Lili Ledy: The Mexican Connection

Lili Ledy was a Mexican toy company that distributed many US based toys such as GI Joe, rival toymaker cipsa had released Mego's Planet of the Apes line to much success in Mego. Mexican law required all toys sold in Mexico to be produced in Mexico, therefore Ledy struck a deal with Mego Corp to license the WGSH for the Mexican market.

This resulted in there being Mexican versions of each WGSH figure, sometimes the differences are subtle other times drastic, Robin has red gloves and boots, Captain America had red gloves unlike his US counterpart. Also, because of Ledy's 3 regional factories, variations exist on each of the figures themselves. You can find examples of each on their individual character pages here at the Museum, or visit ForeignMego.com for the whole assortment on a single page.

Ledy produced mostly DC characters and avoided characters with unique body types such as the Hulk. Most interestingly was Ledy's choice of Fist Fighters, the company released Tarzan, Green Arrow, Falcon and Iron Man in their hero series, while Riddler and (apparantly) Joker rounded out the villains.

Enter the Lantern

In the mid eighties, well known collector John MacGonagle made claim to finding 8" versions of Green Lantern and Flash at a toy show. His excitement was dulled by his realization that while the figures resembled Mego, there were subtle production issues with the bodies and outfits that made him dismiss them as knockoffs. Many have theorized that John had discovered Lili Ledy versions of the characters and didn't know it.

Years later, super collector John Bonavita received the surprise of his life in a box of parts:

A Lili Ledy Green Lantern Head!

 

Much like the foreign Superpowers Riddler, The Ledy Green Lantern is based on an existing figure, this time it's a retooled Ledy Superman head. The figure poses many questions. Did Lili Ledy produce a Green Lantern or is this figure a sophisiticated knock-off? (NOTE most Mego knockoffs found from Mexico are of MUCH lower quality) The head is marked Lili Ledy on the back of the neck. If Ledy did produce it, why is there no trace of Green Lantern on the Ledy box art (which like Mego's featured other characters on the sides) or other material?

Many of these questions may remain unanswered as the Mexican toy collector community is small and shrouded in mystery.

Update 2009 It has been brought to our attention that a Mexican Toy Dealer has been letting folks know he created the Ledy Green Lantern head to boost the sale of the auction. Sadly, it is not meant to be and merely another bit of false hope. There are lots of great foreign leads that actually become something (Jet Jungle, Basa Six Million Dollar Man) but you occasionally encounter forgery along the way. Sorry to get anyone's hopes up but this simply was a hoax.

Green Lantern costume pictured here is a custom by Brian Heiler to illustrate how the Lili Ledy Green Lantern might have appeared.