Small Sundays: Mego Spider-Man

After a longer-than-planned hiatus, I thought I’d return to Small Sundays (and Great Caesar’s Post!), with one of my favorite and most-prized possessions: Mego Spider-Man.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know the Mego Corporation had a near-complete corner on the action-figure market in the 70s — the only other real competition were Kenner’s Star Wars figures — and produced licensed figures based on everything from comic book characters to Star Trek to popular TV shows. The dolls (sorry, guys — they’re dolls) were 8 inches high and featured real cloth costumes, which is what really impressed me. And while I might’ve lost a lot of childhood toys to negligence and fate over the years, Spidey has never been treated with less than loving care.

Except.

Except, there’s something about this Mego Spider-Man.  Something just a little bit … off. Can you figure it out? Let’s hear it, you Ben Urichs — what is Spider-Man’s secret?

Small Sundays: The Flash

Note: Holy smoke — Flash ran so fast his face melted! Is it Barry? Wally? Bart?!? Actually, it’s the last of a trio of figures including Wonder Woman and Aquaman that I found as promotional items in bags of potato chips in Mexico. Which, of course, means Mexico is winning the Promotional Items Arms Race.

Small Sundays: Iron Man

Note: Tony, no!!

Small Sundays: Plastic Man

Note: When I bought the grab bag this was in, I got it for this figure alone . (I ended up putting the rest right back in the donation box on the way out.) Poor Plas had seen some action, and was covered in crayon and diligently placed staples from head to toe.  And by “diligently,” yes, I do mean at least one in the ass.

I forgot to check the details on the back of the figure, but I’m pretty sure this is from a Happy Meal/The Brave and the Bold tie-in, which makes it the happiest meal ever!

Small Sundays: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Note: Amazingly, this figure is still in good shape, and still includes the original vinyl cape and tiny blue lightsaber it came with. Do you know how hard it is NOT to lose that tiny blue lightsaber?

Small Sundays: Wonder Woman

Note: While it might be true that Princess Diana has seen better days, you might recognize this figure as a companion piece to Hook-hand Aquaman.

Small Sundays: Three Caballeros Donald

Note: Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! Here’s a clip from the original Three Caballeros movie, and remember — it’s not just a day for beer and barbecues. Viva Puebla! Viva Mexico!

Small Sundays: The USS Constitution in pursuit of the pirate ship Sea Nymph

Note: When Pirates of the Spanish Main was released in 2004, I was super-excited by it. Not only was it centered on pirate ships and other sailing vessels , it scratched that model-making itch by giving players cards to punch out so you could build the ships yourself. The game mechanics made for fast-paced, table-top play with easy movement, but more importantly provided what players really wanted — an easy way to pretend to blow the hell out of each other with booming cannons. Sadly, the model boat version was discontinued after a few years, and then later relaunched as a card-only game.

And hey, kids! Did you know the USS Constitution is a real ship? And a pretty famous one, at that. I got to see her during a trip to Boston, and I’d recommend it if you ever have the chance to take a look at Old Ironsides yourself. (If you just can’t wait, there’s a virtual tour available, too.)

Small Sundays: Robot: Orange

Note: It’s hard to tell without any scale reference, but this is one of the smallest figures I have, coming in at around 1.25 inches.

Small Sundays: Captain Kirk