perhaps Search for Atlantis was an abandoned Aquaman playset idea that ended up as GWS...

                            It's just so baffling that they'd show it in the catalog yet make no mention of it--just show the picture. And that no one from Mego can recall these things...
                            This profile is no longer active.

                            Comment

                            • EMCE Hammer
                              Moderation Engineer
                              • Aug 14, 2003
                              • 25679

                              #15
                              I'm thinking Logan's Run here. Perhaps a run of something Atlantis-related was made, and then the plug got pulled when the show died. For whatever reason, it all went in the kiln except for a few stragglers.

                              OR

                              How's about an accident with the tooling for one of the hands, which made them decide to just go with regular hands instead of the webs due to cost and/or time issues?

                              Comment

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