Save Wave 2! #SaveLostMegos!

I got to speak with Jason Labowitz, co-owner of BifBangPow yesterday to get the latest news on the status of the Lost action figures.

The Good News: Sales of Wave 1 have been better than they expected. They will eventually sell out and will not be discounted, so act now on Locke/Hugo and Kate/Ben.

The Bad News: Wave 2 is still in danger of being cancelled. BBP says that if they don't get enough pre-sales by March 1 they won't be able to start production on Wave 2 in time for a July delivery. Their Lost merchandising license expires in July and they can't run the risk of not being able to sell what they make, they need to be confident that the sales will be there.

I almost never do pre-orders---most of us don't---but this is a special circumstance. This line has had it's share of delays and set-backs that has pushed it to this point. It's up to us Lost Mego fans to make our intentions known. If you think you want these figures now is the time to say so.

Place a pre-order, your credit card won't be charged until the figures ship so you have nothing to lose.

Jack and Sayid

Sawyer and Juliet

Miles and Claire

This seems to be about timing more than anything else. If Wave 1 is doing well this next one should do even better. The characters are almost all winners, there's no odd costume choices in the bunch, and the likenesses are even stronger. For all of Kate's flaws you can't tell me Juliet doesn't look great. I think the Jack is very strong, as is Sayid. Sawyer and Miles are going to be fine and while Claire is the weak link she may surprise us and the Crazy Claire customs will be a blast to put together. C'mon people! Let's get this plane in the air!

The Next Wave of Lost Bobbleheads are coming!

The guys at BifBangPow just sent me these photos of their newest Lost bobbleheads! This next series is available for pre-order now (links below) and will be shipping in July. First series bobbleheads are still available at Entertainment Earth if you haven't added them to your Lost collection yet.

There will be an exclusive San Diego Comic-Con 2011 bobblehead to be revealed later. Who can it be??

No doubt these are essential characters to round out the BBP Lost bobblehead collection. Sawyer holds his famous note and a handgun, he's looking to settle a score. "Pilot" Jack is presented with Vincent on the beach with 815 wreckage.

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Jack Shephard Bobblehead

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Sawyer Bobblehead

Up next: Desmond at last! We are still hoping and praying for a Desmond action figure, but at least we have his bobblehead poised to push the button on your desk for all eternity. Lastly, what a great surprise to see Dr. Leslie Arzt carefully carefully CAREFULLY handling some Black Rock dynamite.

Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Desmond Hume Bobblehead
Pre-order now at Entertainment Earth: Lost Dr. Leslie Arzt Bobblehead

Reviews for Wave 1 continue

Rob at The Mind Boggles is a Lost Super Collector and a big supporter of the Island of Lost Megos. Here's his reviews of his new action figures

Uber Super Collector Andalone also has her first review up. She's way into the customizing idea, I expect to see great things!

While you are there browse through both of their jaw dropping collections of Lost stuff.

Previously: MrNerdyReviews are up: I get a kick out of this guy's reviews. He's super psyched about Ben and Kate Austen is winning him over.

All of my reviews are in the character links to the left.
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Send me your reviews!

Sayid Jarrah

Sayid Jarrah will come in a 2 pack with Jack. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples at my home before they were sent to the factory for production.

Sayid comes in a grey muscle shirt, black cargo pants and black shoes. Note that he comes on the new EMCE swivel biceps body for added poseability and a hunkier look for the bare armed costume.

The sculpt has been widely regarded as one of the best of the line.

The original prototype shown with the factory sample (revealed 1/28/11)

Getting the word out....

Well, it's been kind of an exciting week here on the Island. Now that the figures are available I started publicizing the blog and video, trying to get the word out and connect with like minded Losties.

We had one review thread for Wave1 and a discussion of the Wave2 photos at the MegoMuseum.

DarkUFO posted my submission. I've visited there many times in search of Lost news, it was a thrill to make some there.

The reception hasn't been uniformly positive, the folks at the Lostpedia forums are not fans of these figures. Like I say, they aren't for everyone.

We added 30 new people to the Island of Lost Megos Facebook page, that was really cool! And I even started using my Twitter (megoscott) account, which was all new to me but I connected with a few really cool Losties including one who had already placed her order at CTVT to start doing customs. She even bought a Peg Bundy, I never thought people would really do that. So cool.

Meanwhile, MrNerdyReviews are up: I get a kick out of this guy's reviews. He's super psyched about Ben and Kate Austen is winning him over.

Have your own review? Let me know, I'd love to hear/see/read it!

Lost action figures have arrived! A Special Message from The Island of Lost Megos

What is this all about? Check out this 3 minute video:

I have posted detailed reviews of all 4 of the remaining Wave 1 figures, as well as the upcoming (hopefully) Wave 2, scroll down or use the side links for each character.

Clearly, I am a huge supporter of this line and have been eager to share my enthusiasm for these figures, but I am trying to remain objective and frank about any flaws I see. I'm not affiliated with BifBangPow (though I am an EE affiliate and will get some store credit if you use the links on my site to buy and pre-order figures, thank you very much). I've met (pestered) the people involved in making them, they've been very gracious and helpful and they welcome criticism and feedback.

I have been a serious Mego fan for most of my life and have a great appreciation for a well made Mego-style figure. I think many Mego fans will respect them as worthy additions to the Mego revival and I think a lot of Lost fans need to have these in their collections. I know they are not for everyone, but if you are at all attracted to them you owe it to yourself to give them a try.

I am so thankful that BifBangPow stuck with this line. I've been worried about these figures for a long time...they've been delayed by quality problems in China, they came many months after the show went off the air and took the Lost hype away with it, one of the prototypes broke on national TV. People have been very critical of the figures and questioned whether they'd ever be any good.

BBP took the time to get it right and came through with some well-made figures that I'm proud to own. There are dozens of things I'd change about them if I could, but I'm very glad they are here.

Now that they are here I am determined to spread the word and encourage Lost fans to support this line. They deserve our support. If sales are strong enough for Wave 1 then Wave 2 will come out in June, and based on these latest figures I have faith those will be even better.

But if not, Wave 2 might very well be canceled and our last chance for Lost action figures will disappear, probably forever.

With that in mind I put together this promo video for the figures. Please check it out and share it with your Lostie friends. Help spread the word about these figures and let's keep them going!

Discounted Individual Wave 1 at EE

Ben, Hurley, Kate, and Locke in NOT MINT packaging are on sale at Entertainment Earth. Good chance to grab individual characters if you wish.

New Factory Sample heads revealed! Jack, Sawyer, Miles

I got word yesterday that Entertainment Earth updated the pictures for Wave 2 to show factory produced figures of Jack, Sawyer and Miles.

Once again we see that prototypes are not to be taken as final product. I feel that these new heads are good Mego-style likenesses of the characters and based on the figures from Wave 1 I think we can feel confident that if we support this line we'll be rewarded with some great Lost figures.

Scroll down to see each new figure. I've also added entries for the remaining three prototype figures Juliet, Sayid and Claire. I'll let you know when we have new samples to view of those figures.

Jack Shephard

Jack Shephard will come in a 2 pack with Sayid. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update: 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples in my home before they were sent to the factory for production.

I spent a lot of time with Jack, he's an important character and I think they did a very good job on his head. We know there are many faces of Jack, but I think this one captures his befuddled confidence quite well.

Jack will come dressed in black business suit with removable black shoes. The suit is the same pattern BBP is using for some of it's Twilight Zone figures, and it looks to be a well tailored Mego suit. BBP has done a good job with fabric and costume quality.

ALSO: Jack will come with the swivel-biceps body Sayid has, which will fill out that suit jacket nicely and make sleeveless shirts and custom tattoos much cooler!

Packaging Update: Jack's card art lists him as Oceanic 6. He's therefore wearing the suit he wore on the Ajira flight (hence the grey shirt) and not the iconic "Pilot" suit with the white dress shirt.

Note the little faux buttons on the shirt and the great tie. This is one of the best Mego suits ever made, hands down. The shirt is a thing of beauty.

The original head sculpt was met with jeers by many when it was first revealed. On January 20 Entertainment Earth put up a photograph of a factory sample. Both are pictured below.

Claire Littleton

Claire Littleton comes in a 2 pack with Miles. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples in my home before they were sent to the factory before production. I was glad to see Claire in person, earlier photographs did not do the sculpt justice. I'm confident that once this head is cast in vinyl at the right size this will be a nice Claire figure.

With her stuffed pregnant belly and overlarge prototype head she's received a lot of negative comments in the early going. I think in the end she'll be fine and I think a Crazy Claire custom will be easy and fun. It would've been weird to include a little baby Aaron, I suppose, but that will be a fairly easy accessory to locate elsewhere.

The stuffed maternity shirt is removable, by the way, leaving her in a nicely built black dress. The lavender Converse style shoes are a really nice touch.

Pardon the headless Claire...

These shoes will ultimatly be removable, these are for prototype purposes only.

Below: The original prototype photo paired with Miles as seen on the EE website.

Juliet Burke

Juliet comes in a 2 pack with Sawyer. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update: 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples in my home before they were sent to the factory for production. Seeing this resin cast of the prototype sculpt in person was fantastic.

The prototype head is larger than the final head will be. I think it's an undeniably good likeness of the character. She will come dressed in a very cool 1977 era outfit. The printed floral detailing on the shirt is top notch. She wears the same removable hiking boot as Kate. Based on the mostly successful Kate head, I think we're in good shape with Juliet, the hair is finely sculpted and the likeness is very good.

Miles Straume

Miles Straum comes in a 2 pack with Claire. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Miles protoype sculpt always looked great, and the updated factory sample head looks successful. He comes in a grey long sleeve t-shirt, black cargo pants, black shoes and a grey vest.

Update 3/15/11: BifBangPow! graciously allowed me to photograph the Wave 2 samples at my home before they were sent back to the factory to begin the production process. Here are my close up shots of the Miles figure. I'm particularly impressed by his well constructed and finely detailed costume with it's hooded and lined vest and long sleeved t-shirt with a very thin neck hem.

Below: The factory sample compared with the prototype picture.

James "Sawyer" Ford (AKA LaFleur)

Sawyer comes in a 2 pack with Juliet. They are available for pre-order now and are scheduled to ship in July 2011. Please consider placing a pre-order for these figures as a show of support for this line. Your credit card will not be charged until the figures actually ship.

Update 3/15/11: BBP graciously allowed me to photograph their Wave 2 samples in person at my home. Sawyer's gun was not included in the package but will be in the final product.

Sawyer comes in a fantastic Dharma jumpsuit with LaFleur Head of Security printed (not stickers) on the pocket under the DI logo. He is wearing brown shoes and looks to have a green t-shirt under the jumpsuit. The detailing on the jumpsuit is superb.

The head sculpt is hit or miss as a likeness, overall I think it get the character across. I'm glad they didn't go for the glowering angry look on Sawyer.

Sawyer will come on the new swivel-biceps body which is better for posing with guns and will fill out the jumpsuit better!

Below: The prototype shown with the factory sample.

Review: BifBangPow! Benjamin Linus (The Others)

Ben Linus is sold in a 2-pack with Kate Austin and is in stock now atEntertainment Earth.

Ben comes on a card under the theme of The Others. The art feature silhouetted Others on an Island ridge. Ben comes dressed in his Others disguise from the Season 2 finale (never really got a good explanation about the disguises, but whatever...) So I have the same complaints about costume choice as I do with Hurley, but that said, it's a cool costume. The fabric choice is perfect, the rips and holes and details perfectly illustrate the grimy pajamas he wore. He is barefoot.

The head is awesome. I'm not sure it's a perfect Michael Emmerson likeness, but it's close enough for Mego and has a lot of character in the sculpt. Particular detail was paid to the eyes and this is one character where the Mego stare that some people find creepy really comes in handy!

Of all the custom projects on the Island of Lost Megos, Ben in civilian clothes is the easiest as I outlined in an earlier post. Thank goodness for Al Bundy, eh?

Review: BifBangPow! Kate Austin (The Dharma Initiative)

Kate Austin is sold in a 2-pack with Ben Linus and is in stock now at Entertainment Earth.

Kate is listed under the Dharma Initiative theme with an image of the barracks and the DI logo. I'm glad she didn't come in a blue motor pool jumpsuit, though, because her outfit is nice standard island adventure attire. She comes wearing a white tank top with a very nice pair of brown cargo pants and very cool removable hiking boots. She ships with her tank top untucked, but I think I prefer it tucked in. She comes on a reproduction Mego female body.

I must say the Mego female body is not the greatest. The hands will not hold things, their proportions are a little funky. I noticed a more flashing (excess plastic) on the hands that I trimmed of with a knife. My Kate also seems to be a bit tightly strung, her left arm won't come down to rest against her side. But it is a very poseable body and is in nice proportion to the male figures.

We've been on pins and needles with Kate. I was never a fan of the prototype photo. It had the over-large prototype head and I think the angle it was photographed was not at all flattering to the sculpt. I was also not a fan of the molded hair, Mego females always had rooted hair, so this is new territory for me....

So I was actually surprised how much I like the figure and how well it works. It's in perfect proportion, first of all. I think it's best viewed at a 3/4 angle because you can see what the sculpt is going for. It's not a dead on likeness of the actress, but it's in the ballpark and the lines of the cheeks and nose are really well done. I was surprised to see an attempt at freckles on her nose, I'm not sure it was entirely successful. The hair sits on the shoulders so you have to be careful turning the head so as to not pull on the shirt. But the molded hair works. There would be no way to get a modern hairstyle that resembled the actress in rooted hair. Mego was working with straight hair or bubble-hairdos and flips. This is harder. I think in some places the detail of the hair is a bit rough, Hurley's is a bit nicer. But put me down as an impressed fan.

Update: Here's Kate holding a handgun from the Dr. Mego weapons package, works pretty well, actually. I put her in an extra shirt I had (not sure of the source). Kate often layered her clothes. I'd like to do the orange tank top and white top shirt combo she wore on Walkabout.