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.
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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.
