Action Re-Action: Mego returns to action figure toys

Legendary toymaker Mego Corp. has returned to the world of injection molded action figures.

Great Neck, N.Y.-based Mego made the comeback official in July at San Diego Comic-Con. Original Mego chairman Marty Abrams was joined at the event by NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath. Mego made a Namath figure in 1970 and produced a new one exclusively for Comic-Con.

"This has been 30 years in the making," Abrams said in a news release. "I'm excited to give my loyal fans and their kids something new and amazing to play with.

"We wanted to recreate a line that provides that nostalgic feeling of seeing a display of action figures they had as a child, and to share that with their own children."

First, some background, Mego became an iconic toymaker in the 1970s when it licensed superhero characters from DC Comics and Marvel Comics and made a line of 8-inch-tall action figures that now are revered by collectors for their attention to detail and for their ability to be posed.

Other successful 8-inch figure lines made by Mego included figures based on "Star Trek," "Happy Days," "Starsky & Hutch" and the "Wizard of Oz." The firm also made several lines of smaller action figures — including the Micronauts — and even 12-inch-high figures of the rock band Kiss, Sonny & Cher and Captain & Tenille before filing for bankruptcy in 1982.

In more recent years, the Mego superhero figures have found new pop culture homes in Twisted Mego Theater — a feature in ToyFare magazine — and on Cartoon Network's "Robot Chicken" show. Some of these adaptations are entertaining, but they're not exactly kid-friendly.

Mego's new action figure line will be carried exclusively by Target stores. The character selection is all over the place, including not only DC characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn, but also characters from "Star Trek," "Charlie's Angels," "Married with Children," "Happy Days," "The Brady Bunch," "The Facts of Life" and "Cheers."

Yes, "Cheers." Mego is making a figure of bar regular Norm Peterson, complete with a tiny beer mug. Collectors can combine him with new Mego figures of classic rock star Jimi Hendrix and legendary vampire Dracula for one heck of a party scene.

("Jimi Hendrix and Dracula walk into a bar. Norm's already there …")

In true toy fashion, Mego-style figures never really went away. Figures Toy Co. and Mattel Inc. each have been making similar figures for several years, complete with Mego-style packaging, for the collectors' market.

But now Mego itself is back on the scene, making its figures at locations in China and Mexico. For middle-aged nerds, life is good.