It’s not exactly a new concept — giving characters who never made it into the original Mego line a modern Mego-styled figure, but you have to give Diamond some respect — when they go retro, they go all in.
Earlier this year, Diamond Select partnered with EMCE to revisit the World’s Greatest Heroes line and started with Spider-Man. It’s tough to gauge something as fickle as opinion on the Internet, but the impression was overall kinda “meh” on that selection. The set looked great, with a straight-up Mego reproduction suit, a modernized one, and a Peter Parker outfit, but Mego Spidey is a bit of a survivor — I’ve seen decent loose ones for around $30 — with only the minty ones fetching a lot of money. The Captain America set followed the same formula and added a WWII uniform for Cap Rogers. I might have to get that eventually.
Wolverine, on the other hand, didn’t have a vintage figure. So Diamond made their own take with “Dr. Mego” himself at the helm, depicting Wolverine in his blue and yellow suit with a removable mask. Rounding out the set, they also crafted a more modern (depending who you ask) brown suit and a Logan getup.
The box presentation is really nice, giving a good look at all the gear, and it includes a smaller, slick little reproduction window box, like the vintage figures.
Now, I came a little too late for Mego, being a child of the ’80s and all. But the charm of this style is undeniable. Hence, I don’t own many, but I have grabbed some of these newer-age 8-inch figures as they’ve come along, so I do have some idea of what’s changed from the originals. And Diamond has gone to lengths here to preserve that, down to the rubber bands holding him together. If you were expecting some of the newer additions, like bicep cuts and the like, or being able to hold poses, you might be a little bummed.
In fact, the only downside to this “classic toy for collectors” angle is that it’s a damn shame hardly any of these figures will actually get used as toys. The interchangeable uniforms, the soft goods, the almost bendy quality of the figure itself — Mego was top of their game in cheap, efficient toys. So it does feel a little weird to take a figure that (hypothetically in Wolverine’s case) sold at under $3 at Woolworths and turn it into a specialty-shop exclusive for around $75 on the modest end.
Anyway, that’s not to detract from the labor of love this clearly was. In the classic uniform, Wolverine has the clunky but surprisingly functional mask, great spandex colors and screen-print stripes, and the obligatory Mego-style mitts and boots. It all works fairly well for what it is, though I recommend stuffing some tape into the gloves to keep them in place a little better — there’s no pegs inside. It’s not hard at all to imagine this figure among the vintage ones. Accurate or not, though, I’ve always hated mittens.
Next up is the Brown uniform. Here we dispense with the mitts and go with much better articulated hands and pleather sleeves. The head for this suit is a molded-on masked version, which helps his looks, as you would expect. I’m a little uncertain about the colors choices here, though. It seems like the vibrant orange was a little odd for a look we usually think of as the tan/brown costume. The mask’s more muted orange, while not a clean match, would have been preferable, at least in my opinion. Though a case could be made for it, I’m sure. My Famous Covers Wolverine is certainly more yellow than I remembered…
And that’s definitely one area this tops the otherwise very cool-for-their-time ToyBiz versions — the scale. Being a true Mego size, he may not be shorter than the others, but at least he ain’t taller. And it finally gives my ToyBiz Sabretooth some gravitas. If you’re big enough, you can even be intimidating in footie pajamas.
Lastly, there was the outfit I was most excited about from a fodder standpoint — the Logan gear. It looks really good, but functions… not as well. The fabrics used are excellent, from the denim to the ribbed material of his shirt to the tough faux leather of his jacket.
On the figure, though, it’s hard to get them to work naturally. The stiff jacket fights the already tough-to-pose arms, and the jeans just don’t quite look as good in use, though that’s something even 1:6 scale struggles with. The motorcycle boots are a great touch, and you can probably tuck them under the pants instead of into them, but I don’t mind this look. And the Logan head is really well done, with some additional detail and a more stoic face but sadly doesn’t work well with the mask — the hair is a little pointy. Again, you could probably make a go of it, but I didn’t feel like damaging the mask.
This is a tough set for me to rate as far as recommendations go. I knew worst-case scenario I would be getting some nice uniforms, and I’m certainly not let down in that regard. As a collectible, there’s a lot going for it, and in truth, compared to other similar lines, it’s not overly priced for what you get, though I would’ve never gone for it over the retail price. For a Mego fan, it’s either going to be a missing piece your collection has needed for decades, or it’s an affront to legitimate vintage figures that has no place among your classics. For the casual enthusiast, or somebody just looking for a retro fix, I think there’s far less expensive options, such as the bigger ToyBiz one. Silly as it is, it’s still a helluva toy 20+ years later and will cost you a third of the price of this set.
But if the price is okay, and the expectations are correct, this set is begging to be played with. Because that’s what the Megos of old did best.
