Mego Dolls: 1971 - present

For the better part of the 1970s, Mego 8 inch dolls dominated the toy industry. This page shows only some of the different dolls that were produced. I've included the Mego DC Comics and Marvel Comics superhero dolls on their own pages on this blog. Same thing for the Mego Star Trek dolls, dolls based on TV show characters, and the "mechanical" Mego dolls. Anything else by Mego is shown below... if I am fortunate enough to have it in my collection! However, in an attempt to make this Mego list as complete as possible, I've noted all the 8 inch dolls that Mego made in order by year.

Action Jackson, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 1971

Action Jackson is where it all started for Mego's 8 inch doll series. In an attempt to compete with other toy companies, such as Hasbro and Mattel, Mego spent millions producing and marketing Action Jackson dolls only to discover that he was a huge flop. In order to recover from this, Mego removed the heads and outfits from their inventory of Action Jackson dolls and then reused the doll bodies to market their 8 inch superhero dolls of Batman, Robin, Superman and Aquaman. The rest is toy industry history! All thanks to Action Jackson for being such a dud!

The Action Jackson doll had three different head sculpts, two are Caucasian heads (one with a beard, one without), and a completely different African American head sculpt without a beard. The African American Action Jackson is the most difficult doll in this series to find. The two Caucasian heads were painted with various hair colours to create at least six different dolls. The picture above shows the "Blond hair with beard" version and the "Black hair no beard" version. As the paint used for the blond haired version can sometimes look orange, some collectors count these as two different dolls (yellow hair or orange hair) but I consider these as the same doll.

1) Brown hair with beard
2) Brown hair no beard
3) Black hair with beard
4) Black hair no beard
5) Blond (orange) hair with beard
6) Blond (orange) hair no beard
7) African American Action Jackson

 Shown above are two of the "Brown hair with beard" Action Jackson dolls, each wearing one of the two different standard issued outfits.

Here is a closer look at the different faces of Action Jackson.

The back of the Action Jackson box shows the variety of outfits and toy vehicles that were sold separately.

In addition to Action Jackson the Mego company produced their popular 12 inch fashion doll Broadway Joe Namath in 1971. The doll was based on the popular football player for the New York Jets. In addition to the doll, which came dressed in a white and green football outfit, Mego produced 12 additional fashion outfits for Joe that were sold separately.

To my knowledge this is one of the first instances (if not the first) that a doll was based on a famous sports figure or football player (Regal issued a Bobby Orr doll, based on the famous hockey player, a few years later in 1975). Numerous 12 inch dolls of sports celebrities have been produced over the years since. In 1993 Hasbro produced a completely different 12 inch doll based on Joe Namath that came dressed in a similar white and green football outfit.

1972
Official World's Greatest Superheroes
Mego introduces the first four 8 inch superheroes: Batman and Robin (the earlier versions had removable masks), Superman, and Aquaman as part of Mego's "Official World's Greatest Superheroes" series. These are shown on the DC Comics page of this blog.

1973
Additional 8 inch heroes were made for the "Official World's Greatest Superheroes" series: Tarzan, Spider-Man, Captain America. Tarzan is shown on the DC Comics page while Spider-Man and Captain America are shown on the Marvel Comics page.

Mego also introduced their own creation Dinah-Mite, their first 8 inch female doll. Two versions were made, a Caucasian doll with rooted blond hair and in 1974 an African American doll with rooted black hair was offered. They were sold wearing the same purple jumpsuit, and several fashions were sold separately. Many of Action Jackson's vehicles and playsets were reissued in different colours as accessories for Dinah-Mite. I have yet to add Dinah-Mite to my collection.

Planet of the Apes, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 1973 - 1975

Mego's Planet of the Apes collection was very popular in it's day, as was the movie which predates Star Wars by at least four years. Two series of five dolls were made. The first series was based on the movie, the second series was based on the TV series. Above is Zira the female ape (this is the second 8 inch female Mego doll to be offered after the introduction of Dinah-Mite in 1973, which even came before the African American version of Dinah-Mite was available) next to Cornelius from series one. Series two included the Cornelius doll but the name Galen was used on the packaging instead. As there were some colour variations during the production of this series, I've found a Cornelius/Galen with a darker green outfit with reddish-brown details (rather than dark brown) so I consider this one to be Galen. However, to be specific, as Galen is from Series 2 the doll would only have been issued on a Type 2 Mego doll body, as compared to the Type 1 Mego doll body which has metal joints. Both of the Cornelius dolls shown here have Type 1 bodies, so neither one of them would have been issued as Galen.

I also have Dr. Zaius from series one, and General Ursus from series two. I'm missing the Astronaut and Soldier Ape to complete series one. General Urko, Astronaut Burke, and Astronaut Verdon are the others in series two. I used to have the Soldier Ape, General Urko, and Astronaut Burke but in a brief moment of foolishness and insanity back in 2011, I sold them on e-bay for some much needed cash. Now I miss them. How woeful it is to know the heartache of the lost Mego. Sniffle. :(

1974: Introduction of Type 2 bodies
All of the male Mego 8 inch dolls that were produced from 1971 to 1974 were made with Type 1 doll bodies. At some point in 1974 Mego introduced their revised and very much improved 8 inch male Type 2 doll body. Due to the switch over to the Type 2 body certain male Mego dolls that were offered before or during 1974 can be found with both Type 1 and Type 2 bodies, as is the case with the male characters from Planet of the Apes Series 1 (but not series 2), Super Knights, Super Pirates, Wizard of Oz, and any male superheroes issued up to this point.

Oddly enough, a limited number of male character dolls that were introduced in 1975 also had Type 1 bodies, however any male character dolls that were introduced in 1976 or afterward were only made with a Type 2 body. Type 1 bodies were not produced after 1975 and as such all carded male dolls from 1976 onward have a Type 2 body. As Type 2 bodies are so much nicer than those on the Type 1 dolls, the Type 2 dolls are generally of more interest to Mego collectors. Some Mego collectors will even switch the heads and costumes from Type 1 dolls over to spare Type 2 bodies.

Above are the standard male Type 1 and Type 2 doll bodies as shown on Batman's sidekick Robin from the DC Comics superhero line, part of Mego's "Official World's Greatest Superheroes" series. Action Jackson dolls from 1971 (seen at the top of this page) and the first four superhero dolls issued in 1972 were all made with Type 1 bodies that have plastic joints. After this, from 1972 to 1974, Type 1 bodies were made with metal joints. Seen above on the left is the Type 1 doll with metal doll joints, and on the right is the updated Type 2 body which has plastic joints. 

Type 1 doll bodies are quite crude in their design and the legs tend to spread out to the sides rather than keep the doll standing naturally, as seen above with the Type 2 body. A side view is shown below to show the metal joints in the elbows, wrists, ankles and knees. The shape of the hands for the Type 1 doll are quite different from the Type 2 doll. This is one of the ways collectors can quickly identify if a doll has a Type 1 or Type 2 body... aside from the spread open legs of the Type 1 dolls. Most importantly, Type 2 dolls have a more muscular, detailed chest and mighty abs as compared with Type 1 dolls.

 

Above is an example of the "Fat Body" used for the Cowardly Lion 8 inch doll. On the left is the Type 1 Fat Body, and on the right is the Type 2 Fat Body. Other characters to use this body are the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz series, DC Comics villains Penguin and Mr. Mxyzlptlk from the Official World's Greatest Superheroes series, Friar Tuck from the Robin Hood series, Black Beard from World's Greatest Pirates series, Grandpa Walton from the Waltons series, and Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazzard series. Out of these eight characters I'm missing the Wizard and Grandpa Walton from my collection.

1974 In 1974 the Dinah-Mite series also included Dinah's date Don (which simply re-used the head from Superman and has a Type1 body) and the African American version of Dinah-Mite. To my knowledge a male companion was never made for the African American Dinah-Mite, so the two Dinah's had to share Don. In addition Mego produced a 12 inch army doll called Fighting Yank that was very poorly designed. I do not have any of these in my collection.

Additional 8 inch DC Comics heroes were also available:
Shazam and Green Arrow along with
"Super Foes" Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Mr. Mxyzlptlk
"Super Gals" Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Catwoman
Most of these are shown on the DC Comics page of this blog. Batman's Batmobile was also issued in 1974 along with the Batcycle with sidecar. Both toys were based on the 1966 live action TV series which was still very popular in the mid 1970's, even though the show was no longer being produced and was only being shown as reruns. In fact, the head sculpt for the 8 inch Batman Mego also seems to have been based on the TV series.

Other 8 inch Megos introduced in 1974:
Mad Monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, Mummy, Wolfman
Tex Willer (Sold in UK only): Tex Willer, Tiger Jack, Kit Willer, Kit Carson.
Jet Jungle (Sold in UK only)
Star Trek: Series 1 (without Uhura) Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scottie, Klingon. These are all Type 1 dolls with metal joints which have the boots sculpted as the doll's feet, with exception of the Klingon which has removable boots (reused from Mego's Black Beard pirate, shown below). The cards for these dolls do not have Uhura's picture on the front and are much harder to find.
Ultraman Leo (Sold in Japan only)

World's Greatest Super Heroes: American West Series, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 1974

Mego's Davey Crockett

 

Mego's American West series included Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill, Sitting Bull (which incidentally was dressed nothing like the real life Sitting Bull), Wyatt Earp, Cochise, and shown above, Davy Crockett. This specific doll is missing his accessories which included a plastic raccoon hat, a rifle, a horn with a strap, and a knife.

 

World's Greatest Super Heroes: Pirate Series, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 1974

Mego made a series of four pirate dolls. I have three of them, L to R: Black Beard, Long John Silver, and Captain Patch. I'm missing Jean Lafitte.

My Black Beard Mego is missing his hat, belt, sword and gun. The Long John Silver Mego is wearing the wrong shirt, the wrong sock, and he's missing a shoe. The brown shirt belongs to the Astronaut Peter Burke Mego doll from the Planet of the Apes series, and the sock belongs to the Jean Lafitte pirate. Long John is also missing his hat, weapons, jacket and his pet parrot. Essentially, only the pants are original to this doll. My Captain Patch Mego is wearing the pants from Jean Lafitte, and is also missing the original sash and shoes. However, I bought these three as a set back in the early 1990s for $10 each, which is an awesome deal so I can't complain. They are all Type 1 Mego doll bodies, and the elastic inside the doll (which holds the arms and legs onto the body) is original but has become very loose which tends to happen with type 1 Mego dolls.

According to the Mego Museum website, all "Type 1" Long John Silver Mego dolls were issued with the peg leg on the right, however this one is opposite with the peg leg on the left!!! Apparently, only "Type 2" dolls are supposed to have the peg leg on the left, yet mine is in original condition with the original elastics. These pirates were later reissued around 2005 by Classic TV Toys, so I'm glad to know for certain that I have the original Mego version!

Robin Hood, 8 inch doll by Mego, 1974

Here is Friar Tuck from the Robin Hood series made in 1974. Other characters in the series include Robin Hood, Little John, and Will Scarlet.

Wizard of Oz, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 1974

Mego produced an excellent series of seven 8 inch dolls based on the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie. To my knowledge this is the very first doll line ever to be based on this classic film rather than the original storybook. Shown above is the Scarecrow (missing his shoes and diploma), the Cowardly Lion (missing his bravery medal), the Tin Man (missing his axe), and Dorothy (missing her white socks and red shoes). Dorothy originally came with a yellow plastic basket and a one-piece plastic grey figure of her dog Toto. The other dolls in the series include the Wicked Witch, Glenda the Good Witch, and the Wizard. To complete the collection Mego made an Emerald City Playset and four Munchkin figures (Mayor, Flower Girl, Dancing Girl, and General). Unfortunately the Munchkin figures were rather poorly made as three of the figures are action figures rather than dolls, for which the body of the figure has the clothing sculpted and painted. In addition the legs are not articulated or poseable. A castle playset for the Wicked Witch was also sold exclusively at Sears stores. Mego also produced a set of larger sized plush dolls with plastic heads based on the four characters shown above.

The Mego Cowardly Lion 8 inch doll was produced with different colour variations for both the head paint and the fabric used for the costumes. The heads can be found painted with an orange face or a yellow face. The two dolls shown above have the orange face but different coloured fabric was used for their costumes. The Lion suit on the left was made with light brown fabric and fake fur, while the suit on the right used an orange-tan fabric and fur with shorter light brown fur accents. Dolls with yellow faces can be found with yellow fabric outfits and fur. I've also seen the orange faced Lion with a brighter orange fabric costume. For this version the chest fur section is more like a thick felt type of fabric. The lion doll on the right is missing the shoes which are shaped like lion feet, as seen on the left doll. There is no variation in the colour of the lion shoes, all were made in light brown plastic. The Scarecrow doll also has a variation with regards to the tuft of hair on his forehead, as earlier produced dolls do not have this tuft of hair.

1975
8 inch Mego dolls available in 1975 include:

More Marvel superheroes: Lizard, Green Goblin, Hulk, Falcon, and Iron Man
shown on the Marvel Comics page of this blog. The 8 inch Hulk doll introduced a new doll body made especially for this character. The same doll body was later used for Thing from the Fantastic Four set of Marvel Comics dolls offered in 1976.

According to various sources the Spider-Man villains Lizard and Green Goblin were both issued in 1975, however I suspect they may have been issued in 1974 before the Type 2 bodies were introduced as Type 1 versions of these dolls were made. Both Type 1 dolls are harder to find than their Type 2 counterparts. The Lizard doll is especially unique due to his reptile hands and feet which were used only for this character. The Type 1 version of this doll does not have jointed wrists, making it even more unique, whereas the Type 2 doll does. Another nice detail, Lizard was made with his right hand sculpted as a fist rather than an open hand, and he has a stuffed fabric tail unlike any other Mego doll!

Fist Fighters (superheroes with boxing action): Batman, Robin, Joker, Riddler
One Million Years BC: Trag, Orm, Grok, Zon, Mada, most of these are shown on the Mechanical Mego Dolls page of this blog. The One Million BC and Fist Fighter dolls all used new doll bodies made specifically for those toy lines.

These were Mego's first 8 inch dolls based on TV show's:
Planet of the Apes: Series 2 (mentioned above)
The Waltons: John Boy and Mary Ellen, Ma and Pa, Grandma and Grandpa
Star Trek: Reissue of series 1 dolls from 1974 with Uhura added to series. She is the only female doll in the collection. The cards were updated at this point to include a picture of Uhura. These are all Type 2 dolls and are more common to find. Once again the male characters have boots sculpted as the doll's feet with exception of the Klingon which has removable boots (reused from Mego's Black Beard Pirate).

Lastly, the unique and poorly made 12 inch doll Dr.Kromedome was also produced in 1975 as an unofficial villain for Kenner's Bionic Man 12 inch doll.


Super Knights, 8 inch doll by Mego, 1975

Here is King Arthur from the "World's Greatest Super Knights" series. The rest of the dolls in this collection are all knights in armour: Sir Galahad, Ivanhoe, Lancelot, and the Black Knight. Two jousting horses were also made in limited quantity, and they were only available in Europe making them very hard to find. Many Mego collectors believe that the jousting horses were only made available as prototypes or sales samples to retailers, and were not actually manufactured.

Mid 1970's
These two dolls were produced at some point in the mid 1970s likely before 1976.

Maddie Mod 12 inch fashion doll
Richie 12 inch fashion doll. This doll has nothing to do with the Happy Days character of the same name which Mego produced as an 8 inch doll in 1976. It's my understanding that this 12 inch Richie doll was produced as the male counterpart for Maddie Mod.

1976
All 8 inch male dolls from this point on have Type 2 bodies.

More superheroes: Isis, Conan, Thor, and the Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing. The latter doll, Thing, reused the Hulk 8 inch doll body issued in 1975, this time in orange plastic instead of green.
Casshan Sold in UK only. Produced at some point between 1976 and 1982.
Star Trek Aliens, Series 1: Keeper, Neptunian, Gorn, Cheron
Muhammad Ali and Opponent These are 9 inch dolls with unique doll bodies that feature a boxing action.
Starsky and Hutch: Starsky, Hutch, Captain Doby, Huggy Bear, Chopper
Our Gang (also known as "The Little Rascals"): Spanky, Alphalpha, Darla, Mikey, Buckwheat, Porky. For these dolls Mego used a new child-sized doll body which to my knowledge was only used for this series. Darla is the only female doll in the set and does not have bendable arms or legs.
Happy Days: Fonzie, Richie, Potsie (misspelled "Potsy" on card), and Ralph. Mego reused their "Fist Fighting" mechanism to give Fonzie his signature "thumbs up" action. As such the Fonzie doll has a unique doll body that was only use for this doll. Fonzie's hands have articulated thumbs which are also unique to this doll. The Fonzie doll was originally issue by itself as a stand along item. The other three characters were only released after the Fonz doll proved to be a hot seller. These dolls are shown on the TV Characters, Part 1 page of this blog, and Fonzie is also shown on the Mechanical Mego doll page.
Space 1999: Sold in UK only. Captain Zantor, Captain Koenig, Paul Morrow, Alan Carter, Mysterious Alien (The Mattel toy company also made a series of Space 1999 dolls which were 9 inches tall and available in North America.)
Cher and Sonny 12 inch fashion dolls. The Sonny doll in this set is likely the first time Mego used their 8 inch male doll body in the 12 inch size! All other 12 inch male dolls that Mego made up to this point were completely different in design.


Flash Gordon, 9.5 inch dolls by Mego, 1976

I'm not sure why Mego made 9.5 inch dolls. They already had success with 8 inch and 12 inch sized dolls, so it seems odd that they would start a new format. In any case, the Flash Gordon series is still an interesting collection. They are among Mego's best doll series. I was glad to get Flash and Ming the Merciless as a set on e-bay. I've shown them next to the 8 inch Spider-Man for size comparison. Dale and Dr. Zarkov were also made as part of this series.

1977
Teen Titans 7 inch dolls: Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, Wondergirl
Star Trek Aliens, Series 2: Romulan, Talos, Mugato, Andorian
Steve Goalgetter and Franz Beckenbauer 10 inch dolls (sold in the UK only) It is my understanding that these two dolls reuse the Mohammad Ali doll bodies or a variation of it, as the dolls have a kick action instead of punching. Several outfits for these dolls were available.
Captain & Tennille 12 inch fashion dolls
Diana Ross 12 inch fashion doll
Farrah Fawcett 12 inch fashion doll
Flintstones smaller sized dolls and playset
Zorro 8 inch doll (Sold in the UK only) This doll reuses the Star Trek male doll body which has the boots sculpted as the doll's feet.
The New Avengers 12 inch doll: Purdy (Sold in the UK only)

Puppet Love, finger puppets by Mego, 1977

This is a series of six finger puppets. I have two of them, Snow White and Prince Charming. Both have the same heads but they are painted differently. The puppets come with a puppet stand. Being a puppeteer, I thought it was neat that my favourite toy company made puppets, even though they are quite cheesy.

Here is the back of the cards showing the collection. The other four puppets are Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.

Collectors of the 8 inch Megos might be interested to know that Prince Charming's crown is a modified King Arthur crown. The only difference is that two plastic loops were added to the sides of the Prince crown so that a string could be tied to it. Although my King Arthur crown is broken at the front (the cross and the first point broke off - darn it!) I've shown it next to the Prince Charming crown for comparison.

1978

Chips: Ponch, Jon, Sarge

Unfortunately, in 1978 Mego changed their focus from the 8 inch scale to 12 inch dolls:

"Superhero 12 inch dolls": Superman (two head sculpt variations), Lex Luthor, Jor-el, General Zod, Batman (two head sculpt variations), Robin, Wonder Woman, Nubia, Queen Hippolyte, Steve Trevor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Captain America

A 13 inch Superman was also made around this time along with a 9.5 inch Robin.

Kiss 12 inch dolls: Gene, Paul, Ace, Peter

Laverne & Shirley 12 inch dolls: Laverne, Shirley, Lenny, Squidgy

Suzanne Somers 12 inch fashion doll

Bubble Yum Baby large size doll

1979

Moonraker 12 inch dolls: James Bond, Jaws, Drax, Holly

Buck Rogers 12 inch dolls: Buck Rogers, Dr. Huer, Tiger Man, Killer Kane, Draco, Twiki

Dr. Who 9.5 inch dolls (sold in UK only): Dr. Who, Cyberman, K9, Dalek, Giant Robot, Leela

Kristy McNichol 9.5 inch doll

Candi 18 inch fashion doll (I believe this is the largest size Mego doll to have been made!)

Mighty Mightor 12 inch doll (sold only in France)

1980

Star Trek the Motion Picture, 12 inch dolls: Kirk, Spock, Decker, Illia, Klingon, Acturian

Black Hole, 12 inch dolls: Captain Holland, Harry Booth, Dr. Kate McRae, Lt. Pizer, Dr. Reinhardt, Dr. Durant

1981

Dukes of Hazzard: Bo Duke, Luke Duke, Daisy Duke, Boss Hogg, Coy Duke, Vance Duke

Jordache 12 inch fashion dolls, Caucasian male and female

1982

After Mego went out of business in 1982 several other toy companies used the 7 inch Mego (Teen Titans) doll body to make their own series of dolls. I have three different examples which I've shown below next to the 8 inch Spider-Man for size comparison.

WWII, 7  inch doll by Lion Rock, late 1970s to early 1980s
Unknown, 7  inch doll, (Possibly GI Combat by Chitech Industries), 1980s
Heroes of the Kingdom, 7  inch doll by Wee Win Toys, 1980s

The first 7 inch figure (in the green pants) has "Lion Rock" marked on the back of the neck and is from a series of WWII dolls.

The second figure (with the yellow hair) does not have any markings so I have no idea what series it is from. If it is not from the WWII series it might be from the GI Combat series by Chitech Industries, made in early 1983. Many companies also made knock-offs of the WWII dolls, so it may also be one of those. Update, Sept 2019: According to a collector who posted a comment below, the yellow haired figure is a German U-Boat Commander from the Lion Rock War Heroes series.

The last 7 inch doll is John the Baptist made by Wee Win Toys in the 1980s as part of their Heroes of the Kingdom series. Another company, Rainfall Toys, also used Mego doll bodies in the 1980s to make characters for their Bible Greats series. I've noticed that the Bible Greats dolls have the sandals molded and painted on as part of the doll's foot, while the Wee Win Toys dolls have a separate plastic sandal, as shown above. It's also my understanding that the Bible Greats dolls are 8 inches tall instead of 7 inches. Here is a link to a very awesome website that helped me to identify the John the Baptist doll: http://www.megolike.com/figures.html


1990 / 2000

Dr. Mego / EMCE dolls, late 1990's or early 2000's to present

The Dr. Mego reissued Bruce Wayne and Zorro Mego parts (heads, costumes and sword) on original Mego doll bodies.

In the late 1990s or early 2000s, when the internet made it possible for Mego collectors to locate other like minded Mego fans, Dr. Mego (Paul Clarke) began to have Mego parts re-made in China. This allowed Mego collectors to complete individual Mego dolls by ordering the pieces they were missing such as shoes, capes, clothing, or weapons. The Mego doll bodies and an assortment of doll heads were also made available. Later Dr. Mego and the EMCE toy company offered several officially licensed re-issues of Mego dolls such as the Star Trek and Planet of the Apes collections. 

Customizing Mego Dolls

Following Dr. Mego's lead, other companies such as Classic TV Toys (CTVT), which later became Figures Toy Company, and Bif Bang Pow, have also offered reissued Mego parts and dolls. Remaking Mego parts does pose some difficulty for collectors when buying Mego dolls. It used to be that when you found a Mego there was no question about the authenticity of all the pieces. Today, Mego collectors must be very careful and knowledgeable in order to determine if the doll they are buying has 100% genuine Mego parts. The good thing about re-issued parts is that it allows collectors to add Mego items to their collection that are rare finds or otherwise too costly. For example, the original Bruce Wayne and Zorro dolls by Mego are two "Holy Grail" items for Mego collectors, and sell for hundreds of dollars, while the Dr. Mego versions (shown above) can be purchased for $10 to $40, depending on the number of parts you need.  I think Dr. Mego did an awesome job on the re-issue of Bruce Wayne and am very happy to finally have one in my collection. Zorro is also awesome to have but was not as easy to put together, here's why...

 

Special Note (added Sept 2019): The following text was written way back in 2010 but I'm keeping it here for the sake of archiving what I wrote and to document the development of Mego dolls...

 

A word of warning about Dr. Mego's Zorro head and selected Classic TV Toys items: Although Dr. Mego consistently produces high quality items, I was disappointed with the Zorro head ($6) as the mask and moustache were simply coloured on with a marker rather than painted on. Not only did this look rather cheep as the marker was a different shade of black from the painted on hair, but when handled the marker smudges. The description for the Zorro head on Dr. Mego's website says "Made in China - the mask and moustache are done here." What isn't mentioned is that he uses a marker! I tried painting over the marker with black paint but the smudged marker marks stained the plastic and couldn't be removed, so I've since painted over the whole head to make a completely different character.

Therefore, if you're planning to order the Zorro head from Dr. Mego I would recommend asking him not to add the mask or moustache so that you could paint them on yourself without having to worry about smudging the marker. Option two is to buy Dr. Mego's unpainted Sir Galahad head ($10) and paint the whole thing to your liking. However, if you want to save yourself the hassle of having to paint, Classic TV Toys (CTVT) sells a fully painted Zorro head ($4) that, in my view, looks closer to the original Mego Zorro head than the Dr. Mego Zorro head, which is somewhat thinner. Dr. Mego is the only company that sells the re-issued Zorro outfit though, so between the two companies a suitable re-issued Zorro Mego can be had. Dr. Mego makes the Zorro cape by hand, and it's perfect. It's also worth noting that when I received my Zorro outfit from Dr. Mego the sword it came with (shown in the above photo) was marked "CTV", which I'm assuming means that it was actually made by CTVT! 

And speaking of CTVT, I've had trouble with a re-issued Will Scarlet sword belt and quiver made by CTVT, as they both broke quite easily (the same day they arrived in the mail no less) when I put them on the Mego figure. I also find most of the 8" male bodies that CTVT makes are basically junk because they are so poorly made they don't even stand up! This has been the case since their awful  re-issues of the Happy Days dolls in 2004! In my experience Dr. Mego's re-issued Mego doll bodies are much nicer than those offered by CTVT, and are worth the extra few dollars for the quality. So the two companies have their good and bad points.

Update: Dr. Mego has since offered a factory painted Zorro head, though he admits on his site that he is disappointed with the way it was painted. At least he tried! Still, his Mego doll bodies are far better quality than CTVT and well worth the cost!!!

 

2019

 

Legends Series, 8 inch dolls by Mego, 2019

 

Bruce Lee 8 inch doll by Mego, released in 2019.

 

During the summer of 2019 an event that decades ago seemed only to be the naive dreams of Mego fans actually came true! Marty Abrams, the original owner of the 1970's Mego company, launched a new incarnation of the Mego brand. Abrams worked with Paul Clarke/Dr. Mego as a consultant, and the result was an new line of Mego 8 inch dolls. The assortment included some reissues of classic Mego dolls as well as entirely new Megos. Among these is the Legends series which includes famous celebrities from film and music.

 

To date dolls in this set include all new versions of celebrities that Mego had previously made dolls of such as:

 

Joe Namath

Mohammad Ali

Kiss: The Starchild (Paul Stanley wearing a black striped jumpsuit)

Farah Fawcett (in her famous read swimsuit)

 

New celebrities include:

 

Elvis Presley (in his signature white jumpsuit)

Jimi Hendrix (wearing a black hat, white frilly shirt, and burgundy pants)

Bruce Lee

Andre the Giant

Marilyn Monroe

 

 

Here's another look at the awesome Bruce Lee doll out of the packaging. This is a very cool Mego doll indeed!!!! I'm very happy with it and find that the new 8 inch Mego dolls are very well made. The best thing about them is that their head sculpts are just the right size for a Mego doll, unlike Figures toy Company which makes some of their doll heads look to be the size of a melon. This Bruce Lee doll reuses the original Mego moccasins used for Cornelius from the Planet of the Apes series as well as for Cochise, Sitting Bull and Davy Crockett from the American West series, and Starsky from the Starsky and Hutch series, only here they are black instead of brown. Very cool!!!

Elvis Presley 8 inch doll by Mego.

 

This is another very cool doll. The jumpsuit for Elvis is extremely well done with amazing detail. The head sculpt for this doll is perfect! This new Mego Elvis reuses the original Mego shoes used for Dracula and the Wizard of Oz, only in white! I love it!

 

Here's a look at Elvis out of the package. Mego did an awesome job on this doll!!!

 

The back of the cards has a different photo of the celebrity as well as a short historical text about Marty Abrams and the Mego company.

 

Mego, 8 inch dolls, 2019

 

Additional 8 inch Mego dolls that are now available include:

 

Wizard of Oz

Wicked Witch, a reissue of the original Mego

Cowardly Lion, an updated reissue of the original Mego with a new costume

Wicked Witch and Dorothy, boxed two-pack, both are issues of the original Mego

 

Music and Movies Series

These are different versions of the Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix 8 inch dolls. This second Elvis doll is wearing the Jail House Rock outfit and the Hendrix doll is wearing a white shirt with tassels and blue jeans. However, instead of "Legends" as the series title the packaging for these dolls says "Music and Movies".

 

Music Icons Series

In addition to the Legend series Starchild, Mego offered these two 8 inch Kiss dolls, both of which have sculpted hair rather than rooted doll hair.

Kiss: The Starchild (Paul Stanley) wearing the same outfit as the original 12 inch Mego doll.

Kiss: The Demon (Gene Simons) also wearing the original Mego outfit.

 

Movies Series

Lord of the Rings: Legolas, Aragorn

Rocky (Sylvester Stallone)

 

Pop Culture Series

Star Trek: Spock, Kirk, Uhura, Romulan, Gorn

Impractical Jokers: Sal Vulcano, James Murray, Joe Gatto, Brian Quinn

 

Sci-Fi Series

Star Trek: Kirk with Tribbles

Star Trek: Kirk and Spock boxed 2 pack set

Star Trek: Uhura and Sulu boxed 2 pack set

Star Trek: Spock with outfits, boxed set

Star Trek: Wrath of Khan: Admiral Kirk, Captain Spock, Khan

 

TV Favourites Series

Star Trek: Kirk (reissue of original Mego), Spock (reissue of original Mego), Sulu, Checkov

Cheers: Norm, Cliff, Woody

Happy Days: Fonzie, Richie (both are reissues), Chachi (with red bandana on leg)

Married With Children: Peg, Al, Kelly

Brady Bunch: Alice, Greg, Marcia

Charlie's Angels: Kris, Kelly, Sabrina Duncan,

Facts of Life: Tootie, Joe, Blair

Charmed: Piper Halliwell, Phoebe Halliwell, Prue Halliwell

Action Jackson (no beard)

Bewitched: Samantha

Bewitched: Endora and Serena 2 figure boxed set

I Dream of Jeannie: 2 figure boxed set

Full House: 2 figure boxed set

 

Horror Series

Dracula (with purple cape)

Bela Lugosi as Dracula

Werewolf (blue shirt, purple card)

Werewolf (blue shirt, light blue card)

Werewolf, (red shirt, red card)

Nosferatu, card art with shadow figure

Nosferatu, card art with close up of face and hand

The Invisible Man

Frankenstein with green jacket, green skin, package says "Classics" instead of "Horror"

Frankenstein with black jacket, grey shirt and pants

Frankenstein with chain on wrists, no shirt, white skin

Egyptian Mummy

Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy

It: The Movie: Pennywise

 

 

Mego, 14" dolls, 2019

 

In addition to their 8 inch doll assortment, Mego produced 14 inch dolls. In my view these larger sized dolls seem rather odd looking as the head sculpts are too small for the doll bodies in comparison to the width of the shoulders. This isn't true in every case, but I do find most of the DC Comics and Star Trek dolls have this issue. I also find some of the head sculpts are not as well done as the 8 inch dolls.

 

14 inch dolls

 

Jimi Hendrix

 

Star Trek: Kirk, Spock, Security Guard, Gorn

 

DC Comics:

Batman in grey and black costume

Batman in light blue costume

Batman in Justice League movie costume

Wonder Woman in comic book costume

Wonder Woman in movie costume

Superman in comic book costume

Superman in movie costume

Joker without jacket

Joker with jacket

Flash

Green Lantern

Aquaman

Black Manta

Lex Luthor

Batgirl

Harley Quinn

Poison Ivy

Zod

 

 

Text © Mike Artelle, 2010, 2013