Mego was done at retail and in 1982, closed it’s doors forever. Sadly, it was a case of too little, too late for the World’s Greatest Toy company. Many people inside Mego thought the line was a gamble, Mego had mounting debt and Eagle Force was expensive to produce.Īccording to then Mego chairman Martin Abrams, Eagle Force was poised to be a smash hit, the initial inventory had blown out at Target stores over the course of one weekend. The figures debut was at the 1982 Toyfair, Mego’s catalog theme that year was “Soar with the Eagles”, it was obvious they had high hopes for the line. (see the link below for the story in Kirchner’s own words or by clicking here) Each Eagle Force card had the look and feel of a comic book, showcasing each character as well as giving an adventure on the back.
The then 29 year old Kirchner beautifully fleshed out the characters originally envisioned by Mego VP Bill Baron as being the “Screaming Eagles”. Joe, Eagle Force used comic book adventures to market the line, beautfully illustrated, the Eagle Force line was created by Paul Kirchner a known Heavy Metal contributor. R.I.O.T was lead by the evil General Mamba and his henchmen Savitar the Ninja and the evil Arsonist Beta Man. Led by Captain Eagle,the eye patched Eagle commanded a group of military experts with codenames such as Big Bro’, Harley, Turk and The Cat. Eagle Force was assembled from the finest of the US armed forces. a terrorist organization that was driven by world domination. Joe with the major difference being the scale of the figures.Īccording to the official Mego Intro piece Eagle Force was created by the US Goverment to tackle R.I.O.T ( Roving International Organization of Tyranny). Despite being developed independantly of one another, similiarities arose between Eagle Force and G.I. On the other side of town, (well in Rhode Island) Hasbro was planning a similiar comeback of on their more iconic characters, that of G.I.
Military toys were about to make a comeback and Mego wanted to be on top of the market place.
Mego’s “Eagle Force ” line was truly a symbol of the times, the early eighties and the election of Ronald Reagan brought about a rise in patriotism and “law and order” that had not been seen in over a decade.
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