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Webbed-Hand Aquaman: Search for Atlantis?

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  • Brue
    User without title
    • Sep 29, 2005
    • 4241

    #16
    I like the whole hand written possibilities sheet - should really be considered when choosing submissions for "1978 imagined" project!

    Comment

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

      #17
      Originally posted by MegoScott
      I just don't see how it can be anything but Man From Atlantis. The webbed hand is too specific.
      It certainly seems like the most logical explanation.

      Originally posted by MegoScott
      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?
      ABSOLUTELY. Mego avoided paying licensing fees several times. Licensing Farrah, for example, allowed Mego to capitalize on "Charlie's Angels" without paying for the character rights.

      Originally posted by MegoScott
      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...
      I agree! It's not just the unique hands that raise my eyebrows. It's the fact that Mego also created the Shark, which is somewht of a departure from typical WGSH ancillary products.

      Originally posted by stevemoore
      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.
      I don't know about that. Logan's Run was 9" scale, while the "Webbed-Hands" are definitely 8" scale. Were there aquatic characters on the Logan's Run TV show? I don't remember.

      Benjamin

      Comment

      • megoscott
        Founding Partner
        • Nov 17, 2006
        • 8710

        #18
        Well, as always, Ben, good work. You've uncovered some neat stuff via the trademark office. This and the Creature mention (both have webbed hands....hmmmm....) really got me thinking. That's what makes your book more than a massive collection of pretty pictures, if I may say so.
        This profile is no longer active.

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        • davidb
          Veteran Member
          • Aug 9, 2007
          • 303

          #19
          The biggest question I've got about the webbed hands is simple - why would Mego expend the extra cost and effort for a figure that wore gloves? I'd suspect that these bodies may have been a trial run for some sort of Atlantis figures - could Roberto's have been one of only a few that escaped the same incinerator that claimed the Logan's Run figures and were reused?

          Comment

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

            #20
            Quote:
            Originally Posted by stevemoore
            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.

            I don't know about that. Logan's Run was 9" scale, while the "Webbed-Hands" are definitely 8" scale. Were there aquatic characters on the Logan's Run TV show? I don't remember.

            Benjamin

            I mean same scenario; not actually part of the line. Sorry I wasn't real clear on that.

            Steve

            Comment

            • megoscott
              Founding Partner
              • Nov 17, 2006
              • 8710

              #21
              The timing is interesting. Man from Atlantis ran starting in the spring of 77 as TV movies before starting as a series in the fall, which would jive with the trademark date. But it was cancelled pretty quickly. Jaws 2 was coming out in 78...I'd guess their Atlantis plans got scrapped about reworked as the Jaws riff.

              The Aquaman pic in the 78 catalog is the only WGSH in the catalog posed in front of a painted background. I wonder if you are seeing a glimpse of the concept art for this Search for Atlantis playset.
              This profile is no longer active.

              Comment

              • dumbldor
                Talkative Member
                • Jun 9, 2002
                • 5418

                #22
                Rather than a short production run of these hands going in a kiln, maybe the hands (or bodies with these hands) were salvaged and combined with Aquaman suits and heads and dumped cheaply ala the red-carded figures or (speculation) the bagged mystery Astronauts. Maybe they ended up in dollar stores or scooted out the back door of the factory. I would not rule out the possibility of a small find of these web-handed figures in baggies someday.

                Comment

                • PCofmisfittoys
                  Banned
                  • Oct 17, 2007
                  • 0

                  #23
                  After reading the blog, would it have not come in the Shark set and they are in MINT/unopened boxed sets ? I mean how many collectors have that set that is still sealed etc. Just hard to believe that there is ONLY ONE in the world that's not prototype form.
                  Was the figure not gloved in the set ? so if you opened it would be the only way you would know , correct?
                  Last edited by PCofmisfittoys; Feb 22, '08, 4:39 PM. Reason: adding

                  Comment

                  • jemboy2004
                    Persistent Member
                    • Aug 14, 2005
                    • 1703

                    #24
                    I think since in notes from Mego they have man from Atlantis and Aquaman/Submariner in a chain of thought together there that it has something to do with that TV show.

                    Comment

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

                      #25
                      Originally posted by dumbldor
                      Rather than a short production run of these hands going in a kiln, maybe the hands (or bodies with these hands) were salvaged and combined with Aquaman suits and heads and dumped cheaply ala the red-carded figures or (speculation) the bagged mystery Astronauts. Maybe they ended up in dollar stores or scooted out the back door of the factory. I would not rule out the possibility of a small find of these web-handed figures in baggies someday.
                      Dan raises a good theory here, When Mego was going under they used what ever they had left over, Like the close out red cards and the Frankinstein carded /Superman carded Aquamans or the Mail order WOZ boxes with Aquaman inside. Something to think about

                      Comment

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

                        #26
                        Originally posted by MegoScott
                        The Aquaman pic in the 78 catalog is the only WGSH in the catalog posed in front of a painted background. I wonder if you are seeing a glimpse of the concept art for this Search for Atlantis playset.
                        OOOOH! Totally. Hmmmm. That background always kind of bothered me but I could never put my finger on it. Once again, Webbed-hand Aquaman presents another anomaly (this time amongst catalog photos). Good thinking, Scott.

                        Originally posted by jemboy2004
                        I think since in notes from Mego they have man from Atlantis and Aquaman/Submariner in a chain of thought together there that it has something to do with that TV show.
                        I put those pages side by side (in my blog) for convenience, but I don't believe they were sequential in Vinny's sketchbook. I simply wanted to illustrate that 'aquatic' themes came up more than once. Your point is still valid, though, because it points to the fact that such themes were recurring in production meetings!

                        Originally posted by spockfan74
                        Dan raises a good theory here, When Mego was going under they used what ever they had left over, Like the close out red cards and the Frankinstein carded /Superman carded Aquamans or the Mail order WOZ boxes with Aquaman inside. Something to think about
                        I'm not sure if you're suggesting the Webbed-Hand figures were distributed after Mego cancelled the line. It's an interesting question, but I think it's a stretch to believe those unique hands would have been lying around the factory for four years (produced in 1978, Mego cancelled the line in 1982). That said, I agree Dan posed a valid supposition that more of them may have been salvaged earlier (back in 1978) and will reveal themselves on other products. Let's hope so!

                        Benjamin
                        NOTE: Edited because my tone seemed unintentionally rude. Sorry if that's how it sounded! My edited comments are in BOLD.
                        Last edited by imp; Feb 22, '08, 8:47 PM.

                        Comment

                        • dumbldor
                          Talkative Member
                          • Jun 9, 2002
                          • 5418

                          #27
                          Originally posted by imp
                          It's an interesting question, but I think it's a stretch to believe those unique hands would have been lying around the factory for four years (produced in 1978, Mego cancelled the line in 1982). That said, I agree Dan posed a valid supposition that more of them may have been salvaged earlier (back in 1978) and will reveal themselves on other products. Let's hope so!

                          Benjamin
                          NOTE: Edited because my tone seemed unintentionally rude. Sorry if that's how it sounded! My edited comments are in BOLD.
                          Why not? If Aquamans with paper stickers were sold on red cards in 1982 and mystery astronauts on T1 bodies were dumped in the early 1980s, then a cache of web-hand figures could have trickled onto the market in the early 80s as well.

                          Comment

                          • jemboy2004
                            Persistent Member
                            • Aug 14, 2005
                            • 1703

                            #28
                            Imp I'm looking at the second page at the botton which is highlighted and they seem to be written altogether at the same time? I think it's odd as I don't think I've ever seen a comic in which Aquaman is shown with webbed hands? I have not been a long time comic fan of AM so maybe I missed it but don't think it was in his book and why pointy ears too? AM has a few odd things about him. I guess AM got alot attention at mego, he must of had a big fan who had some pull at mego.

                            Comment

                            • captact
                              King of Super Queens!
                              • Aug 19, 2007
                              • 1997

                              #29
                              " So where are the other 300-1,000 specimens surely manufactured?!
                              The mystery remains".................

                              They were burned in the incinerators at the Mego Warehouse,..once the proyects were flunked,..just like what they did with the already produced 10" Logan Run figures (set of 4).....

                              Ray Flores

                              Comment

                              • starsky
                                veteran member
                                • Aug 26, 2007
                                • 6200

                                #30
                                maybe they are in those kitchen sink cards that no one wants to open?

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