Were movie licenses a mistake?

[Spyweb007]

Did Mego ever have a succesful line based on a current movie or TV show at the time? It seems like their most succesful lines were things that were shown on TV in repeats over and over again. I remember Star Trek was on everyday, same thing with Batman, the Adventures of Superman, several DC and Marvel vartoons and even the Apes movies would be shown quite often.

[kryptosmaster]

The Waltons must have sold fairly well or they wouldn't have made so many accessories/playsets?
I think the Dukes was successful wasn't it? And Chips?
Plus Planet of the Apes was just a little successful. LOL
Rich

[Bionic Joe]

Beside the DUKES OF HAZZARD/CHIPS there was BUCK ROGERS/BLACK HOLE/and not so big sellers like HAPPYDAY,MOONRAKER, wALTONS just about every MEGO line was a license only MICRONAUTS was there own creation

[drmego]

Movies did not sell well - except maybe the 12 inch Superman figures, but even
they were not very popular. When you see most figures in unopened boxes, not
loose, that tells you that sales were low.

[Bionic Joe]

I wonder if the 12 SUPERMAN movie figures would have sold better if they were 8 inch figures? For some reason the 12 inchs MEGOS were never hugh sellers

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I kinda remember reading somewhere that the Dukes actually did insanely well when they were out.

Don C.

[Drain]

Beside the DUKES OF HAZZARD/CHIPS there was BUCK ROGERS/BLACK HOLE/and not so big sellers like HAPPYDAY,MOONRAKER, wALTONS just about every MEGO line was a license only MICRONAUTS was there own creation

Actually, Micronauts start in Japan before Mego got ahold of them.

[Dave Mc]

Movie licenses were what helped kill the company. After the Star Wars license became so hot for Kenner, Mego spent lots of cash on Movies and never got their big hit. Black Hole just wasn't the cash cow they were hoping.

[Mikey]

Black Hole just wasn't the cash cow they were hoping

You know ... even though I love the Black Hole, I still can't understand why Mego and other companies went crazy in the marketing departmant.

It's just not a "kids movie" ... and anyone who's ever seen it will agree.

It makes me wonder how much research a company like Mego does on a line in advance.

I'm guessing none.

[palitoy]

Before Mego, movie licensing was considered a bad idea for toy companies, too many bombs.

Planet of the Apes was one of the first successes in movie licensing but it also had five movies under it's belt.

Star Wars was a complete fluke in terms of licensing, it out performed all expectations. Then, yes everybody got on the bandwagon and grabbed anything and everything. It's like they all forgot how big a gamble movies were in the first place.

From what I know though Buck Rogers was a modest hit, the series was the factor though. Dukes and CHiPs were huge sellers.

Sales were weak for the Trek movie, Black Hole and Moonraker. Mego struck a deal with Disney and got out of the guarentee for BH, they shafted the Moonraker folks. The money used for developing those lines would have been better served creating new micronauts and other merchandising.

[Bionic Joe]

Black Hole just wasn't the cash cow they were hoping

You know ... even though I love the Black Hole, I still can't understand why Mego and other companies went crazy in the marketing departmant.

It's just not a "kids movie" ... and anyone who's ever seen it will agree.

It makes me wonder how much research a company like Mego does on a line in advance.

I'm guessing none.

The BLACK HOLE came out around Christmas 79 and the toy companys were all looking for the next STAR WARS cash cow and i tink MEGO jumped way to fast on fears of letting another one slip threw there fingers, THE BLACK HOLE was DISNEYS first PG movie and was geared for an older crowd and back then teens did not buy toys

[Spyweb007]

I know that Planet of the Apes was a movie license, but at the time mego made the toys most kids were seeing the movies on tv, and even the tv series must have been on before the figures (Urko, Virdon, Burke and Galen being from the show). Seems like the constant regular exposure of tv reruns was a much better bet than a movie at the theater that most kids would only see once. With so many channels today I doubt the same strategy would work as well, after all, back then with only a few channels to chose from most kids were watching the same shows.

[jwyblejr]

I think going after the wrong movies had more to do with it. Just imagine for a moment if they had gone after say the rights to Rocky. Then imagine them being able to cross-promote that stuff with their Muhammad Ali stuff.

[Captain]

They did get the rights to Rocky...well, Rocky 3....the figures came out during the PAC/Phoenix (last) days as I recall? Not sure if they sold ok or not? Although, you're right...a Rocky vs Mohammed Ali match would have been cool!

I wouldnt call Black Hole an "adult movie....not with characters like BOB and VINCENT running around. Essentially, the Black Hole was 20000 Leagues Under the Sea without an ending.

As for licensing any movie to come down the pike...well, that STILL happens today. It's become standard practise these days...sadly!

[ctc]

>THE BLACK HOLE was DISNEYS first PG movie and was geared for an older crowd and back then teens did not buy toys

OR model kits, apparently. As an aside; the Black Hole Maximillian model is pretty much dead-on 8" Mego scale....

Don C.