We Had That

Zee Toys / Zylmex Metal-Man: Roton With a confusing similarity in appearance to some of the 3 3/4" Mego Micronauts and little to no advertising, the Metal-Man toy line of die-cast action figures has all but faded into obscurity.  Of the figures released, the blue and silver Radon is the one I see most often (click HERE for my Radon review), but he was hardly the only Metal-Man on the shelves! Metal-Man action figures: Major Mercury, Roton, & Radon  Today, I would like to take a look at Roton, the red and silver Metal-Man who seems to have possibly been released later in the line.  Radon, Major Mercury, Sergeant Silver, and Corporal Chrome have all been found on cards marked 1976 while as far as I know, Roton has not.  Additionally, Roton has been seen with fewer packaging variations than the rest of the figures, so it would make sense if the others hit the stores before Roton.  I have seen him in the 1979 Zee Toys catalog, so I know that he...

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!  T...

1975 MEGO Star Trek "The Keeper" action figure! The Mego toy company had great success with their 8" Star Trek line upon its release in 1974.  The original 1974 release included four crew members: Captain James T. Kirk, First Officer Spock, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, plus one bad guy; a Klingon.  Shortly after the first five figures were released, Mego added Lieutenant Nyota Uhura to the mix.  They even created a new backing card to include Uhura upon her release. Captain Kirk and The Keeper by MEGO Because the Star Trek figures sold so well, Mego expanded the line to include four new, alien figures in 1975: The Gorn, Neptunian, Cheron, and The Keeper.  The new aliens were inspired by a mix of characters from the TV show and characters from the cartoon, but their design was also influenced by Mego's desire to keep things cheap.  As a result, Mego decided to re-use as many parts as possi...

Center: Metal-Man "Radon" figure. Background: Micronauts "Galactic Warrior" and "Space Glider" Going back at least as far as 1976, Metal-Man action figures were some of the earliest 3.75" figures on the market.  Their die cast metal construction and numerous points of articulation combined with multiple themes such as Space, Military, Robots, Police Men, and Construction Workers made them cool and curious toys!  Yet unlike many of the toys of the time, it seems few people remember them. Metal-Man "Radon" figure from Zee Toys Although Micronauts aren't as well known as Star Wars, G.I. Joe, or Masters of the Universe toys, I would think that most people who collect action figures from the 70s and early 80s are at least familiar with Micronauts, so it only makes sense that people might think some of the Metal-Man figures fell into that toy line.  I don't know if the reason for their relative obscurity was that Metal-Man didn...