Figures Toy Co Announces the Release of WGSH Action Figures Series 2

Series 2 includes Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Penguin, and Catwoman

There's been nothing but great news in the toy world this week as Figures Toy Company announces the next release in their Batman Retro Action Figures, which are exact replicas of Mego's old World's Greatest Super Heroes line.

My Mego Shelf Is Feeling Kind Of Bare

Mego Shelves with a focus on the Holy Grail Batman's Wayne Foundation

Collect them all! Yes, I am working on it.

It's day 20 of my 31 Days to a Better Toy Collection Challenge and I've done just about all I can do with the Mego section of the toy room. This the surviving remnants out of all the Mego WGSH toys that I have had in my lifetime and this part of my collection needs some beefing up.

FIGURES TOY COMPANY Begins Pre-Sale of 8 inch Mego Batman Action Figures

Just a day after we shared Figures Toy Co.'s announcement of the release of their reproduction exact replica Mego Batman action figures they have begun pre-selling these awesome retro toys.

Figures Toy Company to Release Batman TV Series and Mego 8 inch figures

 

I am having a Batgasm right now. Can this year get any better?

First with the announcement of Mattel's line of 4 inch Batman TV series action figures and toys and now with Figure Toy Company's announcement of not only Mego Batman related figures, but a line of 8 inch Batman TV series figures.

Let That Be Your Last Retro-Action DC Super Hero

I have been so crazy busy lately and then had to take a bit of a break to re-organize and re-charge. However, have no fear citizens. Your favorite lover of a noble flying rodent and a commonplace backyard bird is still on duty.

My Toy Collecting Origins

I've been collecting toys for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of toys were Gabriel's Lone Ranger and Tonto, Hasbro's G.I. Joe (back when he was just a soldier, not an entire team), and Mego's World's Greatest Super Heroes. Most people say, " You didn't collect toys, you just had toys, just like every other child." But for me, it was different.

1st Trailer For Robot Chicken DC Comics Special

I get a kick out of Robot Chicken's spoofs using toys. Especially, toys from Mego's World's Greatest Super Heroes action figure line. It looks like the Robot Chicken gang are at it again with a special DC Comics edition. Based on the trailer I think it will be hoot and not only are they using Mego figures, but Mattel's Retro Action DC Super Heroes action figures as well. My dream job is one like Toy Hunter, Jordan Hembrough's, but playing with toys and coming up with crazy scenarios wouldn't be a bad second job. The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special airs September 9, 2012.



About the author: John Sholtz is an avid toy collector and the interim editor of the Batcave Toy Room due to the abrupt death of Bruce Wayne. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter at, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin.

You've Never Heard Of The Batcave Toy Room?

About The Batcave Toy Room

Welcome to BatcaveToyRoom.com - a blog that helps collectors expand, restore, and protect their modern and vintage toys.

My name is John Sholtz and I'm an entrepreneur by day and a toy, comic book, and pop culture collector by night. Heck, who am I kidding. I obsess about those things all day long, not just at night.

From Hobby to Obbsession

I guess it has always been more of a obsession than a hobby. As far back as I can remember I have loved toys. From my Hasbro G.I Joe to my Gabriel Lone Ranger to my Kenner Six Million Dollar Man and finally my obsession with Mego's World Greatest Super Heroes and Kenner's Star Wars toys.

Why Batcave Toy Room?

This site is dedicated to collecting vintage and modern Geek Pop Culture and the movies and television series that inspire them. This site is also intended as a photo reference guide to collectors, for them to share their own experiences, and promote the toy collecting medium.

I started it in July 2009 mainly because I wanted to showcase my toy collection. Since then I've added over 500 articles, tips, tutorials, and photos to my archives here.

Since then I've also met an awesome community of toy bloggers who come together to collaborate, help each other expand their collections, and grow the toy collecting community. I have also become a member of The Dork Horde - a group of collectors who loves to talk about toys. If you would like more information on The Dork Horde go HERE.

Subscribe to The Batcave Toy Room

Please stay in touch with what BatcaveToyRoom.com is up to through one of our subscription methods. Also, feel free to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin if you are active on those networks.

Buy my Book

Just kidding. No book yet, but I do one day hope to publish a book of photgraphs of my collection through creative photographs and a collection of essays from myself and other toy collectors that discusses their obession with toys and collectibles.

I hope you enjoy reading The Batcave Toy Room.

About the author: John Sholtz is an avid toy collector and the interim editor of the Batcave Toy Room due to the abrupt death of Bruce Wayne. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter at, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin.

Antiquities: Great For Autographs, Not So Much For Toy Collecting

I love going to Antiquities, the autograph, memorabilia, and collectibles retailer, located at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace. It is there that I have met and obtained the autographs of the likes of Billy Dee Willaims (Lando Calrissan, Harvey Dent), David Prowse (Darth Vader), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett) and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), which I have always dished out the bucks to meet these pop culture icons.

Autographs aside, it is a blast to walk thru the museum like establishment and see the shadow boxed props, costumes, musical instruments, and pieces of written and signed material. Others have quoted the retailer as such:

"I love walking through this place and looking at all of the amazing pieces of memorabilia and rare autographs that are all for sale. You will find anything from a framed Pulp Fiction movie poster signed by the entire cast to a guitar used by Jimi Hendrix in concert. There's even stuff from historical figures like Presidents and other famous people."

"I was so overwhelmed, I really did not want to leave this store."

I agree with these folks and would love to grow the size of The Batcave Toy Room to match Antiquities size and quality of collectibles, but interestingly, in the other reviews I found, no one discusses the vintage toys that can be found there.

Most of the toys there are like they came from The Batcave Toy Room itself. You can see the great amount of Mego's, both carded and boxed specimens, in the display case.

They also had a few Kenner Super Powers Collection action figures. I'd love to add the carded Shazam to my collection.

I once had a Super Friends lunch box. I now only have my Superman lunch box with depicted scenes from the Christoper Reeve film, but I do want get the Super Friends lunch box back in my collection as well.

The one major thing that is missing from my collection is the Kenner Star Wars 12 inch action figures. They had a nice display going there.

Unfortunately, after this picture, one of employees notified me that taking photos was not allowed. There were a lot more vintage Star Wars toys to show among other classic icons from the 70' and 80's.

As I was saying before for autographs I would be all over it, but as for buying toys, not so much. The quality of the toys is great, but the pricing for the items is more that of dead mint specimens. Unless, I really wanted something so bad and was not able to obtain it anywhere else, I would take my chances on the likes of eBay. Nevertheless, visiting the store makes me feel like a boy again. I think I'll go hang out in my toy room for a while.

About the author: John Sholtz is an avid toy collector and the interim editor of the Batcave Toy Room due to the abrupt death of Bruce Wayne. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter at, Facebook, Google+ and Linkedin.

What if Mego Hadn't Passed on Star Wars?

Imagine if Mego hadn't passed on a Star Wars toy line. What would the Star Wars line be like?

Lucasfilm originally wanted Mego to produce the toy line for Star Wars, but passed on the offer. Can you believe that?

After Mego's Planet of the Apes sales floundered after the cancellation of the TV series, Mego felt sci-fi wasn't the way to go. But passing on the line was probably what killed the toy company.

So after Mego's polite no, Lucasfilm staff went right upstairs to Kenner and the rest was history.

After Star Wars was a success Mego bought the licensing rights to almost every sci-fi related TV series or movie there was. Everything from The Black Hole, Buck Rogers, Star Trek, and Flash Gordon. These lines had moderate success, but no where near the success Kenner had with their Star Wars line.

While concentrating on their others properties Mego neglected their world's Greatest Super Heroes line. Never producing a new 8 inch character ever again.

Sales began to decline and one by one the Super Heroes numbers were reduced and Mego eventually went bankrupt.

So what would have happened if Mego had said yes to Star Wars? The Mego Museum has put together a reimagined fantasy Mego catalog for 1978 to answer that question.

You'll be able to take a look at what the Star Wars line might have been like, what characters would have been released to The World's greatest Super Heroes line if there had been another wave, what if Mego had bought licensing for more profitable properties.

I just picked up my copy. If you'd like to get a copy of your very own and fantasize what might have been, pick one up at the Mego Museum HERE.

For more World's Greatest Super Heroes and Star Wars toys check us out.

Check Out This Minty Mego Iron Man

I came across this video of an almost perfect Mego Iron Man on a blister card. Can you imagine opening a box and finding mint condition action figures.

This video is with Scott Adams of the Mego Museum and Benjamin Holcomb, author of The World's Greatest Toys taking a look at Mark Huckabone's vault.

I have never seen one of Mark's booths at any conventions, but I hear they are the best.



Look at all those carded Mego action figures in the background. Gives me goosebumps.

For more Super Hero toys check us out.

The MegoMeet 2010 is Coming Up!

I have always wanted to attend The MegoMeet, but it is just to darn far me to go. I wish it were somewhere like L.A. or my home town of Las Vegas.

What is Mego Meet? Well if you don't know. It is chance for Mego toy collectors to get together to trade and buy parts and action figures, get educated about the Mego corporation and the toys they produced and to meet actual Mego collectors in person rather than just correspond through the Internet.

This years 2010 MegoMeet will be held at The Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Wheeling, West Virginia on June 11 & 12.

If you're a Mego collector or just love toys and you can get away in June go check it out.

For more toy news check us out.

Mint Fresh Case of Mego Action Figures Found

Sorry gang, but not actually a mint fresh case of Mego's. Here's a look at my repro World's Greatest Super Heroes display case. The Mego figures were shipped to retailers in these cases to serve as display cases while on the store shelf. Once the cases were empty they were just tossed out with the rest of the trash. What were they thinking?



This was also before blister cards became all the rage as you can see my case is filled window boxed Super Heroes.



How delicious would it be to find a box of these guys in a warehouse or a basement somewhere? Brand new and never opened- Removable Mask Robin, Superman, Aquaman, Removable Cowl Batman. Oh to dream the impossible dream.



The images that Mego chose for each of the characters came directly from the comics and still gets my heart pounding whenever I see them. The images are still burnt in my memory from trips to Toys R Us and these guys up on the shelf. Whenever I see those images aside from Mego boxes I immediately relate them to the World's Greatest Toys.

For more Super Hero collectibles check us out.

Toy Review: Mattel - Retro-Action DC Super Heroes: Green Arrow

Christmas 2009 was a little like Christmas 1975 for me as for both years a received a Green Arrow. In 1975 I received both a Mego Green Arrow and Aquaman that Christmas, but in 2009 I once again felt the joy I had 35 years ago.


Above you can see Mego Green Arrow and Aquaman in window boxes. In 1975 Mego still sold them in boxes, aside from Kresge blister cards.


Having originally anticipated being able to order the new Retro-Action Green Arrow on December 15, a release date change had squashed that plan. I had to wait a whole week until December 23 to place the order.


To my surprise when I got home from the office Christmas Eve Day I had a package at my front door. It was my Green Arrow! It was only a day later. I didn't I choose express shipping, but nevertheless, there it was.


Green Arrow was delivered in a white box with the Retro-Action DC Super Hero logo printed on it and identifying it as a Green Arrow figure. The packaging is nice, but the blister card was not as crisp and a little flimsy. Not quite was I would expect from Matty Collector, but the card evened out after a while.


A few differences separate the vintage from the new. The vintage had painted black pupils, as all Mego's did, but the new version has solid white eyes, which gives more of a comic book feel.


The original vintage boxes revealed only the packaged characters on the back, but other figures in the series could be seen on the side panels.


The new blister card is reminiscent to the later issue Mego blister cards with other available characters visible on the back. The backs of these blister cards only show the first wave of available figures. I think it would have been cool to see what Mattel has in mind for the other two waves they plan to release.


The front of the blister card is designed similar to the original Mego cards with characters being shown on the front as well, but are the same characters from the back with the exception of Batman, which gives a sneak peek that the Dark Knight will be included in a future wave. It's fun to guess what the new version of Batman will be like. Removable cowl or painted mask. Oven mitt gloves or actual functional hands. My guess is it will have removable cowl and functional hands.



Overall the figure is great. It's like Mego is still producing these figures after all these years and just made a few production changes. I do wish the character name would have stayed in the form of the characters logo rather than just a standard normal font though.


I am so looking forward to the next wave of figures that comes out around Easter 2010. Since Mego fans like Paul Clarke helped Mattel design the new versions I know they are going to be just as great as Green Arrow. I am already counting the days until the Spring release. How about you?

For more Super Hero Toy Collectibles check us out.

Mego Batman Toy Comercial

When Mego's World's Greatest Super Heroes line exploded in popularity, Mego quickly began to produce ancillary toys to add to the excitement of its action figures. The majority of these toys were Batman related, which only made sense as Batman was one of the best selling figures in the line. You can see by this commercial that the 1966Batman television series was a big influence. From the including the Batpole in design of the Batcave. The design of the Batmobile modeled after George Barris' famous creation. Even the music in this commercial is reminiscent to the Batman theme from the TV series. Even the voice over sounds familiar. Holy Adam West!



For more Batman Toys check us out.

Mego Shorts Goes Happy Days

Here is a stop motion video using Mego action figures that I found. It's pretty fun and we get to see a mix of Mego characters. Superman, Batman, Robin, Spiderman, Captain America, The Human Torch, Clark Kent, Riddler, Iron Man, The Thing, The Mummy, Zira from The Planet of the Apes, Kirk, Spock, Gorn, Starsky & Hutch, Fonzie, Ralph, and a pocket hero Spiderman.


For more Batman collectibles check us out.

My Mego World's Greatest Super Hero Wish List

When it comes to the action figure portion of my Mego World's Great Super Heroes collection I am pretty much satisfied. I am not really a completest when it comes to that. Generally, my collection contains items that I have had since I was a kid or items that had as a kid, but had to replace (do to my parents throwing them away, broken, etc). Mainly I am trying to have at least everything I had once owned as a child. My collection of Mego's is pretty much been restored with the exception of a few items.

Mego Batcopter either boxed or carded







Never owned, but would like to own Batman's Batcycle.


I do favor the black version over the blue





Die Cast Incredible Hulk



Never had, but do want to complete the series - Die Cast Spiderman



As you can see I only need to a few more items to satisfy my wants...who am I kidding? Are we collectors ever really satisfied? What's on your wish list?

For more Super Hero collectibles check us out.

Awesome Mego World's Greatest Super Heroes Display

Take a look at these great blister carded Worlds Greatest Super Heroes. What a collection!


For more toy collectibles check us out.

Mego: Removable Mask Robin

Well, I have shown you my Removable Cowl Batman and one caped crusader with a removable mask deserves another. And who else, but the Boy Wonder himself, Robin should get the honor.



Yes, Mego Robin's (like Batman's cowl) originally had a removable mask. These figures are known as "Removable Mask" or "RM" Robin figures. The masks were removable and revealed Robin's alter ego underneath as Dick Grayson. The Removable Mask Robin was only produced for a few months as the separate mask was eliminated and a painted one was put in its place. Although Batman's cowl remained removable a little while longer, Mego eventually went the same route with the Dark Knight.



I do not own or do I think I ever owned an original Removable Mask Robin. As I didn't own any Mego's until the age of three and those versions of the RM Robin's had been discontinued. My "RM" Robin is a type I Robin with body and suit original. The head is an original Dick Grayson head, which Mego later released as part of the Montgomery Ward's Christmas exclusive, but the mask is a repro courtesy of Dr Mego.



You got to have a "RM" Robin with a "RC" Batman as part of your collection. They're just not the Dynamic Duo without each either.



Don't they look great together in the Batmobile. How could Mego ever have done such a thing as paint their masks on? Holy mix up! What were they thinking?

For more Batman collectibles check us out.

My First Mego: Removable Cowl Batman

Since it's January 1 st I thought we would look at what I think was my first Mego action figure. I have been a Batman Fan for as long as I can remember. The family joke is "Batman" was my first word. I don't remember exactly how I became a Batman Fan or how I began my interest in Mego World's Greatest Super Heroes action figures or how I began watching the TV Series starring Adam West, but it's kind of like what came first, the chicken or the egg? Because really I don't know what came first. I don't know if the love of the TV show lead to the love of toys or vice versa.

By far, my favorite Mego action figure is the removable cowl Batman. My earliest memory of receiving this fantastic toy is that my Dad had brought it home after work one day. I was about three years old, but I don't remember if I wanted it or my Dad saw it and thought I might like. But either way it's my pride and joy.



The removable cowl is the first version of the toy released by Mego. Later Mego would change it to a painted version (something they would do for the Robin figure as well first). Originally, the mask could be removed to reveal Bruce Wayne underneath. These figures are known as the "Removable Cowl" or "RC" Batman figures among collectors. Mego only produced these version from 1972 to 1973. You can see the removable mask Robin as well below.

During the early release of the cloth costumed comic characters, Mego figures had body suits that had stirrups. As you can see below I have an early stirrup version suit. Stirrup suits also have what is known as "skinny boots" I don't know what became with the skinny boots for this figure. Mine just have the normal boots found on all later versions of the figures.



The Mego version of the Dark Knight was the most popular of all World Greatest Super Hero characters. It sold from the very beginning to the end of line when Mego went out of business. The Batman characters also had the most accessories, such as the Batmobile (seen below).



Hopefully without bias, since Batman is my favorite comic book character,the removable cowl Batman is one the favorite parts of my collection.

For more Batman collectibles check us out.