World’s Greatest Toys!

A lot of guys in the hobby are dads themselves, but let’s not forget our own fathers, dads, pops, da-das, daddies, or whatever dumb name you called your old man.

I always called my dad “Ray.”

Long story.

Forgot? No problem. Send dad an Amazon Gift Certificate. They’re cool, plus you support WorldsGreatestToys. Woo-hoo!

Benjamin

Recently, Mego-head Scott Adams shared his set of mysteriously identical price stickers. Scott’s pretty sure they are from Service Merchandise.

When Scott submitted those awesome photos, he also sent another price sticker that has me stumped. This sticker, affixed to a MIB Mego Lizard, is utterly mysterious:

The sticker reads:

• PRANGE
• T
• 661 36
• $2.97

P-Range? Prange? Pranget?! Any idea who produced this sticker, thus selling a fine MIB Mego Lizard? Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

While working on the book, I spent a fair amount of time developing and refining the ‘universal’ elements of the book. In an effort to present the information (somewhat) comprehensibly, I recognized a need for strict consistency among the chapter layouts.

From the outset, I knew I wanted to include 360-degree ‘revolution’ photos of each figure. I also knew I wanted each character to have his or her own chapter, including a standardized ‘Splash’ page. I recall many hours spent developing the final layout for the Splash pages.

Back in November 2006 (a year before the book’s release), I posted a “Mego Sketch Pad” blog, discussing a sketch for the Tarzan Splash page. Shown below is that original concept (left) next to the final layout (right).

Going through my image library recently, I came across another original Splash page sketch… for Joker. This early sketch, created at the beginning of 2005, reveals just how much the concept evolved, including the addition of Mego box character illustrations (thanks to the incredible work of Mego-head Scott Arendsen, who provided all the drawings) as well as a large strip of each character’s packaging color; It has been suggested to me that another book — which shall remain unnamed, but was released shortly after mine — shamelessly ripped off this design element.

Following is a side-by-side comparison of my early Joker Splash page concept (left) next to the final layout (right):

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Thanks to Mego-head Scott (”megomuseum”) Adams, we have an incredible set of three identical price stickers, affixed to three different, 4th Wave Mego World’s Greatest Super-Heroes figures!

Scott tells me that, while he can’t confirm, he believes these were sold by Service Merchandise. Check out these three price stickers, affixed to MIB “2nd Version” Marvel (New Logo) heroes. Left to right, Human Torch, Invisible Girl, Thor:

The stickers all read:

• 03FO9
• MEGO
• 115605
• 1313
• $2.99

How freakin’ cool that the price stickers actually have “MEGO” printed on them?! More importantly, how weird that the stickers feature the “4-digit” Item Code, well after Mego introduced the “5-digit” Item Code? Wow.

Do you have any idea what retailer sold the toys pictured above? It was Service Merchandise, right? If you agree, or you think it was a different store, please explain why you think so. Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Next to MegoMuseum.com and its community of Mego collectors, the most helpful resource I had while researching the book was “Papa Mego-head” John Bonavita’s out-of-print* magazine-style publication, which reprinted many vintage Mego product catalogs.

There are plenty of other potential resources and guides — documentation I didn’t have access to while creating the book — that I ended up creating myself. I wish I could have included all of this new documentation in the book, but I simply didn’t have the space. One such guide I always wanted is a comprehensive list of every Item Number Mego used for WGSH products.

It’s not the kind of document one casually peruses (though it includes plenty of cool tidbits and fun Mego trivia), but should you ever find yourself wondering what the proper Item Number for the carded 8″ Lion Rock Western Heroes Assortment is (#51369), or you get curious which Item Number Mego re-used the most times (#51317)… or how many times Mego used that number (thrice!)… well, this list is indispensable.

Also, I finally redesigned the non-blog pages of WorldsGreatestToys.com, so this article is a perfect way to introduce the redesign. At last, the entire site has a cohesive design.

*John Bonavita graciously gifted his last remaining case of these magazines to World’s Greatest Toys. Mego collectors can receive one free copy with the purchase of a TwoMorrows-exclusive Collectors Edition of the book.

Without further ado, I present the first of many articles:

Everything you ever wanted to know about Mego WGSH Item Numbers but were afraid to ask (didn’t really care)

(Read the article and check out the redesigned site)

Covering every WGSH product between 1972 and 1982, it’s a fun look at Mego’s product planning and decision-making. Read the article here.

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Gold Circle, a discount department store founded by Federated in 1967 (in Columbus, Ohio), went out of business in 1988. Thanks to Mego-head Anthony “Toyroom” Durso, we have this awesome Gold Circle price sticker, affixed to a “3rd Version” (4-panel) Shazam box:

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Two Guys (AKA “2 Guys”) was a New Jersey-based chain of discount department stores with locations in PA, NJ, NY, IL, CT, MD and CA. This is one of the few retailers known to have sold Mego-branded “1st Issue” cards; most “1st Issue” cards were Kresge-branded, thus exclusively available through S.S. Kresge and Kmart stores.

Here’s a fine Two Guys price sticker, affixed to a “1st Version” (old logo) Batgirl box (just $2.99):

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

It’s been a while since I posted a new blog in my Poster Fun! Blog series, so it’s probably time for a new one.

I always thought it might look cool to line up all of the book’s character “Splash” pages into one collage. I finally did it, and this is what it looks like:

Kinda cool.

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Originally a manufacturer of electric trains, Lionel Corporation became a holding company in 1969, specializing in toy stores. By the early 1980s, Lionel operated some 150 stores, under the names Toy City, Lionel Kiddie City, Lionel Playworld, Lionel Toy Warehouse, and Lionel Toy Town.

After multiple Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings, Lionel attempted to merge with bankrupt Child World in 1992, but was unable to secure financing. Lionel stores went out of business in 1993.

In other words, Lionel was a big-time player (reportedly the second largest toy retailer) during Mego’s heyday. They must have been pretty big, as they were one of the few retailers that offered Mego’s Fist-Fighting Power Fist line of action figures, including this Fist-Fighting Joker:

The sticker reads:

• SKU 147439
• LIONEL 097
• $1.91

I have to think if I’d seen one of these in a store in 1975 or 1976 (for $1.91 no less!), I’d have been all over it. I know my mom would have hooked me up for that price.

Sheesh.

I honestly don’t remember ever seeing the Fist-Fighters in any store.

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?

Thanks to Mego-head Scott Adams, we have seen some unusual examples of Mego price stickers. Today we offer a gem from Scott Adams’ MIB collection. The very first “Mego Price Stickers” blog, back on April 15th 2007, was a look at price stickers affixed to the original Mego packaging — the “Solid” boxes. We have come full circle.

Given how scarce any “Solid” box is today, it’s really special to locate specimens that retain their original price stickers. We have already been fortunate to show two such stickers.

Today, Scott adds yet another retailer into the fray of early Mego adopters: Roses also purchased Solid Boxed WGSH!

The sticker reads:

• Roses Special
• $1.97

Post your comments below. I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Benjamin

Want to learn more about Mego and the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes?
Pick up a copy of Mego 8″ Super-Heroes: World’s Greatest Toys from Amazon.com today! All sales support the author and help finance the blog. How cool is that?