Mego Mad Monsters, "Wave 2"!?

[PNGwynne]

I've just noticed something that is blowing my mind:

MM assortment Frankenstein is #1900, Dracula #1901, Wolfman #1902, Mummy #1903.

But the Castle playset is #1908.

Does anyone know what Mego might have considered for #1904, 1905, 1906, 1907?

I'm thinking Creature, Phantom, Hunchback, & maybe a female Victim (Dinah rip-off).

But I'm really curious as to whether Mego had more actual Mad Monsters planned, or was just keeping options open. Perhaps others were abandoned due to Lincoln interference?

(And has the Neptunian-Creech link ever really been verefied?)

[rchatlin]

Mego often left gaps in the numbering,
as you say, to keep options open.

r
o
b

[MIB41]

Great catch PNGwynne!

[imp]

Mego often left gaps in the numbering, as you say, to keep options open.

Rob is surely correct. A long time ago, I created a Web page of EVERY MEGO WGSH ITEM NUMBER ever used – or not used in certain cases – and I cataloged it by date. Peruse the listings and you'll see that Mego left blank Item Numbers after most Figure groupings. This was clearly intentional; doing so gave Mego options, but it does not suggest they ever had any specific characters ready to occupy those Item Numbers.

Here's my listing of Every Mego WGSH Item Number. Enjoy!

-b

[imp]

For example…

I haven't looked through those Item Numbers since I posted the article in 2008, but in scanning them, I found a good example to confirm what Mego was doing: For the Fist-Fighters, Mego left two blank Item Numbers BETWEEN the figures they actually produced:

51600/1 - 8" Fist-Fighting Batman
51600/2 - 8" Fist-Fighting Robin
51600/3 - BLANK
51600/4 - BLANK
51600/5 - 8" Fist-Fighting Riddler
51600/6 - 8" Fist-Fighting Joker

As I mentioned in the article, "Mego was quite organized in their product planning, so surely these numbers were left open intentionally. Mego was quite accurate in assessing how many item numbers should be left alone, should a particular wave become hot in the marketplace."

-b

[rchatlin]

Damn,
I forgot how awesome that chart is, Benjamin.

Looks like there's research there on more than just the WGSH book


r
o
b

[sauce]

Man, reading that chart again is like sitting with the "imp" himself!!

Terrific'ly methodical and grammatically diligent.

MWWWAAHH!!

[PNGwynne]

Thanks, Ben!

Actually, it was the fist-fighters' numbering gap that you noted in your book that got me to looking at numbering in other lines.

Even after four years, it's still an amazing read.

[PNGwynne]

The R & D aspect of Mego fascinates me:

I recall Bonavida noting that so-and-so WGSH additions were planned, and I've always wondered, "How do we know this, is it merely anecdotal?"

I mean, there've been whole (still inconclusive) threads about the production of Iron Man vs. Dr. Doom, webbed-hand Aquaman, etc.

[imp]

I've always wondered, "How do we know this, is it merely anecdotal?" I mean, there've been whole (still inconclusive) threads about the production of Iron Man vs. Dr. Doom, webbed-hand Aquaman, etc.

Good point. A lot of that stuff is anecdotal, subject to the memories of past employees or people related to Mego. I think the closest we ever came to moving beyond anecdotes – and into verifiable fact – is the incredible Vinny Baiera Interview that Brian and the Mego Museum conducted. That article is filled with actual documentation of Mego R&D. I doubt we'll ever get closer to being a fly on the wall of Mego.

I'm pleased to hear you're still diggin' the book. Rock on.

-b