Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
The set isn’t complete, but you can see the ominous contents on the box, including lots of beds for our swimsuit-attired figurines to get amorous on. In yet another catastrophic bungle, Mego produced a series of Love Boat “action figures” in 1981, as well as the original version of the playset seen here. When Mego went belly up, Multi-Toys distributed the magnificent absurdity.
A little known playset for a well-done line that was gunned down when Mego went bankrupt. I remember the 2″ high, die-cast metal figures circulating on the playground before G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. There’s also a Remco Warlord figure in the shot.
The Eagle Island commercial is here, and I’m adding some better pictures of the set below.
Carded Antron, Membros, and Repto are here. That’s all the aliens except for Lobros. Ken Kelly changed the nature of toy art, and arguably the nature of action figures, with these paintings.
More great box scans from Mikey Walters, who talks about getting the Tricorder for Christmas here.
See good pics of the toy itself at A Piece of the Action.
Goofiest looking kid in the world is sucking on a popsicle mold that looks like a cock and balls. Allow me to say, for the first time ever on this blog—what the fuck?
(Images via Vintage Ads and Pinterest)
Dusty Abell—holy shirtless wonder, Batman!—sent in this beauty last week. He says:
Best guess would be December 25, 1977. Star Wars [toys] had yet to hit, otherwise I’m sure we’d be seeing the Falcon and Star Wars figures in the shot! Ideal’s Star Team came out immediately following the release of Star Wars and filled the gap until those toys hit the following year.
Toys seen include Mego’s Batman’s Wayne Foundation, The Amazing Spider-Car, Batcopter, and Batman and Spidey figures; Ideal’s Star Hawk and Zem 21 (from the S.T.A.R. Team line); Hasbro’s Super Joe Commander and the Super Joe Rocket Command Center (see both here); and the Tomland Star Raiders figure Yog (between Batman and Spidey).
Try not to be too envious of Dusty’s righteous haul, people. He grew up to be a talented artist who focuses on geek pop culture of the ’70s and ’80s—so he’s giving back to the community! See a couple of my favorite works below (click to enlarge), and then check out lots more at his DeviantArt gallery.
Ever wonder why Mego went bankrupt? Here you go. According to the Mego Museum, it’s “the last licensed product” the company produced, although only the “Free-Wheeling Convertible Bug” set made it into stores, and in very limited quantities. The 8″ figures are positively frightening. Check out the forehead on Connie Sellecca!
“Kids love him because he’s goofy.” No. No we don’t.
A closer look at all the Black Hole figures I talked about many internet ages ago—here. Old Bob, S.T.A.R., and Humanoid figures were released in Italy only.
The highest price point I could find on a carded figure is $2.43 (Reinhardt). The lowest is $.91 (Durant). I also found one marked down to $.97 (Holland).
UPDATE (12/19/15): Adding a Harry Booth marked down to $.88. That’s what happens to traitors!
2 Warps to Neptune 