In the 1980's, several overseas companies reused the Lion Rock WWII figure molds,
costumes and accessories and brought them back to the U.S. under several different
names. These knock-offs did not sport the official LR logo, name or copyright
information. In addition, the materials used were occasionally substandard.
There is one line of knock-offs that was made exclusively for Woolworth's. Another set had garrish accessories using nearly neon colors. However, the vast majority of all the knock-offs seemed to stick pretty closely to the original designs. The biggest difference is in the use of velcro instead of metal snaps for the clothing. In addition, the paintjobs are often slightly misaligned so that eyes don't quite look right or hair is painted onto the face.
Even so, many of these knock-offs are easily displayable and can fit right in with a Lion Rock collection or display.
The packaging shown on the example here imitates the official U.S. Lion Rock
paackaging. You will notice that the camouflage pattern is included and the
log is virtually identical except for the name change. The package back contains
illustrations of 12 of the Lion Rock figures. However, these illustrations do
not appear on any of the U.S. versions of the packaging. It is possible that
they were a pacrt of some foreign packaging as they appear to well-done to have
been created solely for these generic knock-offs.
Typically, there
are no manufacturer markings on the knock-offs. It's unknown how many different
types of knock-offs were made or if each of the official figures had a knock-off
counterpart. These little afterthoughts of the Mego eras will remain an amusing
footnote to the Mego story.
Carded Figures
(Click to Enlarge)
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Japanese Officer | US Fighter Pilot | US Sea Bee | Russian Officer |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| German U Boat Commander | French Infantry Man | Chinese Guerrila | British Paratrooper |
 |
 | ||
| British Commando | Anzac Bush Fighter | US Paratrooper | US Marauder |
Special Thanks to Chris Johnson for pic donation and for helping complete this section
| CUSTOMEGO | GALLERIES | HOME | FAQ | FORUMS | SEARCH | CONTACT | LINKS |
