Marty Owns Mego Again

[Werewolf]

Coolness, glad to hear he owns the name again.

[Hulk]

The Word Mark "MEGO - WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER HEROES" is showing as LIVE now on the USPTO website, so I can only imagine the lawyers worked it out with Lego ahead of time.

I do see that someone tried a variation of MEGO, specifically "MC MEGO" and probably ran into the same LEGO wall as I did.

With such a specific trademark, I still think there would have to be some fairly solid plans with either DC, Marvel or both considering they their protection of the word superhero since Mego originally trademarked it and then gave it to them.

[Hulk]

And does anyone else think this could be a precursor to some sort of announcement next week at Toyfair?

[Al Barrett]

Who would prefer that "Retro cloth" name instead of "Mego"?

[Werewolf]

And does anyone else think this could be a precursor to some sort of announcement next week at Toyfair?

I sure hope so.

[cjefferys]

I wouldn't be surprised if Marty didn't have something up his sleeve. At any rate, I'm glad he got the name "Mego" back to where it deserves to be.

[AcroRay]

Interesting news, but I'm going to reserve my excitement.

In respect to all those creative people who made Mego what it was, I'd remind that while Marty was the popular face of Mego and was involved in a great many important creative and business decisions for the company, Marty was not exactly all that was Mego. We've learned that in recent years here at the Mego Museum

Given his track record in recent years, and in the face of the adoration the collecting community has laid upon him lately, I'd say he may find himself with a lot to live up to in taking up the Mego name again.

But I wish him the best of luck, and hope he can come up with product worthy of the name!

Now, does that also mean that anyone using the Mego name now has to ask Marty permission and pay him royalties? Now THAT could certainly shake the Mego collecting community....

[megozilla13]

Marty said if he knew so many people would still be interested in Mego thirty years later he would have fought harder to keep it alive.

I don't think he has anything up his sleeve or that there will be any announcements anytime soon. He said the acquisition of the name only happened in the last 60 days and that he had just let the guys from EMCE know before the show. The feeling I got from what was said was that soon the EMCE name will be no more and that future releases will be under the name Mego. It seems to me the plan is that they will work together.

The guys from Emce seem reluctant to announce any new figures or licenses, their goal as they said is to just finish what has been promised to date and then they will look ahead.

Some interesting sides:

During the question period someone asked why Mego never made a Doctor Doom, and Marty replied that he was pretty sure they had released him as a European exclusive.

When asked about Logan's Run. Marty said they bought the license to protect the Farrah license but that they had no intention of making figures.

Marty also said something about still owning the micronauts license and trying to get Hollywood to do something with it.

I was hoping for more anecdotes from Marty but the hour went very fast.

mikej

[Nostalgiabuff]

that is so cool. Way to go Marty. Let's hope the Doc and Mego already have something planned. I do't buy the whole " we are trying to get released everything that was promised line." they were announcing new figures quite often over the last 2 or so years and now nothing for months.
Either way, should be an exciting time for Mego.

[censy]

One of the most interesting comments Marty made, imo, came when asked what figure the panelists would like to see given the mego 8" treatment. Dave said Star Wars, Doc said WGSH, but Marty said, Baron Karza.

Chris

[David Lee]

The Word Mark "MEGO - WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER HEROES" is showing as LIVE now on the USPTO website, so I can only imagine the lawyers worked it out with Lego ahead of time.

I do see that someone tried a variation of MEGO, specifically "MC MEGO" and probably ran into the same LEGO wall as I did.

With such a specific trademark, I still think there would have to be some fairly solid plans with either DC, Marvel or both considering they their protection of the word superhero since Mego originally trademarked it and then gave it to them.

Yea we tried MC MEGO but were "LEGO"d ourselves... I find it interesting the MARTY would want the name back since it will be a huge job to enforce the trademark, but maybe since he was the original registrant he was more able to jump the hurdle that we could not.... and with a narrow description like "Toys, namely, action figures, playsets, and accessories therefor"... the good news is: this means MEGO action figures will have to be produced to "sure" up the license, you can't just own the name you have to make (or have a made) based on this description Toys, namely, action figures, playsets, and accessories.


So like I said, I hope Marty all the success in the world... because the more MEGOs the better!


-Dave

[wayne foundation 07]

I don't think the name would carry the same weight except maybe in this circle.There really hasn't been much success with similar type figures.Marvel Famous Covers never reached the same following as theMEGOS or the Hasbro DC line either.It would probably be an adult driven market,you just don't see kids with such things anymore.It might help the Doc get the licence help , but other than that its more a sentimental thing.Its back where it belongs.

[kryptosmaster]

I don't want to get my hopes up either but I am awaiting anxiously to see what happens in the near future.
No disrespect intended to emce but if...IF...Marty either makes or leases the Mego name out for new 8 inch action figures, whether that be to emce or whomever; those will be REAL, ACTUAL, AUTHENTIC, 100% MEGOs to me. In my opinion if it isnt stamped Mego somewhere on the item then it's still just an almost-Mego, no matter how close or faithful the product may be to the original source or inspiration.
As I said, since some people seem to feel the need to attack others opinions when this subject comes up; this is my OPINION (which I know is shared with others here) and I have respect and gratitude for those who have and will continue to make Mego-like figures and copies of original Mego figures.
I would like to see someone like those who own emce bestowed the honor of marking their goods with the hallowed Mego name. They have shown their love and respect of the Mego heritage and would do the name proud. I would hope that with this type of cooperation they would have the ability to not only make new Mego figures but extend the original lines and maybe even make items that Mego intended to produce but were shelved plus produce new Mego playsets, etc. This partnership may also have the ability to lower costs since they may be able to mass-market the products in retail stores all over the world again. WIN-WIN situation for everyone involved.
Rich

[wayne foundation 07]

Very well put Rich!

[saildog]

I would like to see someone like those who own emce bestowed the honor of marking their goods with the hallowed Mego name. They have shown their love and respect of the Mego heritage and would do the name proud. I would hope that with this type of cooperation they would have the ability to not only make new Mego figures but extend the original lines and maybe even make items that Mego intended to produce but were shelved plus produce new Mego playsets, etc. This partnership may also have the ability to lower costs since they may be able to mass-market the products in retail stores all over the world again. WIN-WIN situation for everyone involved.
Rich

I like what you've said here, Rich. Having read it, this would be my hope, as well.