“It’s a thrilling terror to be encountered.”
Mego released The Mangler in 1975. The toy was part of the company’s Comic Action Heroes line of toys.
The box was illustrated with Spider-Man and Green Goblin and showed the two foes engaged in a fight with The Mangler at the ready to engulf the Green Goblin.
The toy’s main housing was manufactured from green plastic and resembled a combination of a military tank and a Zamboni. It sat atop a continuous track and was manually pushed along. The front of the toy was moulded with teeth and jaws that hinged open. Inside the mouth was a pink plastic tongue and two foam rollers to devour the action figure. As the figure was pushed into the mouth and disappeared from view, a two-dimensional cardboard cutout emerged from two ringers at the back of the toy to simulate flattening the figure.
In the box was the Mangler vehicle, one Green Goblin Comic Action Heroes figure, and one cardboard figure.
COLLECTOR CONSIDERATIONS
Mego’s Comic Action Heroes line followed the toy company’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes collection. Comic Action Heroes were 3-3/4-inch figures produced to include characters such as Batman, Robin, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Joker, The Penguin, Spider-Man, Green Goblin, and others. Playsets and accessories extended the play patterns of the figures. The Mangler was part of a line of playsets that included Batman’s Flying Batcopter, Wonder Woman’s Collapsing Tower with Invisible Airplane, and Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.
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