While Hakes was being conservative when they quoted a $30-50k finish for this graded Mego Green Goblin, no one could have expected by just how much. The figure is one of just two graded samples of the Spider-Man villain’s first-ever action figure on this 1975 cardback; the sole other graded example was most recently sold through Hakes in 2022. The 2022 auction’s finish was a whopping $76,700 — a figure that the current Hakes auction has already exceeded by a factor of nearly $15k. With just more than two weeks left to bid at the time of writing, the auction has reached a staggering price of $90,000. If the auction were to go without another bid, it would already be a world-record breaker: the 2022 Hakes sale was the single highest price ever attained for a Mego action figure. But with two more weeks left in the auction, it looks as if this figure is poised to be the first-ever Mego action figure to sell for more than $100k.
There are two factors that contribute to this unprecedented bidding war: packaging and condition. Mego figures are seldom graded; the Mego collecting community, as in general, are less interested in graded action figures that other vintage toy collectors. However, even if the segment of Mego collectors interested in graded figures is small, supply still outstrips demand, as there are usually just a single-digit number of graded samples of rare figures available, as with this Green Goblin. The Mego Green Goblin was only issued on a plastic bubble and cardback once in 1975 before discontinuation, and is much more commonly found in a cardboard “window box.” Carded Green Goblins are one of the rarest items in Mego’s entire “World’s Greatest Super-Heroes” line, virtually irrespective of condition. The AFA (Action Figure Authority) certified 80+ Near Mint condition of this graded sample therefore drives it from simply “rare” to “nearly one of a kind.”
In the decades since Mego’s World’s Greatest Super-Heroes hit shelves in 1972, toy collectors have come to take comic book action figures for granted. But for a generation, these toys represented their chance to own their favorite super-heroes; as well as the first-ever chance to own any of their foes. Mego was the first company to bring articulated super-villains to shelves, giving kids a full roster of Batman rogues (the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman) as well as Mister Mxyzptlk (widely regarded as the weirdest character selection decision in the line — why him and not Lex Luthor?), and two of Spider-Man’s classic opponents with Green Goblin and the Lizard. The line debuted with exclusively DC heroes (Batman, Robin, Superman, Aquaman) in 1972, adding Marvel characters beginning in 1973. Spider-Man and Captain America were given the honor of inaugurating the Marvel Universe into the line, public domain hero Tarzan was part of the same wave.
Mego’s super-heroes introduced their game-changing system of standardized eight inch bodies and cloth outfits, cutting costs and enabling Mego to produce more robust character assortments. The lack of development and tooling costs also enabled them to take risks on licenses, sometimes paying off with a massive success like Star Trek, sometimes fizzling like their Wizard of Oz line. The World’s Greatest Super-Heroes fits into the former category, a defining success for Mego that spawned more than a dozen new characters between 1974-1977. 1974 added nine new characters in the “Super-Gals” (Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Catwoman) and “Super-Foes” (the aforementioned other Batman villains, plus Mxyzptlk) assortments, as well as Shazam. Green Goblin and Lizard debuted in 1975, which also introduced Marvel heroes Iron Man, Hulk, and Falcon, as well as DC’s Green Arrow. Along with Green Goblin, the carded Iron Man is a rarity in the line, as he was only issued on a cardback in 1975 before being discontinued.
1976’s additions to the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes are the most of their era, as they eschewed more Justice League members or Marvel villains in favor of Conan the Barbarian and Isis the Invincible. At the time, Conan was headlining one of Marvel’s best-selling comics titles, and Isis was the star of her own Saturday morning children’s series, The Secrets of Isis. Predating both The Bionic Woman and Lynda Carter’s legendary Wonder Woman, The Secrets of Isis was actually the first-ever live-action female-led super-hero series, though largely forgotten today. Five additional Marvel heroes joined the line in 1976, the Mighty Thor and the Fantastic Four. The Thing allowed Mego to amortize the bulkier new body they had tooled for the Incredible Hulk the previous year.
1977 was the final year of new characters for the line, taking the form of the highly sought-after Teen Titans. The Teen Titans were chosen to compliment existing figures in the line, with Wonder-Girl, Aqualad, and Speedy being the sidekicks to Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow. Bizarrely, the fourth figure in the Teen Titans assortment was Kid Flash, even though no figure of the Flash was ever produced by Mego. Alongside Green Lantern, the Flash is generally regarded as the single biggest hole in the classic Mego line. Every revival or tribute line produced in the decades since has rectified this error, giving modern collectors several stand-in options to choose from. A changing retail landscape (largely brought on by Star Wars) led to a gradual phasing out of the line. No new figures were issued after 1977, the line was discontinued altogether in 1980.
There’s no question that Mego’s World’s Greatest Super-Heroes are objectively outmoded. The sculpts, articulation, and cloth outfits are of their era, to be sure. Bizarre design elements (like the infamous “oven mitt” gloves on Batman and others) and odd character selection abound. But that pales before the warm memories of this being your first ever Spider-Man, or Captain America, or Superman. Better yet, these figures could withstand any play short of being dropped off a building. They were designed to be dropped off shelves, run through the dirt, carried around in a backpack. Mego’s World’s Greatest Super-Heroes were toys first and foremost, and while collector’s items today, those collectors started off as kids. Even the prevalence of Mego revival toylines indicates how strong those childhood memories are in the priorities of collectors: new characters are always demanded and selected based on “righting wrongs” of the original line — just look at how many companies (Mego included) have taken a shot at a World’s Greatest Super-Heroes-styled Flash.
Like Kenner’s Super Powers line and the eighties, Mego’s World’s Greatest Super-Heroes are synonymous for growing up loving comic books in the seventies. Besides Kenner’s Star Wars, Mego’s World’s Greatest Super-Heroes is perhaps the only toyline of its era that can still sell new characters made exactly as they would have been fifty years ago. The line holds such a place in the hearts of its collectors that there’s still a desire to pick up right where it left off. The most passionate of those collectors are the ones driving auctions like the Green Goblin at Hakes. The unique aesthetics and the warm childhood memories conjured Mego’s action figures are worth six figures to at least a few collectors, even if most of us will have to settle for the replica.
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