The new special issue, on sale now, is titled “The A-Z of Star Trek” and is the “ultimate guide to all things Star Trek.”

 Interviews in the magazine include Star Trek into Darkness‘ Simon Pegg, Benedict Cumberbatch and Alice Eve; other inteviews are with Rene Auberjonois, Brannon Braga, Michael Dorn, Ronald D. Moore and many more!

Articles include Star Trek’s Fifty Best Moments, an in-depth look back at each of the first eleven Star Trek movies; overviews of the televised series; a guide to the best tie-in movies; a look at the 1960s comics, and an over view of the Mego Star Trek toys by Brian, Megomuseum editor and chief!

In addition to the magazine, purchasers will receive three gifts: a Starfleet insignia badge, a Star Trek into Darkness poster, and an original series print based on the Mirror, Mirror original series episode. For more information visit the SFX magazine website.

The Mego community, indeed the entire toy collector world was taken by surprise a few weeks ago when it was announced that Figures Toy Company had acquired the licenses for Batman, Dukes of Hazzard, Conan and Tarzan, Evel Kneivel, Gilligan’s Island and Dallas. After a lifetime of waiting we learned we’d be seeing Mego-style Adam West Batman 66 figures as well as reissues of World’s Greatest Super Heroes.

The stunning and exciting news has been greeted with a tremendously positive response along with a few notes of caution. Figures Toy Company (AKA Classic TV Toys) has been extremely active in Mego reproductions since 2005 when they entered the market with reproductions of Mego public domain lines such as Mad Monsters and Super Knights, Mego licensed properties such as Happy Days and Space 1999 and new lines in the Mego style (I Love Lucy, Married With Children). These early CTVT figures manufactured in India and were plagued with quality control problems.  Nonetheless, the Mego community was blessed to have so many parts and clothes and accessories available for endless projects over the years and CTVT remained a popular destination for many of us. 

Figures Toys persevered and clearly learned from their past mistakes. Their most recent work with the KISS line of 8 and 12 inch Mego-style figures has been a substantial improvement and has proven to be a hit with Mego and KISS Fans alike. 

Now Figures Toys has vaulted into the big leagues of toy licensing with some of the most high profile licenses of all. Expecttaions are sky-high and we all wish them the best. 

In this  Q&A with the Mego Museum’s Steve Moore, Anthony Balasco discusses upcoming figure lines including a peek at the Dukes of Hazzard prototypes.

Steve: Congratulations on the recent announcement regarding all the wonderful new licenses that Figures Toy Company has acquired, Anthony. Obviously the 1966 Batman line gets top bill; can you share what was involved in getting the deal done? With all of the actor likenesses to consider, I assume it must have been a challenge to get everything in order so that production could move forward.

Anthony: Hi Steve. Thank you very much for considering me for this interview. Figures Toy Company is extremely excited to be the company that will be bringing these action figures to collectors in 8 inch Retro format. It took a lot of hard work to obtain the rights to our new licenses. Our CEO Steve Sandberg handled the negotiations concerning the contracts. It took a great deal of time but in the end it was worth it.

The list of characters planned for the ’66 line is impressive. Is there any chance of going any deeper with the line, say for a Commissioner Gordon or Chief O’Hara?

At this point in time, not all characters are available, but more are being added as time progresses. With customer support, Figures Toy Company will try to go deep into the Classic TV show introducing as many characters as possible.

Also announced were reproductions of the Mego versions of the Batman line from the 70s. In the press release, there is a sentence that indicates “even more characters that Mego never released.” Naturally this has piqued the curiosity of Mego collectors, is there anything more that you can share at this time? There are visions of Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, etc. dancing in collector’s heads everywhere.

Our goal is to create every DC Mego character as well as add any other DC characters that the collectors ask for. Figures Toy Company has obtained the rights to the entire DC Character Universe. If the customer support is there we will make as many characters as possible. There are future plans to introduce playsets and vehicles.

This is a huge clarification. Have you decided how you’ll approach choosing which characters come first?

Figures will be released in Series of 4 we will start mixing in new characters ASAP.

Will the playsets and vehicles be new Figures Toy Co. creations, or remakes of the classic Mego versions?

We are still working out the details with DC. We would like to do both, replicate all the Mego sets and add in new vehicles.

Wow – that is a lot to digest! Last question regarding the heroes: The WGSH reproductions are listed as 8″ only. Is this a specific condition of the license, or is there a chance we could ever see 12″ versions? The original Mego 12” versions are nice figures, but they could certainly use some company.

Figures Toy Company will focus our entire resources on 8 inch only.

Moving on to some of the other licenses, let’s talk Dukes of Hazzard. Will you reuse any of the original Mego sculpts, or go with all new? The Daisy figure in particular that Mego did leaves a lot to be desired.

The Dukes of Hazzard 8 inch and 12 inch action figure lines will be entirely new sculpted heads from Figures Toy Company, especially Daisy Duke.

It’s great that the line is being extended beyond the original Mego offerings. Any chance we’ll see Flash the basset hound?

You never can tell. Here is a shot of the prototype 12″ versions. Roscoe and Boss Hogg will also have hats. Also included is the 8″ carrying case design.

Those look great! Speaking of high-flying speedsters, Evel Knievel is another great choice for those of us who grew up in the 70s. Practically everyone I know had at least one Ideal figure to go with one of their stunt sets. Can you give any insight as to what made Figures consider adding Evel to the stable?

He was always a personal favorite of mine growing up in the 70’s and we feel that his likeness was never captured properly.

Evel’s outfits invoke memories of the bicentennial. Is it safe to assume that the card art will follow a similar theme of red, white and blue?

Yes

As happy as I was to hear about the ’66 Batman line, I was nearly as excited to learn of your plans for the Robert E. Howard characters. Having Solomon Kane and Kull produced in Mego scale is something that would have been unheard of a few years ago. While Conan is an obvious choice due to the Mego/Marvel connection, the others tap into the Fantasy crowd more than any of your other offerings. If sales hold up, is there any chance that other characters from this property could make it to the shelves, say a Valeria or Thoth-Amon?

Extension of lines will all be predicated on customer support. Figures Toy Company is 100% behind extending characters but we need constant customer support. We are prepared to go full force and extend all licenses.

Like Conan, the announced Tarzan figure has ties back to Mego/Marvel. Jane is a welcome addition to the stable, can you give any insight yet as to how Jane will be designed? The Mego take isn’t exactly Johnny Weismuller; will Jane be styled like Maureen O’ Sullivan’s look in the movies?

For Jane, our plans are to go “Mego-Like”.

Also announced were plans for 12” versions of Gilligan’s Island and JR Ewing. Are these licenses restricted to just 12” scale? If not, and chance we’d ever see an 8” JR or Skipper?

Dallas for now will remain 12 inch only, but since our initial announcement we have decided to produce Gilligan’s Island in 8 inch format also. The first will be a Gilligan and Skipper 2 Pack. If customer support is there then we will extend it into the remaining characters.

That is super news – the more 8″ figures, the merrier. It has been mentioned elsewhere that Figures Toy Company has developed a relationship with a reliable factory in China. This should go a long way to correct some of the issues the early bodies from India had. Can you tell us how soon we’ll be able to see examples of the China-made male and female 8” bodies? The 12” male KISS bodies seem to be a quality product; for the 12” females will you go with a scaled-up Mego 8” design, or something different?

We recognize the concerns that went along with our products being made in India in 2005. Let me assure you that all of our product is being made in China and I am quite confident to state that we will compare the quality of our products with any other toy company. Our sculpting will be top notch. We own the rights to some fantastic licenses and it is our responsibility to give back to the collector nothing less than great products.

This is great to hear. Thanks again for stopping by Anthony, and please keep us updated as all of these wonderful projects progress.

————

You can find Figures Toy Company at their website or via their Facebook page where they frequently post sneak peeks of new stuff. This will be an interesting year, to say the least. 

Jordan is kind enough to stop by the Mego Museum Forums to chat with fans from time to time. If you aren’t a member of the forum yet you are missing out on  one of the best vintage toy communities online.

This week we are keeping an eye on this eBay auction. It’s a Star Trek Enterprise Playset…and it comes with no furniture, no transporter, is very sloppily put together….and yet, we LOVE IT!

We’ve heard people talk about this set before. In fact, Palitoy says he saw one years ago at a toy show and I have a friend I worked with who has vivid memories of getting his in San Diego at Fed-Mart,  a discount grocery store chain. This is the first photographic evidence we’ve had of this piece.

 A little history: We know that Mego playsets were manufactured in Hong Kong and then assembled in the United States. They were likely shipped flat and then folded into shape and riveted together stateside.

Our educated guess: There were probably extra playset cases left after the supply of furniture and transporters were used up making proper playsets.  Whether it was Mego itself or, more likely, a third party distributor—someone just slapped these sets together–notice in the photos they didn’t even rivet all of the flaps and shipped them off in a discount close-out sale.  Note also that the white edge piece at the center of the playset is cardboard, not plastic as is the case on a normal playset.

An empty shell of the Enterprise may not be much to write home about, but with this printed card attached it’s a whole other story. Mego never used photographs on their Trek packaging, so having the pictures of the actors on this piece is really special. The retro typography is wonderful, and has the distinct feel of a discount store from the 1970s.  It’s doubtful Mego printed the paper card, it doesn’t bear any markings from Mego.  It was probably printed by whatever distributor got them without regard for licensing propriety.

The set is advertised to come with two figures, Kirk and Spock, but the seller says they are nowhere to be found inside. This is puzzling because he does not feel the paper was removed to open the playset, it’s actually adhered with tape or light glue on the back of the card. It’s possible the figures were attached to the outside, we can’t be sure. (Edit–We have since learned that the carded figures were included inside the playset, but this example did not have them present. The set must have been opened contrary to the seller’s opinion.)

Thanks to the seller, Devon Alexander – of  The Vintage Toy Chest  for sharing this item with us and letting us add it to the Mego Museum Star Trek Gallery.

For more about the official Mego Enterprise, visit the Star Trek Gallery  or visit the Library for our article about the various prototype stages of the playset.

Other remaindered oddities from Mego: 

• “Kitchen Sink Aquaman”, a figure slapped together at the warehouse from the last vestiges of the WGSH line.
• Dorothy of OZ in a plastic bag with a header card.
• A fashion doll dressed in left over Planet of the Apes clothes
• Action Jackson “Gift Sets” assembled by distributors for close-out
• Fashion dolls wearing left over WGSH clothes

Figures Toy Company is set to Release Retro 8 and 12 inch Action Figures based on Batman TV Series, Retro Batman, Dukes of Hazzard, Evel Knievel, Conan The Barbarian, Tarzan, Dallas TV Series, Gilligan’s Island and a Talking Barack Obama figure

Tampa, Fl- 4-16-13

Figures Toy Company, after having success with KISS action figures, is proud to be introducing the following new action figure lines: “Batman 1966 Classic TV Series”, “Retro 8 Inch Batman”, “Dukes of Hazzard”, “Evel Knievel”, “Conan The Barbarian”, “Tarzan”, “Dallas TV Series” and “Gilligan’s Island”. These figures will have removable cloth clothing, 16 points of articulation and accessories. Figures Toy Company will also introduce a talking Barack Obama 7 inch figure.

Batman 1966 Classic TV Series

CFO Anthony Balasco states, “It has been my understanding that the collectors community would enjoy collecting retro 8 inch and 12 inch action figures based on the “Batman 1966 Classic TV Series. When we saw that the rights were settled between the involved parties we immediately became interested in acquiring the license.” We are proud to say that the collectors will be able to enjoy a vast selection of characters that have never been available before. Our head sculpts will look life like and the cloth costumes will be highly detailed. Series 1 will include Batman, Robin, The Riddler & The Joker. Future series will include The Penguin, Catwoman, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Egghead, King Tut, Mr. Freeze, Shame, Bookworm, Mad Hatter, Batman (with removable cowl), Robin (with removable mask), The Joker in prison baseball outfit, The Joker in opera outfit, & The Joker in grey suit. All Batman 1966 Classic TV Series figures will be available in both 8 inch & 12 inch starting early Fall 2013.

Batman Retro Action Figures

These action figures are exact reproductions of the original ones that were produced by Mego Corp back in the 1970’s. Series one will include Batman, Robin, The Riddler & The Joker. Future series will include Penguin, Catwoman, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Batgirl and even more characters that Mego never released. Available in 8 inch only.

Dukes of Hazzard Action Figures

These action figures are based upon the Classic TV Series. Series 1 will include Bo & Luke Duke, Rosco & Boss Hogg. Future series will include Daisy Duke, Uncle Jesse, Cooter, Cletus Hogg, Enos & more. Available in both 8 inch & 12 inch.

Evel Knievel Action Figures

These action figures are based upon two different time periods in Evel Knievel’s career. The first is from his Caesar’s Palace jump in 1967, and the second is from his Wembley Stadium Jump in 1975. Available in both 8 inch & 12 inch.

Conan The Barbarian, Solomon Kane & Kull The Conqueror Action Figures

These action figures are based upon the comic book series by Robert E. Howard. Conan The Barbarian is an exact replica of the original action figure that was released by Mego. Both Solomon Kane & Kull The Conqueror are Figures Toy Company originals. All three will be available in 8 inch only.

Retro Tarzan & Jane Action Figures

Tarzan is an exact reproduction of the one that Mego released, while Jane is a Figures Toy Company original. Available in 8 inch only.

Dallas TV Series Action Figures

These action figures are based upon the Classic TV Series. The series will include JR Ewing action figures in two different styles: “Oil Tycoon” and “Who Shot JR”. Available in 12 inch only.

Gilligan’s Island Action Figures

These action figures are based upon the Classic TV Series. This series will include Gilligan & Skipper. Available in 12 inch only.

President Barack Obama Talking 7 inch Action Figure

This vinyl action figure has three different sayings that are activated when you push his legs together.

The Mego Museum will be posting more on this exciting news soon, including an interview with Anthony Balasco of Figures Inc. – stay tuned!

Even more photos and information available at the updated Figures Toy Company website. 

Museum member Sprytel has produced five waves of perfectly Mego-styled figures based on George RR Martin’s epic in ornate costumes and complete with classic Mego window boxes . The figures make use of vintage Mego era heads (an Excel Kojak head for Varys, a mutilated Davy Crockket for the Hound, and re-rooted hair turns Dorothy from Oz into the Mother of Dragons), heads from modern Mego-style figures (Bif Bang Pow’s Flash Gordon makes a perfect Jaime Lannister while a CTVT Space 1999 Sandra Benes head makes for a great Brianne of Tarth). An assortment of Breyer horseriding girls and custom made heads round out the cast.

See the original threads below for more pics and descriptions of how these ornate yet very Mego-like figures were made, or visit Sprytel’s Photobucket page.

Wave 1 Jaime Lannister, Tyrion the Imp, Littlefinger

Wave 2 King Robert Barratheon, Khal Drogo, Ned Stark

Wave 3 Cersei, Daenerys, Varys

Wave 4 Jon Snow and Robb Stark

Wave 5 Arya Stark, Sandor Clegane, Brienne of Tarth

[Show as slideshow]

The Megomuseum with a little help from our affiliate Entertainment Earth is giving away a Doctor Who Tardis and K9 collectible set (now available!)  and it’s open to all members of our forum.   How do you enter? It’s simple.  All you have to do is:

Caption this picture! in the official thread in the Mego Buzz section of our forum.

One entry per Museum Member, contest closes Monday March 4th at 8pm EST and the winner will be chosen by a surprise judge.

Good luck to all and let’s go easy on the jellybaby jokes……

Just when you thought it was safe to go to the toy aisle, EMCE toys shows off their legions of the undead. Zombie Death Commandos are the latest 8 inch offering from the company that has brought us much joy over the years. More details to follow.

What a great start to Toyfair for Megoheads!

BifBangPow! Gave us a nice surprise today when they tweeted some packaged examples from their highly anticipated new waves of Venture Brothers and Doctor Who. Above we get to see what  Brock in Sphinx gear is going to look like on the card.

After a long wait, Doctor Who fans are finally going to see wave two! This carded Morbius is so nice to see!

This is just the tip of it, with Toyfair only a few weeks away and BifBangPow promising some new reveals, 2013 already looks great!