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Comic Action Heroes 1976-1978
Mego released their 3.75 inch line of Comic Action Hero Figures in 1976, with a smaller lineup of only twelve figures. Eight of them were DC Comics characters, Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Shazam, Joker, Penguin, Superman and Wonder Woman. Four others were from Marvel Comics, Captain America, Hulk, Green Goblin and Spiderman. In addition, four vehicles and three amazing playsets were also released. Mego re-branded the line to the Pocket Super Heroes in 1979.
For more information about Mego’s Comic Action Heroes line, see bottom of page for a complete summary.
Comic Action Heroes (1976-1978): Basic Figures
Mego released 12 brand new 3.75 Inch figures for their Comic Action Heroes line, which were produced from 1976-1977. They wanted to further capitalize on their WGSH line without directly competing with their 8 Inch series.
Aquaman
Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $50 – $70
Aquaman
Accessories: Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Aquaman comes with no accessories but he does feature a nifty and colorful paint job featuring his classic orange and green uniform.
Batman
Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $50 – $75
Batman
Accessories: Bat Rope, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Batman was available in a number of different sets or vehicles in this line. He comes with the Bat Rope and orange figure base.
Captain America
Market Value:
Carded $240 – $320
Loose $50 – $75
Captain America
Accessories: Shield, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Captain America was released with his classic uniform, along with his trusty shield and orange figure base.
Greebn Goblin
Market Value:
Carded $240 – $320
Loose $50 – $75
Green Goblin
Accessories: Satchel, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: The Green Goblin was always my favorite of this series. This is a great looking figure! Goblin comes with a satchel and his orange figure base.
Hulk
Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $50 – $75
Hulk
Accessories: Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: There’s just not many accessories that the Hulk could use, but Mego was good enough to give him a pair of pants and his orange figure base of course.
Joker
Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $50 – $70
Joker
Accessories: Cane, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: The Joker features a fantastic paint job as he comes in his classic comic accurate costume. He also comes with a cane and his orange figure base.
Penguin
Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $50 – $70
Penguin
Accessories: Umbrella, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: The infamous Penguin comes decked out in his comic accurate costume, along with an umbrella and the orange figure base.
Robin
Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $50 – $75
Robin
Accessories: Bat Rope, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Robin was also available in the Exploding Bridge playset. He comes in his classic costume, along with a Bat Rope and orange figure base.
Shazam
Market Value:
Carded $225 – $300
Loose $50 – $75
Shazam
Accessories: Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Shazam comes with no accessories, but does feature his classic red and yellow costume. His cape is not removable but can come off with a bit of pressure.
Spiderman
Market Value:
Carded $240 – $320
Loose $50 – $75
Spiderman
Accessories: Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: What would any Mego line be without Spiderman, as he comes in his classic red and blue costume. Spidey has no accessories except for the orange figure base.
Superman
Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $50 – $70
Superman
Accessories: Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Superman comes with no accessories but he does feature his classic blue and red costume. His cape is not removable but can come off with a bit of pressure.
Wonder Woman
Market Value:
Carded $150 – $250
Loose $50 – $70
Wonder Woman
Accessories: Lasso, Base
Years Released: 1976, 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Wonder Woman comes in her classic DC Comics costume, along with her magic lasso. She was also available in the Invisible Plane Playset.
Comic Action Heroes (1976-1978): Accessories
No unique accessories were created for the Comic Action Heroes line by Mego from 1976-1978.
Comic Action Heroes (1976-1978): Playsets
There were three amazing playsets released for the Comic Action Heroes series that all involved the same blow-up activator action feature.
Exploding Bridge Playset
Market Value:
Boxed $250 – $350
Loose $90 – $135
Exploding Bridge Playset
Accessories: Batman, Robin, Batmobile, Bridge, Frame, Ramps, Comic Action Activator
Years Released: 1976
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: The Exploding Bridge playset was probably the most popular of these playsets in 1976 and included the Batmobile, along with Batman and Robin. There is another rare version that also includes Joker and Penguin as well. This set was a lot of fun, and blowing up that bridge just never got old. Also, the artwork on the box was absolutely gorgeous. One downside of the blow-up activators these sets came with is they easily broke after several uses.
Fortress of Solitude
Market Value:
Boxed $425 – $550
Loose $135 – $185
Fortress of Solitude
Accessories: Superman, Command Console, Wall, Door w/ Crank, Frame, Conference Table, Chairs, Activator
Years Released: 1976
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: The Fortress of Solitude playset is the rarest of the three, and is a tough find on the secondary market. The set comes with Superman and was originally called the Hall of Justice, but Mego felt that it could be confused with the 8 Inch Hall of Justice playset that had just been released, so it was re-branded to the Fortress of Solitude. Fun Fact: one of the stickers for the console features Superman fighting alongside some of the Avengers, who were never created in figure form.
Invisible Plane Playset
Market Value:
Boxed $250 – $350
Loose $90 – $135
Invisible Plane Playset
Accessories: Wonder Woman, Invisible Plane, Collapsing Tower, Rope Ladder, Comic Action Activator
Years Released: 1976
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on secondary market
Notes: Wonder Woman gets her own playset with this Invisible Plane set, which included Wonder Woman and her Invisible Plane. The design of the plane was actually pretty neat as Mego’s designers really gave it that see-through appearance. Once again, the blow-up activators are used in this set to destroy a large green tower and Wonder Woman has to save the day. One piece that is easily lost in this set is the rope ladder for the plane.
Comic Action Heroes (1976-1978): Vehicles
Only two new vehicles were produced for the Comic Action Heroes line, Batcopter and Mangler, along with two “giftpack” vehicles (Batmobile and Spider-Car) that each came with three figures.
Batcopter
Market Value:
Boxed $450 – $550
Loose $100 – $150
Batcopter
Accessories: Batman, Helicopter, Blades, Handle, Rip Cord
Years Released: 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: The Batcopter was a valiant attempt by Mego to get some vehicles out there for their Comic Action Heroes line. It featured a rip cord that would be pulled through a slot, which would then send the Batcopter flying up into the air.
Batmobile
Market Value:
Boxed $700 – $900
Loose $100 – $150
Batmobile Giftpack
Accessories: Batman, Robin, Superman, Batmobile
Years Released: 1978
Scarcity Factor: This item is rare and does not come up for sale very often
Notes: The Batmobile “Giftpack” came with three Comic Action Heroes (Batman, Robin, Superman), and no other real accessories. This is an extremely hard to find piece from this line and commands high prices on the secondary market. Note the Batmobile was also included with the Exploding Bridge Playset.
Mangler
Market Value:
Boxed $450 – $600
Loose $150 – $200
Mangler
Accessories: Green Goblin, Cardboard Green Goblin, Vehicle
Years Released: 1977
Scarcity Factor: Tough to find on the secondary market
Notes: The Mangler was a fun addition to the Comic Action Heroes line, but also a little bizarre. Apparently Spidey had resorted to crunching up his villains by pushing them into a meat grinder. This piece remains extremely popular and very sought after by collectors.
Spider-Car
Market Value:
Boxed $1,000 – $1,500
Loose $100 – $150
Spider-Car
Accessories: Spider Man, Captain America, Hulk, Vehicle, Web Trap, Frame
Years Released: 1978
Scarcity Factor: This item is rare and does not come up for sale very often
Notes: The Spider-Car “Giftpack” came with three Comic Action Heroes (Spiderman, Green Goblin, Hulk), along with a nifty net trap with frame. This is an extremely hard to find piece from this line and commands high prices on the secondary market.
In 1976, Mego was the unofficial King of the toy world, with their massive success of some iconic action figure lines, such as the World’s Greaterst Super Heroes, Star Trek, and Planet of the Apes. In fact, the 8 Inch WGSH line was doing so well, that Mego wanted to further capitalize on its success by branching out to a new but similar medium. Mego already had some good success with their 12 Inch line, so they now decided to shrink their super heroes down to a 3.75 Inch size. This was a significant move because that size of action figure had never been done to that point, and Kenner’s Star Wars line wouldn’t begin releasing figures in that format until 1978. Mego had also released their 3.75 Inch Micronauts line in 1976 (which ran until 1980), so when it comes to the 3.75 Inch action figures……Mego set the standard at that time. The Comic Action Heroes line ran from 1976 until 1978, but re-branded the line to the Pocket Super Heroes in 1979. The main difference of the two lines was the Comic Action Heroes figures had bent legs, while the Pocket Heroes came with straight legs. Both lines came with the same characters, more of less.
For its first run of Comic Action Hero figures, Mego decided to go with a modified and smaller roster than their WGSH line. Twelve figures were released for the line, with eight of them being from DC Comics, and four being from Marvel. DC gave us Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Shazam, Joker, Penguin, Superman and Wonder Woman. From the Marvel side, we got Captain America, Hulk, Green Goblin and Spiderman. Also released were four vehicles and three amazing playsets. Each of the vehicles and playsets remain difficult to track down in their original boxed form and can fetch high prices on the secondary market. When Mego re-branded the line to the Pocket Super Heroes in 1979, they dropped Shazam, Joker and Penguin, and replaced them with three characters from the Superman Movie (Jor-El, General Zod, and Lex Luthor). The three Superman Movie characters only ran for one year before they were also dropped for the final wave of figures in 1980.
The packaging for the Comic Action Heroes line was bright and eye catching, yet remained fairly simple in design. Gone was the elaborate art work that Mego had been known for to that point. Each blister pack was done in a sky blue color with the Comic Action Heroes logo on the top of the card. The character’s name was directly underneath the logo, and the figure itself sat dierectly in the middle. Some packaing had small art clips of certain characters to each side of the bubble, and others did not. Beginning in 1979, the Comic Action Heroes line ceased to exist and was re-branded to the Pocket Super Heroes. The 1979 version of this line had a plain red blister card, but that would change to a white carded blister the following year. A third format featuring a denim blue jean style card was released in late 1980 for the Pocket Super Heroes.
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