Boot Hill - A Guide to Reproduction Boots

Boot Hill

Early in their production runs of 8 inch scale figures, footwear was just not a high priority for the Mego Corporation. The first series of footwear came with the Action Jackson line, which consisted mostly of military style boots, but also with some exceptions such as cowboy boots and football cleats. Most notable among these exceptions is the "AJ Fisherman" boots, which with the advent of the "World's Greatest Super Hero" line in 1973 became the standard "Hero boot" for Superman and Batman, and a later revision of as well as for Captain America and Shazam! in 1974. The WGSH collection at that time offered only two other options in footwear: Robin's green "booties" and the "dress shoes" offered in brown for the Joker and in black for the Penguin.

However, 1975 saw a creative explosion in the designs for Mego action figure footwear. From the knee lengths boots offered on Blackbeard and the Klingon, to the standard "fold over boots" of the Robin Hood line, to the armored boots of the Knights line, Mego outdid themselves tenfold from previous efforts in this area. Just taking a peek at the 1975 catalog ( http://www.megomuseum.com/catalog/1975/index.shtml) will showcase for you the plethora of new shoe and boot options. In terms of Mego footwear, 1975 was the golden age.

But one problem that for years plagued the Mego customizer was this - how can my custom get the footwear it so richly deserves? Many of the best footwear styles, such as the Pirate / Andorian boots, were extremely rare and difficult to come by for customs use. Even though the "Hero" style boots were the most common, some customs, such as the Green Lantern, would use the green "Hero" boots from the Green Arrow, which were in short supply. What was a Mego customizer to do?

The first resource for Mego customizers came in the late 1990's as Paul Clarke came to the rescue with his custom colored boot selection. At first, the good Doctor offered Mego scale footwear hard cast in custom colors, and later plastic reproductions of 8 inch scale boots in standard colors. He has since expanded his offerings to include the Pirate style boots in standard and non-standard colors, footwear for 8 inch scale female characters, and the rare Teen (7 inch scale) gloves and boots in various colors:

Early hard cast boots bore no mark, but his later plastic offerings all bear a "DM" marking on the sole of the boot.

A few years ago, another company, Classic TV Toys (or CTVT) began producing replicas of Mego Figures, and thus replicas of Mego footwear. At first, these offerings came in the form of the "Hero" boots and the Robin "booties" in standard and non-standard colors, but has since expanded to cover items like the Pirate / Andorian boots in various colors, and most recently Blackbeard / Klingon boots in standard and non-standard colors:

If you are looking for a Mego and Customizer friendly source for these pieces of footwear, we highly recommend Paul "Hulk" Clare's Megoville Shop (https://www.shop.megoville.com/categoryNavigationDocument.hg?categoryId=8) and Joe DeRouen's Megostore (http://megostore.com/store/index.php/cPath/8_14_31?osCsid=d8086021157a29f1b28779383d802779). The earliest CTVT releases bear no markings, though later releases have featured "CTV" markings to distinguish their origin.

Finally, the latest newcomer to the Mego reproduction footwear arena is Castaway Toys (http://www.castawaytoys.com/) has produced a white soft rubber "CHiPs boot (the Blackbeard / Klingon boot with the upper "knee" portion removed), which can be dyed into most any color:

These boots are available from the aforementioned MegoStore (http://megostore.com/store/index.php/cPath/8_14_31?osCsid=d8086021157a29f1b28779383d802779) , and from the also highly recommended Toy Fanatic (http://www.toyfanatic.com/). The boots all bear a "CAT" marking on the sole of the boot.