Was Tarzan a big seller?

[imp]

What caused Mego to drop him was ERB inc was seperately trying to license the Filmation cartoon to toymakers. The figure was not a hot seller so Mego just dropped him in 1976 as a retort. In 1977, Mattel made a Tarzan figure with a Big Jim body.

With all due respect, that's not quite true. I don't just 'touch' on this in the book, I cover it pretty extensively (see pp. 77-78), as I had access to the actual Mego files from the ERB estate.



Let me add to this for clarification. Tarzan wasn't just a poor seller, Tarzan sold TERRIBLY. Edgar Rice Burroughs earned a mere $7,234.36 during the three-year span of the agreement. Tarzan's poor sales resulted in Mego reneging on the agreement's minimum annual earnings guarantee. In other words, it was ERB – not Mego – who controlled the situation and ultimately pulled the contract. ERB offered Mego limited, non-exclusive rights, but Mego passed (presumably what Brian was referring to).

-b

[palitoy]

I got my info from Neal, who did admit his memory was slightly "Compacted" but it sounds like those accounts jive. He mentioned ERB wanting to split the license for a movie although he claimed they pulled the plug, if ERB did, the folks at Mego were not heart broken...

[imp]

He was a good seller, he was kind of hard to find… Tarzan was a hot item, for sure.

I read stuff like this, and it's like a bad dream. Like I wrote the book, but then forgot to publish it or something.

[Mikey]

All I know is back in the day just about all of my school buds wanted and had Spiderman.

Even Supes couldn't compete with Spidey

Tarzan was never even mentioned.

[VintageMike]

I read stuff like this, and it's like a bad dream. Like I wrote the book, but then forgot to publish it or something.

Sometimes I think this particular situation is just fact vs. perception. Fact vs. Perception. The facts out now indicate he was a poor seller. But someone who has no knowledge (in which case I say read the book, browse this site and get some knowledge!) remembers the toy not on the shelf and is just assuming it sold out rather than no longer being produced due to poor sales and other factors.

[huedell]

I didn't even know about Mego Tarzan as a kid, but I have a T2 Tarzan today and like him--the skin-suit is goofy, though.

Mego bodies were goofy enough... naked. A skin suit was just the thing to
bridge the gap back then. Nowadays... some bodies may not be able to
stand up... but porportions make it a tad better for naked bodies....
still the body, unless, notably thicker will seem too small in scale
ultimately for 8 inch figures with out a cloth overlay.

Some people don't care about scale and prefer not to see a "suit"
where flesh should be... my thoughts are... hey, a toy is a toy...
not a human... and at a low price point you make some visual sacrifices,
and to me size scale is more imprtant than calling a flesh suit "goofy"
or what-have-you.

[Drzsmith]

I got Tarzan for Christmas one year,I found him again a few years ago at a flea market for a dollar I couldnt pass that up.

[Tothiro]

I love Tarzan... I had him fighting bendy snakes before, but he's being attacked by Big Jim Gorilla right now.
I also want all of my bare-flesh megos to have tarzan style suits.

Yeah I said it.

(Except OMBC... for some reason they're fine as they are. Conan sort of bugs me though)

[Godzilla]

Tarzan was one I had and loved as a kid. I remember playing with him both with and without the bodysuit.

[kingdom warrior]

I loved The Tarzan figure. I wasn't crazy about the costume as mine got adjusted right away to look more like the movie Tarzan. The Body suit removed and my Mom cut the suit, my first custom lol!.......They use to give Tarzan movies on WNEW here in NY on Sundays and watched it while playing with my figure......great memories....

[palitoy]

Tarzan was the thing of myth and legend when I was a kid, my sister had seen him, she remembered he was "in a flesh bodysuit". Didn't see him until I was 16 when I found a boxed one at a doll collector show, still have him.

[Jason73]

I read stuff like this, and it's like a bad dream. Like I wrote the book, but then forgot to publish it or something.

I'm gonna order your book off of Amazon and get educated. It looks really really amazing