For fans of the Marvel Universe, there’s been no shortage of movies and TV shows over the past fifteen years – or rather, a mind-boggling onslaught of never-ending films and reboot after reboot! The Marvel Cinematic Universe has released 36 films so far, with at least nine more in the pipeline at the time of writing.
Next up is Fantastic Four: First Steps, centred on the iconic Marvel Comics team. This will be the 37th instalment in the MCU and marks a new chapter for the legendary heroes, following the second cinematic reboot in 2015, which bombed catastrophically at the box office.
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Ever since the trailer dropped and we got our first glimpse of the all-new cast in a stylish, 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic world – Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and the world’s favourite small- and big-screen father figure, Pedro Pascal, as Reed Richards – there’s been a genuine buzz and eager anticipation, even among the most jaded of cinema-goers.
The wait is nearly over… but in the meantime, let’s take a trip back to the 1970s and revisit an absolute classic: the 8-inch Mister Fantastic action figure from Mego Corp. What’s amazing, of course, is how any of these figures have actually survived to this day. More recent versions of the character almost always include extra-long arms or swappable arm accessories. Not so with Mego. Here, Mister Fantastic was issued with a standard Type 2 body (as evidenced by the 1974 copyright info on his back), featuring ordinary plastic joints and no stretching-limb gimmick. Kids back then were simply trusted to use their imaginations – and not try to pull his arms off!
Launched in 1976 as part of the sixth wave of the World’s Greatest Super Heroes line – which also featured his Fantastic Four teammates The Thing, Human Torch, and Invisible Girl – his only extra accessories were his boots and gloves. My figure has mislaid one, but that does allow me to show off the plastic wrist joint.
What immediately stands out with this figure is the huge qualitative leap Mego made in the small details. The gloves are actually sculpted, rather than the oven-glove-style mittens issued with earlier figures like Batman and Robin in the DC line. The boots, too, feature a stylish ridge. The Fantastic Four emblem on his chest isn’t just a simple paper decal; it’s made of vinyl and incorporated directly into the jumpsuit. The black collar and belt are attached to the suit – not printed on – but made from a separate, velvety material.
Mego’s finest achievement, though, is undoubtedly the head sculpt, complete with his famous greying temples. The grey hair has slightly yellowed on my figure – as is common with Mister Fantastic – but thankfully, he doesn’t appear to be suffering from the notorious vinyl migration. His head has retained a nice tan tone rather than turning zombie-grey. His joints are stiff, and he remains highly posable, with a grand total of 14 points of articulation: neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, waist, hips, knees, and ankles.
He really is Plastic Fantastic – and a wonderful addition to my Mego collection!