MegoMuseum looks at Heroes World!

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Any child of the 1970s likely spent some time drooling over a Heroes World ad, if you are a Mego collector, you probably still do. In those pre internet days, those beautifully drawn pages were the only evidence that certain toy lines existed. Nothing spread the word about Super Hero merchandise like a Heroes World Catalog. We here at the Mego Museum wanted to pay a little tribute to this wonderful operation.

We've put together a rare look with behind the scenes photographs and interviews, it's all here at the MegoMuseum takes a look at Heroes World!

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[sauce]

So good So good!!!!!

[clemso]

I wonder if any kid was disappointed at not getting a CS Spidey from the ad
I was one of those kids that used to drool from across the pond.

[megowgsh]

Thank you so much for that story. My dad purchased almost all of my Megos through Heroes World mail order What memories

[Meule]

Marvel Comics bought HW in 1995 and ended it all? Why?

[palitoy]

Thank you so much for that story. My dad purchased almost all of my Megos through Heroes World mail order What memories

i am so jealous of those memories. my folks talked me out of ordering from hw.

[Wee67]

I remember when they had the contest to name their mascot/hero. I was so convinced I had a chance (for the life of me, I can not remember my suggestions) until I saw the final decison. It was something I thougth was about as non-superheroic as you can get. Again, I'm not sure what the final choice was, but I think it was something like Snyderman. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was pretty bad.

Now off to check out this tribute!

[Wee67]

Holy Poop it was Snyder-Man! I get it now, but as a kid I thought it was atrocious. It also made me feel like I never had a chance.

Great article and thanks for taking the time to do it. I'm one of the many who worshipped these catalogs and yearned for the never-to-occur trip to one of these stores.

[Evel KMego]

Wish I could of went to one of the outlet stores. I guess southern Indiana wasn't in their marketing scheme

[samurainoir]

I didn't manage to put two and two together that the Heroes World bought by Marvel, which caused the distributors wars in the 90's was the same as the catalogue company from the seventies!

What a fascinating story.

[MIB41]

Yeah, I attended the Joe Kubert School of Art back in the mid-80's so I was well aware of their contributions. The students there were drawing those pages using the actual toys as models.

[megojim]

Ok, anyone notice the John Farley - Ivan Snyder separated at birth??
Great article Brian!


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[MightyMegs]

Marvel Comics bought HW in 1995 and ended it all? Why?

Marvel wanted to drop Diamond Distributors, the company that handled most distribution to comic stores at that time. So they bought Heroes World because it was doing what Diamond was doing, just on a smaller scale. But faced with sudden loss of their discount structure, comis shop owners rebelled... and Marve'ls attempt at self-distribution ended in failure.

[SlipperyLilSuckers]

Nice addition to the Museum archives...thanks

[samurainoir]

The Heroes World debacle is chronicled in this book. A riviting read whether you're into Marvel Superheroes or not. All about corporate level greed and manipulations that sent Marvel spiraling into Bankrupcy just to line the pockets of the fat-cats at the top.

Amazon.com: Comic Wars: How Two Tycoons Battled Over the Marvel Comics Empire--And Both Lost (9780767908306): Dan Raviv: Books

Product Description
Embarrassed billionaires tried to keep a lid on this story, but it cried out to be told: how America's greatest comic-book company was driven to the brink of insolvency by warring tycoons and rescued from the abyss by two obscure but wily entrepreneurs.

In the late 1980s, financier Ronald Perelman, worth billions and riding high after his hostile takeover of the cosmetics firm Revlon, bought Marvel Entertainment–legendary creator of Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, the X-Men, and other superheroes–and he had big plans. He not only began churning out more comic books, he also acquired sports cards and other subsidiaries, impressing Wall Street so much that after he took the company public, Marvel’s market value ballooned to over $3 billion.

Perelman took advantage of the company’s inflated valuation by selling junk bonds, and personally pocketing nearly $500 million. Meanwhile, Marvel’s bank debt rose to more than $600 million. And then came the collapse of the comic-book and trading-card markets.

Enter rival corporate raider, Carl Icahn, who sank a fortune into Marvel’s bonds in an effort to wrest away control of Marvel–and to beat Perelman at his own game. As the competing tycoons went head-to-head, Ike Perlmutter and Avi Arad, two entrepreneurs who ran Toy Biz, a company that depended on Marvel superheroes, realized that their fate hung in the balance. They soon put in motion plans to take control themselves.

Bunkered in The Townhouse, his high-security Manhattan corporate headquarters, Perelman had Marvel declare bankruptcy. Icahn, an avid poker player, had to figure out if his foe was bluffing; the Toy Biz entrepreneurs needed to find a way to save the company they loved from ruin; and a team of killer lawyers representing the banks was faced with recouping their colossal debt. Thus, in United States Bankruptcy Court, began the comic war–as ferocious and outlandish as any of Marvel’s tales of good vs. evil.

Combining meticulous investigative reporting with entertaining storytelling, Comic Wars exposes the actions and motives of two Goliath-style corporate raiders, two innovative Davids, and some of the world’s most prominent banks. It is the rollicking true tale of a unique Wall Street showdown, of Marvel’s surprising emergence from the ashes of bankruptcy, and of its triumphant reinvention as the producer of such hit Hollywood movies as X-Men and Spider-Man.