MEGO Meet 2019: Video and Pictures
June 21, 2019 by Rudy PanucciLess than a week ago your PopCulteer was in Columbus for part of MEGO Meet, the annual gathering of fans of the MEGO Toy Company, who ruled the roost in the toy world back in the mid-1970s. This was my first time attending MEGO Meet since they left Wheeling five years ago, and even though I had to split the weekend between MEGO Meet in Columbus and The Marx Toy Show in Wheeling, it was an incredibly fun time.
I was only there for one day, but it was still pretty overwhelming, and I wish I’d had the energy to hang out and visit more with my fellow collectors, some of whom I hadn’t seen for five years. I did get to meet MEGO’s founder and proud papa, Marty Abrams (right, with yours truly) but I didn’t get to talk at length with him.
Of course, the PopCult cameras were rolling, and we have this fast-paced video to give you a taste of the fun on display. You may notice that while I promise glimpses of the panels, there are only a few seconds of them here. The reasons for that are two-fold: First, I ad-libbed the intros for this clip and for the Marx Toy Show clip in one take, before shooting any other video; second, I only made it to a couple of panels, one of which I will probably post in full in a week or so (the Cast A Way Toys panel) and the other, the Marty Abrams presents MEGO panel, was recorded by other folks, and can already be seen online.
Still, this should give you pretty good idea of how the show went…
Last year, the first year that MEGO Meet was in Columbus, MEGO founder Marty Abrams announced that MEGO was coming back to stores, beginning with a six-month exclusive deal with Target. This year, with the new MEGO toys showing up in more and more retailers every day, MEGO unveiled a load of new product. Photos of the new items were not allowed because the items are not all approved by the licensors, but we do have some intel for you. After this photo of how swamped Marty and his crew were at the Q&A session (which had to be moved into a large hallway because the conference room was too small).
The rain detered most entries in the car show, but this Joker Van was not put off by the blustery weather.
New ways to play with Action Jackson.
Some of the customs up for auction including figures based on Green Hornet, Marvel Comics, The Hatbox Ghost and Blazing Saddles.
Unofficial winner of “Most Disturbing Custom” was “Penguin’s Sexy Day Off”
Bettie Page, coming soon from Cast A Way Toys.
If you’re going to cosplay, go all in like this guy.
This table was enough to make you break out into an “I Want” song.
Custom figures for as far as the eye could see…
We wrap up with your PopCulteer’s personal haul from MEGO Meet.
With that, we also wrap up this week’s PopCulteer. Check back later today for an extra update, and all weekend for our regular features.