Yes, I am a Mego Marvel Maniac & tired of it not getting attention it deserves!

[ubermanx]

My two cents into this seemingly repetitive argument which will probably get me into a lot of additional political trouble ...

I totally understand the Hasbro master license limitations with Marvel and 100% expect that there is little chance Hasbro will allow that to change. FTC won't be pumping out Marvel figures so really, stop lamenting this and "demanding" changes. Vote with your dollars. The Spider-man set was a disaster with poor silk screening and packaging. I have the modern Captain America on Doc's buff body and it is fantastic. Love it. Bought the Wolverine set and the brown costume Wolverine is one of my all time favourite "remegos" with great quality, fit and finish on the body that came with the set. Honest squishy head with decent enough paint application. That being said, the cost is high and I doubt I will buy everything but Thor looks good and I understand Deadpool might be next.

I completely get the FTC variant exhaustion for collectors. Who wants 5 Batmen only slightly different? BUT, they are releasing variants after the initial run is complete. Which works for me. If you missed Fist Fighting Aquaman you can get Kresge Aquaman. No one is forcing you to buy them all. Ask ANY toy executive and they will immediately explain why most toy lines have multiples of the main heroes!

The quality issue gets me ... so totally polarized. There are those that think EMCE walks on water and those that think FTC can never do right. My experience indicates that like real life nothing is that black and white. FTC has faults and merits and EMCE has faults and merits ...

Indian made FTC bodies are crap. I have not yet received a Space 1999 figure that wasn't disintegrated in the package. Although I have had EXCELLENT luck with the white bodies specifically on the free Clown figures. Strip the clothes and they make great, inexpensive bodies. The bulk white bodies were different or made up of varying production runs cause some have been crap.

The initial run of FTC China made superheroes had very tight elastics that ripped the arm holes. I have two dead FTC superhero bodies with this problem. But since then they have been better and none, I repeat, none have broken since. I can only hope they stand up and not die like the Space 1999 figures.

Bif Bang Pow figures (which I understand use EMCE's bodies? Or are they just licensed and BBP uses it's own factories?) are physically weak. Not one female Lost figure's ankle survived removing her shoes. And I have bought cases when they went on sale. I've taken to cutting them off rather than breaking the ankle. I have a DRAWERFUL of busted hip pin BBP figures.

I have ZERO issues with the DST Monster and Star Trek figures. All are amazing and great quality. Not a broken body or crappy costume in the bunch. Sure, Pike and Picard have solid, or at least very rigid, painted heads but the paint application is neat and looks great.

The Sea Ghost figure suffers from poor silk screening or the costumes are sew too tight so the black parts of the costume stretch and revel a lot of white underneath. The head is a solid cast vinyl, nicer than cast resin but not as desirable as rotocast, squishy heads. Paint application is sloppy. Paint on the body, on the costume, all over the face, etc. Also, the body is nice and heavy so you would expect quality but they too suffer from the too tight elastics of some of the FTC superheroes. I have several ripped through arm sockets and like BBP, several busted hip pins. But the head cast is awesome from a design point. The figure design is cool and the price point is awesome.

As far as spare bodies go, I have never had one single issue with Doc's swivel muscle bodies. They are amazing and bullet proof. Granted they use an elastic but I love them. David's Type-S figure is brilliant. I own a good whack of them as well. So long as you are careful to warm up the parts before removing you are less likely to break a joint. All my fave figures that are broken are now on either a Doc swivel body or a Type-S.

Even with all these faults, glitches and issues I still love the figures. I still buy every Space 1999 figure I find. I have a whack of Sea Ghosts. I love my Teen Titans figures even though Speedy appears to be a Nazi and perpetually has his left arm straight out and rigid. I bought the expensive Wolverine set even though I personally dislike the removable yellow cowl feature. It really is a great time for new mego style figures. Do I wish that every Marvel and DC figure was immediately available and 100% perfect? Sure. But that will NEVER happen. All the companies have as much financial support from me as I can muster. I just recognize that not all the offerings are for me and with this absolutely crazy amount of product available I have the luxury this hobby hasn't had in a long time to pick and choose my purchases.

And anything missing will get the kitbash custom treatment since I can't paint worth a darn. Thanks to Austin and FTC I have a blue camo Aquaman that looks pretty fricken amazing and professional.

- Marty

[wise guy]

That's interesting because I have most of my swivel buff bodies, Star trek, Capt. Eli,and a Capt. Canuck fall apart with little or no posing (some right out of package).
I have had pretty good luck with the monsters. I have a bunch of Emce parts in a box in garage so I don't believe Emce bodies are very sturdy ( in my experiance)

[hedrap]

I think Marty and Vinny get to the heart of it. FTC and EMCE lines are total inversions of each other, in price, production, design and output.

Of the total amount of super-hero figures released by FTC not including variants, (39), about 40% have been original designs. Remove '66 and of the 29 remaining, about 25% are original.

With EMCE, we have only 9 releases, but roughly 75% of the designs are original.

As long as EMCE has Marvel, they'll never drop below 75% original product. FTC can easily raise their quotient, which looks to be coming, unless they balance it out with more variants, which has been the norm.

When it comes to distribution, FTC is releasing at roughly 4x EMCE. If DST had a better quarterly release, they could get it to about 2x, which because of pricepoint could be absorbed. If they tried to match output, I don't think the market could handle the flood and it would come down to price versus character popularity.

[TRDouble]

My EMCE Star Trek figures are great. My swivel arm buff bodies have been about as bad as the early FTC Batman Series One figures. One had an arm backwards and rubber bands broke when I was putting it back together.

I opened my Super Collector / Brick Mantooth set that just arrived today and the mid-section of the body was in two pieces. I should be able to glue it back together, but it sucks to get something broken or defective.

That is my biggest turnoff of this style of figure; I have had more QC issues with the handful of Mego type figures I bought than with all of the DC Universe Classics and Marvel Legends, and I had plenty of QC issues with those too. Still mad that my '66 Robin's collar is sewed wrong and I had to open my second one to get a good one for my Type S swap.

[huedell]

FTC is overrated here--- while EMCE/DST is taking the hit here mostly as a result of Hasbro's licensing limits.

If you're happy because FTC is giving you more of what you want, then that's your affair----if FTC is making mad money from their longterm variant heavy gameplan (I still find that a questionable venture unless they have a LOT of capital to offset missteps), then everyone benefits, and if I must say "Yay!" then: "Yay!"---- but this repetitive "yearning" at the underdog's expense is getting old in my personal opinion.

[thunderbolt]

^^^ I don't care for the repro/variants of FTC either, but they wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't working for them sales wise. And I do agree that the crying about the lack of Marvel lines is getting old and beating the dead horse sort of thing. What EMCE is allowed to do is what Hasbro allows them or anyone else to do. Until that changes there or they lose the rights it won't be any different.

[The Bat]

I don't think a lot of people are crying...more like wishing, or fantasizing. But hey, let them. We ALL were wishing for 40 years that Mego would return someday in some 8" format or another. Never underestimate the power of a wish...you might just get it. I got mine!

[ovenmitt]

April 16, 2013 Mego 8" DC WGSH finally returned after 30 years when FTC announced it had the license! So far I have been very pleased! We have gotten repros of all 21 different Mego DC, Fist Fighters, 18", Kresge cards, NEW DC like New Teen Titans, Shazam, Superboy, SUPER FRIENDS!

I just wish DST EMCE had this FREEDOM with Mego Marvel which is a dud.

*Hey can DST EMCE sell INDIVIDUAL Marvel costumes and heads to put on Mego body like Round 2 did with Captain Action where Marvel costumes were only $20 each and most were nice!

[wise guy]

Round 2 Capt Action did'nt sell very well, and a lot of Toy r us were choking on those sets so probably not. Remego collectors are few in comparison to action figure collectors
just check other sites like FWOOSH, Action Figure Insider, Toy News International, and you will find no comments or posts on remegos .IMO it's a tough sell on these
and high price sets are not helping things.FTC has issues too, but it's easier to put out 25.00 on a figure than 80.00

[ovenmitt]

Yeah I know TRU was clogged with Round 2 Captain Action $20 Spidey and Captain America sets and especially the $30! Captain Action and Dr Evil figures! UGH! Customers actually returned the costumes because they thought a figure was supposed to be inside the box! lol

TRU is mass-market though. I was just wondering if DST could sell an individual Mego Marvel costume/head/maybe accessories set to put on a Mego 8" figure. That would be a costume for a figure not a complete figure to compete with Hasbro. That's how Round 2 got Marvel license and that was in TRU! And also DC license which R2 did nothing with.

[MIB41]

I think this has been a productive discussion on the merits of all the product out there and I'm glad to see a honest perspective on the fact all the reMego bodies have their share of issues. Personally I think the end result is inherent with the concept adopted from Mego. Bodies that have tensioning technology have never (nor will ever) provide a consistent result where durability is measured. It doesn't take much variation in the manufacturing of these pieces to impact the end result, so there's always going to be intangibles to the process that we have to accept in this design.

With regards to the suits and general design of figures, I think allot of that is subjective to the personal sense of satisfaction one gets after buying them. Did you get what you wanted? For people who want a specific character, particular look, or vintage design, sometimes flaws are forgiven for the sake of satisfaction we get at a very fundamental level. It pleases the kid inside us. So I think the flaws that so many figures inherently carry will be the usual suspects when that kid inside of us is not feeling it. And I'm not suggesting criticisms are not valid. In many cases there are real quality control issues that can (and should) be fixed. But when they reach a critical level where you start having buyers remorse, that's where price becomes a bigger player.

In the case of the DST EMCE sets, it was unavoidable. I saw that coming a mile away before we ever laid eyes on the first prototype. You're taking a figure that is historically viewed as a simple, cheap, but charming toy and trying to wrap it in a premium priced package that in concept looks fun, but is too far removed from the price points of it's closet cousins. For whatever the justification, that was an enormous leap of logic to place on the consumer and everyone knew the quality would have to be vastly superior to the current playing field of figures. And judging by most opinions and accounts, we not only didn't get better quality, but in some instances got reduced quality when measured against far cheaper lines.

For myself, it was purely a matter of personal value. I didn't care what the licensing challenges were if I could not benefit as the consumer. I do believe an effort was made to bring value to that price point, but at the end of the day, a couple of heads and spare outfits didn't fill the gap in logic I needed to open my wallet. And no breakdown or comparison of goods to price has sold me on the perception that we have an apples to apples comparison here with cheaper lines. When I buy four figures, I get four bodies, four outfits, four backer cards, and four re-sealable clamshells. They each have their own ability to be stored or displayed in their own packaging. The DST EMCE set has one reproduction box for one complete figure and materials to assist in making two LOOSE figures with additional purchases needed to complete. It's not an apples to apples compare at all. So you not only need to buy extra bodies to get on that same playing field, you need to buy extra clamshells, and pay someone to make you custom backer cards. And l say none of this to suggest or imply anyone who likes them should consider otherwise. These are all personal choices and for those who love these lines, that's great. But for me, I have to do too much work (and spend more money than I desire) on the back end to make them compatible with how I display and store my collection.

With all the other companies, I buy the figures I like and enjoy the fact they all share some degree of packaging similarities so they can coexist either on a peg board or on a shelf. FTC is dominating the platform because they've acquired so many licenses and are offering a huge degree of variety within each of those. Whether it's DC, KISS, Dukes, Stooges, etc., there's an enormous pool of product to pick and choose from. For those unique few who are caught up in the variant chase, God love them. But for others, it just means different choices. If you want Batman in his '66 incarnation, he's available. If you want him as Mego did him, that's available. If you want him as the classic fist-fighter, FTC didn't leave you hanging. If you're wanting the classic Superfriends look, that's coming down the pike too. So there's just loads of choices and price points to tickle just about any inclination you have in this hobby. I can't find a negative in that scenario. Buy what you want and skip the stuff you don't. To me, THAT is the merit. I'm not hog tied to one interpretation, one price point, or one particular design to resign myself to a purchase.

[The Bat]

I gotta say MIB41...that was very well written. Well done good Sir!

[wise guy]

Finally the voice of reason thank you MIB41 your logic would make Spock agree.( Buy what you like ) When you add in the extra bodies, custom packages,and the high price of the sets, plus you have to make your own figures( it's not comparable). I am not replacing FTC figures with Emce bodies so I save on that too. It's too much work
trying to sell off the secret ID figures on Ebay

[mickeymoosemego]

The way I think to have done it with the forced price point should have been a single complete Set of 3 all in there correct complete outfits all different figures in a box set. Example: (Ironman-Spiderman-Thor) (Hulk-Thing-Invs-Girl) (Torch-Mr fantastic-Captain A) (Falcon-Lizard- Etc Etc). Then they could have worked around to all new character 3 packs as well. But even that great idea may have had restrictions to keep them from even doing that. You would be very surprised to know all the restrictions that are put on a License. Including any all face and head sculpts, outfits etc etc. All have to be approved.

[TRDouble]

The way I think to have done it with the forced price point should have been a single complete Set of 3 all in there correct complete outfits all different figures in a box set. Example: (Ironman-Spiderman-Thor) (Hulk-Thing-Invs-Girl) (Torch-Mr fantastic-Captain A) (Falcon-Lizard- Etc Etc). Then they could have worked around to all new character 3 packs as well. But even that great idea may have had restrictions to keep them from even doing that. You would be very surprised to know all the restrictions that are put on a License. Including any all face and head sculpts, outfits etc etc. All have to be approved.

The restrictions included the sets being of only one character. That is why they went repro, modern, civilian.

I wonder what people would have thought of the DST Marvels if FTC DC did not exist. I think for a lot of people, having the FTC model of single, complete figures hurt DST right out of the gate.