Boy what a productive day! Not outside mind you… Northern Arkansas was in a deep freeze for the past 24 hours and looks to stay that way for another day at least. Oh well I had a ton of fun getting some things done around the house. Early Spring cleaning if you will.
Another fun thing today was the creation of the Mego-TV Schedule and YouTube playlist. I’ve been “tuned in” all day and I gotta tell ya, it’s some mighty fine programming with a good balance in its makeup. At the time of this writing I’m watching the Mirror. Mirror episode of Star Trek (11P CST) and it just seems right. As I have time I do believe I will flush out the other 6 days worth of playlists just for the heck of it. Modern technology rocks!
Also had the most wonderful call this early evening from my pal Ben. He and I became friends by way of the Forum over at the Mego Museum. Such a super nice guy that is great for giving and receiving a laugh or two or three. Thanks for calling buddy, I really enjoyed our chat.
Been a fantastic and full day but have a handful of other things I want to wrap up before the day is through. But before I go don’t forget 1. Enter to win a free S-Type body and 2. Go pre-order your Sea Ghost now!
Retro Television coupled with Retro Toys? I’d call that a merchandising win! Follow along with me on this adventure into the possibilities of a TV Network if it were populated by programs and movies directly connected in some way or another with the Mego Corporation.
Quick DTV Lesson: When the feds mandated that all television stations in the country swap from analog to digital video transmissions they sweetened the pie by allowing each of those stations to have an initial 4 sub-channels with the potential to add more on the cheap.
In a perfect world where you have clear reception the standard three television stations in a market virtually became twelve stations overnight. Sounds like Cable and satellite could have a problem with that many free options for folks, with the exception of one thing: CONTENT.
The problem now is that you have 4 stations to fill with 24 hours of programming 7 days a week. Thankfully many new television networks popped up such as: MeTV, Antenna TV, and Cozi. While different but the same each provide a wonderful and wide variety of classic television shows. Here is where I think Marty Abrams starting his own Retro- TV network is a totally fantastic idea. In essence he’s already done it.
Mego fans are well aware of the foresight and ingenuity that Mr. Abrams had when it came to marketing. For more direct references and examples of that fact let me point you toward the greatest place on the cyber planet: The Mego Museum and it’s most impressive library.
A visit through the galleries and you can easily see why I think Marty would be great at putting together a classic television network folks would love. Sure a lot of these shows are airing again thanks to the aforementioned channels but imagine a 24 hour a day Mego Toys inspired channel: Let’s Play with a schedule….
Of the schedule above I think my most favorite parts come from the Sunday morning blocks tied around Mego’s Western Heroes, Pirates, Knights and Robin Hood. Also using the Mad Monsters as a basis for a regular Midnight Monster Movie slot seemed only fitting. I actually want to tune in to this TV station and chill out for a week.
Hopefully in the near future I’ll put together those infomercials you see on the schedule to bring this network to life so to speak. In the meantime somebody get Marty Abrams on the horn and see if he wants to get in the TV business.
Now, Go Play!
Jim 03/03/14
UPDATE: Perhaps this is getting out of hand but I had to play a little more… below is what you could come to expect from Mego-TV on a Monday. I used full episodes where possible but the short stuff otherwise…
Watch the video for the short take and then read on for the long drawn out review you know and love me for
(rate and comment if you would so kind as well)
Who it is
Old Man Action Figure? Maybe. But he’s still cooler than Flash Gordon.
Commander Adama from Bif Bang Pow’s Battlestar Galactica line of 8 inch classic style cloth costumed action figures.
Where it Came From
Yeah I grew a beard, but I’m better now.
This particular specimen came as a gift from my Mego MuseumSecret Santa. Man I love that place.
Why I’m writing this:
When your feeling old, hang out with an old guy.
I loved this show as a kid. It was Star Wars but better because it was on TV every week! The toys had already gotten a bad rap because of the one kid who just had to choke on a missile but what ya gonna do? Plus outside of the ships which were not in scale with the figures, Mattel really created some boring and bland looking toys. But honestly, had Mego gotten the license I don’t think we would have seen anything much better.
The company had already moved away from the magical 8 inch format and was focusing on the new more cost effective, but poorly detailed, 3 and three quarter inch line as well. But that was then this is now.
Bif Bang Pow has once again fixed this gaff in my childhood by picking up the 8 inch retro ball and running with it. And while all 4 figures released so far (I consider the variant cylons as one figure) the leader of the pack is simply awes
Why it is I have a strange fascination with “Old Guy” figures is beyond me but I dig ‘em. And this particular figure is really sweet. Not only is he the heroic leader of the colonists, with the weight of his entire civilization on his shoulders, it’s also Lorne Greene man, in 8 inch form! But that doesn’t come without some critiques of the final product. But as always I like to look at the positive side of life first…ome to me.
The Good.
Layers, layers, layers! And accessories!
Moving away from my fan boy gushing I would like to draw your attention to the costume. If anything Bif Bang Pow does remarkably well is the layered look. As I pointed o
ut in my review of Dr. Orpheus from the Venture Bros. line I really appreciate what all is going on here in regards to really adding value for your buck. With a retail price tag of $22.99 it’s nice to get more than just a hunk of plastic. Let’s break him down shall we?
The Bad
Pale, Nekkid Old People. Yeah, I got issues.
My biggest gripe is the flesh tone. Commander Adama was never this pale. Watching clips from the show you see that Poppa Joe still had his radiant tan that was earned while riding the range at the Pondarosa Ranch, despite being sealed up on Galactica. This pale face look is what I believe takes away from the likeness of the sculpt. Also to note the paint for the hair color is wrong. But then again if the hair was the proper shade of white versus the grey that was used this Adama would look more like a Jedi ghost and we wouldn’t want to open up that copyright can of worms now would we?
The Ho-Hum
he card art is cool but honestly it bores me to tears. Each of the figures uses the exact same card back with the only deviation being the name and UPC sticker applied over the bottom corner. While I understand the need to cut costs to keep these dollies affordable I still feel just a little cheated here. Not enough to not buy the figure but the sameness of the cards doesn’t enforce my compulsive need to purchase two of each (one to keep carded and the other to open). Again this is more of a ho hum gripe than a real problem. One thing I do like however is that the card is compact in size like the latter series of Venture Brothers figures.
Front name stickerBack UPC stickerTHow I would have preferred the card to be. Back to Front.
During the Shoot
As I was taking the pictures and video for this review a few things popped out. Well actually needed to be popped in. I thought the figures head looked a little odd in the packaging. As if Adama was trying to bury his chin deeply into his pimpin’ turtleneck. During the strip down I quickly noticed that the head was actually not all the way in the body. It was a quick fix and added a lot for the figures presentation.
Dig them threads. Or not.
Also to note there are a lot of threads hanging bout on the sleeves and pant legs of the now exposed cuffs on the body suit. Of course these are well hidden when the figure is fully assembled. Speaking of which, it was a bit of a bear in layering him back up. The sleeves and pant legs were quick to bunch up when booting the boots and overcoat back on.
I did like that you could adjust the cape to lay over the shoulder. Observing the figure from in the package I assumed that it was held in place with Velcro tabs. I’m happy to report that’s not the case. There is actually a strand of the silver ribbon / piping serving as the tie. Nice touch if you ask me.
In Conclusion
I got your mic. Now what papaw?
This line has taken some hard pot shots on the web and in some cases rightfully so. With that said however I won’t say that you shouldn’t buy this figure. If your like me you can appreciate what all is going right with it. However if you haven’t been bitten by the 8 inch classic style bug then I think you’d be much happier avoiding this line and cutting your teeth on a much more visually pleasing line such as the Venture Bros. Now, Go Play! – Jim 1/2/2012
Get yours today straight from the source at Entertainment Earth! Be sure to tell ‘em Jim sent ya!
Another fun thing today was the creation of the Mego-TV Schedule and YouTube playlist. I’ve been “tuned in” all day and I gotta tell ya, it’s some mighty fine programming with a good balance in its makeup. At the time of this writing I’m watching the Mirror. Mirror episode of Star Trek (11P CST) and it just seems right. As I have time I do believe I will flush out the other 6 days worth of playlists just for the heck of it. Modern technology rocks!
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