Mego's
"Eagle Force " line was truly a symbol of the times, the
early eighties and the election of Ronald Reagan brought about a
rise in patriotism and "law and order" that had not been
seen in over a decade. Military toys were about to make a
comeback and Mego wanted to be on top of the market place.
On the other side of town, (well in Rhode Island) Hasbro was planning
a similiar comeback of on their more iconic characters, that of
G.I. Joe. Despite being developed independantly of one another,
similiarities arose between Eagle Force and G.I. Joe with the major
difference being the scale of the figures. 
According to the official Mego Intro piece Eagle Force was created
by the US Goverment to tackle R.I.O.T ( Roving International Organization
of Tyranny). a terrorist organization that was driven by world domination.
Eagle Force was assembled from the finest of the US armed forces.
Led by Captain Eagle,the eye patched Eagle commanded a group of
military experts with codenames such as Big Bro', Harley, Turk and
The Cat. R.I.O.T was lead by the evil General Mamba and his
henchmen Savitar the Ninja and the evil Arsonist Beta Man.
Like G.I. Joe, Eagle Force used comic book adventures to market
the line, beautfully illustrated, the Eagle Force line was created
by Paul Kirchner a known Heavy Metal contributor. The then 29 year
old Kirchner beautifully fleshed out the characters originally envisioned
by Mego VP Bill Baron as being the "Screaming Eagles".
(see the link below for the story in Kirchner's own words or by
clicking here)
Each Eagle Force card had the look and feel of a comic book,
showcasing each character as well as giving an adventure on the
back. The
figures debut was at the 1982 Toyfair, Mego's catalog theme that
year was "Soar with the Eagles", it was obvious they had
high hopes for the line . Many people inside Mego thought
the line was a gamble, Mego had mounting debt and Eagle Force was
expensive to produce. 
According to then Mego chairman Martin Abrams, Eagle Force was poised
to be a smash hit, the initial inventory had blown out at Target
stores over the course of one weekend. Indicators of a hit in the
toy world. Sadly, it was a case of too little, too late for the
World's Greatest Toy company. Mego was done at retail and in 1982,
closed it's doors forever. Eagle Force was too young a line to be
picked up by another company (certain Mego items such as Magna Doodle
and The Micronauts would find homes) So by 1982, the hopeful line
had become an Orphan. 
The 2" diecast figures were sort of a pioneer in terms of eighties
toys, while unique at the time (They were apparantly inspired by
the Britains figurines) companies such as Kenner and Tyco would
continue to use the scale for lines such as M.A.S.K and Dino-Riders
(which Paul Kirchner also worked on) Because of it's abrupt
timeline on the toy shelves Eagle Force has been slow to find
it's collector following. As time marches on, collectors have started
to take notice of how well made and detailed a line it is.
Like many of Mego's products, Eagle Force was truly an International affair and many of the world wide partners are familiar to Mego collectors. Grand Toys handled the release in Canada, where the Eagle force came on bilingual cards made of a cheaper stock. In Italy, Gig toys (famous for their Micronauts releases) put the individual figures in small boxes and released several exclusive vehicles. As a For the UK the figures were called "Strike Force" when released by Ideal toys and in France, Phoenix toys released much of the line as "Aigle Force". Even some Eagleforce knockoffs have been spotted on generic "military" cards. Below Paul Kirchner shares with us his collection of carded figures, enjoy for yourself what would be Mego's last Action figure line. One thing of note is the Eagle Force bubbles are Bomb Shaped, Mego had also done this with the Johnny Action Lion Rock Figures :
(from L to R) Captain Eagle, Goldie Hawk and Turk
(from L to R) Stryker, Sgt. Brown and Kayo
(from L to R) Harley, Big Bro
(from
L to R) R.I.O.T guys: General Mamba, Shock Trooper, Baron
Von Chil
l
(from L to R) Savitar and Nemesis
Some
great examples of the cardartwork, note that the "Fireball" card
is a prototype featuring his original name.
EF figures were later blown out in unmarked 3 packs, on the left is the R.I.O.T tank in it's GIG packaging. GIG included a cannon from the Micronauts with their releases, it is easier to find vehicles in GIG boxes normally than US packaging.The "Eagle Force" Gallery would not have been possible without the fantastic contributions and assistance of Mr. Paul Kirchner and Mr Bill Baron.
This Gallery Page is only the start of our exploration into
Eagle Force, click on the links for rare views of the line and a
piece by it's creator!: Creating Eagle Force: an indepth article
about the line's inception by one of it's creators Mr Paul Kirchner
Eagle Force Production Sketches: See the original 1982 line up before
the changes Eagle Force Commercials: See Screencaps from the 1982
sales film! Eagle Force Wave 2: The proposed 1983 wave, see the
unproduced line!
Like many of Mego's products, Eagle Force was truly an International
affair and many of the world wide partners are familiar to Mego
collectors. Grand Toys handled the release in Canada, where
the Eagle force came on bilingual cards made of a cheaper stock.
In Italy, Gig toys (famous for their Micronauts releases) put the
individual figures in small boxes and released several exclusive
vehicles. As a For the UK the figures were called "Strike
Force" when released by Ideal toys and in France, Phoenix toys
released much of the line as "Aigle Force".
Even some Eagleforce knockoffs have been spotted on generic "military"
cards. Below Paul Kirchner shares with us his collection of carded
figures, enjoy for yourself what would be Mego's last Action figure
line. One thing of note is the Eagle Force bubbles are Bomb Shaped,
Mego had also done this with the Johnny Action Lion Rock Figures
: (from L to R) Captain Eagle, Goldie Hawk and Turk(from L
to R) Stryker, Sgt. Brown and Kayo(from L to R) Harley, Big Bro(from
L to R) R.I.O.T guys: General Mamba, Shock Trooper, Baron Von Chill(from
L to R) Savitar and NemesisSome great examples of the cardartwork,
note that the "Fireball" card is a prototype featuring
his original name.
EF figures were later blown out in unmarked 3 packs, on the left
is the R.I.O.T tank in it's GIG packaging. GIG included a cannon
from the Micronauts with their releases, it is easier to find vehicles
in GIG boxes normally than US packaging.The "Eagle Force"
Gallery would not have been possible without the fantastic contributions
and assistance of Mr. Paul Kirchner and Mr Bill Baron.