World’s Greatest Toys!

On this Memorial Day, I wish to acknowledge all of the brave men and women in the Armed Forces, and give thanks and remembrance to those who have given their lives serving their country.

Here’s a nice example of an early Toys “R” Us price sticker, affixed to a 5th Version (5-digit/Old logo) Shazam box:

Many Mego toys (especially the “2nd Issue” card variants) feature the later orange Toys “R” Us sticker, but this sticker pre-dates all of those more common tags.

The sticker reads:

• TOYS R’ US!
• 429791 $2.48

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?

I don’t know much about King’s history in the world of retail and/or Mego, but they did sell this 4th Version (4-digit/Old logo) Batman box:

The sticker reads:

• KING’S
• 7 75 19
• 310 M 24
• 861
• $3.27

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?

I know very little about Fedco, inc., except to say that they sold Mego WGSH. And that’s enough for me! Here’s a diminutive Fedco sticker, affixed to a 4th Version (4-digit/Old logo) Tarzan 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?

Last week, I enjoyed an amazing trip to NYC, to visit two of my oldest and dearest friends… helping one celebrate his 40th birthday.

We went into the city twice, taking time to visit geek strongholds Toy Tokyo, Love Saves the Day and Forbidden Planet.

Knowing Toy Tokyo ordered multiple copies of World’s Greatest Toys from my publisher, I hoped to find copies of the book, but learned they had already sold out their inventory (woo-hoo!).

I didn’t expect to find copies of the book at Love Saves the Day, but I did learn the store’s founder is a fan of the book. I even picked up a sweet, unpunched MOC ©1977c Mego Robin, which the owner originally purchased some 30 years ago.

Forbidden Planet provided perhaps the ’sweetest drop’ of my entire trip. My friends and I approached the building and found that the store had a copy of World’s Greatest Toys… in the freakin’ window!

It was absolutely magical to see the book prominently displayed in one of New York’s coolest stores.

Forbidden Planet, which has reportedly sold numerous copies of the book, still had five remaining copies inside the store:

Above: Holding my ‘Love Saves the Day’ Robin score in front of Forbidden Planet’s window (left); Proudly presenting the five remaining copies of the book, inside the store (right).

I quickly befriended the guys at Forbidden Planet (Jeff, you rule!), and even got a discount on a bad-ass Aquaman hoodie (with artwork I’d never seen before). I’ll post pictures of the Aquaman hoodie later.

I gleefully signed each of the store’s five remaining copies. Without a doubt, It was the best vacation I’ve ever had.

Post your comments about Toy Tokyo, Love Saves the Day, Forbidden Planet or New York City itself, 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?

Simpsons was a Canadian retailer. After merging with U.S.-based Sears, Simpsons became Simpsons-Sears LTD. In 1978, the retailer was further modified, becoming Sears Canada. Here’s a cool shot of a Simpsons price sticker (from the pre-merger days), affixed to a 3rd Version (4-Panel) Spider-Man box:

The sticker reads:

• SIMPSONS
• 158-6
• A9
• $2.49

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?!

I am, most definitely, a skeptic. I don’t believe in anything beyond the tangible world, including ghosts, reincarnation, magic, voodoo or religion.

That said, certain events, which started last week, have me second-guessing my beliefs. Individually, these events are fairly innocuous, but combined in such a compressed manner… I just don’t know. Thus far:

Tuesday, May 12, Mid-afternoon: In my office, my desk faces my co-worker, Millie. There is a large window on the wall to my left (Millie’s right), which has Venetian blinds. My peripheral vision catches a group of approximately three blinds moving enough to allow additional light into the room. I immediately look to Millie, who says, “Yeah, I saw that.” We laugh at the strange occurrence.

No explanation.

Wednesday, May 13-May 19: I was on vacation in NYC from last Wednesday until yesterday. Nothing strange happened in New York — or on my first day back at work yesterday (Monday).

Tuesday, May 20 (today): Late morning: I feel something brush against my leg. It reminds me of my cat, Rocket, giving me ‘love dive bombs.’ Ignoring the sensation, I immediately feel it again… bear in mind the sensation is passing through thick blue jeans! Startled, I look down but find nothing.

No explanation.

Returning from lunch, I open the heavy glass door to our office building and begin the long ascent (30+ stairs) to the second floor where my office is located. Near the top steps, I am compelled to turn around (not sure if I heard a sound, but my turning is involuntary). I find that the door at the bottom of the stairs is almost fully open, just beginning to close… typically, by the time I climb the stairs, the door is fully closed.

No explanation.

Arriving home from work tonight, I settle in to browse the Web and answer Email. My cell phone rings, and I immediately recognize the caller as my own cell phone. The number listed is not my name, but rather the actual number (which I will not post here), complete with area code. Hesitantly, I answer the phone. I hear a small ‘wooshing’ sound, and the call ends. I immediately check my “Recent Calls” directory, and find no record of any call.

No explanation.

WTF?!

I’m almost creeped out. Almost.

More if it occurs.

Back in the ’90s, I worked as a Graphic Designer (for the “In-Store Marketing” department) for Mervyn’s California, so this price sticker is especially cool to me. It is affixed to a 3rd Version (4-Panel) Tarzan box:

The sticker reads:

• MERVYN*S
• 878 10 3
• 83
• $1.88

I just wish that, while I worked there, I’d had the sense to investigate whether the company had any archival photos of their stores back in the ’70s. Can you imagine seeing a vintage photograph of a Mego end-cap at Mervyn’s?! Sigh.

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 Mego was world-renown for shameless self-promotion to the toy industry (have you heard about Mego’s extravagant Toy Fair parties for retail buyers?), Mego was very poor at self-promotion aimed at its end-users… also known as ‘kids’.

How many of us, as kids, knew that a company called “Mego” manufactured our favorite action figures? Sadly, very few.

While 1970s Christmas catalogs are filled with recognizable logos from larger manufacturers such as Kenner (the ‘Stretch Armstong’ and ‘Star Wars” dudes), Hasbro (the ‘Super Joes’ dudes) and Mattel (the ‘Barbie’ dudes), Mego logos and/or attributions rarely appear in 1970s retail Christmas catalogs.

That’s what makes the 1977 Aldens catalog particularly special. Not only does it feature a Mego ‘logo’ attribution, it is not actually a Mego logo. But it is cool, and it properly credits Mego for making some hot toys:

This strange Mego logo appears twice on the same page of Aldens’ 1977 Christmas catalog, which offered a Batman & Robin 2-pack ($6.99 for both!) and the Mobile Bat Lab ($13.99)

Holy Zap!

Did you grow up in the Chicago area? Do you remember shopping at Aldens or perusing an Aldens Christmas catalog? 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?!

Yesterday, we looked at two different Children’s Palace stickers.

At the end of the 1970s, Children’s Palace merged with Child World. During this period, both retailers purchased large amounts of ©1979 carded Mego Super-Heroes, originally intended for French distributor Pin Pin Toys to sell into the European market. Apparently ordered by an “overzealous European buyer,” according to Mego vice president Neal Kublan, the majority of these toys were returned to the United States.

Many of these “2nd Issue” carded heroes bear an item number with “/F” (presumably denoting “France” or “French”), as well as an applied (legally required) English-language ‘Age Labeling’ sticker, which reads “Recommended for ages three and up.”

Here are two examples of such Pin Pin Spider-Man cards, sold through the merged Child World/Children’s Palace stores:

The stickers bear identical information, with the exception of the numbers “52″ and “71,” presumably a reference to the store or region that sold the figures.

Do you have any price stickers you want to share? Any recollections of buying Mego toys from Child World or Children’s Palace? 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?!

With thanks to Mego-head Don Cassetori, here are two intriguing “Children’s Palace” price stickers to compare and contrast (and this is just plain weird!).

Don sent me a price sticker detail of his 1st Version (”Error”) Lizard box (below left, see page 170 of World’s Greatest Toys), which is strikingly different than the price sticker on my 1st Version “4-digit” Supergirl box (below right, see page 63 of World’s Greatest Toys):

What intrigues me is the fact that (based on prices alone) the $2.77 Lizard box seems to have been available BEFORE the $2.97 Supergirl box. However, Supergirl (in this particular box) was first available around December 1973, while Lizard was not offered until approximately June 1975… a year-and-a-half later!

So, what’s the deal here?

Did Children’s Palace have differing (perhaps regional) pricing?

Was Supergirl such a ‘peg-warmer’ that Children’s Palace was still digging out unsold specimens in 1975?

Did Mego distribute early-edition Gals boxes for several years (remember, Mego subsequently issued the “5-digit” box)?

Did the Children’s Palace toy wholesaler (assuming they didn’t buy directly from Mego) simply dole out Mego toys randomly, rendering my Supergirl box a late-distribution anomaly?

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?!