  |  |
|
| |||
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
 Welcome to Collector's Corner: Featuring Mego Toys *As the owner and operator of MegoCentral.com Robert Acquarulo brings his vast knowlege of Mego action figures to our readers. *Robert will be answering questions on Mego figures and related topics. |
| |
|
| |||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to Collector's Corner: Featuring Mego Toys *As the owner and operator of MegoCentral.com Robert Acquarulo brings his vast knowlege of Mego action figures to our readers. *Robert will be answering questions on Mego figures and related topics. |
Even more so was his cost cutting ways, the way he watched where every penny went had a lot to do with his domination of Aisle 7 for just about a decade. Marty even went so far as to build his own factory in Hong Kong after getting tired of outsourcing. With frequent trips to the Orient, Marty was not afraid to get his hands dirty while he learned the ins and outs of the business. Always thinking he could do better than his competition, and much of the time doing just that, Marty came up with a lot of cost saving ideas. One such idea was to reuse existing molds and playsets in order to get more bang for his buck. Talk about stretching a dollar! He would constantly refreshen packaging in an effort to always keep things looking fresh on the shelves and remember people, this was back in the 1970's. Marty was writing the book as he went along which is still in use today. Some industry insiders even go so far as saying that Marty was part showman and part toy exec. I would agree whole heartedly. Add to this his being one of the first to utilize blister card packaging, regional warehousing ( the goal here was to get product to store shelves before his competition ) and what you have amounts to one very shrewd buisnessman not to mention sales in the tens of millions of dollars in the early to mid 70's.
Below are three such examples of his reusing of existing playsets.
Visit MegoCentral.com
COLLECTOR'S CORNER QUESTION AND ANSWER: JOE NAMATH!
QUESTION:
HELLO, I'M CURIOUS, WHAT DOES THE JOE NAMATH 12" BOXED SELL FOR? THANKS,
VINCE(LAS VEGAS)
ANSWER:
The Mego Corporation learned a valuable lesson from the poor selling Joe Namath doll. Shortly after the doll went in to production, then President Marty Abrams sat helplessly as he watched his star football player lay injured on the football field. Marty vowed never again to place all his eggs in to a property such as an athlete that could get injured and tank at retail.
As for prices, loose specimens command up to $100.00 on the secondary market while mint in boxed can go as high as $200.00 depending on condition. With a little patience, deals can be had.
Rob
Megocentral
SUPERHERO RIDES: MORE ON PACKAGING VARIATIONS!
Well people, it's about that time. With the start of a brand new year I couldn't think of a better way than to continue with our packaging variation theme, this time concentrating on:
and
. Unlike the Batcycle, Batmobile and Batcopter which were released on cards and in boxes, these three vehicles were only released in a box with absolutely no packaging variations. It's one and done. It would have been nice to have photoboxes and platform cards ( still my beating heart ) along with these sketch boxes but either way, these are at the top of many want lists and I think once you see them you'll know why. Each vehicle came equiped with its own feature which in turn made the kids eat them up. I know cause I was one of them! The net on the Spider-Mobile drops down to catch criminals, the Captain Americar features a pop up "deflector shield" while the Greenarrow car has "missile firing action". What kid wouldn't love to open these up on Christmas morning. The best part is that parents loved their very affordable $6.99 price tag as did retailers who paid just $38.40 per dozen! Talk about a win win situation all around.
Secondary market values have come down a bit over the past 10 years but as usual, high grade packaging still commands big dollars which can be quite the challenge to obtain. Both the Spider-Mobile and the Captain Americar can be had mint in box for anywhere between $150.00 - $250.00 depending on condition. The Greenarrow Car is the stand out, commanding the most money out of the three especially if it comes complete with its two " blunt nosed firing arrows" which are close to impossible to find loose along with its windshield that is frequently missing. Expect complete boxed specimens to realize between $275.00 - $400.00 on the open market.
The Mego Worlds Greatest Superhero line was and always will be in a class by itself. Judging by the mail I recieve, lots of new collectors are jumping on the bandwagon which is great to see. Both community message boards here at AFTimes and also at Megocentral have never been better. Sharing your newly bought toys with other collectors is what makes collecting even more enjoyable because lets face it , collecting alone isn't much fun. Come over and show us your new toys, share what you got for Christmas or better yet, tell us what you're looking for, maybe we can help. Collecting is not a spectators sport so get involved. Remember, above all, Mego Lives!!
See more MEGO at MegoCentral.com
MEGO Q AND A!
Question
Message: I just got handed a couple of Mego 1974 Star Trek figures, now
being somewhat familiar with the Mego Line (at one point as a child in the 70's I had the bridge crew and Klingon, plus the PoA line - and two sets, the PoA village and the Enterprise bridge set) I know about how much they're worth off card and on...
But here's my real question - the cards are very badly damage, the bubbles
are also badly damaged, however the figures are dead on mint, as far as I can tell. Should I keep them on the damaged cards or open the figures and place them in an archival storage box of some kind? I know that the older Megos have problems with the plastic deteriorating (I've purchased two vintage Galen/Corneilius and both their legs broke in very light play). Will the 70's era smashed bubbles harm the mint figures inside?
Thanks.
William
Answer:
Hi William,
Let's start off with talking about the damaged packaging your Star Trek
figures are currently in. Leaving them in smashed bubbles won't harm the figure unless of course the plastic from the bubble is touching the figure. The Mego Corporation, while trying to cut costs, switched to inexpensive plastics at the end of the 1970's. This caused many of the figures heads to turn grey almost by the time they left the factory according to Marty Abrams, then Mego Corp President. Free radicals, sunlight and humidity ( not to mention dust, my mortal enemy ) are the real culprits regarding deterioration. As long as you store them in a cool dark place you should have no problems. As far as values are concerned, if the cards are in the poor condition you describe, they'll be worth pretty much what a loose figure is booked at. Secondary market values will fall around the $60.00mark per crew member. Needless to say, 2nd and 3rd series Aliens will run you much more so start saving your pennies. Hope this helps and remember,
Mego Lives!
Robert
Megocentral.com
|
