Mego Batman was my first toy I truly loved. Thanks for bringing back memories of 4 year old me playing with my batcave on the shag carpet in the living room watching Adam West!
I still have my Batcave that I got in 1974 minus the Bat Computer and the battery cover for the Bat Signal. It also was an incredible storage unit, because I could fit (with some difficulty) all my Mego superheroes in the folded up Batcave. I credit that fact for my having almost all the accessories for my Megos almost 50 years on.
I was a huge fan of Batman. Got this for my birthday in 74. It was as iconic as you say. I loved it with hours of play over years. I was a strange kid and never asked for the mego bat mobile. (Had other versions) I knew parents only had so much cash. But I did get batcopter and cycle as well as the mobile crime lab one summer when it was on sale. I was gentle with my toys but they were played with a lot. Mom tried to preserve the bat cave but it bit the dust in the late 80s as the vinyl and cardboard had just deteriorated so much sitting in a somewhat warm closet. The bad computer and bat signal with battery cover still survive.
This is great. I mean it. My grandfather worked in a toy store and I would go into work with him and I can honestly say I had, at one time, EVERY SINGLE item you have showed. EVERY ONE. Even the Super-Gals. The Batcave. All the Apes stuff, too. Keep up the GREAT work!
As much as the 80's plastic playsets are held as the pinnacle of toys (and they are awesome), but these are my most loved ones. With the vinyl floormats (and accessories) and even simple cardboard backgrounds coming in second. Now if they had only combined the two later on, what massive all-encompasing settings could have been created.
These videos are amazing for me. Looking back at some of the most memorable toys I had. Some of the best memories surrounding them. Going into Toys R Us as a little boy with Mom and Dad. I can remember seeing the, hanging up. So many iconic figures. We also had another Toy store. A smaller store down the road from Toys R Us. It was called Toy Country🇺🇸USA🇺🇸 and unlike Kay•Bee•Toyz & Toys R Us I don't remember this store having a chain of them. I remember the "manager" who I learned later was the owner. He was a great guy especially if you're a kid looking for a action figure. For a while in 1978 much of the Toys switched from the 6"-7" Superheroes to the 3.75" Star Wars figures. There was one particular little guy I could not find ANYWHERE! They were the Jawas. The little scavengers on Tattooine who sold Luke's Uncle R2-D2 and C3-P0. FINALLY one day my parents stopped there on the way home from brunch/lunch? We ate at the local IHOP, or The International House of🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞PANCAKES🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞. I loved their 🐷🐽Ham🐽🐷 &🧀Cheese🧀Omelets!🧀 Anyway I can remember this day so vividly. He had a spinning rack of pegs where the Star Wars figures hung. He said go check the top rack. I did, doubtful there was anything I needed or wanted, and POOF there they sat 5 Jawas. Or some crazy number. He had three saved for me. I wanted to make a Jawa's scene. I was in action figure heaven, as a kid it was pure BLISS! Little moments like these are ones I treasure. Finding a DIFFICULT ONE, OR locating a extremely rare or hard to find piece. Even just walking in to your local toy store, BEFORE Scalpers RUINED it for everyone. Just walking in and seeing a figure you've always hoped to find. One you wished for. For me right now I have a couple. The first, ironically was one of my favorite Mego Villain Superheroes, the Lizard, and two that weren't Mego figures. Mysterio and the recently released Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, although that one(Dr.Ock) I really like, I have the version that Toy Biz made a while back.🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷 is one of my all-time favorite figure lines. He like 🦇Batman🦇 has the best Rogues Gallery of bad guys. From Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, to ⚡Electro⚡, 🐊Lizard🐊, ⚪Mysterio⚪, the Vulture, Sandman,⚡Shocker⚡,🦏 Rhino🦏, J.Jonah.Jameson, Venom, Carnage, 🧛♂️Morbius🧛, the Jackal, the 🕷Tarantula🕷,🎃Jack O' Lantern🎃the🎃Halloween🎃 looking dude. I also love the X-Men series. Marvel Legends figures are my "new" or "newer" versions of Megos. But they will NEVER MATCH the heart that Mego had! Mego Superheroes again will always be the best Toys I ever had!
My first playset I ever own as a kid in the 70s years before I got the Kenner Six Million Dollar Man's Mission Control Center or Star Wars Death Star Playset. Got I miss my old Mego Figures and Playsets
"Enjoyed" is not a big enough word for this video. You nailed it. Received the Batcave for Christmas and have a picture to prove it. Bought a Batcave in box but missing the battery cover and bought the FTC version. The Batcave being a fond childhood memory would be an understatement. Thank you for another great video. Looking forward to the next Toy Ventures issue. I'm all caught up.
A great time in life when you had to use your imagination along with the toys you owned. Mego figures and playsets and Big Jim figures and vehicles were a staple in our homes in the 70's. Great video!
Love the vid! I have this as well. I got it on e-bay a few years ago. No pole (used a painted wooden dowel), no bat computer (printed one out from a scan), no vinyl floor, but it did have a bat-signal with battery cover! Still love it though! I have it on display next to a didas display "Stately Caverns" and a complete Mego Wayne Foundation!
It's always funny when you can tell they went "Wait, aren't we missing something?" and had to hurriedly slap something like the Batcomputer together without any prototyping. I came up in the plastic playset era and have no nostalgia for folding vinyl, but I love seeing the creativity on display to navigate the resource limitations they had and provide something playful, provocative, and plain _fun_ for the figures. It's wholesome and I love it, dammit!
Holy Homebase, Batman! My brother and I got the Batcave, Batmobile, and Batcycle for X-Mas '74. Many fond memories of this set and the Hall of Justice.
Got this for Christmas 1974 -- best Christmas ever! I had the set for years, but lost it when it was accidentally discarded into the trash. Still have the Batmobile and Batcycle (separate items), but that set -- simple as it was -- wow! Ten-year old boys couldn't ask for a Batgirl 'doll' but being a big fan of the TV series and 1960s Filmation series, I really wanted her to go along with Batman, Robin, Joker and Penguin.
I begged for the Batcave and already had most of the Mego Super-Heroes but I didn't get it that Christmas. My Grandmother did buy it for me for my birthday which is in May and I remember my Mom fussing about the cost of it that it was nearly $20!!! LOL. I didn't care! I never got the vehicles but my cousins did, so I did get to play with them. Great memories! 🦇
That was fun. I loved the inclusion of the old commercials. The voices, the music, they just do not make toy commercials like that anymore. It got me wondering if the C.B. McCall line had any commercials. I should go look. Good stuff, Plaid Stallions! Your videos are always sure to make me smile.
You are so right. I grew up in the 70's. In 1972 I was 5 years old. Toys in the 70 had heart. I was a Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, and a Mego Superheroes action figures kid. A little later when I hit 9-10 I got into AFX & TYCO slot car 🏁Racing🏎. Then the Electronic NFL🏈Football🏈game, and the NHL rod-hockey game. Also, of course the Atari 2600 VCS. Video Computer System. My 13" B&W📺TV📺 in my room played my games. But the games were pretty awesome back then. I can remember even the older board games. Trouble. Headache, Sorry, and the old standbys, Yahtzee & Monopoly. But what you mentioned, the commercials, they were so different, so fun to watch, and during the holidays I can remember being in front of the TV during the NFL🏈games and seeing so many cool new toys and games. Or when they played the Christmas specials. Rudolph the Red Nosed🦌Reindeer🦌, Frosty the ⛄Snowman☃️, Charlie🟡〰️🟡Brown Christmas🎄♥, How the 🤢👽Grinch👽🤢Stole Christmas🎄, and all of the "Live" action real people movies/shows. The Toys R Us songs, Kmart, Target, the🎄JC Penny's🎄Christmas🎄Catalog🎄, and the 🎄Sears🎄Wish🎄Book.🎄 Yes it was commercialization of the most crazy amounts, but as opposed to now? I'll take the 70's anyday! More games! more fun! OH BOY! ! ! ! ! I WANNA BE A TOYS R US KID! I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid, there's a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with! From Bikes and Trains to Video Games, it's the biggest toy store there is! GEE WHIZ! I DON'T WANNA GROW UP CUZ BABY IF I DID, I COULDN'T BE A TOYS R US KID, MORE GAMES MORE TOYS OH BOY! I WANNA BE A TOYS R US KID! 🇺🇸 From October 1st the "fever" began. The countdown began. Tick Tock, tick tock! By November 15 kids were begging for time to speed up...lol. I'd go to the restroom and instead of the "paper" I'd have one of the two Christmas Catalogs. I'd page through, looking for the coolest thing I'd want "Santa" to bring me. Everything that was created, made, designed in the 70's seems to have such a better design, and a better, oh hell a better everything! And as you said, a better commercial!
One of my favorite Christmas memories is playing with this set with my brother! We had lots of Mego, especially the Batman characters. I’ve reaquired many items, but I’ve yet to replace the Batcave. Thanks for another great trip down memory lane!
I had this as a kid. I think we got it from a garage sale because I don't remember having any of the stuff with it. We just had the case. So, no bat computer. No bat pole. But still we had fun with it. We used it with smaller figures, like the Marvel Secret War toys, Star Wars figures, and, of course, G.I. Joe. It made an excellent Cobra base. LOL.
I had the Mego Batcave as a kid. I can't remember If I got it for Christmas or some other occasion. I really enjoyed it. A friend of mine and I had quite a collection of the Mego super hero action figures, and he had the Batmobile and Batcopter. Such fun stories we made up and times we had.
I got this for Christmas in 1977 (guess there was some surplus left after they discontinued it.) Batcave, Batmobile, Penguin, and my very own Batman so my brother didn't have to worry about me breaking his. This was my last Mego Christmas. Almost every one after that was all Kenner Star Wars.
Holy BatCrap, this video had so much of my childhood in it I couldn't believe it. The Big Jim Photo truly hit home as I had both that plane and the camping/rv set. SO the Batcave was the first Christmas Gift I remember from my Grandmother. I still remember mine came in that brown box from the catalog company that you showed. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE MEMORIES!!!
Another excellent Mego video from Brick Mantooth. I didn't know that this playset existed, even though I collected Mego during my childhood, so it's great to see it, in this video.
Definitely a favorite of mine when I was a kid, don’t have it anymore I sold my Mego collection in the early 90s that was mostly in pieces because of the ruff way I played with my toys, but the collectors that bought it was going to use for missing pieces and try to fix some of the problems with the figures and vehicles I had.
I had this as a kid. Absolutely loved it! Batman and Robin were my first ever action figures. I loved being able to remove their utility belts when they got “captured” by the Joker. Good times.
Didn't have the Batcave for my Megos but my father built me a wooden one which had all the bells and whistles, Bruce's study with opening bookcase, two Bat poles, a sliding garage door for the Batmobile and the BAT Computer from the Aurora Robin model kit was screwed to the wall of it.
I got the Batcave, Batmobile and BATMAN and Robin for Christmas of '75. I took the Batmobile w/Batman and Robin to school for show and tell. It nearly started a riot.
Never had it as a kid, but now have the FTC versions including the 1966 version. Love them! The bat signal was so we could pretend to be Commissioner Gordon. The small touches including the red phone are obviously from the tv series.
My friend April, had all of the Batman mego figures of that size and all of the Batman playsets and 4 of the Batman vehicles: The Joker VW bus, Batmobile, Batcycle, and the Batcrimelab VW Bus. She also had all of the women figures with 3 Cat Women and almost 8 Batgirls (maybe more than 8?) SHE ALSO had Conan and the Archies. Whenever I visited her we had a Blast playing with her Mego toys.
I had always wanted a Flash Mego figure, but, well I don't think they made one when I was collecting/playing with them. I was a kid so I didn't "collect" I played with my toys. I remember having a mail-order exclusive for 4 figures. Kid Flash in yellow. Speedy, in red, Aqua-lad, and Wonder-girl. WHY OH WHY DIDN'T I SAVE THESE?! Not sure of their value. I don't sell my collection anyway. I just love the memories and the history. As playsets went, I had an Enterprise set, a Planet of the Apes set, and one other oddball set. I'm not sure what it was. This was 40+ years back so. Mego figures were my first choice of toy as a little boy. At 5-6 yrs old they were my favorites. Except their stickers always came off. I've mentioned this before. I had all of them but usually their logos were missing. Shazam's⚡Lightning⚡, Superman's (S), Batman's (🦇), Captain America's (⭐), Robin's (R), Mr. & Mrs. Fantastic's (4), even Iron Man's yellow🟡 dot in his repulsion blaster. That one you could glue in though. I ruined a couple of my DC Heroes using Elmer's glue on their stickers 😔 didn't work. These figures for a kid were awesome. They came right off the comic book pages and into your house. They were perfectly made and all looked great. Granted now as a "Adult collector" the newer 800 points of articulation (joking) do look "better", but when I was a kid, NOTHING beat having a Mego figure for a gift. My Dad played a game with me sometimes. He'd pick me up from school, and somewhere in the car a Mego figure was hidden. Again for a 7 year old finding your first Hulk figure, or 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷, or Captain America & the Falcon figures was incredible. My one complaint, Mego's line-up of figures while awesome, was missing the villains. The DC line was ok. They had THE DC VILLAIN! The 🤡🃏Joker🃏🤡 🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏!!!! Also the 🐧Penguin🐧, the ❓Riddler❓, 🐈Catwoman🐈⬛, and this oddball who's name I can't say or spell, Mr. Myxlplyk ?? Or whatever or however it's spelled. Sure there was the Green Goblin, (perfectly done I might add!), but they never had a good Rogues Gallery of baddies for the Marvel guys to battle. I had always wanted Rhino, Electro, and ESPECIALLY Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, and another Doctor, this one Dr.Doom. Silver Surfer was another one I had hoped for. As a kid you dream of all the things you can't get. However Mego was spot on perfection for me back then. Just plain fun!
Yep, had the Batcave as a kid along with almost every one of the WGSH line from 74-75. Had a Batmobile and a Batcopter. As an adult collector I feel like it's kinda flimsy and unimpressive, so I don't have a Batcave now... but as a little kid I practically lived in it.
I've always loved the Batcave, and yes, I went through some trouble finding the battery cover. I bought an Action Jackson light, and the battery cover fits perfectly on the Batcave Bat Signal. I have all the vehicles and play sets for Batman, except for the Wayne Foundation. I'd have to win the lottery for that. But I do have the computer console (thanks to Ebay).
The impact that these three or four playsets can't even be described as to how much of an impact it had on the toy industry. 1974-1978, it was as if the Space Shuttle landed at your regional airport. DC's Holy Trinity was everywhere, and the marketing of Mego spread like wildfire through other companies. Mattel was branching off into Steve Scout, Big Jim, and a new hero in the way of The Six Million Dollar man exploded on the small screen. Mego was launching out the playsets from everyone from Star Trek, to Super heroes, to the Planet of the Apes, as Action Jackson gave GI Joe a run for his money Marx had more then enough playsets that were out there, along with the downward slope of the Johnny West- Best of the West line, held in there with their plastic hands. And quite a few others were still holding on for dear life as younger hungrier companies were gunning for the marketplace. As to Playsets- I remember those days as Toys R Us going along for the ride as we watched our department stores, Toys R Us, and K Mart/ Venture, and JC Penny's all's toy aisles almost exploding over night, as you watched the toys being stacked to the ceiling, and almost as fast watching the aisles get run through and emptied. Great Job!
Love the video and I had the Batcave and looking at it now the set is not much but when I was a kid my imagination would bring this set to life in such a big way and the computer was for me a way Batman find the Joker and leave the cave to give him a beat down. Your right about the Bat Signal I hardly used it during play of this set and thanks for the trip down a wonderful time.
My Grandmother bought me the Mego Batcave for Christmas when it firdst came out. Along with the Batcave she bought me Robin and Riddler but she couldn't find me a Batman. About a month later she bought me a Fist Fighting Batman. I had the best Grandmother ever!
..... Well done Mate, I laughed almost to the point of myocardial infarction at the boxed Robin. It looked like he had double lateral hip socket displacement. The joker must have disregarded Queensberry rules and kicked him in the family jewels.
Growing up with Billy Blastoff, Major Matt Mason & G. I Joe,.. I LOVED Mego figures. Except after they did Fantastic Four, we all wanted SO many more Marvel characters. So we made dozens of our own. Still have them. They actually turned out pretty good. I wanted the Avengers mostly. I never did see the playsets. But not as much interested in DC characters. But I love the idea of it. When you mentioned it, I DID have the Star Trek bridge set.
Funny I was 8 in 74 I don't remember this toy. I only had one Mego superhero Spider-Man( never been a big Spidey fan). Witch is odd.I would guess my mom got it for me. I read Com-X( DC and Marvel) as a kid. Would bet saw a Spider-Man com-x in my room. She was KOOL. Every school year I got a new lunch box. I had the DC(Super Friends),Marvel(Super Heros),Star Wars, and a Six Mil Dollar Man. She was the one who gave me the money to get all the Mego Trek. She knew how much I loved Trek.
Great video! Love seeing all the advertisements! This is a line that I only have a couple modern pieces (Planet of the Apes & Universal Monsters) was line I was truly intrigued by a kid. My best friends brother had a Incredible Hulk I remember seeing in a box out in their packed garage and I remember just wanting to play with it because I was a big Hulk fan when I was kid, so bad my parents restricted my TV series Hulk viewing because My brother would get me all riled up when Bill would change into the Hulk. Gotta love it! But I always loved the bright colors of the figures, which make sense to attract children. By the time I wanted Mego toys, they were almost scares when I would visit the toy isle and unfortunately He-Man, Star Wars, and Gi-Joe really filled my time. But I have always loved the simplicity of Mego toys. Thanks for sharing!
Leonard Cohen voicing Batman for MEGO? (I'm taking the mickey, sure, but that would actually make sense.) Got the FTC reissue. Set it up and had the overwhelming urge to go to Burger Chef and drink Grape Nehi out of cans with the Happy Days cast on 'em. This upload made my Saturday night. Thanks, Brian!
I remember Christmas receiving the Mego Batcave 1974 or 75 along w Batman and the Penguin my first mego playset next yr was 3 Planet of the Apes figures and the famous treehouse
I had both the Mego collection (both pocket and 8 inch) and the Kenner Super Powers collection. The latter was supposed to add a Batcave playset, but it was never released. So I used the Mego pocket figures Batcave.
My favorite part of the batcave was the batsignal. I had so much fun with the set, then came the day when, because i had stopped playing with it, that I was told it had to go to the garage sale. Oh if only the DeLorean could help me out to get it back.
Never had any of the playsets as a kid in the 70s did have the monsters and alot of the superheroes.... So I went nuts and have 2 mint in box McFarlane 66 Batcaves and Batmobiles as well as Batman, Robin The Joker and The Riddler....
I was a little too young for the Bat Cave. I was still playing with my Fisher Price Little People Castle when it was out. My main Mego World's Greatest Superheroes playset was the Hall of Justice which was hours of fun in a compact case. The Bat Computer does look like the only weak part of the Bat Cave set. A little more structure / height plus some kind of spinning disc or sliding pictures feature would've gone a long way to improve it. Still, it's a great set for the time and I'd agree it's essential for any Mego Superheroes collector!
For some reason , i didnt find out about this until i was too old to play with it, my Cousins had it, and i am still puzzled as to why i never saw it in the sears catalog , and i looked through the service merchandice catalog as a kid in the early and mud 70's. I had the first Batman, Where his cowl cané off, and i got the Mobile Batlab for Christmas 75, and Joker Mobile for Christmas 76, i had every Batman intem available in Clarksville TN,and Nashville
I still have my original MEGO Batman stuff like the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Batcycle, Mobile Lab, etc. I never liked and didn't want the MEGO Batcopter. My Bat Cave saw A LOT of play time and defintely shows the wear and tear. I loved the artwork and the little details, like the tire buried on the bottom. My wife got me the reproduction which is very nice, but I think they skimped on the roll out mat and bat signal. The rest is great though.
I must have gotten this at the tail end of its availability when I was a kid as my Mego collecting didn't really start until circa 1976 when I was 7 and got the Trek figures and bridge playset. I don't remember where I got my Batcave from as I don't remember it from stores. Heroes World perhaps? I like how Batman is missing his gloves in half of the commercial - it changes fro shot to shot. Also, if I noticed correctly in the catalog picture of the Super Gals it mentioned they came on blister cards - would this have been the Kresge style cards?
The *Best* playset💘💘💘
Mego Batman was my first toy I truly loved. Thanks for bringing back memories of 4 year old me playing with my batcave on the shag carpet in the living room watching Adam West!
Same Here, I remember buttoning up the Batcave into a suitcase. I thought it was clever.
I still have my Batcave that I got in 1974 minus the Bat Computer and the battery cover for the Bat Signal. It also was an incredible storage unit, because I could fit (with some difficulty) all my Mego superheroes in the folded up Batcave. I credit that fact for my having almost all the accessories for my Megos almost 50 years on.
Wonderful!
I'd be SUPER IMPRESSED if he still had: Thor's hammer & helmet , Green Arrow's hat & bow, & Conan's axe !! @@ItFigures-qz6fc
I was a huge fan of Batman. Got this for my birthday in 74. It was as iconic as you say. I loved it with hours of play over years. I was a strange kid and never asked for the mego bat mobile. (Had other versions) I knew parents only had so much cash. But I did get batcopter and cycle as well as the mobile crime lab one summer when it was on sale. I was gentle with my toys but they were played with a lot. Mom tried to preserve the bat cave but it bit the dust in the late 80s as the vinyl and cardboard had just deteriorated so much sitting in a somewhat warm closet. The bad computer and bat signal with battery cover still survive.
I had it as a kid and loved it so much! I would stare into the Bat Cave and pretend the Bat Boat was about to leave at any moment
I'm surprised Mego didn't do a bat boat.
This is great. I mean it. My grandfather worked in a toy store and I would go into work with him and I can honestly say I had, at one time, EVERY SINGLE item you have showed. EVERY ONE. Even the Super-Gals. The Batcave. All the Apes stuff, too. Keep up the GREAT work!
As much as the 80's plastic playsets are held as the pinnacle of toys (and they are awesome), but these are my most loved ones. With the vinyl floormats (and accessories) and even simple cardboard backgrounds coming in second. Now if they had only combined the two later on, what massive all-encompasing settings could have been created.
that big jim sky commander playset looks out of sight.... incredible
I take it back. Once I saw the Bat Pole and the illustration of the boat I did actually have this.
These videos are amazing for me. Looking back at some of the most memorable toys I had. Some of the best memories surrounding them. Going into Toys R Us as a little boy with Mom and Dad. I can remember seeing the, hanging up. So many iconic figures. We also had another Toy store. A smaller store down the road from Toys R Us. It was called Toy Country🇺🇸USA🇺🇸 and unlike Kay•Bee•Toyz & Toys R Us I don't remember this store having a chain of them. I remember the "manager" who I learned later was the owner. He was a great guy especially if you're a kid looking for a action figure. For a while in 1978 much of the Toys switched from the 6"-7" Superheroes to the 3.75" Star Wars figures. There was one particular little guy I could not find ANYWHERE! They were the Jawas. The little scavengers on Tattooine who sold Luke's Uncle R2-D2 and C3-P0. FINALLY one day my parents stopped there on the way home from brunch/lunch? We ate at the local IHOP, or The International House of🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞PANCAKES🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞. I loved their 🐷🐽Ham🐽🐷 &🧀Cheese🧀Omelets!🧀 Anyway I can remember this day so vividly. He had a spinning rack of pegs where the Star Wars figures hung. He said go check the top rack. I did, doubtful there was anything I needed or wanted, and POOF there they sat 5 Jawas. Or some crazy number. He had three saved for me. I wanted to make a Jawa's scene. I was in action figure heaven, as a kid it was pure BLISS! Little moments like these are ones I treasure. Finding a DIFFICULT ONE, OR locating a extremely rare or hard to find piece. Even just walking in to your local toy store, BEFORE Scalpers RUINED it for everyone. Just walking in and seeing a figure you've always hoped to find. One you wished for. For me right now I have a couple. The first, ironically was one of my favorite Mego Villain Superheroes, the Lizard, and two that weren't Mego figures. Mysterio and the recently released Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, although that one(Dr.Ock) I really like, I have the version that Toy Biz made a while back.🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷 is one of my all-time favorite figure lines. He like 🦇Batman🦇 has the best Rogues Gallery of bad guys. From Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, to ⚡Electro⚡, 🐊Lizard🐊, ⚪Mysterio⚪, the Vulture, Sandman,⚡Shocker⚡,🦏 Rhino🦏, J.Jonah.Jameson, Venom, Carnage, 🧛♂️Morbius🧛, the Jackal, the 🕷Tarantula🕷,🎃Jack O' Lantern🎃the🎃Halloween🎃 looking dude. I also love the X-Men series. Marvel Legends figures are my "new" or "newer" versions of Megos. But they will NEVER MATCH the heart that Mego had! Mego Superheroes again will always be the best Toys I ever had!
I feel very similar to you.
My first playset I ever own as a kid in the 70s years before I got the Kenner Six Million Dollar Man's Mission Control Center or Star Wars Death Star Playset. Got I miss my old Mego Figures and Playsets
"Enjoyed" is not a big enough word for this video. You nailed it. Received the Batcave for Christmas and have a picture to prove it. Bought a Batcave in box but missing the battery cover and bought the FTC version. The Batcave being a fond childhood memory would be an understatement. Thank you for another great video. Looking forward to the next Toy Ventures issue. I'm all caught up.
A great time in life when you had to use your imagination along with the toys you owned. Mego figures and playsets and Big Jim figures and vehicles were a staple in our homes in the 70's. Great video!
Great video! I had the bat cave, batmobile, blue bat cycle, and the Wayne Foundation and none of that survived to my adulthood! So sad.
Yeah, i know that feeling well, it's why I collect.
I have the Batmobil and the cycle as well as a Van. Didn't have any of the play sets, unfortunately
Love the vid! I have this as well. I got it on e-bay a few years ago. No pole (used a painted wooden dowel), no bat computer (printed one out from a scan), no vinyl floor, but it did have a bat-signal with battery cover! Still love it though! I have it on display next to a didas display "Stately Caverns" and a complete Mego Wayne Foundation!
Awesome video & synopsis details, Brian!
Thank you kindly!
It's always funny when you can tell they went "Wait, aren't we missing something?" and had to hurriedly slap something like the Batcomputer together without any prototyping. I came up in the plastic playset era and have no nostalgia for folding vinyl, but I love seeing the creativity on display to navigate the resource limitations they had and provide something playful, provocative, and plain _fun_ for the figures.
It's wholesome and I love it, dammit!
Holy Homebase, Batman! My brother and I got the Batcave, Batmobile, and Batcycle for X-Mas '74. Many fond memories of this set and the Hall of Justice.
That was a great Christmas. Loved that working Bat-Signal.
Got this for Christmas 1974 -- best Christmas ever! I had the set for years, but lost it when it was accidentally discarded into the trash. Still have the Batmobile and Batcycle (separate items), but that set -- simple as it was -- wow!
Ten-year old boys couldn't ask for a Batgirl 'doll' but being a big fan of the TV series and 1960s Filmation series, I really wanted her to go along with Batman, Robin, Joker and Penguin.
I begged for the Batcave and already had most of the Mego Super-Heroes but I didn't get it that Christmas. My Grandmother did buy it for me for my birthday which is in May and I remember my Mom fussing about the cost of it that it was nearly $20!!! LOL. I didn't care! I never got the vehicles but my cousins did, so I did get to play with them. Great memories! 🦇
That was fun. I loved the inclusion of the old commercials. The voices, the music, they just do not make toy commercials like that anymore. It got me wondering if the C.B. McCall line had any commercials. I should go look. Good stuff, Plaid Stallions! Your videos are always sure to make me smile.
You are so right. I grew up in the 70's. In 1972 I was 5 years old. Toys in the 70 had heart. I was a Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, and a Mego Superheroes action figures kid. A little later when I hit 9-10 I got into AFX & TYCO slot car 🏁Racing🏎. Then the Electronic NFL🏈Football🏈game, and the NHL rod-hockey game. Also, of course the Atari 2600 VCS. Video Computer System. My 13" B&W📺TV📺 in my room played my games. But the games were pretty awesome back then. I can remember even the older board games. Trouble. Headache, Sorry, and the old standbys, Yahtzee & Monopoly. But what you mentioned, the commercials, they were so different, so fun to watch, and during the holidays I can remember being in front of the TV during the NFL🏈games and seeing so many cool new toys and games. Or when they played the Christmas specials. Rudolph the Red Nosed🦌Reindeer🦌, Frosty the ⛄Snowman☃️, Charlie🟡〰️🟡Brown Christmas🎄♥, How the 🤢👽Grinch👽🤢Stole Christmas🎄, and all of the "Live" action real people movies/shows. The Toys R Us songs, Kmart, Target, the🎄JC Penny's🎄Christmas🎄Catalog🎄, and the 🎄Sears🎄Wish🎄Book.🎄 Yes it was commercialization of the most crazy amounts, but as opposed to now? I'll take the 70's anyday! More games! more fun! OH BOY! ! ! ! ! I WANNA BE A TOYS R US KID!
I don't want to grow up, I'm a Toys R Us kid, there's a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with! From Bikes and Trains to Video Games, it's the biggest toy store there is! GEE WHIZ! I DON'T WANNA GROW UP CUZ BABY IF I DID, I COULDN'T BE A TOYS R US KID, MORE GAMES MORE TOYS OH BOY! I WANNA BE A TOYS R US KID! 🇺🇸
From October 1st the "fever" began. The countdown began. Tick Tock, tick tock! By November 15 kids were begging for time to speed up...lol. I'd go to the restroom and instead of the "paper" I'd have one of the two Christmas Catalogs. I'd page through, looking for the coolest thing I'd want "Santa" to bring me. Everything that was created, made, designed in the 70's seems to have such a better design, and a better, oh hell a better everything! And as you said, a better commercial!
@@EdsterIII Pretty much this. All of this. This guy gets it.
I love this series.
One of my favorite Christmas memories is playing with this set with my brother! We had lots of Mego, especially the Batman characters. I’ve reaquired many items, but I’ve yet to replace the Batcave. Thanks for another great trip down memory lane!
thanks for watching, really appreciate it!
Had the Batcave and Batman. Loved that toy set.
I had Batman and Robin and Superman for sure. I don’t recall having the batcave. It definitely looks cool.
Omfg I want that commercial batman voice on tape!! He sounds both high and constipated lol
I nearly cried seeing this. I remember having this & the Planet of the Apes set. Even when it was falling apart, I played with it and the Batmobile!
I had this as a kid. I think we got it from a garage sale because I don't remember having any of the stuff with it. We just had the case. So, no bat computer. No bat pole. But still we had fun with it. We used it with smaller figures, like the Marvel Secret War toys, Star Wars figures, and, of course, G.I. Joe. It made an excellent Cobra base. LOL.
What a beauty!
I had the Mego Batcave as a kid. I can't remember If I got it for Christmas or some other occasion. I really enjoyed it. A friend of mine and I had quite a collection of the Mego super hero action figures, and he had the Batmobile and Batcopter. Such fun stories we made up and times we had.
I remember that commercial . GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES .
Had The Hall of Justice, too. Loved it!!
This is an exceptionally good video. A great look at an absolute classic.
thanks a bunch!
No, I'm watching this because I love this channel
I got this for Christmas in 1977 (guess there was some surplus left after they discontinued it.) Batcave, Batmobile, Penguin, and my very own Batman so my brother didn't have to worry about me breaking his. This was my last Mego Christmas. Almost every one after that was all Kenner Star Wars.
And waiting for this episode! Awesome!
Holy BatCrap, this video had so much of my childhood in it I couldn't believe it. The Big Jim Photo truly hit home as I had both that plane and the camping/rv set. SO the Batcave was the first Christmas Gift I remember from my Grandmother. I still remember mine came in that brown box from the catalog company that you showed. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE MEMORIES!!!
Top Shelf! The Vintage ad!!! also, ‘The Alpha Mego’ - wasn’t that Brick Mantooth’s nickname sophomore year?
It was his nickname every year.
I ordered my Mego DC Comics Superman 8" Action Figure off of Amazon yesterday. Get 'em while you can.
Another excellent Mego video from Brick Mantooth.
I didn't know that this playset existed, even though I collected Mego during my childhood, so it's great to see it, in this video.
Definitely a favorite of mine when I was a kid, don’t have it anymore I sold my Mego collection in the early 90s that was mostly in pieces because of the ruff way I played with my toys, but the collectors that bought it was going to use for missing pieces and try to fix some of the problems with the figures and vehicles I had.
I had this as a kid. Absolutely loved it! Batman and Robin were my first ever action figures. I loved being able to remove their utility belts when they got “captured” by the Joker. Good times.
You: You need bad guys to beat up.
Bad Guys: What did he just say?! Oh, poop!
Batman punch!!!
That conflict creates hours of play.
I just love Mego Playsets from this time period, pure nostalgia and some great TV adverts too, thanks! Great video!
Glad you enjoyed!
That was such a great Christmas morning
Had this set .My fave!
Great video Review Batman one of My all time favorite Heroe
Glad you enjoyed it
Great memories! I remember being disappointed when Mego got rid of Batman with the removable mask.
I had the Batcave Bat mobile, and Bat cycle wish I still had all that stuff
Didn't have the Batcave for my Megos but my father built me a wooden one which had all the bells and whistles, Bruce's study with opening bookcase, two Bat poles, a sliding garage door for the Batmobile and the BAT Computer from the Aurora Robin model kit was screwed to the wall of it.
I had this when I was 4.
One I was a kid I had it loved it
Dude. We're gonna build VR worlds out of ALL OF THIS good shit. Not just for VR, but also in XR. Where the virtual and the real converge. :)
Nicely done!
thanks!
I got the Batcave, Batmobile and BATMAN and Robin for Christmas of '75. I took the Batmobile w/Batman and Robin to school for show and tell. It nearly started a riot.
I got the 3 3/4 action figure version Batcave in kindergarten.... I'm 47 now!!!!😜
That thing is tough to find now.
Never had it as a kid, but now have the FTC versions including the 1966 version. Love them! The bat signal was so we could pretend to be Commissioner Gordon. The small touches including the red phone are obviously from the tv series.
Oh yeah, lots of little tv series tells in this.
My friend April, had all of the Batman mego figures of that size and all of the Batman playsets and 4 of the Batman vehicles: The Joker VW bus, Batmobile, Batcycle, and the Batcrimelab VW Bus. She also had all of the women figures with 3 Cat Women and almost 8 Batgirls (maybe more than 8?) SHE ALSO had Conan and the Archies. Whenever I visited her we had a Blast playing with her Mego toys.
Super duper Neat'O Cool Brother! Thanks for sharing Your passion and adventures 😀 👍 ♥️ 🇨🇦🇺🇸🌎♥️💯💯
Glad you enjoyed it
Loved Megos. I can never find the ones that I want now.
retail can be a challenge, I just order online to insure I get the ones I want.
I had always wanted a Flash Mego figure, but, well I don't think they made one when I was collecting/playing with them. I was a kid so I didn't "collect" I played with my toys. I remember having a mail-order exclusive for 4 figures. Kid Flash in yellow. Speedy, in red, Aqua-lad, and Wonder-girl. WHY OH WHY DIDN'T I SAVE THESE?! Not sure of their value. I don't sell my collection anyway. I just love the memories and the history. As playsets went, I had an Enterprise set, a Planet of the Apes set, and one other oddball set. I'm not sure what it was. This was 40+ years back so. Mego figures were my first choice of toy as a little boy. At 5-6 yrs old they were my favorites. Except their stickers always came off. I've mentioned this before. I had all of them but usually their logos were missing. Shazam's⚡Lightning⚡, Superman's (S), Batman's (🦇), Captain America's (⭐), Robin's (R), Mr. & Mrs. Fantastic's (4), even Iron Man's yellow🟡 dot in his repulsion blaster. That one you could glue in though. I ruined a couple of my DC Heroes using Elmer's glue on their stickers 😔 didn't work. These figures for a kid were awesome. They came right off the comic book pages and into your house. They were perfectly made and all looked great. Granted now as a "Adult collector" the newer 800 points of articulation (joking) do look "better", but when I was a kid, NOTHING beat having a Mego figure for a gift. My Dad played a game with me sometimes. He'd pick me up from school, and somewhere in the car a Mego figure was hidden. Again for a 7 year old finding your first Hulk figure, or 🕷🕸Spider-Man🕸🕷, or Captain America & the Falcon figures was incredible. My one complaint, Mego's line-up of figures while awesome, was missing the villains. The DC line was ok. They had THE DC VILLAIN! The 🤡🃏Joker🃏🤡 🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏🃏!!!! Also the 🐧Penguin🐧, the ❓Riddler❓, 🐈Catwoman🐈⬛, and this oddball who's name I can't say or spell, Mr. Myxlplyk ?? Or whatever or however it's spelled. Sure there was the Green Goblin, (perfectly done I might add!), but they never had a good Rogues Gallery of baddies for the Marvel guys to battle. I had always wanted Rhino, Electro, and ESPECIALLY Doctor 🐙Octopus🐙, and another Doctor, this one Dr.Doom. Silver Surfer was another one I had hoped for. As a kid you dream of all the things you can't get. However Mego was spot on perfection for me back then. Just plain fun!
Yep, had the Batcave as a kid along with almost every one of the WGSH line from 74-75. Had a Batmobile and a Batcopter. As an adult collector I feel like it's kinda flimsy and unimpressive, so I don't have a Batcave now... but as a little kid I practically lived in it.
I've always loved the Batcave, and yes, I went through some trouble finding the battery cover. I bought an Action Jackson light, and the battery cover fits perfectly on the Batcave Bat Signal. I have all the vehicles and play sets for Batman, except for the Wayne Foundation. I'd have to win the lottery for that. But I do have the computer console (thanks to Ebay).
Yeah I need to buy that light again.
Very good job, thanks. I get why Wayne Tower is the “holy grail (R)”, but I liked the Batcave just fine!
thanks so much!
The impact that these three or four playsets can't even be described as to how much of an impact it had on the toy industry.
1974-1978, it was as if the Space Shuttle landed at your regional airport.
DC's Holy Trinity was everywhere, and the marketing of Mego spread like wildfire through other companies. Mattel was branching off into Steve Scout, Big Jim, and a new hero in the way of The Six Million Dollar man exploded on the small screen.
Mego was launching out the playsets from everyone from Star Trek, to Super heroes, to the Planet of the Apes, as Action Jackson gave GI Joe a run for his money
Marx had more then enough playsets that were out there, along with the downward slope of the Johnny West- Best of the West line, held in there with their plastic hands.
And quite a few others were still holding on for dear life as younger hungrier companies were gunning for the marketplace.
As to Playsets- I remember those days as Toys R Us going along for the ride as we watched our department stores, Toys R Us, and K Mart/ Venture, and JC Penny's all's toy aisles almost exploding over night, as you watched the toys being stacked to the ceiling, and almost as fast watching the aisles get run through and emptied.
Great Job!
So sweet!!!
Love the video and I had the Batcave and looking at it now the set is not much but when I was a kid my imagination would bring this set to life in such a big way and the computer was for me a way Batman find the Joker and leave the cave to give him a beat down. Your right about the Bat Signal I hardly used it during play of this set and thanks for the trip down a wonderful time.
My Grandmother bought me the Mego Batcave for Christmas when it firdst came out. Along with the Batcave she bought me Robin and Riddler but she couldn't find me a Batman. About a month later she bought me a Fist Fighting Batman. I had the best Grandmother ever!
I never hade it, thinking about getting. Great job on this video.
..... Well done Mate, I laughed almost to the point of myocardial infarction at the boxed Robin.
It looked like he had double lateral hip socket displacement. The joker must have disregarded Queensberry rules and kicked him in the family jewels.
Growing up with Billy Blastoff, Major Matt Mason & G. I Joe,.. I LOVED Mego figures. Except after they did Fantastic Four, we all wanted SO many more Marvel characters. So we made dozens of our own. Still have them. They actually turned out pretty good. I wanted the Avengers mostly. I never did see the playsets. But not as much interested in DC characters. But I love the idea of it. When you mentioned it, I DID have the Star Trek bridge set.
Funny I was 8 in 74 I don't remember this toy. I only had one Mego superhero Spider-Man( never been a big Spidey fan). Witch is odd.I would guess my mom got it for me. I read Com-X( DC and Marvel) as a kid. Would bet saw a Spider-Man com-x in my room. She was KOOL. Every school year I got a new lunch box. I had the DC(Super Friends),Marvel(Super Heros),Star Wars, and a Six Mil Dollar Man. She was the one who gave me the money to get all the Mego Trek. She knew how much I loved Trek.
Great video! Love seeing all the advertisements! This is a line that I only have a couple modern pieces (Planet of the Apes & Universal Monsters) was line I was truly intrigued by a kid. My best friends brother had a Incredible Hulk I remember seeing in a box out in their packed garage and I remember just wanting to play with it because I was a big Hulk fan when I was kid, so bad my parents restricted my TV series Hulk viewing because My brother would get me all riled up when Bill would change into the Hulk. Gotta love it! But I always loved the bright colors of the figures, which make sense to attract children. By the time I wanted Mego toys, they were almost scares when I would visit the toy isle and unfortunately He-Man, Star Wars, and Gi-Joe really filled my time. But I have always loved the simplicity of Mego toys. Thanks for sharing!
Leonard Cohen voicing Batman for MEGO? (I'm taking the mickey, sure, but that would actually make sense.) Got the FTC reissue. Set it up and had the overwhelming urge to go to Burger Chef and drink Grape Nehi out of cans with the Happy Days cast on 'em. This upload made my Saturday night. Thanks, Brian!
I remember Christmas receiving the Mego Batcave 1974 or 75 along w Batman and the Penguin my first mego playset next yr was 3 Planet of the Apes figures and the famous treehouse
infamous Star Trek bridge set?? I still want it. My best friend had it and i loved it.
it was cool they moved to The Wayne Foundation for most of the 70s but that was also huge forca playset!
I had both the Mego collection (both pocket and 8 inch) and the Kenner Super Powers collection. The latter was supposed to add a Batcave playset, but it was never released. So I used the Mego pocket figures Batcave.
My favorite part of the batcave was the batsignal. I had so much fun with the set, then came the day when, because i had stopped playing with it, that I was told it had to go to the garage sale. Oh if only the DeLorean could help me out to get it back.
Never had any of the playsets as a kid in the 70s did have the monsters and alot of the superheroes....
So I went nuts and have 2 mint in box McFarlane 66 Batcaves and Batmobiles as well as Batman, Robin The Joker and The Riddler....
I never had any playsets as a kid either, explains a lot about me now.
I never had it but my cousin did we would play with it for hours it was awesome when spiderman showed up lol
Grate job.
I was a little too young for the Bat Cave. I was still playing with my Fisher Price Little People Castle when it was out. My main Mego World's Greatest Superheroes playset was the Hall of Justice which was hours of fun in a compact case. The Bat Computer does look like the only weak part of the Bat Cave set. A little more structure / height plus some kind of spinning disc or sliding pictures feature would've gone a long way to improve it. Still, it's a great set for the time and I'd agree it's essential for any Mego Superheroes collector!
For some reason , i didnt find out about this until i was too old to play with it, my Cousins had it, and i am still puzzled as to why i never saw it in the sears catalog , and i looked through the service merchandice catalog as a kid in the early and mud 70's. I had the first Batman, Where his cowl cané off, and i got the Mobile Batlab for Christmas 75, and Joker Mobile for Christmas 76, i had every Batman intem available in Clarksville TN,and Nashville
Nuevo suscriptor saludos desde santa cruz de la sierra bolivia
I love batman
I still have my original MEGO Batman stuff like the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Batcycle, Mobile Lab, etc. I never liked and didn't want the MEGO Batcopter. My Bat Cave saw A LOT of play time and defintely shows the wear and tear. I loved the artwork and the little details, like the tire buried on the bottom. My wife got me the reproduction which is very nice, but I think they skimped on the roll out mat and bat signal. The rest is great though.
Very good review, no I never hade the bat cave. One day
I really wish the MEGO play sets could be replicated like the USS Enterprise bridge was, I missed out on so much Mego growing up lol.
Ideal Toy Company released some super cool Batman toys in the 60’s.
Was the Batpole in the original set plastic or wood and how long was it?Was the original floor a blue or gray plastic sheet and how long was it?
I had one as a kid
Also from Canada never saw this as a kid , had the P of Apes tree house though and the bat mobile .
Hey Brian.
Hey!
I must have gotten this at the tail end of its availability when I was a kid as my Mego collecting didn't really start until circa 1976 when I was 7 and got the Trek figures and bridge playset. I don't remember where I got my Batcave from as I don't remember it from stores. Heroes World perhaps?
I like how Batman is missing his gloves in half of the commercial - it changes fro shot to shot. Also, if I noticed correctly in the catalog picture of the Super Gals it mentioned they came on blister cards - would this have been the Kresge style cards?
I'm surprised Isaac didn't show up in the Batcave
I knew I forgot something.
Favorite toys as an 8 yr. Old in 1974. Google 16.00 for player in today's money. 96.00. Must thank parents again. Lol.
Cool set. I only had Star Trek mego stuff .
Have you done a video on the rare Batman figure that had a removable mask?
Not yet.