Mego Superhero Prototypes discovered (and for sale!)

[hedrap]

Lonnie - I think you're right about the clothing, but I don't think it was a likeness issue.

63-73 Spidey was the biggest new character. Friendly Neighborhood Spidey was in heavy syndication, especially in the New York/New Jersey We know from Ben's book Abrams was influenced to go for Spidey because of his kids. That means a deal with Marvel was signed after DC. This is also around the time of the Electric Company deal, and Mego would have been made aware of that.

So before the Marvel deal, the focus was all DC as Ben also details that Super-Gals/Foes "were rushed to market" in '73. Then the Marvel deal happens. Ben shows how Toy Fair '73 only had Cap/Spidey/Tarzan for promotionals. No Shazam.

Wave 2 is released in '74, Shazam is included as the fourth figure - but now we know the headsculpt changed from Beck-inspired to apparently TV. It appears in '73 Shazam and Junior were meant for a DC wave 2, then were sidelined after the Marvel deal, then Shazam was re-included due to the TV show.

At this time in '74, Wards developed the Secret ID line in-house, and no one at Mego actually worked on it. That fall we get the ad with AJ Spy Parker with Shazam head. As Abrams said, this was all done without Mego involvement. The final figure has Shazam head but with Batson-like clothing.

TV Shazam premiers Sept '74. Electric Company with Spidey would premiere around October. Wards Christmas catalog would go out around this time. To me, it appears Ward's saw Spidey figure sales/show popularity, did a last ditch ad change with AJ Spy Parker, then kept the Batson parts in the order with a name change to try and capitalize.

[imp]

…That means a deal with Marvel was signed after DC.

…So before the Marvel deal, the focus was all DC as Ben also details that Super-Gals/Foes "were rushed to market" in '73. Then the Marvel deal happens.

…in '73 Shazam and Junior were meant for a DC wave 2, then were sidelined after the Marvel deal, then Shazam was re-included due to the TV show.

Actually, none of those statements are correct. In fact, you got the history backward. If you re-read the Stan Weston featurette (page 9 of my book), you'll learn that Weston — who inked all the deals for the entire WGSH line — was already the exclusive licensing agent for Marvel Comics. So, from the outset, he enjoyed full access to Marvel's stable of characters. It was DC Comics' characters that Weston needed to get, and he was able to procure that deal after a handshake meeting with Jay Emmett, who was the head of National's Licensing Corp. of America (LCA).

Lonnie, I think you may have a point, regarding Peter Parker's outfit. Although it's possible the Billy Batson outfit resemblance is purely coincidental (the red sweater and blue pants also mirror Spider-Man's costume), it certainly is an interesting consideration. Clearly there were a lot of decisions regarding SHAZAM! and PETER PARKER being made during that brief period of time in 1974.

- Benjamin

[LonnieFisher]

Lonnie, I think you may have a point, regarding Peter Parker's outfit. Although it's possible the Billy Batson outfit resemblance is purely coincidental (the red sweater and blue pants also mirror Spider-Man's costume), it certainly is an interesting consideration. Clearly there were a lot of decisions regarding SHAZAM! and PETER PARKER being made during that brief period of time in 1974.

- Benjamin

I'm going to say that the white shoes, and style of shirt are not Peter Parker's style.(but [I]exactly[/I what Billy wore) Peter would have had a button up shirt with a vest(most likely sweater vest), and brown shoes, if it was designed to be his outfit. For him to be dressed exactly like Batson would have been, there's just no other scenario I can see here. I say since it is a Shazam head and outfit that exactly matches his alter ego's outfit, it was originally meant to be Billy Batson. I see no other real explanation making any sort of argument against these facts.

"But Shazam's alter ego is a kid who doesn't look like he does.
What? Well, change the yellow to red, change the hair and eyes color and shape and he'll be that Spider-man's alter ego.
What a great idea! Put it into production."

[TrekStar]

Trying to (figure) this out, sorry if I sound stupid. So the alter ego's which were Kent-Wayne-Grayson
and Peter Parker who was originally supposed to be Billy Batson, which would make sense since
Supes-Bats-Robin and Shazam were all DC characters, so perhaps Parker was supposed to be Batson?

But then again the first wave of WGSH window boxes showed side panels of two Marvel characters, Spidey and Cap
the rest were DC heroes, so maybe Mego decided to skip alter ego Batson and went with Parker instead, maybe
Spiderman was more popular than Shazam at the time.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Don't forget the Monkey Wards catalog page showed Peter Parker in an AJ spy outfit.

Chris

[samurainoir]

I think the Shazam was sculpted to look like the actor that was going to be playing Shazam on tv. And I think it was Shazam's secret identity that was planned, not Peter Parker. The Parker outfit looked exactly like Billy Batson from the series, minus the yellow cuffs and collar. But since Billy and Captain Marvel didn't look the same, they switched him to be Peter.

I like this theory.

[PNGwynne]

Wasn't Spidey far more popular than Cap? And Mego quite adept (i.e., frugal/lazy) at repurposing? I think the Parker SI design is basically opportunistic and throwing a bone to the Marvel license.

[hedrap]

Actually, none of those statements are correct. In fact, you got the history backward. If you re-read the Stan Weston featurette (page 9 of my book), you'll learn that Weston — who inked all the deals for the entire WGSH line — was already the exclusive licensing agent for Marvel Comics. So, from the outset, he enjoyed full access to Marvel's stable of characters. It was DC Comics' characters that Weston needed to get, and he was able to procure that deal after a handshake meeting with Jay Emmett, who was the head of National's Licensing Corp. of America (LCA).

- Benjamin

OK. LCI had the Marvel licensing agreement, so I'm guessing that means Abrams comment about his kids picking Spidey was in '72. Cap was on the '72 box and as your book says, Cap/Spidey/Tarzan were available by end of '73. Infantino licensed Captain Marvel in '72 for DC, with the first issue coming out in February '73. WGSH Shazam is listed as available in Feb '74, but officially not released until August '74, a year after the other three.

This doesn't mean Mego had automatic access to Captain Marvel. As your book lays out, LCI was the licensor, so they had to secure the license from whichever company, and that gave Mego access to those characters. Even though DC was publishing Tarzan, LCI had to secure Tarzan as separate license. Same would apply to Captain Marvel. LCI would have to license from Fawcett, but that wouldn't be possible as the double-whammy of Marvel claiming the "Captain Marvel" trademark and the Superman copyright infringement shut all Fawcett usage of the character down.

So Mego was waiting for DC to re-trademark Captain Marvel as "Shazam!" and was apparently working on Beck inspired characters. That was scrapped for a Bostwick inspired sculpt.

I think it's apparent Mego held the Shazam! character's release to August '74 to coincide with the TV show's premiere in September '74.

What this comes down to then, is how/when did Filmaton get involved with producing Shazam! That would be the point the Beck sculpt and Junior were dropped and WGSH Shazam was put on hold from being showcased with wave 2.

[monitor_ep]

Just to let the board know, I have bid in (and currently winning) the Captain Marvel Jr set. I am saying this because these evening it is at $169 . If I win I will be loaning them out to get sculpted for future fans. There is no reason for us as members to fight against each other when we can spread the wealth and enjoy these rare items. Sunday it goes live and I would like to keep the amount down because paying Heritage is not cheap. This is why I prefer ebay.

[dr_cyclops]

What this comes down to then, is how/when did Filmaton get involved with producing Shazam!

Hope I'm not misquoting you. 1981 The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam. Filmation.

[monitor_ep]

In 1972, DC licensed the Marvel Family characters from Fawcett. The Shazam and Isis figures were done to help push the Shazam/Isis hour. Shazam air date was 1974 - 1977, Isis did not start will 1975. By 1981 when Filmation started to air Kids Super-Power Hour w/ Shazam Mego was in trouble and by 1982 they filed for bankruptcy.

[Bruce Banner]

Amazing find. Absolutely wonderful to see such artifacts.

[rodkeith]

what are we looking at here? Alfred E Newman? This would have been amazing if so.

http://dyn2.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B1%2F4%2F1%2F6%2F6%2F14166571%5D%2Csizedata%5B612x500%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18571[/ATTACH]

That's gotta be Alfred. If you look at the cheeks the freckles are etched in. And of course, Mad was incredibly popular in the early 70's, so it wouldn't be surprising for him to be considered.

And that Captain Marvel Jr. (which I can totally see) is very interesting.

Such a cool find!

[hedrap]

Hope I'm not misquoting you. 1981 The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam. Filmation.

Lou Schemier and Norm Prescott were the exec producers of live-action Shazam! and the founders of Filmation in '62. It's their names rotating in a circle at end credits of their 70's productions as a way to say equal credit is due.

According to Schemier...

Filmation had lost their original DC rights to Hanna-Barbera for Superfriends, which premiered Sept '73. They opted for Captain Marvel because he was the closest to Superman. Schemier implies Captain Marvel became Shazam! becuase of Gomer Pyle.

Captain Marvel was pitched as animated, but a CBS exec wanted live-action. CBS picked it up in March '74 and by June '74, Filmation started prepping studio space. Shazam! premiered in Sept '74.


1973
February - DC publishes Shazam!
Oct-Dec - WGSH Wave 2 is released

Sept 1973 - January 1974: Superfriends premieres. At some point, Filmation options Shazam! for animated and creates a test reel.

1974
February - WGSH Shazam! is advertised
March - Shazam! is greenlit by CBS
June - Filmation preps Shazam! for shooting
August - WGSH Shazam! is released
Sept - Shazam! premieres on CBS

It appears DC informed Mego of animated Filmation Shazam in '73. Mego kept a Wave 2 slot open for the character and put Fawcett head sculpts, designs in the works. When it changed to live-action, Mego froze until someone was cast. Once they had promo picks of Bostwick, a resculpt was done and released solo, right before the TV premiere.

Junior then would have been in development due to the original animated cartoon concept, which was to feature the Marvel Family. When CBS asked for live-action, Filmation stripped everything possible to meet budget costs.

So...Superfriends creates a sales eruption. Mego tries to capitalize with TV tie-ins using Spidey and Shazam! Spidey does huge business, turning WGSH Wave 3 into Spidey/Marvel-centric. Secret Identities follows along, dropping Batson for Parker.

Junior and other DC characters get swarmed by Spideymania. Arrow's one-off Superfriends S1 appearance, (and possibly tooling costs), gets him released. By the time Flash, Lantern, etc...were cartoon popular in '78, Mego and 8-inch were on the ropes thanks to Star Wars.

[LonnieFisher]

^^^
That really affirms what I've been saying for over a decade!