The most popular series that Mego ever made was the World Greatest Super Heroes, which included both DC Comics and Marvel heroes. They originally sold for around $3 each, yet today a mint in package figure can sell for hundreds depending on the character and the condition. Mego made a total of 14 Marvel characters in the 8 inch series.
Mego later reused Lizard's head in brown plastic as the Gorn for the Star Trek Aliens series. That doll uses a brown body with standard human hands and feet, and is wearing the Klingon costume, so the only unique piece for the Gorn Mego is the brown Lizard head.
I've noticed that the green plastic bodies for Goblin and Lizard have a tendency to discolour over time and become very dark green. As you can see, the green bodies are quite blotchy with dark green and light green areas. This is unfortunate but being the Mego geek that I am, I also think it's kinda cool. The discolouration isn't caused by heat or any other lack of proper conservation, it's just an inherent vice for this specific cheep type of plastic when mixed with the green dye (or whatever pigment it was that they used to make the plastic green). Mego's 8 inch Hulk has the same problem.
The back of the dolls have the same issue, so the discolouration isn't a result of light exposure. I had originally thought that that the pieces that turned dark green were made with a "bad batch" of plastic, as some pieces seem to hold the original green colour better. However you can see on Lizard's back (shown below) how this isn't necessarily the case, as there is a visible line where the plastic on this single torso piece has changed colour and is now two colours. This is not caused from the dye of Lizard's black shirt affecting the plastic in any way as his legs have also discoloured. So there really isn't any rhyme or reason to it. I've had these two specific dolls for more than 25 years and have kept them out of sunlight, away from heat, and at room temperature safely displayed on my shelf yet they still discoloured! As such, the dark green plastic is a completely random occurrence which is simply an effect from the aging of the plastic that Mego used.
Mego created several variations of the costume for their Spidey doll. All four of the outfits shown here are different. (Batman is just standing in until I find another naked Spidey doll!) Each costume has the webs and spiders illustrated differently. In addition, the loose Spidey in the middle and the one in the package both have the rounded "c" shaped suit on the chest, while the two remaining costumes have the "v" shaped suit on the chest. The Spidey suit on Batman also has the tall red "socks" which go up to the knee, as compared with the others. This is just a very small example of the costume variations that were made. There are many others out there to collect including some with a "circular logo" pattern on the chest in which the web was drawn to create a circle around the spider. The Mego Museum website has more info about Spidey's costume variations here: http://www.megomuseum.com/galleries/spider-man/#variations
Although he never drove this vehicle in comic books, Mego issued a Spidercar as an accessory for the Spider-Man 8 inch doll. Unfortunately this one is missing the steering wheel, and the net section that is usually attached to the back of the car by two poles. However, the spring-activated mechanism is still there, and you can see where the poles attached.
A lever releases the net to drop over one of Spidey's villains. This is how the "trap" looks before the net is lowered. Pull the lever and...
...the net springs down. Here is the back after the net is lowered.
Here are the backs of the cards showing some of the other Marvel Mego dolls that were made. Most of these characters were discontinued in 1979.
To date the collection includes:
Series 1
Spider-Man
Captain America (with brown army outfit)
Captain America variation (with police outfit)
Thor
Wolverine
Series 2
Deadpool
Deadpool variation (pirate outfit)
Punisher
Daredevil
Iron Man was announced for series 1 but has yet to be released.
Mego 12" Marvel Super Hero Dolls, 1978 -1979
Mego also produced 12 inch superhero dolls, and like their 8 inch companions, Spider-Man and Hulk were the most popular characters from the Marvel assortment. I've checked a few toy guide sources but none of them listed when Mego started making these. Most toy guides seem to suggest these were made in 1978 and 1979. The 12 inch Hulk Mego shown above is missing his clothes. He originally came with purple pants that were "torn" around the pant legs, and a white lab coat / shirt that hung open in the front. Mego's 12 inch Spidey is shown below next to an 8 inch Spidey for size comparison. I don't really collect the 12 inch Megos, but I picked these up when I stumbled across them by chance at a flea market. There no way I'm going to pass up Mego heroes no matter what size they are!
Magic Catch Game, toy puppets by Synergistics Research Corp., 1979, and Vicma, late 1970's or early 1980's
Here are some awesome puppets of Hulk and Spider-Man. Each puppet was sold separately in a window box with a plastic ball. The ball had Velcro strips on it that would stick to the puppet. The object of the game was to catch the ball on the puppet. I've seen two different boxes for the Spidey puppet. Below is the back view of the puppets. It's odd that they used pink fabric instead of the green fabric for the Hulk, though I have also seen this same puppet with a green backing. The heads of the puppets are made out of a soft rubber similar to a squeeze toy.
Vicma also made their own versions of these two puppets which are very similar but have completely different head sculpts. I don't have them in my collection but have found pictures of them on e-bay, shown above. The Vicma Hulk puppet has a closed mouth without any teeth showing, and Spidey's eyes are sculpted with the pointy black parts shorter than on the puppet made by Synergistics Research Corp, plus the space between Spidey's eyes is painted black. The illustrated bodies on the front of the puppets are also different, though very similar, and the Vicma puppets have a yellow background instead of dark blue.
The back of the Vicma puppets are made with leftover fabric from other items that they produced, including their Sesame Street puppets. I've seen both Spidey and Hulk with the fabric from Ernie's shirt as the backing, and a Hulk with the fabric from Sherlock Hemlock's coat. Vicma also produced a puppet of Captain America along with their Hulk and Spidey puppets. The head sculpt for Capt. America is very nicely done. All three characters used the same window box packaging. The artwork shows their heads grouped together on the front of the box next to the window, and the complete figures on the back of the box, all in full colour.
What is even more remarkable than the puppets however, is that Vicma used an enlarged version of their Spider-Man head to produce a jumbo sized Mego-style doll in 1981. This truly amazing Spider-Man is about 24 inches tall and has a removable cloth outfit just like a Mego. Here is a link to the Mego Museum discussion board about this awesome Spidey doll: http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?29136-vicma-spiderman
I've also seen Magic Catch Game Superman and Tarzan puppets, the latter made by Vicma with Ernie fabric as the backing. The Superman puppet was made by Synergistics Research Corp and is reversible with Clark Kent's outfit on one side and Superman's outfit on the other. Kent's glasses were printed on the box for kids to cut out. It seems odd that Batman and Robin puppets weren't made to go with the Superman puppet, but I've yet to find any other DC Comics characters in this series.
In addition to the above I've also seen Magic Catch puppets based on Peanuts (Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy, Woodstock), and Disney (Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck) made by Synergistics, and Popeye puppets (Popeye and Olive Oyl) by Vicma. The Peanuts and Disney cartoon character series were made in the early 1980's and were the last to be made with sculpted heads. In my experience Tarzan, Popeye, and Captain America are a lot harder to find than any of the others. Vicma also made small bendy figures of Hulk, Spidey, Tarzan, Popeye and Olive Oyl.
Magic Catch sets that were produced after those mentioned above were called "Magic Catch Mitts" as they no longer had sculpted heads. Instead, the puppets became flat mittens in the shape of whatever character was illustrated on the front, which is rather uninteresting in my view. I've seen Smurfs and Masters of the Universe (featuring He-man and Skeletor), Cabbage Patch Kids, and Pee Wee's Playhouse in the flat format. These were sold as boxed sets of two puppets with two balls.
I've also seen the balls from the Magic Catch game being sold with a different type of game. This one was similar to darts only it used the Velcro balls instead. The game board was a fabric sheet made out of the same type of material as the puppet bodies, with an illustration of Spidey next to a target grid that had points for the different sized circle rings.
Plush Spidey, 7.5" doll by Good Stuff, 1995
Famous Covers, 9" dolls by Toy Biz, 1997 - 2000
The box for Thor is dated 1998 and says "First Appearances" in the top right corner. The back of the box has an add for the Limited Edition Aunt May doll that was only available through the mail. It's interesting to note that there is an error on the front of all of the boxes for this series, as they say "8 inch figure" but the dolls are all 9 inches. It's likely the error was made because this series is done in the style of the 8 inch Mego dolls (shown at the top of this page). Thor's helmet is attached to his head and cannot be removed. He also has long rooted doll hair (shown below).
I'm not really into the X-Men comics so I have no idea who Mister Sinister is, but I thought this was a really well done super villain doll. It's one of my favourites from this collection. Mister Sinister's boots are fabric rather than plastic, as seen on Thor and Wolverine. I like how Toy Biz made Sinister's awesome "cape" and sculpted plastic collar/shoulder armour. It's weird that they did so much work for the cape only to give him fabric boots, but I suspect they went with fabric because the boots go up past his knee. The box is dated 1998 and says "Marvel Milestones" in the top right corner. The back of the box has an add for the Limited Edition Aunt May doll.
Unfortunately the shiny, leather-like fabric that was used for Mister Sinister's cuffs, briefs and boots is starting to break down so that the blue colouring can easily be rubbed off to reveal the white fabric underneath. The "leather" fabric also tends to stick to things, including the doll's hands (which is what happened to this one), so it's become difficult to handle this doll without damaging it. If you have one of these dolls mint in an unopened box, leave it there! (The same thing has happened to the costume for my 13 inch talking Darth Vader with removable mask by Hasbro, which really sucks because that doll is so awesome!!!) Other dolls in this series use similar "leather" fabric in different colours, and unfortunately will likely have the same conservation issues.
Gambit's box is dated 1999 and says "X-Men Children of the Atom" in the top right corner. The back of the box shows another illustration of Gambit. Gambit's feet are sculpted like boots and are jointed at the ankle, rather than having removable boots like the other characters. He also has a sculpted fist for his right hand. Underneath the sleeves of his jacket he has loose fitting black fabric wristbands. I like the fact that part of Gambit's costume is pink as it's an unusual colour for a male superhero.
I bought Wolverine in 2015 at Ottawa Comic Con. His box is dated 1999 and says "X-Men Children of the Atom" in the top right corner the same as Gambit's box. With a bit of effort, Wolverine's mask is removable. It's a bit of a challenge to put it back on too. I found that the front of the mask was too low as it covered his mouth, which looked silly, so I carefully trimmed it along the edge near his nose with an x-acto knife. Below is what he looks like without the mask.
Here is the 8 inch Mego Spider-Man next to the Toy Biz Wolverine for size comparison.
ToyBiz also made a version of Wolverine based on the X-Men Evolution series. Unfortunately they didn't bother to make Wolverine's iconic claws for this doll, which is very, very strange!!! That's a pretty big Oops! They made the top half of his gloves in the style of wristbands, which makes me wonder if they were planning to give this doll orange hands with the claws attached, but then something happened during production that resulted in the regular skin tone hands being used instead. Another odd thing about this doll is the mask. The toy was packaged with the mask off, as shown above and below. The mask is made with fabric to be similar to a hoody sweater, and pulls on over the back of his head. It's quite difficult to pull over his head into place because of the sculpted "wings" in the dolls hair. However the mask looks so ridiculous when it's in place that I prefer to leave it off. None the less, I still think this is a cool doll and I like the design for the rest of the costume. It's a cool looking outfit.
Side view to show how the mask was made with fabric, similar to a hoody sweater.
See how ridiculous the mask looks! It's quite silly!
In addition, the costume also has webs under Spidey's arms. Toy Biz also did a remarkable job on the feet of this costume, as rather than simply going with the "socks" style that Mego used, they designed the suit to be shaped around the foot, with several small pieces sewn together, including a solid red piece for the bottom of Spidey's foot. That's quite a detailed pattern!
The detailed pattern for the feet on Spidey's costume is quite impressive!
Removing Spidey's suit reveals Peter Parker! This is a very different looking Peter Parker than the one that will be used for the Toy Biz 10 inch Marvel Universe series, shown below, which was made about two years later.
Below is a list of all the dolls in the Toy Biz set. Some characters in this series, such as Spider-Man, have two or more variations. This series is also easily confused with the Hasbro 9 inch "Signature Series" from 2006 (listed at the bottom of this page), so I've noted the differences between the various dolls:
Aunt May
Black Widow
Captain America (large removable rubber gloves, mouth sculpted open)
Carnage
Cyclops (large removable rubber gloves, mouth is sculpted open)
Dare Devil
Dark Phoenix
Doctor Doom
Falcon
Gambit - shown above
Green Goblin (large removable rubber gloves, comes with glider machine and one pumpkin)
Hawkeye
Hulk
Iron Man
Jean Grey
Magneto (comic book version, red outfit)
Magneto (movie version, black outfit)
Mister Sinister - shown above
Nightcrawler
Psylocke
Red Skull
Rogue
Sabertooth
Scarlet Witch
Spider-Man (red and dark blue outfit, "web" netting under arms, fabric mask/hood)
Spider-Girl
Storm (black outfit, bare arms and legs, knee-high boots)
Thor - shown above
Vision
Wolverine - shown above (yellow and blue outfit, removable mask, mouth sculpted open)
Two-pack sets:
Mr. Fantastic (with normal, human shaped arms) and Invisible Woman
Spider-Man - shown above (red and bright blue outfit, "web" netting under arms, fabric mask/hood) and Electro
Spider-Man (black outfit, fabric mask/hood) and Spider-Woman (black outfit)
X-Men the Movie: X Mutations Series
Storm (movie version, black "leather" outfit) and Storm (comic book version, white outfit)
Toad (movie version) and Toad (comic book version)
Wolverine (movie version, black "leather" outfit) and Wolverine (comic book version, yellow and blue outfit, mask is sculpted as part of head/not-removable, mouth sculpted open)
X-Men Evolution Series
Wolverine (shown above, orange and dark brown outfit, no claws)
Cyclops
Toad
Marvel Universe / Spider-Man Adventure Hero, 10" action figures by Toy Biz, 1995 - 2003
I've moved this to it's own page on this blog.
Marvel Universe 10 figures by Toy Biz
(Super Ugly) Spidey Doll, 14" plush toy, unknown maker, possibly made in 2002
I find this plush Spidey doll to be super ugly! In fact is so ugly that it's hysterically bad. Whoever designed this toy must have been smoking something as it is quite an abomination to behold.
The creepy eyes Spidey doll
The eyes on this doll are just plain creepy, however that's not the only issue. This plush toy actually has a very distinct and unavoidable butt crack! Why on earth would anyone design a Spider-Man plush toy to have a butt crack? Never mind, on second thought I don't want to know! It doesn't help that the legs were designed to stay in a bent position, therefore...
Spidey's butt crack.
I suspect that this toy is based on one of the movie versions of Spider-Man as the costume is made with darker colours than usual, and the web pattern is printed in white rather than black. These colours are similar in style to the costume that Tobey Maguire wore as Spider-Man beginning in 2002. (As such, this would be Tobey Maguire's butt crack! LOL) The Spider logos on the chest and back of the doll are both embroidered, which is at least a nice detail to see on such an ugly toy. Adding to the oddness of this doll, there is a wire that runs through the arms and shoulders which keep the arms held upward for no apparent reason.
Spider-Man, 9" plush by Kellytoy, 2002
This small Spidey plush toy is a little odd as it was made to stay in a strange position. The legs were designed to be permanently bent and cannot be repositioned. As a result, the toy cannot be made to sit down or to stay standing up (I have it leaning against the white background in the photo). Additionally, there is a wire in the shoulders to keep the arms upwards so that Spidey is forever reaching forwards. As with most Spidey plush toys, the web pattern is printed, while the bug logo on his back and the white section of his eyes are shiny decals added to the fabric. Below is the back view.
Venom, 7" plush by Kellytoy, 2003
This is a funny 7 inch plush toy of Spidey's villain Venom, made by Kellytoy in 2003. The Mego 8 inch Spidey is shown for size comparison. The white eyes and logo are shiny decals added to the fabric and there are beans in the dolls lower torso. The tongue is hilarious the way it sticks up. I've shown a side view below.
Back view of Venom
Incredible Hulk, 13" action figure by Toy Biz, 2003
Here is the massive 13 inch "Poseable Raging Hulk" figure made by Toy Biz in 2003 as merchandize for the "Incredible Hulk" movie. I got this guy for five bucks at a garage sale, which I thought was an awesome deal! The sculpting of this figure is truly a work of art and quite impressive. The figure has several points of articulation and the fabric pants are quite detailed. There is a metal snap (the same type used by Mego) on the front of the pants but the position that the figure is sculpted in makes it impossible to remove them. A "Poseable Hulk" figure was also made at the same time. It has the same body as this one but the head is sculpted with a closed mouth and the fabric pants are blue instead of purple. Below is the back view showing the pockets.
Here's a size comparison of the Toy Biz 13 inch Hulk with Mego's 8 inch Spidey.
Spider-Man & Friends, 11.5 " action figure bank by Toy Biz, 2003
This is a huge 11.5 inch, multi-articulated action figure bank of Spidey from the Spider-Man & Friends toy line, made by Toy Biz in 2003. I really like the articulation that this toy has. The figure's head is posable on a ball joint, allowing it to be tilted or turned in any direction. The shoulders have two points of articulation allowing a wide range of poses for the arms. The hands are also posable as are the feet. The legs have limited articulation at the hips, and the waist turns. That's pretty impressive!
This is my attempt to show how articulated the figure is.
Spidey and His Amazing Friends, 9.5" plush toys by Hasbro, 2006
Using a similar design as the Toy Biz "Spider-Man & Friends" action figure bank (shown above), Hasbro produced a series of toys under the title "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" in 2006. Shown above is the 9.5 inch Spidey plush toy with plastic head, hands and feet. The 8 inch Mego Spidey is shown for size reference. This plush is not a posable figure, but the arms and legs are soft enough to be bent for posing while being played with. As Spidey's feet are quite big and made of plastic, they are just heavy enough to make a kicking action if you pull back his foot and then let it go. This toy was sold in an open style half-box. The Hulk and Thing were also made in this style as part of the series. The Thing doll is hardest to find from this set as he was short packed in shipping boxes. If I recall correctly, Thing was shipped only one per box while Hulk and Spidey were two and three per box. I would love to find the complete set of these some day. The back view is shown below.
The bug on Spidey's back is a shiny decal added to the fabric, while the spiderweb lines are printed on.
Marvel Signature Series/ Spider-Man Origins / Marvel Legends, 9" dolls by Hasbro, 2006
Hasbro's 9 inch Green Goblin from 2006, shown next to Mego's 8 inch Green Goblin from 1974.
Around and during 2006, Hasbro produced a series of 9 inch dolls based on characters from Marvel Comics. For some reason the collection was released under three different titles, noted above. These 9 inch Marvel dolls were very similar to the Famous Covers 9 inch dolls produced by Toy Biz from 1997 to 2000 (shown above on this page). The Hasbro Marvel series is also similar to Hasbro's series of 9 inch DC Comics dolls (listed on the DC Comics page of this blog). I find the Hasbro Marvel dolls look better than their counterparts in the Toy Biz series. The collection includes:
Characters that were included in the previous Toy Biz series:
Captain America hands are red plastic with jointed fingers, mouth is sculpted closed
Cyclops hands are blue plastic with jointed fingers, mouth is sculpted closed
Dare Devil hands are red plastic with jointed fingers, mouth is sculpted closed
Green Goblin (shown above) hands are purple plastic with jointed fingers, comes with glider machine and two pumpkins
Mr. Fantastic with elongated arms
Spider-Man red and dark blue outfit, lower half of arms are plastic with sculpted web pattern, no comic book
Spider-Man red and bright blue outfit, arms have a full sleeve down to the wrist, comes with a comic book
Spider-Man black outfit, no comic book
Wolverine yellow and blue outfit, hands are black plastic with jointed fingers, mouth sculpted closed
Characters that are unique to this Hasbro series:
Doctor Octopus
Iron Spider-Man red and yellow outfit with yellow plastic antenna on back
Punisher comes with a comic book, 2006
Sandman
Marvel Superhero Squad, 9.5" plush toy, made by Just Play between 2009 - 2011
The logo for the Marvel Superhero Squad TV series, produced from 2009-2011, is printed on the tush-tag for this 9.5 inch Spidey plush toy. Therefore the toy would likely have been made during that same time period. There is no date on any of the tush-tags, however Just Play is listed as the manufacturer. This toy is odd as one hand is made as a mitten shape while the other was made with fingers with the middle finger sewn down the way Spidey shoots his spiderweb. Below is the back view which shows that the bug on Spidey's back is a shiny decal that was attached to the fabric, which is the same way that Spidey's eyes were made. The web pattern and black spider logo are printed.
Ultimate Spider-Man, 8" plush toy by Design Ware, made between 2012 and 2017
This is a funny Spidey plush with a perfectly round head. Both the hang tag and the tush tag feature the logo for Marvel's Ultimate Spiderman TV series, which was produced from 2012 to 2017. Therefor this toy was likely made during that time. Unlike most Spider plush toys, the web pattern for this toy is not printed onto the fabric, but is a shiny decal that is added to the fabric. The black section of the eyes is embroidery which holds the white fabric piece of the eye in place. The black spider logo on Spidey's chest and the red spider logo on his back are both embroidered. A very soft and well made plush toy.
Spider-Man, 9.5" plush toy, unknown maker, estimated circa 2015
This is a really cool, very well made 9.5 inch Spidey plush doll, shown next to Mego Spidey for size reference. I found this one second hand with the tags cut off by the previous owner, so I have no idea who made it. However, I suspect that this toy may have been made as merchandise for the Spidey and His Amazing Friends TV series, from 2021, as the design of the figure with the big head and small body, is similar to how Spidey appears in the program. The style of toy also looks like it would have been made within the last ten years or so, between 2010 and 2022. All of the detail, including the blue and red sections of the costume, are a printed illustration which I really like. But what is even more interesting is that the doll's elbows, hips and knees are sewn across like a rag doll, allowing for the doll to be posed when played with. I also like how the shoulders are shaped even though it's a small figure. It's just amazing the amount of detail they can put into a small plush toy these days. An extremely well made toy! Below is the back view.
Spider-Man, 8 inch plush toy by Danawares, circa 2015
Sometime around 2015 Danawares produced this funny Spider-Man 8 inch plush toy. I don't usually collect plush toys of superheroes (I've even pasted over some of the Mego Super Softies at flea markets) but I thought this Spidey was funny and well made .. and I'll admit it, I think it's cute!... so I had to add him to the collection. It's a very soft and squishy plush toy as well. I also like how the fabric is all illustrated with the design of Spidey's costume.
This image of the matching Hulk plush toy was found on e-bay. This version of the Hulk is rather cartoonish looking. The pants are illustrated and printed on the fabric the same as his face. It's odd that they did not illustrate his chest muscles, however that gives the toy a softer, cuter look. His hair is a flat shape cut out of fabric rather than using fake fur which is typically done for Hulk plush toys. Spidey and Hulk both have the same hang-tag showing other Marvel superheroes Iron Man, Captain America and Thor from the Avengers. All of these characters were made as plush toys in this 8 inch (20 cm) series as well as a larger 12 inch (30 cm) series. However, some images that I found online show these plush toys with different hang-tags indicating that they were sold as souvenirs at Disney Theme Parks, while I purchased my 8 inch Spidey plush toy at Wal-Mart here in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.
Here is the back view of the Spidey plush toy which has a huge Marvel tush-tag sewn into the seam of his right leg. I've left this Spidey doll in original condition from the store so it also has a temporary plastic store display hook attached to the top of his head.
Here's the plush toy next to the 8 inch Mego Spidey for size comparison.
Spider-Man 8 inch hand puppet, unknown maker, circa 2015
In June 2017 I found this plush Spider-Man hand puppet at a thrift store for $1! The tag sewn into the side of the puppet doesn't have any manufacture info other than "Made in China", and there is no copyright info anywhere on the toy, so this might be a bootleg item. I did a Google search to find out more about it and found many sources that were selling this puppet but none of them gave any manufacturers info. Additionally, none of the images of the puppet from those sites showed a hang-tag or any packaging with the puppet, so it seems to have been sold as is (which may be another indication that it is bootleg).
Here is the back view of the puppet.
As there are so many sites currently selling this puppet this suggests that it is a relatively new item, so I listed the date as circa 2015, however it looks like it could have been made any time after 2010. I do Google searches for superhero puppets quite often as puppets are something that I'm interested in, and yet I have never seen this Spidey puppet before. As such I'm confident that it wouldn't have been made before 2010 and is more likely to have been made recently, so I think listing the date as circa 2015 is reasonable.
Here is the 8 inch Spidey Mego next to the puppet for size comparison.
The head and feet for the puppet are stuffed and the body is lined with a thin layer of foam. The foam will get messy in about ten to 15 years when it starts to disintegrate and turn to powder as foam inevitably does. There is also a type of cheep foam that gets mushy when it ages, rather than turning to powder, so I'm hoping that isn't going to be the case here! None the less, I think this is a funny Spidey puppet and am glad to have it in my collection. Spidey's big round head is hilarious!
Marvel Itty Bittys, 4 inch plush toys, Hallmark, made between 2015 to 2022
Marvel Beanie Babies, 6" plush toys by TY, made from 2017 to 2020
These are very cute Marvel plush toys. Shown above are Miles Morales, Spider-Man and Hulk, next to 8 inch Mego Spidey for size comparison. Although the two Spider-Man's look similar, they were both made quite differently. The web pattern for the red Spider-Man is printed onto the fabric, while the web for the Miles Morales Spider-Man is a shiny decal added to the surface of the fabric. The blue sections are Spidey's arms are also shiny decals, while the other blue sections of the costume are blue fabric. Both have sparkly fabric eyes that are attached with an embroidered outline. Hulk's hair is short fuzzy fake fur. All three of these toys have beans in the bum.
Oddly enough, Hulk's tush tag has a copyright date of 2017, while Spider-Man's says 2018, and Miles Morales' says 2020. However, I bought all of these at the same store at the same time. The other Marvel characters in this collection are: Captain America, Iron Man, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, and Black Panther. It's too bad that Thor wasn't made, I would have bought one of those as well which would likely have prompted me to complete the Avengers set (Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Iron Man). Then I'd have to get the last three in order to have them all. LOL!
Spider-Man Keychain, 7" plush toy, unknown manufacturer, unknown date
I found this Spidey plush toy second hand around 2019 with the tag cut off, so I have no idea who made it or when. It's made with soft, shiny fabric. The eyes and the bug on Spidey's back are a shiny decal attached to the fabric, while the web and black spider logo are printed. The back view is shown below.
Spider-Man: Far From Home, 8" plush toys made for Cineplex, 2019
This is the complete set of plush toys that were sold exclusively at Cineplex movie theatres in 2019 when Spider-Man: Far From Home was playing in theatres. Above from left to right are: Mysterio, Spider-Man, Spider-Man in "Spider-Monkey" Stealth Suit, and Nick Fury. These are really well made, soft plush toys, with embroidered detailing. Both Spider-Man's have printed details as well as embroidered details. I really like the funny round heads! This is a really well done series.
Mysterio's head is the only one that was made to be a ball shape, while the others are all slightly flat from the side. Despite how awesome and well made these plush toys are, they unfortunately didn't sell very well at the Cineplex theatres and were still being cleared out after the movie was no longer in theatres. I managed to get this whole set rather cheaply.
Of course, I have to show the size comparison with the 8 inch Spidey Mego.
Spider-Man Pillow Buddies, 26 inch plush doll, Mon-Tex Mills Ltd., 2020
Here is a super soft 26 inch tall Spider-Man pillow doll from 2020. It's shown next to the 8 inch Mego Spidey for size comparison. Rather than retailing this Spidey doll in toy stores, these dolls were sold in bedding departments as an accessory to go with children's Spider-Man bedroom linens. Naturally, I bought one for my own bedroom. :) The hang tag lists the address for Mon-Tex Mills Ltd. which is in Montreal, Quebec, though I'm not certain if this is the manufacturer or the distributor, or both. This Spidey doll is based on the comic book version. I've also seen a Tom Holland / Spider-Man movie version in this pillow doll format, as well as Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man. Pillow dolls of this type are generally known as Pillow Buddies, but the hang-tag for this Spider-Man doll didn't say that on it specifically.
Spider-Man, 7.5" plush toy by Miniso, 2021 or 2022
This is a remarkably detailed 7.5 inch Spider-Man plush toy. All of the illustrations on this toy, such as the web pattern and bug logos, are done with embroidery, nothing is printed which is quite unique for a Spidey plush doll! The black and white fabric pieces for the eyes are also attached using an embroidered outline, which is a nice finished look. The pattern for the costume is also quite impressive with many small pieces. I find this is an extremely interesting and well made little plush toy! The back view is shown below.
Oddly enough, even though there is a huge hang tag and several tush-tags, none of them have a date on them. I bought this plush Spidey recently though, brand new, sometime in 2021 or 2022.
Spider-Man, 9.5" plush toys by Imports Dragon, 2022
This is a really cool plush toy of Carnage that I bought at Walmart in 2022. His eyes are made with a reflective, sparkly fabric. This is a super soft and squishable plush toy. The other characters in this set include Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and Venom.
And that's my entire collection of Marvel dolls!!!
...at least it is for now! :)
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Text and Photos copyright Mike Artelle 2010, 2017
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