REVIEW: The Power of FIGURES TOY COMPANY’S Five Massive Megos

Batman, Robin, the Joker, the Riddler and Superman are a triumph way beyond any expections.

Like the Colossus of Rhodes — they stand tall over my collection.

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Like the Titan of Braavos — they proclaim the strength and power of the city-state of Megodom.

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Figures Toy Company‘s 18-inch figures are here: All five of them and they are a dazzling sight to behold.

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All pix by Sam Greenfield

 

I wrote recently how ambivalent I was about these figures. For me, 8-inch figures were long the standard and 18-inch Megos just seemed too … much. But these kept calling my name.

Now, seeing them up close — especially all together — is breathtaking to a guy weaned on the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes. These aren’t action figures — they’re monuments.

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Unlike virtually every other action figure I own, I don’t plan on removing these from their boxes — because the almost two-foot-tall containers are pieces of art in and of themselves: Blister packaging never moved me quite like the Mego window box. Even as a kid, I remember seeing the carded figures and being vaguely disappointed. Why? No idea. The heart wants what the heart wants.

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And my heart wanted these. Once they got here, it was like a birthday only I felt 40 years younger. Each came wrapped in tissue paper, so it was even like opening a gift. I actually gasped when I saw Robin and Riddler up close, such is the fealty to the originals. Batman, Joker and Superman are superb too, but those first two are startling.

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Seeing these figures at this scale is overwhelming and exciting. I’m not overstating it.

And placing all five in a row over a set of shelves, fronted by their 8-inch brethren — and fronted still again by the even-smaller Mattel Batman ’66 figures — is practically intoxicating to a fan like me.

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As I implied earlier, if you’re looking for a review that looks at articulation, look elsewhere. These items, in my mind, are meant to be looked at as they were shipped.

The boxes themselves are fine — if gigantic — reproductions of the originals, taking into account the changes in company trade dress and so forth.

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The color schemes are spot on, though Robin‘s blue is a little darker than the original. And Batman‘s logo is one of the standard comics logos of the time, as opposed to Mego‘s slightly altered version. So what, though. Seriously — so what.

Like most of Figures Toys‘ output, the stock art is not the same as the originals — except Batman is pretty damn close, using one of Carmine Infantino‘s classic poses, as opposed to the Megoized version. Superman appears to be either a Vince Colletta image or maybe Colletta over Curt Swan, or maybe it’s George Tuska. The rest typically feature the usual, standard DC/WB-approved retro-style art.

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Other characters — including a non-original like Bizarro — make cameos on the sides of the boxes. That of course, begs the question of — as a lot of people have been wondering online — what will come next, if anything.

As anything in life, if people buy (these retail for $100 each), the company will keep making. Basic law of economics. If all goes well, the next two likely additions to the line would be Aquaman and Shazam!

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And if all goes well, I will be making room for more plastic titans on my shelves.

Brilliant.

So enjoy more pix:

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Author: Dan Greenfield

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2 Comments

    • I remember that! Still have my original from childhood, but it’s taken as much of a beating as I have. 🙂

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