Pod Stallions 44: Mego!

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Sorry for the long delay in shows but we're back with a vengeance! Our latest show is all about one of our favourite subjects Mego Action Figures!

We're joined by fellow Mego enthusiast and best selling author Art Baltazar to talk about the world's greatest toy company and next week's up coming Aw Yeah Mego Meet Toy Con.

Topics range from Superheroes, Star Trek, childhood experiences, toy stores, most annoying cartoon sidekick, customs, the shame of buying girl dolls and modern toys. It's an hour and a half of pure toy love.

Hit us up on our facebook page and tell us what your favourite Mego action figures!

Show Notes:

• Mego Meet Facebook Event
• The Mego Museum
• Art Baltazar's Website

Download the Show Here



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[Earth 2 Chris]

Bless you. Friday is saved from a mediocre end to a long work week to a celebration of all things fun.

Chris

[MIB41]

Plugging in now!

[palitoy]

Please let me know of any errors, we taped that last night and I rushed it into production. Kudos to Art for being a great sport, I literally gave him 2 hours notice.

[MIB41]

Great episode! I love hearing about the introduction of toy lines in our youth. It really gives me context through that discovery experience. It’s a fascinating exploration because it really demonstrates where allot of opinions originate from.

Since I was born in ’64 I guess you can say I was that generation back that experienced the 12 inch figures first. I got Johnny West figures and GI Joes and even had me a Captain Action with the Batman costume. But you know even with the Captain, I never really felt like I had a outlet to have adventures based off the cartoons I was watching at the time (Spiderman’67, Adventures of Batman, etc.).

So, as I have stated in other threads, I had my mom draw me heroes (mainly Batman and Spiderman) on paper and she would cut them out and I played with those because they were more to scale with my hands. While there is no way to know the exact dimensions at that moment, I would say they were probably close to the Mego scale since she drew them on regular notebook paper and the figure was typically centered on those sheets with space remaining at the top and bottom. So one could probably argue I was subconsciously conditioning myself for the Mego experience.

Until that time approached, the next best figure I could enjoy was Big Jim, because he was a smaller scale and had adventure clothes for me to change the tone, even if it were more to do with sports or ‘Field and Stream’ sensibilities. People have to remember the Wild Kingdom was a big show for kids (and adults) during that period, so it made sense to take those themes and apply it in the action figure experience. In fact Hasbro used National Geographic magazine as inspiration when they switched to the Adventure Team format in the 70’s for GI Joe. So those ideas of suiting up and going into the ‘wild’ were prominent back then and a big reason why I never gave much thought about it being a “dress up” experience the way later generations would view the cloth concept on these figures.

I never viewed it (then or now) as a ‘dressing up’ moment, because to me it was no different than watching Peter Parker change into Spiderman during the cartoon. You were preparing for adventure and it was that adventure you were thinking about. The outfits were just a means to that end. Generations after mine seem to get hung up on the mechanics of that change so, from my vantage point, they were just looking at it too literal and not the context intended. The clothes simply gave you the ability to imitate a sense of real life and move the figure from one theme into another for playtime.

And because licensing was so loose back then, the spin offs, and variety of characters and accessories were vast which meant there was almost no end to what I could explore ( or create) because of all of these tools before me. And the neat part was they were cheap enough I didn't have to wait long stretches to get new figures. The custom experience was born and I think most kids indulged those imaginations with nonstop adventures. I could blow an entire afternoon in my bedroom creating and being completely entranced in the world I made for myself. It was a ton of fun and memories I will always cherish.

So with all of that experience applied, many can see why my jaw dropped in disbelief when I expected Mego figures for Star Wars and got instead these tiny plastic figures with very limited articulation. To borrow Brian’s analogy with Johnny West, you might as well have given me a sock (or better yet a toothpick) to find an adventure when I was accustom to having this wide array of costumes and accessories with infinite details which this scale could never provide me. So that was where the disconnect applied for me, because my sensibilities came from an entirely different approach in the playtime scenario. I had waited for this Mego moment, finally got it, and almost just as sudden, it was snatched away.

On a separate note, so glad to hear the Mego Meet had a promising start at Skokie last year and it sounds like it will only grow by leaps and bounds moving forward. It looks to be in an ideal location with loads of potential for walk-in traffic. THE place to be!!

[Apjac Corny]

Can't wait to give it a listen!

[Earth 2 Chris]

Great episode! Even more than most, I found myself wanting to insert myself into the conversation.

I was a bit late on the Mego bandwagon, being born in 74, but I could never find any 8" WGSH other than the last remaining 6 figures, Supes, Bats, Robin, Spidey, Cap and Hulk. The cardbacks haunted me! I was so happy to have my Pocket Heroes Lex Luthor, just to have a legitimate villain for my heroes to fight.

I used Luke Duke as my utility secret identity figure. He was Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Peter Parker, AND David/Bruce Banner.

Again, thanks for the great Mego discussion. I want Art as the recurring 3rd co-host!

Chris

[jacoblb]

Listening now at work. Just heard the funny part about Art's father handling Mego Human Torch like a hot potato.

[VintageMike]

I'm a little behind so I loaded this (appropriately) and the other eps I've missed onto one of my mp3 players for the drive to Mego Meet.

[DavidCoppola]

I listened to it. Wished they would have stayed on the subject of Megos and the specifics of them.

[jacoblb]

I too would like Art to return for future episodes. Probably inevitable with Mego Meet on the horizon. Plus a return of Alex Ross. I hope the Internet buzz, reTweets, FB sharing, etc., brought new listeners over from the Aw Yeah and WordBalloon audience to Pod Stallions.

[Werewolf]

I was surprised to hear these mentioned.

[Werewolf]

BTW: I can't believe you didn't mention that besides Flash Gordon and Tarzan Robert Ridgely was also the voice of the Purple Pieman from Strawberry Shortcake. It would have blown the minds of your co-hosts.

[4NDR01D]

Really enjoyed this one! I enjoy them all but I thought the 3 voices really worked together if that makes sense.