Mego Introduces Muhammad Ali

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Why wasn't this a hit?

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[Mikey]

I think Ali wasn't a hit for one reason ....
He was a boxer.
Boxing just wasn't what most 70's kids were into.
70's kids were into the same sports they watched on current 70's TV and also played in school, aka Hockey, Baseball, Football and Basketball.

Boxing wasn't something that was regularly shown on televison with a passion.

Everybody knew who Ali was, but hardly anyone ever seen him actually fight.

Most peoples impression of Ali came second hand from other people impersonating him on your fav comedy show.

Boxing was simply a bad choice to go with for making an action figure.

[toys2cool]

I have a funny story when it comes to this figure,it was actually one of my first megos.I buy it at a toy show when i was like 9 or 10 from a doll dealer that use to sell to my mom,she was actually good friends with her.So both me and my little brother get one.As soon as I get it,she's like be careful these are highly collectible and rare,don't take off the gloves.So I was like what the hell? I waited till I got home and removed the gloves,both mine and my brothers were missing 1 hand,the ***** said she never noticed and all sales were final how do you do that to a 9 and 6 year old kids?

[TEXASFETT]

Yeah D that does suck,I wanted that doll at one time.Instead mom got me the Mr.T Rocky figure.

[kryptosmaster]

OOH, this article is ripe for plucking!

So does anyone make new accessories for the OJ doll? Maybe a set of Bruno Maglis, a ski-mask, a pair of tight black leather gloves and a knife? Maybe throw in an orange jumpsuit and a pair of handcuffs?

I never heard of the Lassie toys. Did they actually come out?

I also wasn't aware that the first release of the Lone Ranger was sans Tonto?

I have Ali and just picked up a "Ken Norton" opponent in a lot that turned out to be in better shape than I thought but he's missing a hand & a foot and is darker plastic than Ali so Ali parts won't work.
These figures have a lot of neat features not found on typical Megos but probably would have made regular Megos very expensive to produce that way. If anyone has spare parts from one of these opponents drop me a PM.

My favorite is the story about the lecherous old men just sitting there spitting their tobacco and looking at the old ladies legs!!!


Rich

update:
looks like someone already did!

[HardyGirl]

I know that a lot of black kids (esp. boys) identified w/ Ali, b/c every boy I knew at that time watched ABC Wide World Of Sports on Sundays, and would imitate the rivalry between Ali and Howard Cosell, and dance around going "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and they'd also add the line "cos I am the second Muhammad Ali". So while the figure might not have done that well overall, in black markets, I think it was a hit.

[Mr Mego]

Yeah, I saw Muhammad Ali on the TV about him. He's smart a$z and BIG mouthy in front of public.....

I wouldn't like that jerk guy, I don't get it but that need to let us know in History with Mego Muhammad Ali figure.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

Growing up in the 70's Ali was the Greatest. As HardyGirl mentioned anyone who watched ABC sports knew of Ali. I think the problem with sales could also be parents who didn't think much of boxing. For example, I got Rock-em Sock-em robots as a gift at one of my birthday parties as a kid and was told I could keep it because they were robots.

[Bionic Joe]

I grew up in the 70s and Ali was everywere and just about everyone knew who he was, But i was never attracked to this line for other then rockem sockem robots i had no intrest in boxing at all

[starsky]

i think mego did a great job with the ali sculpt