In my opinion...

[ctc]

>I don't see Venture Bros, Twilight Zone, Bionic Man, etc. being high on the Christmas list of the average child.

True; and it illustrates the big challenge of putting something like a line of figures out: you gotta find the proper audience, and ensure they get the product. Old school Bionic Man figures might not have general appeal any more, but you could probably sell enough to the fans at a price that wouldn't scare them off so's to make it worthwhile. But if you're looking to move enough in the local stores to make it work.... not so much. The price would be too high for a curiosity or actual plaything.

Don C.

[thunderbolt]

^^ Right and the reaction was that the crowd thought they were Mattel's. In case you hadn't noticed we are getting older. The younger crowd is out of touch with what you think is cool or what you know about. And face it, Mego was just as goofy as Mattel, if not moreso. Look no further than 7 inch tall printed suit Thing for proof.

[LonnieFisher]

I started this thread out of sadness for the reaction to my Mego figures I was trying to sell. Hence the "sad" face before the title. I figured that would stop the "fighting" before it started...

[Toyman_Chris]

Well c'mon......He never said he "hated" the actual product. He hated how people referred to them as MEGO. In all honesty, I agree, I call em Retro MEGO and don't care what other people call them either. I guess I just think it was taken way to literally and this has gotten out of hand.

Just don't see a reason to be bitter and fight over it.

[Werewolf]

That being said, anyone who thinks of this as a hater thread should try to realize the difference between conversation and "hate".

The word hate was used in the very first post.

(I really hate that the community demanded on calling the trash Mattel figures "Mego"!!

BTW: I don't get that at all. I don't give crap what people call their toys. Nor did I personally demand they be called Megos or anything else. As a matter of fact, I personally refer to all Megos and Mego like figures (AHI, Remco, Tomland, Retro Action, EMCE, etc.) as dolls. Because that is what they are. But I do not hate, care or get angry over what other people call their toys.

[Toyman_Chris]

I will say, that last night I pulled out my collection of the RA figs. Dammit, they are cooler that I remembered when I first bought them/put them away. I absolutely see Lonnie's point, as a situational occurrence. When I did Chicago Comicon this past year, I sold a lot of the RA figs and they seemed very well received. That being said, anyone who thinks of this as a hater thread should try to realize the difference between conversation and "hate". As I said before, I am sure everyone in this thread bought some if not all of the RA sets and would continue to do so.

Let's just call a truce on the bickering and go back to discussing this hobby we all love!

[tllgn]

the way i see it ,for me i loved the retro dc line,for me it was the thrill of seeing "8" superheros on the market again,even though it was short lived .for me i had a good time,mego will always be the best ,and the best of everything will always be copied ,and will confuse non-mego people all day long .i dont think it hurts mego figures ,just confuses people who may want, or perhaps not want to pay a lot of money for say an old batman,when the new one works just fine for them,the bodys do suck,and again maybe the person does not give a rats behind how its made ,if they do then buy the old toy or have a customizer ,found here build one for him .

[Werewolf]

Maybe that crowd was too young to remember the Mego figures, I'm sure there is a large toy buying market now that doesn't know GI Joe was once 12 inches tall either.

Other toy collectors I knew, that didn't collect Mego, thought my Mego figures were goofy looking long before any of the new figures came out.

[thunderbolt]

Maybe that crowd was too young to remember the Mego figures, I'm sure there is a large toy buying market now that doesn't know GI Joe was once 12 inches tall either.

[LonnieFisher]

According to you ..."Mattel is killing the Mego memory and Market"...Try using some glasses to see that your opinion adds nothing of interest to this discussion. Try forming your opinions based on your own ideas and you might be much happier and better informed!

"My opinion" is the discussion. As per the title of the thread. My opinion was based on the comments by the crowd at the toy and collector show I attended as a vendor over the weekend.

[jetzjungle]

According to you ..."Mattel is killing the Mego memory and Market"...Try using some glasses to see that your opinion adds nothing of interest to this discussion. Try forming your opinions based on your own ideas and you might be much happier and better informed!

[LonnieFisher]

Comments like Dead in the water, over-whelming negative comments, goofy, bulbous add nothing of substance to the hobby...the thread started on a nasty note that is obvious to see.

Get a better pair of glasses...
I was writing comments I heard from others and their opinions. Those were what gave me the opinion I wrote in the first sentence concerning Mattel.

[Werewolf]

Sure the Retro Action line was not marketed with today's generation in mind (hence the name).

Totally, these retro lines are directed at people that collected them back in the day and want to share them with their kids, in my opinion. The licenses aren't exactly kid friendly choices. I don't see Venture Bros, Twilight Zone, Bionic Man, etc. being high on the Christmas list of the average child. Licenses that would appeal to them wouldn't appeal to us.

But I also think had the line tried to cater to the tastes of today's kids, that design also would have been at odds with the old Mego figures.

I agree. I don't think some people realize how drastically different they would have to be to purely appeal to today's kids. For example, look at the re-imagined classic brands aimed at kids like Strawberry Shortcake and My little Pony. They would be unrecognizable to most of us to appeal to kids. I don't think most Mego collectors would be happy with Mego-like WGSH or Bionic Man figures done in the style of those chunky DC Super Friends toys aimed at kids.

[jetzjungle]

Seriously?

Mattel is killing the Mego memory and market. I had lots of people see my Mego figures at a toy and collectible show this weekend. Most thought they were the new(dead-in-the-water) Retro-action figures. So, opposite all the opinions that the lame Mattel body wouldn't affect the sales of the figures, the overwhelming negative comments about them say otherwise. The line died because they look goofy, the thighs are too bulbous and they wouldn't stand on their own. Not one positive comment about them. I overheard a lot of the comments and they weren't made to me. Just people talking about the Retro-action figures. Now people think negatively about the original Mego figures. (I really hate that the community demanded on calling the trash Mattel figures "Mego"!! Now Mego has a bad reputation and word-of-mouth is spreading it.)
It really made me sad that there were a lot of uncomplimentary comments about my Mego figures.

Comments like Dead in the water, over-whelming negative comments, goofy, bulbous add nothing of substance to the hobby...the thread started on a nasty note that is obvious to see.

[MIB41]

I see your point Lonnie and its well illustrated with your experience. But I think collecting tends to hit people on a more emotional level than just what one line can dictate. Sure the Retro Action line was not marketed with today's generation in mind (hence the name). But I also think had the line tried to cater to the tastes of today's kids, that design also would have been at odds with the old Mego figures. Kids today are graphic happy. They want plastic figures with tons of articulation and a slop of paint on them which they call "detail". Anyway you slice it, there will always be a generational gap between what kids desire today versus what our expectations were back then.

Before Mego's, our generation didn't have much of anything to pick from unless they were considerably bigger scale figures like GI Joe. And even then it was limited when it came to heroes. Mego was a revolutionary moment for action figures. For those of us who were around then, it's a timeless moment we can never forget. It forever changed what "play time" would be. And for many of us, it defined the rest of our childhoods. It was lightening in a bottle. You were either there and experienced it or you read about it from a latter generation and want to relate with it. Either way it's emotional in it's most fundamental form.

Mattel is not the first to try this either. So I wouldn't think interest, or any perceived lack thereof, could be solely blamed on this line. Mattel tried to mimic Mego like other companies before them. And like those companies they tried to create what they felt were "improvements" to that original Mego idea. From my perspective, EMCE has done it best and remains the most faithful to the overall concept. But, at the end of the day, their all eight or nine inch figures with cloth outfits. They all vary whether the brand name is Mego, EMCE, Castaway, BBP, Mattel, Toybiz, or Hasbro. But they all carry the same inspiration from the 70's. So I can't imagine one line in that lot taking blame for any downturn in this format. There is alot of product out there so kids have more choices than we ever had when we were young. If I had to guess, I would say your probably watching that option being played out.