Mego's 3.75 inch figures were all around better toys than Kenner's SW figures

[MegoCapnMike]

I think the Mego 3.75" figures had far superior sculpts over the Star Wars line. The trouble I had with the Mego O ring figures is that the plastic was very brittle compared to that of the later GI Joe figures. Basically, Mego had way better sculpts, but Hasbro improved on the idea IMO. While GI Joes still suffered from broken thumbs and crotches, compared to the O ring Megos, the Joes managed to stay intact a little longer. That is in my experience anyway. I had the Dukes of Hazard figures as a kid. Beau and Luke were the only O ring figures in that line. I still have them today... minus the thumbs. In contrast, only the most heavily played with (my favorites) of the GI Joes have their thumbs missing. So does the Hawkeye figure from the lesser known Tri-Star 3.75" MASH figures, lol (they were great to mix with the GI Joes lol).

I would however venture a guess that we might have seen O ring style Star Wars figures if Kenner had had any idea how big of a hit the movie would be. As it was they were hard pressed to meet the holiday deadline that year (hence the early bird kit). I could be wrong, but if Star Wars had been released say in January of '77, giving Kenner a full year before Christmas, they might have had time to give to R&D on the Star Wars line. As it was, the limited articulation may have simply been a cost cutting measure.

[Bruce Banner]

I could be wrong, but if Star Wars had been released say in January of '77, giving Kenner a full year before Christmas, they might have had time to give to R&D on the Star Wars line. As it was, the limited articulation may have simply been a cost cutting measure.

Doubtful, IMO.

I think Kenner would have always chosen the limited articulation approach, regardless of development time.
(The style of the SW line was influenced by the FP Adventure People range, which also had limited articulation.)

And traditionally, none of Kenner's subsequent 3.75 inch lines have ever had much in the way of extensive articulation either... be it Raiders, Bone Age, the prototypes for the Alien line, or later stuff like Super Powers, Batman, Ghostbusters, Waterworld, Jurassic Park, etc.


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[MegoCapnMike]

And traditionally, none of Kenner's subsequent 3.75 inch lines have ever had much in the way of extensive articulation either... be it Raiders, Bone Age, the prototypes for the Alien line, or later stuff like Super Powers, Batman, Ghostbusters, Waterworld, Jurassic Park, etc.


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You are probably right, but I would point out that since the Star Wars line was as successful as it was, you could argue that the later lines you mentioned were done that way as a cost saving measure from that point. "well, the Star Wars line did just fine with limited articulation. Let's do them all that way..."

[LordMudd]

I got one of these from Gonativetoys. I painted it and literally had just finished, the paint wasn't even dry, and the shoulder joint broke. This was last night. I sent him an email and he dropped another one in the mail today.

CCC.

[LordMudd]

Battlestar Galactica Buck, Micronauts, & my Pocket Hulk were staples of my childhood play! Nothing beats 3.75 scale for me. It was always so hard to carry around larger scale figures when you're that little, so it was the perfect scale. Hence why I collect so much still on that sizing. I LOVE 8" Megos, but nothing beats 3.75 for me.

To me this is the perfect scale for playsets, which also double as great display backgrounds for the figures. Look at the critical fail of the playsets Playmates did for their 5" Trek line. The scale is just not cost effective. There was really only one playset that ever could have been done for that line and that was the Holodeck. I tried to suggest it to them but they would not listen. Plus, look how much space they take up. Compare that to Kenner's Death Star, or the Palitoy version. There are also great generic sets being made even today. Flash Gordon took place on an alien world and I think the line would have done better if Mattel had been smart enough to make good playsets for it. Same for BG. One good cardstock playset would have created a showpiece that would have made the line.

CCC.

[LordMudd]

You are probably right, but I would point out that since the Star Wars line was as successful as it was, you could argue that the later lines you mentioned were done that way as a cost saving measure from that point. "well, the Star Wars line did just fine with limited articulation. Let's do them all that way..."

Star Wars succeeded because it had the playsets to spark the imagination of alien worlds in the kids mind. The kid could "see" their character/figure in the same places they were in in the movie. Even Micronauts had their own world to play in, and the benefit of really being that size in our world so that wherever the kid was became part of the Micronaut world.

CCC.

[enyawd72]

Another company to mention is Remco. Their 3 3/4 Universal monster figures were absolutely beautiful. The details in the sculpting especially the Creature and the Mummy were better than either company IMO.

[LordMudd]

Another company to mention is Remco. Their 3 3/4 Universal monster figures were absolutely beautiful. The details in the sculpting especially the Creature and the Mummy were better than either company IMO.

Yes, I now have a complete set of these and a fast food premium Bride figure that fits in with them nicely.

CCC.

[johnmiic]

I think the Mego 3.75" figures had far superior sculpts over the Star Wars line.

I think that is so but Kenner had better paint apps. The Kenner figures had less detail on their faces. They were smoother and had more paint. That made them look a bit cartoony, (almost like Hanna-Barberra/Filmation/Alex Toth designed characters), but more attractive to kids and parents = potential buyers. I think Mego left the paint apps off Star Trek, Black Hole and Buck Rogers. That made them less attractive and maybe hurt sales. Even if kids liked Star Wars and had no connection to Star Trek, (as most Trek fans by 1979 were older and perhaps unlikely to buy toys), if the figures had attractive faces parents could have been swayed to buy them during the X-Mas season pre-Empire Strikes Back thinking Star Wars-Star Trek-Buck Rogers-Black Hole; what's the difference? These figures look good.

[tmthor]

I think the BSG figures would have sold better had they had ships to go along with them plus if they made an Apollo figure. I remember all my friends and I had tons of the Buck Rogers stuff and the ships my fav and I still have is the land rover.
I was Really hoping Hasbro would have gotten in more with the BSG licence when they had it in stead of making just tiny die cast ships

[David Lee]

I recently bought one of these from the website... They are very fun to play with! These are really a cool idea.
I'd buy more styles for sure...


Dave

I think the Buck Rogers line has the most diverse cast of characters with the exception that The Black Hole has many different robots. I never was into Chips but have seen some on eBay and they look pretty good.



I think they would've done better to move into this area rather than the 5 inch Build A Super Hero line but who knows? They may yet release something because competitors like Hasbro have shifted most of their stuff, including Marvel Universe Super Heros, to that scale.

For customs tho these guys are headed in the right direction. Only 1 style of figure with more planned. This would make a nice Hawk to go with Buck Rogers:

http://www.gonativetoys.com/templates.html

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

The blank figures are an awesome idea. There were companies back in the 90's who did garage kit versions and they were fantastic for quickie customs.

As for the classic lines; I think Star Wars won just 'cos it was Star Wars. The movie made such a huge impact on EVERYBODY they could have released just about anything and it'd sell. Case in point; the original action figure product was a coupn so's you could order them. (And people complain about Matty Collector today!) The Mego stuff was just as good, but it was the tie-in that sold the product.

Don C.

[torgospizza]

I think if Mego had spent a bit more on the paint apps, it would have helped the figures immensely. There are some really great sculpts in the "pocket" lines.

I always thought it was odd how Mego couldn't be bothered to paint so much as dots for the eyes most of the time and how the guy figures often had "breeder hips."