Growing up, I never had any of the classic Mego figures – the 8″ dolls with real cloth clothing based on pop culture icons of the time. I did have the 3¾” DUKES OF HAZZARD figures that Mego produced, but that was toward the end of their run, when lines like STAR WARS and G.I. JOE were hitting a new generation of kids like me with what would become the most popular format of pocket-sized figures. But for that generation before me, those 8″ dolls were a huge deal, and they’ve stayed popular for decades, resulting in their revival through companies like EMCE Toys, Diamond Select Toys, Mattel and Figures Toy Company. I recently came across a commercial for a 1970s collection of BATMAN vehicles and playsets that’s pretty fantastic. Four decades before Ben Affleck would don the cape and cowl to chase down a Lamborghini-driving Jared Leto as THE JOKER, kids were rockin these pretty sweet toys that were largely based on the 1966 BATMAN series and later cartoons…
In 2015, it’s Figures Toy Company that’s carrying the BATMAN license, with Mego-inspired versions of a ton of characters from the 1966 BATMAN series to DC Comics’ SUPER POWERS, JUSTICE LEAGUE and more. Entertainment Earth stocks an abundance of these figures and accessories, including lines based on DUKES OF HAZZARD, GILLIGAN’S ISLAND, DALLAS, EVEL KNIEVEL, and the mighty KISS.
Figures Toy Company also has a new line of superhero figures on the way that are packaged in “Kresge-style” cards – the kind you would’ve found at S.S. Kresge stores way back when… the company that evolved into Kmart.
