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Heroes of the American West 1974 – 1975

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The Heroes of the American West toy line featured six classic characters from the old west, including Buffalo Bill Cody, Cochise, Davey Crockett, Sitting Bull, Wild Bill Hickock, and Wyatt Earp. A remote control horse named Shadow was also produced. Mego advertised a Dodge City playset in their 1974 catalog, but sadly, it was never released. The beautiful packaging artwork was drawn by legendary comic artist, Gray Morrow.

For more information about Mego’s American West line, see bottom of page for a complete summary.

Mego released six different figures for their Heroes of the American West action figure line in 1974, which is the most they had produced for any of their historical or Legends action figure series.

Buffalo Bill Cody

Buffalo Bill Cody
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Boots, Hat, Holster, Pistol, Rifle
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Buffalo Bill Cody was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Buffalo Bill is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Buffalo Bill was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

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Cochise

Cochise
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Moccasins, Headband, Feather, Rifle, Knife
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Cochise was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Cochise is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Cochise was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

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Davey Crockett

Davey Crockett
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Moccasins, Cap, Horn, Knife, Rifle
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Davey Crockett was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Davey Crockett is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Davey Crockett was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

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Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Moccasins, Necklace, Headdress, Spear
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Sitting Bull was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Sitting Bull is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Sitting Bull was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

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Wild Bill Hickock

Wild Bill Hickock
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Vest, Boots, Hat, Holster, Pistol
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Wild Bill Hickock was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Wild Bill Hickock is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Wild Bill Hickock was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

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Wyatt Earp

Wyatt Earp
Accessories: Shirt, Pants, Tie, Boots, Star, Hat, Holster, Pistols x 2
Years Released: Boxed/Kresge – 1974, 1975
Western Heroes – 1980
Difficulty To Find: Moderate Difficulty – Takes patience and appears less often
Notes: Wyatt Earp was released in 1974 on the solid boxed format, that Mego used in 1972 for their WGSH line. The beautiful artwork was created by the legendary Comic artist, Gray Morrow. The Kresge version of Wyatt Earp is the same exact one that was released in the solid box, except on the popular Kresge department store card. The Western Heroes version of Wyatt Earp was released in 1980, and did have a slightly different sculpt and costume than the original. These Western Heroes versions can be tough to track down on the secondary market.

Heroes of the American West (1974-1975): Accessories

There were no accessories released for the Heroes of the American West action figure series.

Heroes of the American West (1974-1975): Playsets

Mego did not release any playsets for their American West line, but did originally plan on producing a Dodge City Playset that was actually featured in the 1974 Mego catalog but unfortunately never made it to release. The set used the same layout as other similar playsets such as the Batcave, Action Jackson’s Lost Continent and the Planet of the Apes Village.

Heroes of the American West (1974-1975): Vehicles

Mego only released one vehicle for their American West line, and that was Shadow, the Super Horse (according to the box).

Shadow

Market Value:
Boxed $300 – $400
Loose $110 – $160

Shadow
Accessories: Saddle, Bridle, Wired Remote Control
Years Released: 1974, 1975
Difficulty To Find: Hard to Find – Occasionally listed, and usually sells quickly
Notes: Shadow was the lone vehicle, playset or accessory released for the American West line, which is a tad strange due to the strong sales of the series. Shadow was able to be moved by a remote control which was hard-wired to the actual horse. This is the same basic feature that Mego had also used on other horses from the Action Jackson, Dinah Mite and Planet of the Apes lines.

By 1974, Mego toys was gaining quite the reputation as being a top innovator in the action figure world. With such successful lines as the World’s Greatest Super Heroes, and more mega lines being released, such as Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, Mego was exploding into a huge expansion period. Despite their success with their big brands, Mego was still introducing several different smaller lines to add some diversity to their brand. Since Mego now had some clout in the toy industry and were boasting huge toy sale numbers, they could now afford to take a few gambles with some different types of action figure lines. One of those gambles happened to be the Heroes of the American West action figure line. This was one of a few different historical action figure lines that Mego released in the mid 1970’s. The idea was to release an action figure line based on legendary and iconic American Western characters, and the old west theme was incredibly popular at the time. The line was actually a very successful one for Mego that ran for two years, but in 1975, the decision was made to end the American West line and move on to other ventures. As fate would have it, the line would return in 1980 with brand new packaging, but the figures were released under the Lion Rock brand and not Mego. After the Mego company finally went under, the figures appeared once again in the early to mid 1980’s but were issued by a company called Tim Mee Toys. The figures were essentially the same, but done with a sloppier appearance.

The Heroes of the American West toy line featured six basic characters, which were the most characters offered in any of Mego’s historical or Legends lines. The series offered some classic old west characters, including Buffalo Bill Cody, Cochise, Davey Crockett, Sitting Bull, Wild Bill Hickock, and Wyatt Earp. Mego didn’t have to pay any type of licensing fees to use these characters, so the world was their oyster when it came to selecting their characters. A Horse named Shadow was also produced, which used the same remote control feature that Mego had previously used on horses in their Action Jackson, Planet of the Apes and Super Knights series. Mego actually advertised a Dodge City playset for the line in the 1974 Mego catalog as well, but it sadly never made it to release. There were no other accessories created for the Heroes of the American West line.

The original boxed packaging for the Heroes of the American West line of action figures was perhaps the most beautifully drawn artwork that Mego had produced to that date. It was the solid boxed design that Mego first introduced in 1972 wit the WGSH line, but the wow factor was without a doubt the lovely character portraits that decorated the front and back of the box, which were drawn by the legendary comic artist, Gray Morrow. The figures were also offered on the popular Kresge Department Store cards from 1974 to 1975 as well. The design was an appropriate wooden background with the World’s Greatest Super Heroes logo at the very top, this time the western heroes replaced the classic super heroes. The 1980 Lion Rock release was a plain peach colored card with the six character portraits sitting on the left hand side in miniature form.