In the mid-1970s, spurred by the success that Mego was having with The World’s Greatest Super Heroes line of action figures, other toy companies were eager to jump on the bandwagon. The problem was, Mego had a virtual stranglehold on superheroes with their license agreements with both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, who were the only game in town at the time.
Since the comic book superheroes were unavailable some companies, for example Kenner, licensed TV superheroes like The Six Million Dollar Man.
Another company, Hasbro, had tried and failed to get the license for The Six Million Dollar Man. Undeterred, Hasbro created their own cyborg hero: Mike Power, the Atomic Man. Hasbro then followed up with another superhero figure, Bulletman, who was extremely similar to - but supposedly not inspired by - the Fawcett Comics character of the same name from the Golden Age. Both were incorporated into the G.I. Joe Adventure Team.
That leads us to Ideal in 1977, and their own entry into the superhero action figure market: Electroman, and his arch-enemy, Zogg.
Electroman was one of those concepts that looked much better on the page than in real life (especially in the comic book ads, which look like they were drawn by Dave Cockrum).
In a world where most action figures were smaller (the bulk of Mego’s figures were 8 inches tall; Hasbro’s G.I. Joes were 11.5 to 12 inches; Kenner’s The Six Million Dollar Man was 13 inches), Electroman came in at a whopping 16 inches!
And what superpowers did this gargantuan action figure possess? He flashed light from his head and made noises.
Yes, Electroman had some decent (but not great) articulation. And he had soft, flexible boots. But really he was just some schmoe with a flashlight welded to the top of his head.
Zogg wasn’t any better. He looked like a monkey that had been dipped in Nair, and he was barely articulated at all. Sure, he could move on his own (due to wheels in his feet and an electric motor), but if you shined Electron’s light - or really any flashlight - at his head, Zogg would stop and fall over on his face.
On top of which, both figures required 3 “C” batteries (sold separately, of course) to power their gimmicks. Back in 1977 batteries cost as much as a student loan payment, and lasted about 6 hours!
In the end, the toy buying public was completely underwhelmed by Electroman and Zogg, and Ideal cancelled the figures after just one year.
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