Mego 8" Dolls
The first four Mego "Official World's Greatest Superhero" 8 inch dolls.
All of these are original editions from the 1970's.
Mego began making dolls based on DC Comics superheroes in 1972 in order to launch their Official World's Greatest Superheroes series. The first four characters that Mego offered in the line were all DC heroes: Robin, Batman, Superman and Aquaman (shown above). My Batman is missing his blue "oven mitt" gloves. I've always though it is odd that Robin and Batman have removable plastic belts, but Superman and Aquaman don't. (I would have preferred that they all had plastic belts.) Aquaman original came with a yellow vinyl upside-down "V" shape glued to the front of his belt, as the Aquaman logo, but this piece is typically missing from loose dolls.
Superheroes from Marvel Comics would soon join the series as 8 inch dolls, yet if it were not for the success and popularity of these first four DC superhero dolls it's unlikely that any additional superhero dolls would have been produced by Mego.
In fact, the dolls proved to be so popular that 8 inch Mego superhero toys dominated the toy market for a majority of the decade. By the late 1970s there was a total of 23 DC Comics 8" dolls to collect, not including the variations. As some of these original Mego dolls are extremely rare to find, the entire series has been reissued by various toy companies over the years, such as Classic TV Toys / Figures Toy Company, EMCE / Dr. Mego and the relaunched Mego company from 2019. With the availability of the repro editions, I now have all but two of the DC Mego dolls in my collection (I'm still missing two of the Teen Titans).
Shazam, Isis, Tarzan and Green Arrow
Isis is a reissued copy by FTC
With the success of the first four DC Mego dolls, the collection was expanded with the addition of DC Comics' Shazam (shown above), Marvel's Spider-Man and Captain America (shown on the Marvel doll page), as well as one of my favourite heroes, Tarzan! (shown above) Although he's not a DC hero, when the Tarzan Mego doll was first offered DC Comics had the license to the character and was producing a comic book series, therefore he technically belongs with the DC Mego series. Later in the mid 70's Mego offered Isis (shown above), based on the live action TV series which was broadcast in conjunction with a live action Shazam TV series. This led to DC Comics producing an Isis comic book series. As such, Isis was marketed along with the DC Comics heroes.
Apparently Mego had made an 8 inch prototype of the Flash but they were unable to sell the character to retailers so the doll was never produced. The similarity of the Flash's costume to Shazam's outfit was likely an issue (red suit with yellow accents and a lightning bolt logo). Personally, I would have preferred a Flash Mego doll instead of Shazam. Oddly enough, Mego did produce a Kid Flash doll for their Teen Titans series.
One of the last DC Comics characters to join the series was Green Arrow. Mego did an awesome job on him, including a very nicely sculpted head, removable boots, and a plastic quiver of arrows which is attached to his belt. He also came with a cool green plastic hat (the hat shown here is a issued copy). The costume is also missing the green fabric cuffs at the end of his sleeves which formed part of his glove. This doll originally came with a brown plastic bow, which is the same one that Mego used for their Robin Hood series of 8 inch dolls.
Mr. Mxyzptlk, Penguin, Joker and Riddler
All four ore original vintage Megos.
The Riddler dolls shown here is the "Fist Fighting" version of the dolls, which looks the same as the standard version of the Mego doll. See the Mechanical Mego Dolls page of this blog for more info about the Fist Fighter Mego dolls. The Penguin and Joker each have removable shoes, and the Riddler has a removable belt that is the same as Batman's only in purple plastic
Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batgirl and Catwoman
Wonder Woman and Batgirl are reissued copies by FTC.
Next came a series of female heroes marketed as the "Super Gals". Shown above is an earlier produced version of Catwoman. The costume has blue legs and printed on boots. This doll was sold with and without removable plastic boots, so technically it can be considered as being complete without the boots. There was a royal blue collar on her costume as well but it has fallen off as the fabric frays easily, similar to the yellow collar on Robin's cape. A later version of Catwoman (shown below) that has skin tone legs on her costume was only available with the removable plastic boots, so the doll is incomplete if they are missing. Catwoman also has a fabric tail attached to her costume, which is also sometimes missing. Both versions of the doll originally came with blue "oven mitt" style gloves, similar to the yellow ones on Batgirl. Supergirl is suposed to have a red cape and small red shoes, as well as an "S" logo sticker on her left shoulder.
Two variations of the Catwoman 8 inch doll by Mego
Both are original vintage Megos
Secret Identities: Peter Parker, Dick Greyson, Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent
All of these are reissued copies.
According to the Mego Museum website, in 1974 Mego produced four exclusive "alter ego" doll outfits for Montgomery Wards. These were sold trough the Montgomery Wards catalogue rather than on store shelves, as the doll outfits were distributed through the mail directly to customers. Each outfit came with a doll head, which implies that kids were supposed to pull the heads off of their own Mego dolls and use the doll body in order to create the alter ego doll.
The set included DC Comics characters Bruce Wayne (alter ego for Batman), Dick Grayson (alter ego for Robin), Clark Kent (alter ego for Superman) and one Marvel Comics character, Peter Parker (alter ego for Spider-Man). All four of these original vintage outfits and heads are extremely rare to find, and all of them have since been reissued by at least two different toy companies.
Shown above is the reissued version of Mego's Bruce Wayne outfit and head by Dr. Mego (circa 2000) shown on an original Mego doll body, and Dick Grayson by FTC (2013) which was sold as a complete doll on a bubble card. More info about these two 8 inch dolls is provided below, towards the end of this page. The last two, Peter Parker and Clark Kent, are both by FTC. Peter was sold loose with no packaging and is only available through the FTC / CTVT website.
Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin
Aqualad is a reissued copy.
The last series of DC Mego characters to be made are the Teen Titans!!! I'm still missing Speedy and Wonder Girl. These Megos are very hard to find complete in mint condition. FTC reissued all four of these dolls and expanded the series with additional characters. One of the mistakes with this series is that Mego made them 7 inches tall in order to be "teen sized", however they had already made Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, in the 8 inch format. Oops!!! I would have preferred to have the Teen Titans characters in the same 8 inch format, however they are still very cool Megos.
Another mistake Mego made with this series is Speedy's costume. His legs were made with skin tone fabric the same as Aqualad, however his legs should have been red, while his arms were made with red fabric though they should have been skin tone. So it was quite a mix up! When FTC reissued the dolls they unfortunately didn't bother to correct the mistake, and instead made the costume the same as Mego. I would love to have a Speedy Mego with his correct outfit!
Mego Tarzan
Tarzan 8 inch doll by Mego
Technically, Tarzan is not a DC comics hero. He was licensed to DC Comics in the early 1970s by the estate of Tarzan's creator, Edgar Rice Burroughs, after a long run in Whitman/Gold Key Comics. DC's Tarzan titles from this period include "Tarzan", "Korak, Son of Tarzan" which later became "Tarzan Family", and "Tarzan presents Weird Worlds" which featured John Carter Warlord of Mars and other Burroughs characters. Therefore, when Mego began producing their 8 inch superhero doll collection in 1972, as DC still had the license to produce Tarzan comics Mego included him in the assortment of DC Comics heroes. The Mego Museum website states on their Tarzan page that the Vice-President of the Mego Corporation asked for Tarzan to be included in the early assortment of heroes simply because Tarzan was his favourite character!
Two examples of DC Comics Tarzan comic book covers that were published around the time that Mego's Tarzan doll was first available in stores. On the left is issue No. 212 from Sept. 1972, and on the right is No. 225 from Nov. 1973.
Unfortunately, Mego stopped making their Tarzan doll after only a couple of years even though the character was still quite popular at the time. I suspect the Mego Tarzan doll was not a hit with kids because it was not a direct representation of the DC Comics version of Tarzan. The costume for the Tarzan Mego doll has a shoulder strap and the "leopard print" pattern on his trunks features unique blobs of light and dark brown. However the comic book Tarzan did not have a shoulder strap on his costume and the trunks had a "leopard print" consisting of black dots. The comic book Tarzan also had a belt around his waist that was shown as either white or light brown, and a sheath for his knife. The Tarzan doll was first issued on the Type 1 Mego body, shown above (note the metal joints at the wrists), therefor Mego made a skin tone jumpsuit to cover up the crudely shaped figure. This may have also affected the toy's appeal with kids as it looked like Tarzan was wearing a full bodied costume! (Mego's Type 2 body significantly improved the look of their 8 inch dolls and did away with the metal joints, but it wasn't issued until 1974.) The head sculpt for Mego's Tarzan, however, does seem to be based directly on the Joe Kubert/DC Comics design, with the longer hair style, especially around his ears.
In 1972, this Tarzan of the Apes hard cover graphic novel was published by Watson-Guptill Publications. This book depicts Tarzan very much like the DC Comic books that were also published that same year, in which Tarzan does not have a shoulder strap on his costume and his "leopard print" trunks have black dots and a belt. It's another example of why Mego's version of the character might have looked so bizarre to kids of the early 1970's. Personally, I think Mego did an awesome job on their Tarzan doll, and the head sculpt is perfect for the character. I happen to be a huge Tarzan fan, so the Mego doll of him would easily find a place in my "Favourite Top Ten" Mego list. I've had my Tarzan Mego since I was nine years old!
From 1976 to 1979, a few years after Mego had stopped producing the Tarzan doll, Tarzan was seen on television in his own animated cartoon series that was broadcast on Saturday mornings. The series was created by Filmation which simultaneously produced a Batman cartoon series. These two shows were paired up for broadcast as the Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour, once again linking Tarzan to DC Comics. Around the same time however, in 1977, Marvel Comics would take over publishing Tarzan comic books.
It's interesting to note that the very first Tarzan story by Edgar Rice Burroughs was published in 1912, therefore in 2012 Tarzan officially turned 100 years old!
When I was a kid, it seemed a natural fit to have Tarzan battle Lizard (Spidey's foe from Marvel Comics) since Mego didn't make Tarzan any villains. Thanks to "The Doll House Lady" I found both of these Mego dolls in the mid 1980s, long after they had gone out of production...
Tarzan and "The Doll House Lady"
Tarzan was one of my first Mego dolls when I officially started my Mego collection in the mid 1980s around the age of nine. I had Fonzie, Batman and Robin when I was much younger, but they had been lost or broken and were long gone. I bought Tarzan second hand for $5 at the same place where I got my current Batman Mego, shown above, and the Lizard Mego (shown above with Tarzan, and on the "Marvel Comics Dolls" page of this blog). Back then Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre on Carling Ave, in Ottawa, ON, was called Lincoln Heights. There used to be a human-sized doll house on the second floor of the mall near the escalators where a very kind elderly woman sold second hand girl's dolls. I recall that she would knit costumes for dolls or repair the clothes with hand sewing.
Mego dolls had not been available in stores for a few years at that time, and being completely Mego-less I was desperately on the hunt for second-hand Megos. The internet makes it very easy to locate vintage toys these days, but back in the 1980s collectors had to go out and search any place they could to find second hand toys. When such a place was found, you could only cross your fingers and hope that you would be lucky enough to stumble across what you were looking for.
Mego dolls had not been available in stores for a few years at that time, and being completely Mego-less I was desperately on the hunt for second-hand Megos. The internet makes it very easy to locate vintage toys these days, but back in the 1980s collectors had to go out and search any place they could to find second hand toys. When such a place was found, you could only cross your fingers and hope that you would be lucky enough to stumble across what you were looking for.
So, despite the girly, frilly dolls that were everywhere in the bizarre doll house shaped store, I went in and asked the woman if she had any Megos, and described them to her. She asked me to wait a moment and went into the back room and then came back with a brown paper lunch bag. From it she pulled out Tarzan, Lizard, Batman, and Captain Kirk wearing Superman's costume. I had hit the jackpot! She also had an 8 inch Super Joe by Hasbro, which is less common to find than the original 12 inch G.I. Joe dolls. I'm happy to say that all four of those Mego's and Super Joe are still in my collection! After that, every time I happened to be at that mall with my parents I would stop by to check in with "the doll house lady" as I called her, but she never did get any more Megos. Then one day her doll house store was gone. As I never got the woman's name, I've often wondered who she was and if she had moved her store or just closed it down. In any case, she saved me from having a Mego-starved childhood and helped me start my Mego collection!
Eight DC Comics 8 inch Mego heroes that I'm missing!
The remaining DC Comics heroes that I'm missing from the series are Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Isis, Clark Kent, and the four Teen Titans heroes (which are 7" instead of 8") : Kid Flash, Speedy, Aqualad, and Wondergirl.
Hawkman custom Mego doll by Mikey!
Along with Batman and Robin I've always been a huge fan of DC Comics Hawkman. When I was a kid I collected all the Hawkman comic books that I could find, and really, really wanted a Hawkman Mego doll. Unfortunately Mego never made Hawkman, so in 1982 when I was nine years old I made my own, which I still have (shown below).
For a nine year old, my custom Hawkman turned out really well and I find the style matches the rest of the Mego DC gang (with exception of the mask, which I had pretended was sculpted out of plastic along with the boots). I had a naked Captain Kirk Mego that I used to put the costume on, and made a mask out of construction paper. For the above photo I used a Sir Galahad/Will Scarlet head which I find looks more like Hawkman, in fact it's a perfect fit! For the wings I used T-shirt paints and drew the feathers onto the fabric. Then I made two wing shaped "pillows" and cut the same shape out of half-inch foam sheet (which I had laying around for making puppets with) to stuff the wing. I figure Mego would have given Hawkman fabric covered sponge wings as they had given Lizard, the Spider-Man villain, a stuffed tail.
Saga of the Hawkman doll
Mego was not the only toy company to cast Hawkman aside during their selection of DC heroes for a doll line. During the mid 2000's Hasbro produced a series of 9 inch DC Comics dolls (which I've listed below on this page), however Hawkman was once again excluded. In the mid 2000s when the deluxe 13 in DC Direct doll series was produced, Hawkman was passed over for less popular characters such as Sandman, The Spirit, Black Canary, and even Zatanna! Finally, in 2010 Mattel was going to include Hawkman in their Retro-Action DC Heroes series and had even created a prototype of the doll but the series was cancelled before Hawkman was produced. Then in 2013 Figures Toy Company began producing DC Comics Megos but never seemed to include Hawkman in their sights for upcoming dolls, so I e-mailed them in January 2016 to beg them to make one. I was told that the character would be released later in the year. Alas, by April 2017 there was still no Hawkman! Hopefully this gets remedied soon. (Update: A Mego-style 8 inch Hawkman doll was finally released by Figures Toy Company in 2019!!!)
In addition to Hawkman there are many A-list DC Comics characters that Mego didn't make as 8 inch dolls, such as the Flash, Green Lantern, Two-Face, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, Darkseid, and Martian Manhunter. These characters and more have since been realized in the Mego style by Figures Toy Company which has released an extensive collection of DC Comics Mego-style dolls.
Mego DC Comics Vehicles and Playsets
In addition to the 23 dolls, Mego made a Hall of Justice playset for the 8 inch DC comics heroes, along with a car for Green Arrow, and a Great White Shark for Aquaman. The Batman and Robin dolls were pampered with a variety of vehicles and playsets including the Batmobile based on the 1966 TV series, the Batcycle with side car (this toy was released in both black plastic and blue plastic), the Batcopter, the Bat Lab Van, the Batcave playset, and the giant multilevel Bruce Wayne Foundation playset.
Here is the Batcycle, blue version, and Batmobile with my entire collection of Batman 8 inch Megos.
The following year, in 2014, Figures Toy Company released the first wave of their Mego-style dolls based on the 1966 Batman TV series. The Robin doll from that collection is the first 8 inch doll to be based on Burt Ward's version of Robin from the TV series, including the details of the costume. Up until then the only 8 inch Robin doll available to fans of the TV show was the one shown above, which is based on the comic book version of Robin. I'm really happy that a Burt Ward/Robin Mego doll has finally been made!!! I've added a new page to this blog about the FTC Classic Batman TV Series dolls at this link:
http://mikeysdolls.blogspot.ca/p/batman-1966-tv-series.html
Above is Batman with the blue version of the Batcycle. I've shown other views of the Batcycle below.
The sidecar was removable to allow the motorcycle to be used on its own.
Mego Bubble Card Packaging
Here is the back view for the Robin and Joker 1979 cards. It's interesting to note that several of the characters shown on this 1979 card had already been discontinued by Mego, so they would not have been available. These include Green Arrow, Aquaman, Mr.Mxyzptlk, and Supergirl. Catwoman, Batgirl and Riddler would soon be discontinued in 1980.
The front bottom left corner of the 1979 Robin card has the Pin Pin logo. According to the Mego Museum website, Pin Pin carded dolls were produced for sale in France however some were distributed in Canada throughout Quebec.
The front bottom left of the 1979 Joker card has the Grand Toys logo with English and French text. To my knowledge, dolls with Grand Toys packaging were distributed only in Canada.
Brief review of the DC Mego 8 inch doll series
Here is a complete list of all 23 of the 8 inch DC Comics dolls that were made by MEGO (not including variations):
Mego 12 " dolls, 1978 - 1981
Mego also made 10 different DC Comics characters as 12 inch dolls. I'm more interested in the 8 inch Megos, so I haven't really tried to collect the 12 inch dolls. However, Batman and Robin would be neat to have in the 12 inch size. Below is the 12 inch Superman that Mego made based on the 1979 movie. Unfortunately the plastic Mego used for some of their doll heads have a tendency to turn grey over time, as is the case with this one. The doll below is based on the Superman movies from the late 1970s and early 1980s. It has the Christopher Reeve head sculpt and the body is more muscular than the usual Mego body, with broader shoulders. The red plastic boots are also unique to this doll. Mego also made a 12 inch comic book version of Superman that has a different head sculpt and the standard sized 12 inch Mego body. The red plastic boots are also shaped differently from those shown below. A very rare 13 inch Superman was also made using the Christopher Reeve head.
As the Batman, Robin, Superman and Wonder Woman dolls were so popular Mego released several variations of each. In addition to Superman, the dynamic duo Batman and Robin were also given different head sculpts and body types which made each version unique. With all of the changes taken into consideration there are 17 dolls to collect in the Mego DC Comics 12 inch series. This does not include the packaging variations.
It's too bad Mego didn't make the supporting characters (Jor-El, Lex Luthor, General Zod, Steve Trevor, Queen Hippolyte, and Nubia) as 8 inch dolls to expand on that series. I think that would have been more interesting. In 2010 Mattel offered Lex Luthor in the 8 inch size as part of their Retro Action series, so at least collectors finally have that one to display with their 8 inch Megos. Also in 2010 Mattel released 12 inch dolls of Superman and Lex Luthor based on the 1979 movie, which are very different from the original Mego 12 inch dolls.
In Nov 2014 I freaked out when I found a 9.5 inch Robin Mego doll at a comic convention, complete with both shoes and his belt! The 9.5 inch Robin is a "holy grail" item for me that I never thought I would own! I've shown him here next to my 8 inch Robin for size comparison.
Here is a closer view of their heads. Mego also made a 12 inch Robin doll as well. All three Robin dolls have completely different head sculpts.
Here is the different sizes of shoes and belts. Below you can see that the 9.5 inch Robin belt is just a tad longer than the 8 inch Robin belt.
Mego didn't make very many dolls with the 9.5 inch body. Not to worry, the 9.5 inch Robin Mego doll does have some 9.5 inch friends to hang out with: Flash Gordon and Ming the Merciless. The Mego Museum website states that the Flash Gordon series was the only 9.5 inch series available in North America. (Actually, the Mego Museum calls these 10 inch figures, but they are 9.5 inches) The 9.5 inch Robin was sold in Canada and Europe, but not in the United States. Mego also produced Dr.Who dolls in the 9.5 inch format, but these were sold only in Europe.
Mego made the 9.5 inch Robin doll to go with the 12 inch Batman. I don't have the 12 inch Batman yet, so I used the 12 inch Spidey as a stand in to show the different sizes. I find that the 9.5 inch Robin is actually too small to be matched with the 12 inch figures. Rather than teenage sized he looks child sized.
It's interesting to note that Mego made four Teen Titans dolls to go with their 8 inch DC hero series, but to show that the characters were teens Mego produced them in a 7 inch size rather than 8 inch. This didn't take into consideration that Robin, who is the leader of the Teen Titans, had already been made in the 8 inch scale. So if Mego had also introduced a 7 inch "teen" sized Robin to correct the scale issue, there would have been four different sizes of Robin to collect! This will soon become a reality however, as Figures Toy Company, which has reissued many of the DC Comics 8 inch Mego dolls, has already announced that they will be releasing a 7 inch Robin doll as part of their expanded Teen Titans series!
Batman Movie, 9" plush dolls by Applause, 1989
Here are two 9 inch Batman plush doll made by Applause as part of the merchandizing for the 1989 Batman movie. This is the same doll which was available with two different styles of heads. Above left is the cartoonish version, and on the right is the "normal" version. I like the "normal head" doll much better, and have found it is far less common than the "cartoon head" doll. In fact, in my experience this "normal head" doll is somewhat rare and it is hard to find online or on sites such as e-bay. Notice also that the belt buckles are different for each doll.
Above is a comparison of the 8 inch Mego Batman with the 9 inch Applause Batman. This 9 inch "normal head" Batman doll is so close to being a Mego that I wish they had just made it an articulated doll instead of a plush toy. The head is the perfect size for a Mego body!
Applause also made a 15 inch version of this doll which also has "normal" and "cartoon" head variations. The 15 inch doll came with a black metal doll stand with the 1989 Batman movie logo on it, and the glove hands are sculpted plastic rather than stuffed fabric.
Here is a closer view of the "normal" 9 inch Applause Batman head next to the "cartoon" head.
Update: In Nov 2017 I was browsing on e-bay and discovered that there is an even rarer version of this 9 inch doll, as there is a 10 inch variation with suction cups on it's hands, which I promptly purchased (shown above next to the 9 inch doll). The 10 inch doll has the same head, belt and bat logo decal that was used for the 9 inch doll, but the arms are shaped differently, being raised up with the hands above batman's head, and the elbows are bent. The legs are also longer and the cape is wider. I have never seen the suction cup version of this doll previously, so I'm unaware if it was also made with the cartoonish head though I suspect this 10 inch version was only made with the normal head.
Batman & Robin Movie, 12" dolls by Hasbro, 1997
The back of all four boxes are the same and show only the four characters that were sold in this initial set, with no mention of the two-pack Batman/Poison Ivy set, or the Ice Battle Batman.
Superman, 12 inch doll by Hasbro/Kenner, 1996
In the 1990's Hasbro produced several DC 12 inch dolls including this Superman doll. Unfortunately no other Superman characters were made to go with this doll. It would have been cool to have Lex Luthor or Brainiac in this style. As toy companies are after money, I don't understand why Hasbro would put out a doll like this with no villains to go with it? In any case, this is a very cool Superman doll!
Other 12 inch DC Comics dolls by Hasbro/Kenner
In the late 1990s Hasbro produced a series of Justice League America 12 inch dolls that included: Aquaman (with a beard and long hair that was molded and looked very silly), Green Lantern (in Kyle Rayner's costume), and Flash.
In 1996 Catwoman (in purple suit) and Batman were packaged together for the "Legends of Batman" two doll set. Another set, "The History of Batman" includes three Batman 12 inch dolls packaged together in the same box, each with a different costume. "The History of Superman", is a similar set of three dolls based on Superman. There is yet another 12 inch Batman that was sold in a set with a book.
Also around this time, a series of 6 dolls based on the "Batman Animated Series" was produced. These were sold individually. This set included Batman, Joker, Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl and Harley Quinn. In 1998 similar Animated style dolls of Superman and Supergirl were made and packaged individually.
Other 9 inch DC Comics dolls by Hasbro
In 1999, Hasbro also produced a series of 9 inch DC Comics dolls under the banner "DC Super Heroes: Silver Age Collection". The series included:
Batman (light blue and light grey costume)
Superman
Green Arrow
Green Lantern (Hal Jordon version)
Aquaman
Two additional dolls were released in a Justice League America box, rather than the Silver Age Collection box:
Martian Manhunter
Superman Blue (a version of Superman in a white and light blue patterned costume)
Later Hasbro released Batman: Guardian of Gotham City. This was a 9 inch Batman doll (black and dark grey outfit) with a Bruce Wayne outfit and head (black business suit and white shirt). A Penguin doll was also made for this series (wearing a back suit coat), as well as a "Golden Age" Batman and Robin two pack set.
In 2001 Hasbro made a 9 inch Joker doll as an exclusive toy for Target stores. Around the same time, a 9 inch Superman/Clark Kent doll set was also made as a Target exclusive. All of these 9 inch dolls look awesome and are on my very long list of dolls to collect someday!
Gen 13, 11.5 inch doll by WildStorm, 1999
http://mikeysdolls.blogspot.ca/p/i-that-dont-fit-into-any-of-page_10.html
Dr. Mego / EMCE dolls, late 1990s or early 2000s 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.
More information about Dr. Mego is included on the "1971 - 1982: Mego Dolls" page of this blog:
These 11 inch Teen Titan plush toys are based on the animated TV series and were made sometime between 2003 and 2008. Unfortunately there is no copyright date on the hang tag. Shown here are Robin and Beast Boy. They are very well made with nice detail. I especially like the shape of Robin's hair! Each are filled with plastic beads from the waist down, with a bit of soft stuffing at the bottom of their feet. From the waist up they are stuffed with soft stuffing. These two were found in a plush toy vending machine game. Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg were also made as part of this set.
Batman 8 inch plush key ring doll by Monogram, c 2005
Update Oct 2015: According to "Julie" who posted a message below, a 15 inch version of this doll was also made. If anyone has any additional info about Monogram produced DC Comics dolls please do post a message!
Superman Returns, by Mattel, 2006
The hype for Superman Returns was huge! In response, Mattel produced Superman figures in several different sizes including a series of smaller 4 inch action figures, a 10 inch action figure, a 12 inch Ken Superman doll, an 11 inch "Epic Powers Superman" doll, a 12 inch action figure with sound, a 14 inch action figure, and even a jumbo sized figure that was two and a half feet tall.
DC Direct Deluxe 13 inch dolls
Sometime in the mid 2000's DC Comics produced an impressive series of 13 inch dolls for adult doll collectors. These dolls were priced around $80.00 and up, and today tend to sell for over $100. As such I still don't have any of them in my collection. My favourite from this series is Robin, which I think is a perfect doll of the Boy Wonder! Below is a list of all the dolls in this series that I know of. There are 42 of them!
Aquaman
Batgirl, black, yellow and blue outfit
Batgirl, grey, yellow and blue outfit
Batman, blue and grey outfit
Batman, black and grey outfit
Batman Beyond
Batman, Dark Knight movie version
Bizarro
Black Canary
Catwoman, black "leather" outfit
Catwoman, purple outfit, black knee high boots
Flash, Golden Age version (Jay Garrick)
Flash
Joker, comic book version
Joker, Dark Knight movie version
Green Arrow
Green Lantern, Golden Age version (Alan Scott)
Green Lantern, (Hal Jordon) "Green Lantern Corps" version with interchangeable heads
Green Lantern, Hal Jordon (without interchangeable heads)
Harley Quinn
Lex Luthor
Martian Manhunter
Nightwing
Poison Ivy
Power Girl
Robin
Sandman
Sergeant Rock
Shazam
Sinestro
Spirit, The
Supergirl
Superman, Superman Returns movie version
Superman, comic book version
Superman: Kingdom Come
Two Face
V for Vendetta
Watchmen: Comedian
Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan
Watchmen: Rorschach
Wonder Woman
Zatanna
In my opinion, Brandon Routh is the best Superman ever!!!
The hype for Superman Returns was huge! In response, Mattel produced Superman figures in several different sizes including a series of smaller 4 inch action figures, a 10 inch action figure, a 12 inch Ken Superman doll, an 11 inch "Epic Powers Superman" doll, a 12 inch action figure with sound, a 14 inch action figure, and even a jumbo sized figure that was two and a half feet tall.
Shown here is the 10 inch action figure, the 11 inch "Epic Powers Superman" doll, and the 14 inch "Hyperposeable Superman" action figure. All three of these have cloth capes, while the "Epic Powers" doll has a fabric outfit that can not be removed. In order to save some space on this very long blog page, I've included more detail about these and other Mattel Superman Returns toys on the Superman Returns page of my other blog "Mikey's Blog of Awesomeness" at this link:
http://mikeysblogofawesomeness.blogspot.ca/p/superman-returns.htmlDC Direct Deluxe 13 inch dolls
Sometime in the mid 2000's DC Comics produced an impressive series of 13 inch dolls for adult doll collectors. These dolls were priced around $80.00 and up, and today tend to sell for over $100. As such I still don't have any of them in my collection. My favourite from this series is Robin, which I think is a perfect doll of the Boy Wonder! Below is a list of all the dolls in this series that I know of. There are 42 of them!
Aquaman
Batgirl, black, yellow and blue outfit
Batgirl, grey, yellow and blue outfit
Batman, blue and grey outfit
Batman, black and grey outfit
Batman Beyond
Batman, Dark Knight movie version
Bizarro
Black Canary
Catwoman, black "leather" outfit
Catwoman, purple outfit, black knee high boots
Flash, Golden Age version (Jay Garrick)
Flash
Joker, comic book version
Joker, Dark Knight movie version
Green Arrow
Green Lantern, Golden Age version (Alan Scott)
Green Lantern, (Hal Jordon) "Green Lantern Corps" version with interchangeable heads
Green Lantern, Hal Jordon (without interchangeable heads)
Harley Quinn
Lex Luthor
Martian Manhunter
Nightwing
Poison Ivy
Power Girl
Robin
Sandman
Sergeant Rock
Shazam
Sinestro
Spirit, The
Supergirl
Superman, Superman Returns movie version
Superman, comic book version
Superman: Kingdom Come
Two Face
V for Vendetta
Watchmen: Comedian
Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan
Watchmen: Rorschach
Wonder Woman
Zatanna
Mattel Retro Action DC Heroes, 8 inch dolls, 2010 - 2011
In 2010 and 2011, Mattel toyed with Mego collector's hopes and dreams when they produced a series of 8 inch dolls in the Mego style that were based on DC Comics characters. Rather than make characters that fans were asking for, Mattel instead pushed secondary characters and several Green Lantern characters into the series (six of the 21 dolls are Green Lantern characters). Only two Batman characters made it into the collection, Batman and Two-Face. As awesome as these dolls are, it's absolutely ridiculous that Mattel didn't bother to make Robin or the Joker for this series, not to mention other A-list characters such as Hawkman. This collection also did not include any vehicles or playsets. On the plus side, the collection did give Mego collectors the long awaited for Flash 8 inch Mego-style doll.
The complete Retro Action series is shown on their own page of this blog:
Teen Titans Go! 10 inch plush doll, unknown manufacturer, c 2015
Following the Teen Titans animated series produced from 2003 - 2008 came a new, more comical series in 2013 titled Teen Titans Go! which is still in production as of 2018 (season 5). Above left is a 10 inch Robin doll based on Teen Titans Go! shown next to the 11 inch Robin doll based on the original Teen Titans series.
Figures Toy Company, 8 inch dolls, 2013
As Robin is my favourite from this set I bought one as an example. It's shown above in the packaging next to the original Mego doll. I haven't yet seen the FTC version out of the packaging, but they seem to be quite well made. In fact they are almost identical to the original Mego dolls with only a few slight differences. The head on the reissued Robin doll is a tad thinner than the Mego version, and the tip of his nose does not point up as much. The black paint for the hair is also applied cleaner around the edges than the Mego version, especially around the ears. The "R" logo on Robin's shirt is painted on rather than a sticker. The skin tone of the doll is also slightly different from the Mego version. Mego stopped producing these dolls 32 years ago, so this reproduction is quite remarkable!
Here is a closer view of the awesome illustration of Robin from the back of the card.
Since this first series was released FTC has produced a long list of DC comics Mego style dolls, which I've documented on the Toy Figures Company page of this blog. Here is a link to that page:
Batman Classic TV Series, Figures Toy Company, 2014
In 2014 Figures Toy Company released 8 inch dolls based on the 1966 live action Batman TV show. As this is a popular collection that is becoming quite extensive I've given the collection their own page on this blog. Here is the link:
DC Classics, 14 inch dolls by Mego, 2019
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
Shazam
Flash
Green Lantern
Aquaman
Black Manta
Lex Luthor
Batgirl
Harley Quinn
Poison Ivy
Zod
Text and Doll Photos © Mike Artelle 2011, 2015
Hey Mikey. Today I purchased a Batman plush that matches your key ring Batman. He's about 15" tall, navy blue cape, sown on eyes, mouth, and the Bat man logo is either a patch, or hand sown on also. I can't seem to find out anything about him on the internet and was wondering what his value is. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHi Julie! It's hard to say what the value is without seeing a picture of it, but even then I might not be much help. There's so much Batman stuff out there these days that I find the value of a collectable really depends on the buyer. If you've done an in depth search online to find a similar Batman doll (including contacting collectors like myself) and it does turn out that your doll is a "hard to find" item, then I would think asking a higher amount for it is reasonable. Though, how high is hard to say, again because there is so much Batman merchandise available. If you're not in a rush to sell it, you could set the price very high and then see how it goes, and if it doesn't sell, then you could lower it later on. For example, if I ever tried to sell my 8 inch Batman keychain doll I'd ask at least $35, as realistically I doubt it's worth more than that. But for a larger "hard to find" doll you could ask more, maybe twice as much or higher. It also depends on how well the doll is made, the condition, if it's complete with store tags or packaging, and what it looks like on display. Hope this helps. Best of luck! :)
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