The big announcement is.....

[MRP]

There's a short video up on the Mego Corp facebook page of Marty's presentation at Long Island con where he touches on what he hopes to achieve with the return of Mego and mentions we could see a lot of old favorites and some stuff they hadn't done before but does not give any specifics.

-M

[Remco Monster]

Mego is a name to me and the 8 '' retros would need the T-2 body( blue trunks) and not
modern crappy Emce figures that fall apart as soon as you open them like my Capt.Eli,
Sea Ghost, Capt. Canuck etc. Why are they dragging out the details to SDCC because there
is so much cool toys like Mezco 1:12 , and exclusives, that these might not get much attention. The Marvel liscence at 80.00 each is a problem and the only figures selling
at retail are Marvel, DC ,Star Wars ,Power Rangers, and WWE

I do agree that the bodies need to be improved. I have never liked that the EMCE/Doc Mego bodies were made of a soft PVC that is easy to tear, and much heavier (and a bit thicker) than vintage Mego. The vintage bodies were so much nicer.

[hobub]

At the 'Meet, Abrams implied, (nearly stated actually), he wouldn't revive Mego if it meant "a few hundred units". I took that to mean he has no keen interest in the adult collector.

If we get something along those lines, I believe it's going to be from Doc as a ridealong. So the retailer wants 4" and Doc gets an order for 8".

That said, take a step back and pat yourselves on the back no matter what the outcome because the revival of this once great toy company is a product of the little kids of the 70's who refused to let go. I just like them as antiques. So I'm not bothered either way.

[ODBJBG]

While 4" would cast a wider net than the traditional 8" cloth figures, I imagine nostalgia for Mego's 4" offerings is fairly slim. I know people here like them, but Mego's 3 3/4 figures were laughably bad even for the time. And once you rule out Micronauts, the other stuff is all wonky retro licenses that aren't going to sell in today's market. The only license they had that might could be repackaged with minor success is Eagle Force and someone is already doing that. So in order for them to compete, they'd have to be releasing modern, highly articulated action figures of some random lines... Which I dunno, I don't see working. Unless maybe they have the license for DC but I can't imagine Mattel giving up the DC 4" license... But who knows, they've had no luck there either.

Truth be told, the bottom has kind of fallen out of the 4" market. And nostalgia based crappy 4" figures have already been done to death by Funko, who moved on to pretty nice 4" figures that still really don't move much.

It's all cyclical, but 6" is back to what's popular, after 4" ruled the roost a few years ago.

Target typically takes the gamble on retro inspired licensed stuff so I could see them doing something with Mego, but I still really don't know what. I guess we'll know soon enough.

[jayraytee]

^ If thats the case I don't see it lasting long after the holiday season. I may sound like a doom and gloom guy to some here, but I just think sometimes these companies have their goals pretty messed up. Its why 12" Captain Action bit the dust a couple times as well as Mattel Retro Action and the EMCE/DST sets. You have to either go all in collector or all in mass general market, any mixture will pretty much die. Reason being the two markets want entirely different things.

[hedrap]

At the 'Meet, Abrams implied, (nearly stated actually), he wouldn't revive Mego if it meant "a few hundred units". I took that to mean he has no keen interest in the adult collector.

If we get something along those lines, I believe it's going to be from Doc as a ridealong. So the retailer wants 4" and Doc gets an order for 8".

[TrekStar]

But (and I might be remembering this wrong) wasn't it hinted that the 8 inch line wasn't going to be the only thing produced by the new Mego Corp? That other formats and scales were on the table? If so, then it's quite possible that the adult collector market is NOT their only target audience, and that they have aspirations beyond just that market. Everyone here is focused only on that 8 inch line like it was going to be the entirety of the new Mego's line.

-M

That is true, mego is supposed to come out with other items besides 8 inch figures, I would like to see vehicles
make a comeback like the Spidey car, Green Arrow car, Captain America car, and new stuff like the BatBoat which
mego never added to the Batman vehicle line, and how happy I would be if new mego came out with a Star Trek
shuttle craft Galileo seven vehicle to say fit 4-6 figures, I would be standing in the warehouse parking lot to get that.

[wise guy]

Mego is a name to me and the 8 '' retros would need the T-2 body( blue trunks) and not
modern crappy Emce figures that fall apart as soon as you open them like my Capt.Eli,
Sea Ghost, Capt. Canuck etc. Why are they dragging out the details to SDCC because there
is so much cool toys like Mezco 1:12 , and exclusives, that these might not get much attention. The Marvel liscence at 80.00 each is a problem and the only figures selling
at retail are Marvel, DC ,Star Wars ,Power Rangers, and WWE

[huedell]

Since it appears Mego is back... I thought I'd drop back in and express my pleasure and gratitude to all involved... and also to celebrate with my two decade old brethren ("four decade" brethren if you count "old school" pre-internet time!).

[Mego-Amigo]

I mentioned the different scales in my post.

[jwyblejr]

Wonder if they'll go back to making electronic games?

[MRP]

I absolutely agree that the adult collectors are going to be the main ones buying new Mego. Most kids these days with maybe a few exceptions are going to be more interested in more detailed figures like NECA, McFarlane and Hasbro's Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series if they are action figure fans. I love 8 inch Mego figures because it does appeal to my inner child and I have a lot of great memories of growing up with them and collecting them for most of my adult life. Also... as MRP stated above about himself... I love the properties that were being produced by Mego back in the day like POTA, ST and WGSH. I didn't love just any 8 inch Mego figure and don't collect just anything that is an 8 inch retro style figure. There have been many nice properties produced in 8 inch retro style in the last several years like Battlestar Galactica, Batman 66, Dark Shadows, Flash Gordon, Hanna-Barbera, SMDM, Super Friends and Twilight Zone which I collect passionately but I doubt seriously kids would be interested in them. If the new Mego produces similar properties for the adult collectors I think they will be successful to a degree but the young generation is interested in a different style of action figure if they are interested in them at all. Maybe the reason for new Mego producing different scales. I'm not interested in a bunch of new 8 inch retro style figures based on new comics, movies and TV shows though some here might be. I hope they keep the properties retro too.

But (and I might be remembering this wrong) wasn't it hinted that the 8 inch line wasn't going to be the only thing produced by the new Mego Corp? That other formats and scales were on the table? If so, then it's quite possible that the adult collector market is NOT their only target audience, and that they have aspirations beyond just that market. Everyone here is focused only on that 8 inch line like it was going to be the entirety of the new Mego's line.

-M

[Mego-Amigo]

I absolutely agree that the adult collectors are going to be the main ones buying new Mego. Most kids these days with maybe a few exceptions are going to be more interested in more detailed figures like NECA, McFarlane and Hasbro's Marvel Legends and Star Wars Black Series if they are action figure fans. I love 8 inch Mego figures because it does appeal to my inner child and I have a lot of great memories of growing up with them and collecting them for most of my adult life. Also... as MRP stated above about himself... I love the properties that were being produced by Mego back in the day like POTA, ST and WGSH. I didn't love just any 8 inch Mego figure and don't collect just anything that is an 8 inch retro style figure. There have been many nice properties produced in 8 inch retro style in the last several years like Battlestar Galactica, Batman 66, Dark Shadows, Flash Gordon, Hanna-Barbera, SMDM, Super Friends and Twilight Zone which I collect passionately but I doubt seriously kids would be interested in them. If the new Mego produces similar properties for the adult collectors I think they will be successful to a degree but the young generation is interested in a different style of action figure if they are interested in them at all. Maybe the reason for new Mego producing different scales. I'm not interested in a bunch of new 8 inch retro style figures based on new comics, movies and TV shows though some here might be. I hope they keep the properties retro too.

[tmthor]

I have a feeling that the new mego will appeal to folks like us, and not so much today's kids, most kids 10 and older are more into video games and sports teams items and may consider new mego figures as "looks cool" but not worth my time.

I still see FTC figures on the shelves at comic book stores from last summer marked down, what would make new mego figures any different? It's a different generation because today's kids have much more to choose from then we did in the 70's

I think the only chance to get (maybe) an older range kids interested would be Star Wars figures, 8 inch in cloth outfits
and not to play with but to keep it for display, and I'm only 50/50 on that prediction, and I don't even think new mego could get Star Wars licensed figures anyway.

New mego is a big deal to (us) because we grew up with them back in the day and I'm sure many folks here will definitely buy the figures or at least the ones there interested in, but compared to what else is out there for kids to get, for example Jurrassic park merchandise now that the new movie will be coming out on Friday.

Adult toy collectors would most likely be the higher percentage buyers of the new mego figures and not so much today's kids that it's being aimed at, or is it really being aimed at adult collectors and not so much today's kids? could possibly be a smart move.

(BUT) if adult collectors and slimy eBay sellers who buy these up and then sell on eBay to make profits then so be it, as long as new mego makes a worthy profit and not break even, it would be worth it for them if that was the intention from the beginning.

New Mego would have to sell better quality merchandise than there competitors and at a cheaper cost, for the (adult) collectors interest, (and I think they can and will) because there 70's mego bodies are probably the second best bodies out there today 40 years later.

what I'm saying is the adult collector will be the main buyer of these figures and not so much children, but like I said, if it makes a worth while profit for new mego then go for it.

Can we keep this a secret from the Star Wars & GI Joe collectors otherwise they might try to convince us to pass on them and wait for them to get to Ross or $5 & below.

[MRP]

New Mego would have to sell better quality merchandise than there competitors and at a cheaper cost, for the (adult) collectors interest, (and I think they can and will) because there 70's mego bodies are probably the second best bodies out there today 40 years later.
.

Usually, the only way you can achieve that is to have economy of scale of production tilted in your favor, which means finding a mass audience so you can produce more and lower per unit cost. If you are selling to a niche market, it is much more likely you have to choose one of the other-better quality or lower prices, not both because unit costs are higher the fewer units you produce. To improve quality, you have to increase pries because unit costs are higher. To lower prices, you have to lower production costs which usually translates to lesser quality materials or overall products. Not saying Mego can't do it, but to achieve both without a larger economy of scale is an uphill battle at best and usually a pipe dream. The math just doesn't work on the smaller production scales unless you get some kind of windfall/cost cutting shortcut/inside track on materials or on production. If unit prices are high, you either have to lower your margin when selling to retailers, which cuts profits, or retailers have to up their prices to maintain their margins (and they have other options with better margins so they're not going to lower their margins for you), especially if your retail partner is a brick and mortar retailer. FTC has priced itself out of the brick and mortar retail market for the most part, most likely because economy of scale is working against them and their production runs aren't large enough to make unit costs low enough for their to be an attractive margin for retailers to buy and sell at retail. That's what happens when you only target a niche adult collector market, and it becomes a downward spiral quickly because you don't gain new customers to replace old customers who lose interest, are dissatisfied, age out, retire and have a fixed income with less disposable money, pass away, etc.

-M