The first major wave of Batman toys and related merchandise was produced in the 1960s during the Batman TV show’s Batmania. The next major wave of Batman toys started in 1972 with Mego’s “World’s Greatest Super Heroes,” featuring 8” tall figures that established the standard scale for the ’70s. Like similar toys of the period, they were adorned in cloth costumes, though costumes were not sold separately. The line started with Batman, and included Robin, Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, and Riddler.

In conjunction with the 8” figures, Mego made playsets and vehicles for the Caped Crusader. In 1974, they issued the Batcave, which contained the Batpole, secret entrance to the cave, and a Batsignal. Mego released the Batman’s Wayne Foundation playset in 1977, which stands at 40” tall, featuring a three-story building with penthouse. Vehicles made for the figures include the Batcycle free-wheeling motorcycle with sidecar and Mobile Bat Lab.

Adding variety to their toy offerings, Mego developed a few lines of small figures. In 1972, they introduced the Bend ‘n Flex line of 5” tall poseable, rubber figures that were given cartoon-like designs and sold on blister cards. Of important note, these characters were made to scale – meaning that a character like Penguin was shorter than Batman – which was not a regularly used method of the time.

There next popular wave at a smaller stature was the Comic Action Heroes plastic figure line, released in 1976. At 3-3/4” size, the figures came with bent legs that could fit into playsets, and the costumes were molded onto the figure instead of separate cloth pieces. This group contained Batman with a Batrope, Robin with a Batrope, the Joker with his cane, and Penguin with his umbrella, plus a Batmobile, Batcopter, and Exploding Bridge.

In 1979, Mego retooled the Comic Action Heroes series, giving the characters straight legs, selling them as Pocket Super Heroes. They included Batman and Robin (sometimes packaged with a Batrope and sometimes without) and a variation on the Batmobile and a Batcave.

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