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Mego Comic Action Heroes
and Pocket Heroes
Posted 9/13/00
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| Most people believe
that the first 3 3/4" figures to hit the markte were by Kenner - Star
Wars. However, the Mego toy company had them beat by several
years. In 1975, they produced the first line in this diminutive size
- little did they know how popular this new format would become over the
next 10 years. |
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The first line the produced was
called the Comic Action Heroes, and contained licensed characters from
both the DC and Marvel universe. In 1978, they followed this up with
the Pocket Heroes, an almost identical concept. The only crucial
difference - other than name and packaging of course - was that the Pocket
Heroes came with straight legs, while the CAH came with legs bent at the
knees. For the majority of the figures, the molds for the heads,
torsos and arms were reused. |
| In the CAH line, 12 different
figures were produced. These included Wonder Woman (with lasso),
Aquaman, Spiderman, Shazam, Green Goblin (with shoulder bag), Batman (with
batarang/rope), Joker (with cane), Penguin (with umbrellas), Superman,
Robin (the same batarang/rope as Batman), Hulk, and Captain America
(with shield). Each also came with a small, orange stand, not
included with the Pocket Heroes line. Finding loose figures with
these accessories is very difficult - they were designed to be lost within
seconds of opening the package. |
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Quite a number of playsets and
vehicles were also produced. Batman got to have a Batmobile, and
Batcopter, while Superman was given a terrific Fortress of Solitude.
Wonder Woman had the Invisible Jet, Spiderman got a Spidercar, and even
Green Goblin got a vehicle called the Mangler. The Exploding Bridge
Playset, pictured to the left, included the Batmobile and several
figures. The Joker's intent was to blow up the bridge as Batman and
Robin passed through, using the plunger device. Finding one of these
plungers in good shape in a loose set is very hard, due to it's fragile
construction. The plunger (also called an 'activator') also came
with the Invisible Jet playset, and the Fortress of Solitude. |
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Here you can see the obvious
difference between the legs of the Pocket Heroes (straight) and Comic
Action Heroes (bent)
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| For the Pocket
Heroes line, the orange stands were dropped. Also, three figures
were not carried over - Penguin, Joker and Shazam. Instead, with the
Superman movies popular, three other figures were added - General Zod, Jor-El
and Lex Luthor.
Finding nice, carded examples of these
figures has become increasingly difficult, and even loose figures are
getting tougher to come across. In greatest demand however, are the
vehicles and playsets, and some - like the Mangler - will take a lot of
patience and work to find. But they are certainly worth the effort,
and are another fine example of Mego's ingenuity and talent in making toys
with terrific looks and play value. |
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The gang, just hanging out around the
Fortress.
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