EMCE Toys Trek Figures Review with pics!

[drmego]

Use #67 O rings available at Lowes and Home Depot.

[cdhall]

Yes, I will confess I have spoken to Ivaniski and before I get into trying to restring anything I am most likely going to ask him to do one or two and maybe even teach me how he does it. Those pix are awesome.

I have not forgotten you Ivaniski. I may contact you soon as I'm working on 3 customs at the moment.

[Ivaniski]

EMCE Toys Trek Figures Review with pics!.......

Thanks actjac01, I'll go look into that stringing business and the tips you pointed out. I have never restrung a Mego. I may try to make a Thelin tonight or this weekend by transplanting a head onto an older Spock, but I should also wash all those auction guys I got... and you wash the Trek uniforms also. The Gold trim doesn't get destroyed? Clarify that for me please.

Thank you for the tips.

Mmm..Gentlemen,
Hi, the self-professed restring king for Mego's,Emce's and a few Castawaytoys bodies here. I always go with round cord elastic string.; never use that O-ring thingy. Jessica can attest to my restringing style, when i sent her two restrung Emce heads (attached to the body) for repainting, she thought it was a new Emce Body style. I had a previous thread i posted on restringing (my style) a few months ago. Here's (3) Emce bodies showing full lateral and horizontal ROM w/the arms. Not too tight ,not too loose... everything moved just right! Ivaniski

[cdhall]

Thanks actjac01, I'll go look into that stringing business and the tips you pointed out. I have never restrung a Mego. I may try to make a Thelin tonight or this weekend by transplanting a head onto an older Spock, but I should also wash all those auction guys I got... and you wash the Trek uniforms also. The Gold trim doesn't get destroyed? Clarify that for me please.

Thank you for the tips.

[fallensaviour]

I've replaced the broken elastics with rubber o-rings, similar too what Doctor Mego sells, but these are a little smaller and a little thicker and I can get a package from my local hardware/home improvement store that'll supply me with enough o-rings to restring 5 figures for a couple of bucks.

I'm sure someone else, in another forum, has probably already discuss this (I can't believe I'm the first.) So, feel free to ignore this post if you've already come across something like this elsewhere.

I just felt like I had to say something.
Seriously, though, I love these new figures and I have no intention of sending any back.

I couldn't agree more.Can you tell me what size o-ring you are buying?
I did buy some awhile back but for the life of me I cannot remember what size they are(in mm if possible).

[actjac01]

Hey Doug,

Look, this is really the only major issue I have with the new bodies, and it is easily fixable... that is, if your comfortable pulling these things apart. Heck, I do it all the time, especially with used megos I get on eBay.

The first thing I do when my 'win' arrives is take off the clothes (if it came with any) and I disassemble the body and hand wash everything in my bathroom sink with anti-bacterial soap (even the costumes), then towel dry everything and set it aside. I take apart the bodies so no moisture gets trap inside and rust the hooks.

As for these EMCE bodies (and so far, all of the blank male bodies I've received have come strung this way): I still order these bodies from Doc Mego for customs. I just take a moment to restring them. You gotta admit, the newe bodies with that soft PVC for the arms and legs are nice.

I haven't run into that problem you've had with the boot legs splitting... yet.
I've even order some blank ones for a couple of african/american ST customs (Dr. M'binga and security officer Lt. Shea- one of a very few security officers that didn't die). I'll have to check that out a little more thoroughly.

But, as to all of my EMCE ST Aliens (which is the first time I've ever owned any other than the Klingon) they've been restrung and using the exact same elastic that they came with (even with cross-attaching the arms and legs.)

Oh, and that tutorial I mentioned in my previous post: it's in the Customego forum under 'TIPS N TRICKS'. Just clicking on the 'Type 2 Body Repair' will take you to "Mike Farence's Mego Type 2 Body Tutorial". Not only does he demonstrate how to restring a type 2, but the pictures make it real easy to understand the mechanics of the design.

[cdhall]

I'm not sending any back either, but I think I may try to sell my unopened duplicates. That is 1-2 Andorians right now. I didn't get the 10 Scotty's I ordered on sale at FAO but I'm not going to order extras now for Security Customs. I'll just piece them together perhaps. Unless I can find them for $5.00 again, they are worth the clothing and phasers at that price.

So I will acquire most of the line but I'm not going to make customs from these, I'll stick with Original Mego bodies. I have some set aside for customs. 6 I think if I have to use them for that.

If this stringing issue is on another thread, someone point it out please.

Thanks.

[actjac01]

There's something about the new Star Trek bodies...

I found out something about these new EMCE type 2 bodies that kinda bugs me.

Now, before I get into this, let me first say that I really do love this new Star Trek Retro figure line.
Having had all of the Enterprise crew and Klingon Megos (and the playset) as a kid way back in the seventies, then buying the entire Mego 6 figure set from Canada through Starlog Magazine back in the '80s, and now having collected ALL of this current EMCE Star Trek line (okay, I'm still waiting on my Khan) I have to admit that overall, the quality of this line is very impressive.
A job well done!!!

Okay..., here's the problem....
Now this may seem sacreligious, but has anyone else checked out how these new EMCE 'type 2' figures are strung together?

For those who may not be familiar with how the original Mego 'T2's were done, here's a brief rundown (for a better explanation, you can find an illustrated tutorial in the 'customegos' section of the forum):

Each leg was cross-connected with a rather mean looking tan 'elastic band/strap' to the opposite arm. One open end of this elastic was connected to the leg with a metal c-ring, the other end was attached to the opposite arm by a rather clever 2-part 'double hook/turnbuckle' piece, which hooked right into the hole opening on the arm. What I found so ingenious about this 'double hook' piece design was that it would allow you to turn the arm about without twisting up the elastic too much.
This I believe is why so many of these 34-ish year old elastic straps are still holding up on vintage megos. Of course, some haven't lasted, depending on how much play time/action a particular mego went through, or how long it was left outside, etc.

Now with that said, it looks like that same type of system was going to be used on these new action figures... however, they are not really strung together like that. I mean, all of the pieces are there, but not in the correct order.

With these EMCE bodies, that 2-part 'double hook' is now being used as 2 seperate hook pieces:
the leg has that metal c-ring, then the small hook part of that 'doublehook' is now hooked onto the c-ring, and this new white elastic piece is wrapped around this small hook piece.
Then the other end of the elastic is pulled up & hooked around the larger hook part (of that original 2-part 'doublehook') and this larger hook is hooked through the arm (now on the SAME side of the body, not the opposite side) where this large hook is clamped down closed, probably so the elastic and arm don't slip off.
So, that original 'double-hook' design is not being utilized at all.

Now this new elastic being used might be a better grade of elastic than what was available back in the 70's, although it seems a lot flimsier to me. Also, to get the correct tension on the body, it looks like they doubled it up when hooking it around the hooks, which probably explains why the leg is attached to the arm on the same side as the leg, instead of the arm on the opposite side, otherwise the elastic might snap.

Now, I think if you plan on leaving your EMCE figures in the clamshell, and not play with them much, that they'll probably hold up fine.

I gotta tell ya, though, I've had 2 figures break on me already (which is what lead to this discovery.)

In my opinion, I see no reason why the 'double hook' piece is not being used as it was originally designed, even with these new elastics doubled up the way they are. I've now 'restrung' all of my EMCE figures with the RESTORED 'double hook' design and plan on doing the same to the Khan figure when it arrives.

Also, I've replaced the broken elastics with rubber o-rings, similar too what Doctor Mego sells, but these are a little smaller and a little thicker and I can get a package from my local hardware/home improvement store that'll supply me with enough o-rings to restring 5 figures for a couple of bucks.

I'm sure someone else, in another forum, has probably already discuss this (I can't believe I'm the first.) So, feel free to ignore this post if you've already come across something like this elsewhere.

I just felt like I had to say something.
Seriously, though, I love these new figures and I have no intention of sending any back.

[cdhall]

Thank you for the excellent review. I have not studied the whole thread but I will.

I just opened my Scotty and I was worried about the Phaser not staying in the belt, I see that is a "feature."

Also, I checked and Scott's right leg is hollow and SPLIT down the back when I squeezed it. I think the other is hollow also but now I'm afraid to touch it again.

I have just recently, finally ordered figures for my collection. I ordered 10 Scotty's and got 2 as a gift. I'm disappointed that the boots are hollow, the belts don't hold phasers and the collars are wide and sort of flimsy, but the figures will all suit my purposes. I may review them in more detail later myself.

I also ordered 3 Andorians, Uhura, Romulan, Keeper, McCoy and Spock. That is about it. I have Kirk and a Klingon on hold at a local store. The only other repros I might want now are Sulu and Chekov. But I'm worried now about these boots. I was going to use these to play with with my son and/or a movie. But if they are going to split open... oh well.

Still, they are nice and should serve a purpose. Sad though that until today my collection is comprised of Original which all have bodies in good shape and are superior even though they are 30 yrs old.

Since this post follows the first post by 2yrs, I assume the boots are not going to be fixed. I also don't like the rank being so far apart but as I recall, that was also an issue on the original series as well.

God bless Doc Mego and Emce. I do like the material of Scotty's shirt but the pants feel flimsy to me. Maybe if Mego is reborn they will resolve these issues and maybe also use Gold Department Badges with logos like in the series which have been reproduced by customizers since then.

[Mr Mego]

Thanks Commander.

You're VERY welcome anytime!

Don't forget you can also buy them directly from the Captain himself at WilliamShatner.com...
http://shatner-store.stores.yahoo.net/preorsttrrec.html

www.megoville.com
Cant go wrong here either

Oh, I forgot Paul (Hulk) have them online store, sorry. I haven't check that WilliamShatner.com before, now I checked it out. That's great site, thanx MegoScott for help us!

I can't believe I still haven't gotten my set

I hope you got them SOON! Which website you have been ordered the set from?

[batmanmc]

i have to stop slacking and order my set. mike

[toys2cool]

I can't believe I still haven't gotten my set

[kresge1]

Just placed an order at the Mego Store. Where else can these be purchased online?

https://www.megoville.com

Cant go wrong here either

[megoscott]

Don't forget you can also buy them directly from the Captain himself at WilliamShatner.com...

http://shatner-store.stores.yahoo.net/preorsttrrec.html

[monque]

Thanks Commander.