Who was around in 72?

[ovenmitt]

I was 2 in '72 and remember my aunt and cousin taking me to local Sears to pick up my Mego RC Batman my Mom ordered from Sears catalog.

Were there Mego window boxes in 72 or not until 73? I have a pic in a photo album of my cousin and me with our 1st Mego Superman figures in window boxes and could have been our VERY 1ST Megos.

Was RC Batman sold in 73?

[plaztekman]

I got my first Mego on Christmas 1972. I was in the 2nd grade. My mom was the toy buyer for Gibsons Discount Store in Muskogee OK and AJ was all the rage that year. I got a blonde AJ with the snowmobile. I still have him.

[GlobalObserver]

I was 7/8 in 1972. I swear to you, when I first saw AJ, I said to myself that it would be really cool if they made superhero, POTA, and Star Trek figures like these.

[SainthoodDenied]

not many memories from 72, I was 2 that year.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

I was 4-5 years old in '72 ( I'm a November baby). My first Mego was a bearded, AJ. RC Bats, RM Robin, and Supes all in solid boxes followed. Like said above, there was an unbelievable feeling seeing these for the first time.

[El Hombre Nuclear]

Well, if I remember the history correctly, the first four WGSH figures were test marketed around Christmas '72, strictly in the NYC metro area at stores like Korvettes. So, unless you lived in the area, I'd guess the first time people saw the line would have actually been in '73.

As an aside, that local NYC metro/Tri-state area test marketing was very common in the '70s and '80s, especially in the big shopping mall areas of north Jersey and western Long Island. There were many toys, video game systems, etc. that were launched there first to test the waters.

[ScottA]

I was 9 (yeah, I'm old). Mego, Marx Best of the West, 12" GI Joe. Good times.

[spiderman67]

I was 5 years old at that time.I don't recall having any Mego merch then but after receiving Superman a year or so later,(Christmas or birthday maybe) it was "game on!! Awesome memories.

[Gorn Captain]

I was seven. Perfect for Megos.

[Boy_Wonder_1978]

Well before my time. I would give anything to have been around in the early 70's. The only thing I'm happy to say is that I was around when Star Wars was Star Wars and the peak of the Kenner toys. Then again, if I knew what I know now I'd still have all my figures on backing cards and vehicles, etc in the original unopened boxes.

I get the feeling that I may be one of the youngest on this forum.

[El Hombre Nuclear]

Well before my time. I would give anything to have been around in the early 70's. The only thing I'm happy to say is that I was around when Star Wars was Star Wars and the peak of the Kenner toys. Then again, if I knew what I know now I'd still have all my figures on backing cards and vehicles, etc in the original unopened boxes.

I get the feeling that I may be one of the youngest on this forum.

From casual observation over the years, I'd say that (in generally accepted generational terms), the overall Mego enthusiast demographic trends toward the early core Gen X age range (born around 1965-1970) with later core Xers like myself (born around 1971-1976) a sizable minority. Get much older or younger than that, and there seem to be distinct generational shifts towards largely pre or post Mego childhood experiences. In other words, Mego is an almost entirely core Gen X-centric phenomenon (and an early leaning one at that), with only minor exceptions. So yes, if you were born in '78 (as the username might suggest), you would indeed lie a bit outside the typical age range.

I was planning to write my PhD thesis on this very subject, but then they took away my bong...

[Nostalgiabuff]

i was born in 72 so I was not even aware of Mego for another couple years. by 74 I was definitely playing with my older brothers Mego's and Joe's

[Gorn Captain]

What frustrated me at the time, is that only a limited range of them were released here.
I had to wait for a couple of decades to get me a Thor or Iron Man!

[Boy_Wonder_1978]

From casual observation over the years, I'd say that (in generally accepted generational terms), the overall Mego enthusiast demographic trends toward the early core Gen X age range (born around 1965-1970) with later core Xers like myself (born around 1971-1976) a sizable minority. Get much older or younger than that, and there seem to be distinct generational shifts towards largely pre or post Mego childhood experiences. In other words, Mego is an almost entirely core Gen X-centric phenomenon (and an early leaning one at that), with only minor exceptions. So yes, if you were born in '78 (as the username might suggest), you would indeed lie a bit outside the typical age range.

I was planning to write my PhD thesis on this very subject, but then they took away my bong...

That would have made an interesting read. I got the feeling that I was in an age minority, which actually feels good in a way.

[MIB41]

From casual observation over the years, I'd say that (in generally accepted generational terms), the overall Mego enthusiast demographic trends toward the early core Gen X age range (born around 1965-1970) with later core Xers like myself (born around 1971-1976) a sizable minority. Get much older or younger than that, and there seem to be distinct generational shifts towards largely pre or post Mego childhood experiences. In other words, Mego is an almost entirely core Gen X-centric phenomenon (and an early leaning one at that), with only minor exceptions. So yes, if you were born in '78 (as the username might suggest), you would indeed lie a bit outside the typical age range.

I was planning to write my PhD thesis on this very subject, but then they took away my bong...

Another great observation. If you really think about it, the Mego phenomenon was something that only lasted for roughly five years. So if you were part of that demographic during that period, it really came across as a big event because there had never been anything like it before. It filled a huge deficit in my life as a child because I was a big fan of comics and growing up watching the '67 Spider-man first run and then in syndication. Add to that the Batman television show, and his various incarnations in cartoons and there was this very odd void of merchandise since the idea of "action figures" was still very much in it's infancy. I can remember quite clearly sitting on my mom's lap and watching her draw Batman or Spiderman and then cut them out so I had something to play with. It's very ironic to me now when I think back on it, because I was essentially role playing the action figure experience before they existed (at least in terms of how we define them today).

So you can imagine how floored I was when I actually saw a Mego RC Batman. It was life changing (as ridiculous as that sounds) because I finally found something that translated exactly into the very thing I had imagined when all I had were essentially homemade paper dolls. But Mego took it too crazy fun levels with removable masks and costumes. And that right there is where you get the big generational divide with some. You have people a generation before Mego and then a generation AFTER Mego that are almost uncomfortable with the cloth outfits because it defines what they see as a "doll experience" related to Barbie. I understand that in a very fundamental way, but at the core of it's play value I see it quite differently. What it did, especially for my generation, is role play an entire comic book. Batman could be Bruce Wayne. Robin could be Dick Grayson. You could take your Shazam and let him be Spider-man unmasked by putting that costume on him. It even allowed you to create characters that didn't exist yet. So the art of customizing was something I think we all did. But at the end of the day it just brought a new level play value to an industry that specialized in accessories. GI Joe had his mission outfits. Big Jim had his outdoor wear, and Mego superheroes had REAL costumes. It played to that rationale back then, so it never EVER felt awkward to people like me.

So it also reasons how disappointed I was when I see a movie like Star Wars expecting this wave of Mego-styled figures and playsets, but instead get handed...little plastic painted figures. It ran completely opposite to my ideas of what playtime looked like. That also helped push me out of my era of childhood, because as those little figures became more prevalent, nothing really came in to assume the Mego mantle. The hero line had died out and television/film choices became oddities for me, especially since by that time I was getting into high school in the late 70's and early 80's. So if you weren't at a prime age to enjoy Megos during their heyday, it was quite easy to miss that period altogether and enter into the age of plastic molded figures. So it was a very special period to be a kid and it's disappearance from toy shelves for decades really underscores why we have such diehard collectors who either developed companies to make them again or (like me) become the stout supporter of new lines since I spent decades thinking they were relics never to be seen again.

Today I get to be that kid all over again. All sorts of characters I never thought I would see are being made for me to hold and look at with wonderment. For me that is the value of my purchase and why I'm excited every time companies make a new announcement. I'm getting to see something I could only imagine before and it's very refreshing to have moments like that again when your walking through life in your 50's. I have no hesitation in saying we live in magical times once again.