Sitting Bull

Mego Sitting Bull
Introduction

 

This figure almost has a dignified look to him with his Head dress
and outfit.

Sitting Bull is the easiest to find in the series..

 

Solid Box



The Gray Morrow artwork portrays a much older character than the
figure.

 

Kresge Card



Mego Western Heroes are one of the three series that appeared on
Kresge cards, they are the most affordable.


Lion Rock

 

In 1980, Mego started selling old lines (Monsters, Micronauts) under
the Lionrock banner, it is assumed this was an attempt to raise
capital. (Courtesy of Ron)

 

German Two Pack

 



In Germany, the American West were issued in 3 different two packs.
These are very rarely seen, here is side one.

 

Timee Toys



In the early 80s, Tim Mee toys reissued the Mego American West using different packaging. Sitting Bull was the only character renamed and thus he became Geronimo. and The Tim Mee reissues are easy to spot, the paint jobs are sloppier and the materials used slightly different.


Artwork



The original Gray Morrow artwork is signifigantly larger than the packaging itself. Morrow also did the art for the Mad Monster Series. Photo courtesy of Ron.

Sitting Bull: Original Accessories and Known Repros

 

pants

Sitting Bull’s pants are made of a light weight nylon material and has a little shine to them. The yellow vinyl belt is sewn into the waistband of the pants and has a green stripe around it made of a cloth material. These pants have been reproduced by Classic TV Toys. This reproduction is easy to spot. The repro pants are also made of a light weight material but is darker brown and has an almost scaled texture. These repro’s reflect a lot of light, giving them a sparkling effect. Although the CTVT pants have the green cloth stripe, the yellow portion of the belt is a mess. Made of an almost garbage bag type plastic and much wider than the original, it wrinkes and bunches in odd ways making it look very sloppy. The CTVT’s are unmarked. The vintage reproduction made by Tim Mee toys are very different from the original Mego. They are a heavier weight cloth and a lighter brown in color. They fit more snug, and the green stripe along the belt is a little wider. Tim Mee used velcro instead of snaps to close their pants.

 

 

shirt

Sitting Bull’s shirt is made of two types of material. The sleeves are the same lightweight nylon type material used on the pants. The vest is made of a canvas type material with a tan velvet finish on the outside. There is variation on the color of the canvas/velvet part of the shirt as shown in the second picture. This shirt has been reproduced by CTVT. The shiny scaled material used on the sleeves, is the same as on the CTVT pants. The vest portion is made of a softer material, not canvas. The velvet side is a little more plush and very slightly darker in color than the original. The CTVT shirt is unmarked. The Tim Mee vintage reproduction version of this shirt is made of a similar velvet covered canvas material as the orignal, although cut more tapered along the opening. The sleeves on the shirt do not match the pants as the original and CTVT versions do. They are made of the same type material used on the Mego superhero jumpsuits.

shirt2

 

Headdress

 

headdress

Sitting Bull wears a headdress unique to the character. This headdress has been reproducted by CTVT. The reproduction is made of a little more rubbery material and a little thinner. The feathers on the reproduction are cut around the tips and not as deep into the feathers as the original. The painted red tips are painted further down the feather on the reproduction and the tail portion is wider. The orginal has a round mark on the inside of the tail from the molding process that the CTVT does not have. The CTVT is unmarked. The headdress was also made by Tim Mee toys during the Mego era. The Tim Mee version is almost an exact duplicate and very similar in material. The Tim Mee version also has the round mark on the tail from the molding process, but the yellow stripe painted on the original is missing from the Tim Mee version.

 

 

spear

The spear Sitting Bull carries is unique to the character and has been factory reproduced by CTVT. The original is brown with reddish tints where the repro is a pretty pure brown and is lighter in overall color. The repro is marked CTV on the head of the spear. The vintage Tim Mee reproduction is exact in almost every way. So exact that a photo doesn’t show the slight difference, which is why it is not pictured. The Tim Mee is just a slightly lighter shade of brown and just a touch more on the reddish side, although not near as much as the CTVT reproduction.

 

Necklace

 

necklace

Sitting Bull wears bonetooth necklace also worn by Cochise and characters in the One Million B.C. line. This necklace has been reproducted by CTVT. The reproduction is a perfect circle in shape, where the original is not. The details on the repro are smaller as well. It is unmarked. Tim Mee Toys also reproduced the necklace and it is exact in every way.

 

Moccasins

 

moccasins

Sitting Bull wears the same moccasins as Cochise, Davey Crockett, some characters in the Planet of the Apes line and Starsky from Starsky and Hutch. They come in various shades of brown and burgundy tones. They have been factory reproduced by Classic TV Toys, EMCE Toys and Tim Mee. The CTVT reproductions are a darker brown than originals and are a little shorter with a slightly different overall shape. They are marked CTV on the inside. The EMCE reproductions fall well into the range of color shades you find originals in and the material used to make them is spot on, however, they are taller than originals. You can also notice that the original mocs were poured from the side (the minor flashing is evident) but the new EMCE versions are poured from the back. The other thing that makes the EMCE version spotable is there is a stamp on the inside of each moc. On the one I examined, one moc had the number 1 stamped in it, the other had a 4. To make matters a little more confusing, Tim Mee reproduced the Mego western line back during the Mego era using the same molds. So there are vintage mocs out there that are identical to mego in almost all respects. Color, material, molds, etc… The Tim Mee mocs are just a touch thinner, making them a little more flexible than originals. The big difference is that the Tim Mee’s are marked made in Hong Kong on the bottom, while the original Mego’s are unmarked.


 

head

Sitting Bull’s head has been reproduced by CTVT. The repro head has a much longer neck and the face itself is shorter. The CTVT head is unmarked. Sitting Bull as also reproduced during the Mego era by Tim Mee Toys. The Tim Mee head is very similar to the original, although just a touch wider in the cheeks. The eyes on the Tim Mee have white dots the original Mego does not have. Tim Mee used a flesh color more on the red side for the Native Americans in the Western line so the Tim Mee Sitting Bull has a more red flesh tone.

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