THE NEW AND IMPROVED SUPERMAN...

Copyright DC COMICS

Did you know that the Mego Superman articulated figure can do impressions?  In the right-hand photo below, it's doing an impression of Christopher Reeve - take a look.  Now, let me tell you something you probably already knew about Mego action figures if you had one as a kid - they weren't really all that poseable, and tended not to stay in the positions they were placed in.  They were held together by rubber-bands and hooks, just like Palitoy's Action Man and Pedigree's Tommy Gunn, though the shoulder and thigh joints were more basic, resulting in the arms and legs sticking out at angles and limiting their 'poseability'.

Modern reissues of Mego figures are made for collectors aged 17 and up, not for kids, which is probably why their play value isn't considered a priority; they're not for play, but for display, so if the arms and legs don't hold their pose beyond a limited point, it's no big deal it seems.  The figures issued by modern Mego themselves are a little better than the ones from Figures Toy Company, even though the latter manufacturer reissues the superhero characters originally produced by Mego.  I don't know if there's a connection between the two companies, so if anyone knows, please enlighten me.

However, Figures Toy Co. produces Mego-style bodies which can be bought separately, with improved points of articulation that don't rely on rubber-bands.  There are two versions, a 'type S retro style' (pic on left, below) and a 'deluxe type S retro style' (pic on right), which are huge improvements on the originals, with far more versatile and varied posing.  (The latter's elbow and knee joints afford a more comprehensive bend.)  So why don't they reissue the Mego figures with the improved joints then?  I'd imagine it's all down to cost, as they'd probably have to charge more, which might deter potential buyers who only want the items to look at, not play with.

Anyway, when I recently purchased my 2016 reissue of the '70s Mego Superman, I was a little disappointed to find that the arms were a bit slack and were extremely restricted in what positions they could be placed in.  As the original 8 inch toy I bought in 1974 was the very first (and only for a good many decades) Mega figure I ever owned, I wanted its replacement to be a cut above the standard 'run-of-the-mill' ones available nowadays, so I bought the 'deluxe type S retro style' via ebay.  However, a short while after paying I realised it was more articulated than I really needed it to be and that I'd have been better buying the 'type S retro-style' body.  (Which is still more articulated than the original one.)

Luckily, they sent the wrong one, which was the very figure I should've bought to begin with.  Okay, it was a couple of pounds cheaper than the one I ordered, but I can live with that, as it saves me returning the other one for a replacement.  I've put the Mego Superman head onto his new body and now I have a choice as to exactly which position I can display him.  For example, look at the photo of him with his original body, compared to his new one.  I can even pose him with one foot resting on his other knee if I wanted - not something you could do with a '70s figure.  I'll put the spare Don Blake head which came with my Thor reissue onto Supes' old figure, thereby adding yet another character to my collection.

The new figure (above right) allows me to place Superman's arms by his side as well, whereas the old one (above left) doesn't, as the bands on the arms are attached to the legs, pulling them out from the body.  Like I said, the new body doesn't use rubber-bands, so is far more poseable - and even though I didn't buy it to play with, I still prefer it to be as good as it ought to be, hence the 'upgrade'.  Now I realise this won't be of much interest to most of you, but perhaps there might be the odd Crivvie (and when I say 'odd', I don't mean 'weird') who used to collect Mego figures as a boy, and who'll  appreciate this post as a prompt for their own reminiscing of their long-gone childhood.  Hopefully, there'll be more than just one of them.    

Posted in: Cartoons