Article on CBR about Mego

[warlock664]

My main issue with Greenberg's was the space devoted to the Secret Wars customs; all I wanted was info on, mainly, Captain Action, and to a lesser degree, Mego.

[palitoy]

^Yes, good call. Those lines were still so new at the time. It'd be like doing a book on Star Wars toys and bypassing the Steve Sansweet pics for Force Awakens stuff. And yeah...those drawings. I hate to beat the guy up, but he tried to break down different costume types (Type 1 Cape, Type 2 Mask, etc), and he couldn't even keep those straight. The book was EXPENSIVE in 80s money too. $35 was a lot of lawn mowing for yours truly!

Yeah, I remember being bummed about how the book was framed. No doubt Secret Wars and Super Powers needed to be in there but I'm not sure they deserved equal time with Captain Action and Mego in 1988. Especially when they barely showed 1/10th of John's rare stuff.

While I thought the author's painted back drops were a clever touch, I still cringe at that index of costumes nobody needed at the back.

It's still a way better book than the DC Comics Action Figure Archive that was released ten years ago, I sold mine for a loss a week after i got it. Just an expensive DC Direct brochure masquerading as a book. Author even lists Captain Action as being by Mego. Bush league.

[Earth 2 Chris]

^And I think that was by comic writer Scott Beatty, whose work I like otherwise. I never even bought it based on flipping through it and bad word of mouth.

Chris

[palitoy]

^And I think that was by comic writer Scott Beatty, whose work I like otherwise. I never even bought it based on flipping through it and bad word of mouth.

It was, it felt like an agenda was enforced because I'd make an awesome book if I had access to DC archives.

[Earth 2 Chris]

What are the odds? This is on AFI's front page today:

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/exited-to-finally-own-this-old-chestnut-and-add-it-to-my-library-toy-journalism-circa-1988-i-just-wish-i-could-still-get-some-of-this-stuff-for-1988-prices/

Chris

[palitoy]

What are the odds? This is on AFI's front page today:

http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/exited-to-finally-own-this-old-chestnut-and-add-it-to-my-library-toy-journalism-circa-1988-i-just-wish-i-could-still-get-some-of-this-stuff-for-1988-prices/

OK that's just weird.

Also, graphic design sure has come a looooooonnnng way.

[warlock664]

Also, graphic design sure has come a looooooonnnng way.

And spelling!
Glad he's "exited" to get the book!

[palitoy]

And spelling!
Glad he's "exited" to get the book!

Well that's obviously a more of a "today" problem, I assume he wrote that on his phone.

Can't huck stones from my glass mansion.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Also, graphic design sure has come a looooooonnnng way.

Yeah. Even John Bonavita's book, as much as I love it, looks pretty homely now.

Chris

[palitoy]

Yeah. Even John Bonavita's book, as much as I love it, looks pretty homely now.

Schiffer had a design aesthetic was to let the photos do the talking, I'm a fan of that personally. This works really well in the Marshall books, John's problem with the Mego book if i recall, was they didn't spring for a photographer and he wasn't much of one.

He got better with the 2nd and 3rd volumes obviously.

Greenbergs was a publisher mainly known for books on toy trains, Kimball convinced them to make the Superhero book somehow. I was told it was a flop, which surprises me because a lot of us owned it.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I like the idea of letting the photos do the work, but the Schiffer books have a lot of dead space. Probably doesn't bother most folks, but I like books like that jam packed with photos and/or info.

I still love it, it's just a bit sparse.

The price point on the Greenberg book probably hurt it. Pretty steep back then.

Chris

[warlock664]

I just flipped through my copy of Greenberg's, and I guess I mis-remembered an abundance of Secret Wars customs photos, as there were only a couple of pages. It is a nice book, but I would've loved more Captain Action and Mego color pics.