The NEW Action Jackson Line

[piecemaker]

I think this guy would work great as part of the new AJ team.

[drmego]

I think Action Jackson was supposed to look like Joe Namath or some other
70s action star but the execution went wrong.

Playing Mantis came out with a new version in 1998 which had 3 cool sets -
the WWII ranger, spy, and deep sea explorer. The line quickly dropped to
clearance level and died.

We have talked about re-making AJ but it's tooling intensive with all those
accessories and not enough people (besides you 300 guys) will buy it
because it's not a licensed property.

[palitoy]

The Playing Mantis line really wasn't horrible, I just think it got kind of lumped into that glut of military toys in the late 90s.

[jimsmegos]

Playing Mantis came out with a new version in 1998 which had 3 cool sets -
the WWII ranger, spy, and deep sea explorer. The line quickly dropped to
clearance level and died.

I had high hopes for those... I remember snatching 'em up but was really disappointed in the bodies. They were even looser than the Mattel retro action.

[Megotu]

Yeah I picked up a bunch for buck and change, the boxed and carded versions. What I didn't like about the set was the spread of the line. WW2 and a spy with a laptop? In the same line? Would rather have had all from the same timeline. A 1940's spy and and Jaques Cousteau early type gear to go with the Ranger or a modern Desert Storm era soldier.

Honestly, I don't care for the sports teams style of the AJ outfits. I kind of like the Action and Adventure lines, but sports can stay outta my AJ bin. The team sports anyway. Fencing outfit, that would be cool and something AJ should be good at. Race car driver is alright too, but he needs some sort of opponent.

[HumanWolfman]

The problem with the PM AJ's was a loose body. Other than that, the were incredible. An AJ done right today might actually fly. Put out the line with the detail of the Zombie hunter by EMCE and actually market them and I think you would have something. Invest the $$$ saved by not have to by a license into tooling and who knows!!!

[Spyweb007]

Maybe a modern AJ line could take some ideas from the current batch of reality TV shows like Ghost Hunters, Monster Quest, Destination Truth and so on, adventurers and sets of equipment which tie into those types of shows. You could even have a team with one Paranormal Investigator, Archeologist, Wilderness Survival Expert, Tech Expert, etc.

[jwyblejr]

^Do one for The Naked Archeologist and I'd be all over those.

[batmanmc]

he is bland and kind of goofy looking a better head would have helped his sales.

[samurainoir]

Action Jackson: Dog Welder special mission gear would bring tears of joy to my eyes on Chrstmas morning

[cjefferys]

"Dog Welder"... Garth Ennis is a mad genius.

I love Megos, but I've always kind of hated their AJ line (sorry if I offend some of the devout fans here ). The sculpts are just so repulsive, I can't get around that so I don't even want one on my shelves. They scare me!

The Playing Mantis ones on the other hand, had some really nice head sculpts. Too bad the bodies had so many loose joints though.

[clemso]

As a Mego collector, i've grown to really like the AJ line, but I agree with some that in particular AJ's head sculpt is lets just say .. not very attractive. But I could say the same thing about the head sculpts of the BatMan (painted mask) Captain America and Spider-man. Add 40 years of history and it is these very nuances that make them Mego.

[scoth70]

id say like in most re-makes of things the original is always the best

[robbo1970]

I do love the original AJ line although I agree in part to some of the comments.

Being Mego's first attempt I think they hold a special place. I like them because they are generic, like GI Joe and Action Man in the UK. Trying a BW head or another character is always going to be that character with an AJ outfit. Personally I do prefer the Shazam head to BW, but I think if anything, just a tidy up of the current AJ sculpt would be best. Like another member had mentioned, the mystery astronaut was a step in the right direction by having a different paint job to BW.

I would dearly love to see a re-work/re-defined head sculpt but nothing too drastic, just a tidy up to remove some of the rough edges.

I think by changing and improving too much you take away the charm of this line.

Thats just my view though, maybe I'm a bit of a traditionalist.

I have no scuplting skills at all, but maybe one of the skilled scuplters on here could have a go and 'tidying' one up

[Brown Bear]

I'd love to see a re-mego AJ comeback with a new villan added for fun.