Oh, hell...Dolly!

If there's anything I love more than toys it's making fun of people who play with dollies. Not girls of course, they are expected to enjoy the finer points of pant-removal as an integral play component and creative outlet. (Remember that next time your gal removes your pants.)

No, I'm talking about "guys" who play with and collect doll sized GI Joes, Action Man, Mego dollies and the like.

You see, back before Star Wars redefined "action figure" by giving us all what we truly needed in order to grow up into healthy functional adults (namely, non-removable pants,) companies like Mego were giving boys ample opportunities to play with a naked (and castrated) Batman, Captain America, Iron Man, Bionic Man, Captain Kirk...you name him, if he was a pop cultural icon in the sixties and seventies he was probably pantless at the bottom of some hapless boy's toybox.

Jump ahead to 2010. Not only are these over-glorified Barbie dolls an important component of the nostalgia that guys only a few years older than me enjoy, but they have also become legends unto themselves; with huge collector movements both online and off, recent retro throwbacks in the form of Mattel's "Retro Action DC Superheroes" and Ghostbusters lines, and even reproduction parts available online.

Not to mention all the blog posts my blogger pals throw out on a near daily basis.

Yup, boy-dollies are a big deal.

So for all the ribbing I've given guys like Brian, Charles and countless others...

...this one is for you!

Do not adjust your monitors folks, this is in fact my first Mego dolly!

I will hug him and squeeze him and call him "Dickie."

I just picked up this Robin Mego figure last week. He dates back to at least 1977, and I got him for $5!

If there's anything better than a dolly with removable pants, it's a cheap dolly with removable pants!

The same could be said for a girlfriend, now that I think of it.

He's a little dirty, has frayed ends on his cape and his symbol is a bit worn, but Robin is otherwise in great shape for his age! He's surprisingly near complete - only missing his "oven mitt" gloves, which as I mentioned before, can be purchased online in repro form (or could probably also be tracked down on eBay etc. too.) One pixie boot does have a small chew mark, but I suppose that can also be easily and cheaply rectified if I were so inclined.

So how did my life take a complete 180 degree turn and I come into possession of my first ever Mego dolly?

I have my brother-in-law to thank. He had done some handywork for a thrift store dealer who had Robin mixed in with some of her most recent acquisitions. He took a picture of Mr. Grayson with his phone and showed it to me last time I saw him - about two weeks after he snapped the photo!

Of course I immediately said "I must have that Robin dolly! Let's go now!" and off we went.

Fortunately for me the lady still had him, and while she was asking $10 for him, I only had $5 cash and of course I bartered for him, and she was glad to pass him on to me for the fiver!

Now Robin is mine - my first ever official Mego dolly! I think he'll look great next to Batman when Mattel releases their new Retro Action Batman dolly soon.

I'm ruined.

Oh, and in case you are wondering; no, I have not removed his pants.

Yet.

Side note: Toyriffic posts will be sporadic at best for the next month or so. But rest assured, I am not going anywhere and Toyriffic will be back to full strength soon! Thanks to everyone of you who reads and comments and laughs at my stupid jokes. I'd still be doing this without you, but I'd be getting a hell of a lot less out of it if you weren't here.