Action Figure Overview: Mad Monsters - The Horrible Mummy (Mego, 1973)

Mego's Mad Monster Series: The Horrible Mummy (1973)

The Mego toy company dominated the shelf space in many toy stores throughout most of the 1970s!  Some of their more famous action figure lines included their popular 8" World's Greatest Super Heroes, Star Trek, Wizard of Oz, and Planet of the Apes (read more about that HERE).  However, many people don't realize just how many lines of action figures Mego produced!  In the early years, Mego manufactured quite a few more generic lines that didn't require licensing.  They made cowboys, cavemen, knights, and action heroes, but one of the coolest lines was The Mad Monsters Series!

The Horrible Mummy Creeps Up Behind An Unsuspecting Action Jackson!

There were four awesome monsters in The Mad Monster Series: The Dreadful Dracula, The Monster Frankenstein, The Human Wolfman, and The Horrible Mummy.  As with many of their 8" figures, the Mad Monsters were cheesy and amazing at the same time!  They were originally released in 1973 on the body style often referred to by collectors as "Type 1."  This body style had metal rivets at the elbows, wrists, knees and ankles.  All of the monsters' had glow-in-the-dark eyes and hands.  Also, Mego created a new sculpt for their hands which was different than any other Mego figure's hands.  On top of that, The Human Wolfman even had hands that were unique to him specifically.  Later, Mego moved to the Type 2 body with plastic joints rather than metal and the monsters were released on this body style as well.

Mego Type 1 Horrible Mummy with Glow-In-The-Dark Hands!

Like the other monsters, The Horrible Mummy had glow-in-the-dark eyes and hands.  His head was sculpted and painted to give him the look of being wrapped in bandages.  There was a bandage-style print on his jumpsuit and even an extra ribbon of cloth with the same print to give him the look of a mummy who's bandages are unraveling.  Because he wore a one-piece jumpsuit and no shoes, he's the easiest monster of the four to find complete.

The Horrible Mummy - Original Box

The Mad Monsters were first released in solid boxes with awesome artwork of each monster on the front.  On the the back, there was a card that you were supposed cut out that had the same artwork from the front of the package but without most of the text.  I've read that illustrator Gray Morrow did the artwork for the boxes, but I can't confirm that officially.  The figures were later released in window boxes and Kresge cards (the figure was attached with a plastic bubble centered on a narrow card).  The window boxes and Kresge carded figures are nearly impossible to find.  Lastly, under the Lion Rock banner, the Mad Monsters were released on a card with the bubble to the side.  I have never seen one of these in person and I have heard that they are the most difficult of all to find.  All of the official packaging uses the same artwork as the original box somewhere on the packaging.  The art on the front of the two styles of cards is very small.

Did you have any Mego Mad Monsters when you were a kid?  Do you collect them as an adult?  Which one is your favorite?  Tell us in the comments!

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