History of Mego

Mego could easily be considered the godfather of licensed toy lines. Although the company started out by making knock off clones of Barbi (Maddie Mod) and G.I. Joe (Fighting Yank) that were the same size and could exchange clothes and accessories, the company is probably best known for their movie and TV licensed products like Planet of the Apes and The Black Hole.

Mego's first license was, if you can believe it, a Joe Namath 12" figure. Although the Namath toy recovered its production costs, it wasn't an outright success for the company. Their second major effort was a line called Action Jackson, which was a scaled down 8" G.I.Joe type figure. Initial interest was high, but the Action Jackson line of toys also failed to deliver as a break through seller. The result was a surplus of 8" bodies and the beginning of a legend.

In 1972 those recycled bodies were released as the "World's Greatest Super Heroes," a line of toys based on Marvel and DC comic book characters. Batman, Robin, Superman, Spiderman and Captain America were some of the first heroes out of the gate and are still some of the most collected toys by classic toy lovers. The heroes met with a huge success and led to additional releases like Iron Man, Thor, Conan and the "Mad Monsters" line that included Dracula, The Mummy, and the Wolfman.

The company's first film license was 20th Century Fox's Planet of the Apes. The eventual lineup of Apes toys would include figures like Cornelius, General Ursus, a Soldier Ape, several of the Astronauts and play sets like the "Horse and Wagon and Catapult."

Mego's second major license was Star Trek. The first figures were the main characters, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and a Klingon. Of course, Uhura wasn't far behind and it was only a matter of time until Mego would tap into Star Trek's rich gallery of aliens, making toys of The Keeper, the Gorn (a Klingon with a different head,) and the most sought after (and most expensive if you can find it) alien, a Romulan. Mego's use of the Star Trek license didn't stop there though. A Bridge play set and a variety of other toys based on the show were also released.

Their licensing strategy wasn't limited to toys for boys, however. Mego also secured the rights to the Wizard of Oz, and produced 8" versions of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch, The Wizard, and of course, Dorothy.

The Micronauts, a toy line based on Takara of Japan's successful Microman toys, would be Mego's next major project. It would also be the first step on the road to disaster for the company. While Marty Abrams was negotiating for the rights to Microman in Japan, Mego lost the opportunity to produce toys based on a little known upcoming film called Star Wars.

Micronauts would turn out to perform well against the initial onslaught of Star Wars toys, but it was too late to stop the Lucas Juggernaut. Mego would try to reinforce their position with toy lines based on other space related properties like Flash Gordon, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and The Black Hole. The strategy almost worked, but a corruption investigation involving the East Coast Longshoreman's Unions would be the final nail in Mego's coffin.

Many Mego properties, especially the Micronauts, would be recycled into other products, like the Micro clones The Interchangeables and the Lords of Light.

Mego was responsible for many of the toys that the 20 and 30 something crowd grew up with. Now, almost 15 years since Mego's demise, their star products like the Micronauts and Mego Super Heroes still fetch premium prices on auction sites like eBay hold a place of prestige in many toy fans collections.