Mego Museum Announces the 1978 Re: Imagine Project

[JDeRouen]

Masters of Fantasy celebrity 8" action figures
Author: Joe DeRouen
Line: Masters of Fantasy
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: James Brady, DaveMC, jderouen
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: Toyroom

This is something I've been working on for myself for some time. The Masters of Fantasy action figures include Rod Serling, Gene Rodenberry, Vincent Price, Stan Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jack Kirby. The first four are finished and in custom boxes. The other two obviously aren't. Dave did the paint on everything.

Boxes were created for me by Anthony/Toyroom. The Serling sculpt was commissioned by me from the wonderful James Brady. Rodderberry is also James' sculpt.

Will post pics if interested.

Joe

[JDeRouen]

Would also love to see 8" X-Men included in this!

[imp]

Master List updated (See post #23, page 3).

Benjamin

[imp]

World's Greatest Super-Pals™

Here's my contribution to our 1978 Mego Catalog project.

It's the World's Greatest Super-Pals™… from Mego!

Batman and Robin! Superman and Supergirl! Captain America and Falcon! Mego takes the world's most popular pairings out of the pages of comics… and puts them into children's hands!

And New for 1978, Mego introduces the Teen Titans, sidekick pals of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes! Aquaman and Aqualad! Wonder Woman and Wondergirl! Flash and Kid Flash! Green Arrow and Speedy!

These affordable 2-packs are sure to be a hit all year 'round!

OK, so that's the fake marketing pitch for the catalog. Here's the background.

Actual Mego History:
Approaching Toy Fair in 1978, Mego makes a crucial mis-step in their 8" line of WGSH. For reasons unknown, the company presents an offering that is identical to the previous year, with the exception of the recently discontinued Teen Titans. Retail buyers punish the company with weak purchase orders, causing the company to immediately thin the line from 27 characters to a paltry 12.

Re-Imagined Mego History:
Toward the end of 1976, Mego is working to appease a frustrated licensor (DC Comics), who is angry that just one of the previous twelve Mego Super-Heroes is based upon a DC character; the other eleven characters are based on DC's competitor, Marvel Comics. Rather than scramble to haphazardly introduce new DC characters such as the Teen Titans (which is exactly what Mego did, unfortunately), Mego proposes an aggressive idea they hope will meet the licensor's needs while simultaneously revitalizing the line.

Acknowledging DC's disappointment, Mego pitches a concept called World's Greatest Super-Pals™ which will pair characters with interconnected comic book meaning. Hearkening back to Stan Weston's original pitch, Mego explains that "kids love genuine heroes [with their own identity], and they draw stories and inspiration from the comics."

While pitching DC, Mego notes their findings that many families cannot afford multiple 8" figures, adding that the affordable pairings will be extremely pleasing to kids who wish to "Collect 'Em All." Mego further explains that the Teen Titans are the PERFECT characters to launch the line, as each Titan is inextricably tied to a better known DC character!

DC nods in approval, granting Mego a little extra time to put their concept into production. With the World's Greatest Super-Pals™, Mego hopes to give new life to poor-selling figures, while bolstering sales of their more popular characters (especially the female figures, whose sales lag desperately behind their male counterparts). Furthermore, Mego reasons that, despite rising production costs — specifically the oil embargo — they will be able to utilize existing molds and materials, keeping costs down. The proposed Super-Pals™ 2-packs will cost nominally more than single figures, as Mego already has most of the requisite parts, not to mention the fact they have already made the transition to cost-effective blister cards.

For Toy Fair 1978, Mego introduces the exciting "Super-Pals" line of 2-packs, apprising buyers that subsequent offerings could include:

» Aquaman and Aqualad

» Wonder Woman and Wondergirl

» Green Arrow and Speedy

» Flash and Kid Flash*

» Superman and Supergirl

» Captain America and Falcon

» Shazam! and Isis

and, of course:

» Batman and Robin

Obviously, there are other pairings, but you get the idea. With all of that said, here's my rough concept sketch of the World's Greatest Super-Pals™: Wonder Woman and Wondergirl (see JPEG below).

*Flash and Kid Flash would be perfect for our 1978 catalog, as Flash is one of the biggest "What If" figures out there!

Benjamin



Footnote: Anthony (The Toyroom) just sent me an incredible example of a Captain America and Falcon 2-pack he created some time ago. We are going to team up on this project. Looking forward to it!

[WannabeMego]

...Ah Man...

You must have had that idea thoroughly thought out because I was typing up a very similar idea (just not as elaborate)...

It started simply with making a single Titan scale Robin then adding him to a Batman/Robin 2 pack...Then later adding Villains to the mix...Batman/Joker...Superman/Lex Luthor (again 8 inch instead of 12)...Spiderman/Green Goblin.

Great idea for adding the Flash to the two-pack idea...maybe we could squeeze Daredevil in there somewhere since it's a simple Batman repaint somehow.

It kinda reinforces their stronger character line with the big 3 (Batman, Superman, Spiderman)...not so much different then what they are doing today. Kinda makes sense that Mego takes the lead on this sales concept.

I was also going to say the SuperFriends & X-Men (very logical choices), but Austin & Joe beat me to it.

Making a Pulp Line of The Phantom, The Shadow, & Doc Savage (maybe with an overseas Diabolik ala Jet Jungle ) and adding to the Legends Line the 3 Musketeers + D'Artagnan.

Just some ideas

[Meule]

These are wonderful nominations, Thomas, which I hope will encourage their respective creators to participate.

I do want to clarify that we should avoid nominating participants in lieu of offering to participate. Thomas, I understand you have a wonderful '66 Batman custom; I hope you'll consider submitting that piece to the project.

I also want to clarify my confusing word choice. The "Author" of a concept is the person who created the idea in the first place, not the person who suggests its inclusion. Using Thomas' "Star Wars" concept as an example, Dave Mc would be the author in search of a packaging collaborator. Dave Mc, if so inclined, would take lead on the project, and work with collaborators if necessary.

Conversely, I personally have an idea that requires a customizer. In that case, Benjamin Holcomb will be the author in search of a customizing collaborator.

Sorry to step on your brilliant toes, Thomas, and your ideas ROCK (keep 'em coming); I just want to make sure we're all working from the same dictionary.

Benjamin

Don't worry about it Ben, you're not stepping on any toes here. I admit I misunderstood the "author" thing.
I nominated mikeoz because I remember him saying he'd gladly participate in this project. I made some Star Trek and Star Wars customs myself, but everyone will agree that Dave MC and James Brady created the ultimate ST TOS line extensions and Dave also did some killer Star Wars customs. And he has more of 'em than me, so that was another reason to nominate him. I hope he will participate.
I'll gladly participate for '66 Batman, but how many of those do you want? Cause I have over 2 dozen characters from the show done now, with a couple more in the works

[Meule]

Universal Monsters
Author: Thomas Meuleman
Line: Mad Monsters
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: Thomas Meuleman
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: Anthony Durso
Author Notes: What if Mego got the rights to do monsters after the likeness of the Universal movies. I have a few of those done (did get the heads from others) with boxes made by Anthony. And I have more in the making

[JDeRouen]

On mine, the focus would be on Serling, Roddenberry, Lee, and Price, since those are done and ready to go. We could add a "coming soon... Alfred Hitchcock and Jack Kirby" tag mentioning those.

Masters of Fantasy Celebrity 8" Figures
Author: Joe DeRouen (jderouen)
Line: Masters of Fantasy
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: James Brady, Dave McCormick (DaveMC), Joe Derouen (jderouen)
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: Anthony Durso (The Toyroom)

Author Notes: The Masters of Fantasy action figures include Rod Serling, Gene Rodenberry, Vincent Price, Stan Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jack Kirby. The first four are finished and in custom boxes. The other two obviously aren't.

[Meule]

World's Greatest Authors
Author: Thomas Meuleman (Meule)
Line: World's Greatest Authors
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: Thomas Meuleman/Todd Waters (Illegal Mego)
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: Anthony Durso (The Toyroom)

Author Notes: Todd made a custom Edgar Allan Poe for me, I extended the line with Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson (Starbuk and Mefiboshet helped me with some of the heads).

[palitoy]

Author: Brian Heiler
Line: Logan's Run Surface Dwellers TV action figures
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: Brian Heiler
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: Brian Heiler

Actual Mego History:
Logan's Run got cancelled 13 weeks in and Mego abandoned their wonderful line of action figures. Wah.

Re-Imagined Mego History:
The series is a smash success and in it's second year, Mego decides to create a second wave of figures. The trouble is, the show only has four principles. The remainder of the actors on the show wear sandman uniforms, the only thing to do is to create a series similiar to the Star Trek aliens. Thus the surface dwellers are born, four new figures based on some of the more interesting characters in the first season. Some are literal translations, while others are a little more loose, they are:

Carousel Guard- From the episode "Future Past" this character only appeared in a dream but he is one of the more memorable creatures the show had.

Alien Captive: From the episode "The Collectors" these tiny aliens graced the credits through season one.

The Protector: Also from the episode "The Collectors" a cloaked alien who saved the day, the name is made up, much like "The Keeper"

The Rider based on the villains from the pilot, the armoured Riders are warlords who hunt for slaves. WIP

[imp]

Master List updated to reflect revisions and new additions from Thomas (Meule), Brian (Palitoy), Joe (JDerouen), Scott (Megoscott) and Tom (WannabeMego).

See post #23, page 3.

Benjamin

[gman]

Here is an idea I have been thinking of:

Action Jackson 2099
Author: Scott Greer(gman)
Line: Re-Introduced Action Jackson
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Vintage/Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: TBD
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: TBD
Author Notes: Action Jackson was my favorite Mego and I always thought they could have and should have done more with him.

[sauce]

Dogtown and Z-Boys
Author: Bryan Sanders (nayrbgo)
Line: New Introduction of Skateboarding Action Figures
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: TBD
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: TBD
Author Notes: These guys (Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva, to name a few) rewrote skateboarding and made it the crazy lucrative trend it is today. This happened during Mego's company timeline and most certainly captured the minds of kids all over. It would be great to also make "The Dogbowl" playset (a drained swimming pool) and have these figures doing aerial tricks.

[EMCE Hammer]

More WGSH
Author: stevemoore
Line: Extension of Hulk line
Toy Execution (Vintage, Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Packaging Execution (Custom or Digital Art): Custom
Toy Customizers/Collaborators: All me with parts from the usual sources
Packaging Customizers/Collaborators: TBD
Author Notes: To go with Hulk, I'll add Abomination, Rhino, and alter-ego Banner on custom cards.

[imp]

I am excited to announce that, after a conversation with him tonight, the incredible Otto Lange has offered to create an original oil painting for the catalog cover. He is very enthusiastic about the project. In fact, he is apparently devising his own ideas for possible inclusion.

I notice that things seem to be cooling off a bit on this thread, though. Hopefully folks are plotting ideas…?

Let's see if this project still has legs.

Benjamin