When your world is in trouble
and you need a fighting friend
who will come on the double and keep fighting to the end
and you need a fighting friend
who will come on the double and keep fighting to the end
Get Jet! Get Jet! Jet Jungle is the man to get! Jet Jungle. Jet Jungle Jet Jungle is the man to get!
Get Jet!
That's the theme song to South African Radio Action hero Jet Jungle, a character that was relatively unknown to Mego collectors up until a year ago.
Jet was the creation of actor Brian O'Shaughnessy and appeared on South Africa's Springbok radio for a twenty year run starting in the mid nineteen sixties. The adventures of a globe trotting adventurer ("The fittest man in the World" ) and his companions, Professor "Spaghetti" Villetti and the lovely Samantha, the series had a quality not unlike Johnny Quest or Doc Savage.
In October of 2005, a discovery occurred that put the name Jet Jungle into the forefront of Mego collecting, Jet had been part of the Mego World's Greatest Superheroes lineup!
Enter Jane, a UK collector who was looking for Action Man for her son at a flea market in London sixteen years ago. "On one particular table I found a boxed figure and although it was not an Action Man" Jane bought Jet along with a Mego Action Jackson and some regular WGSH, all characters bore price tags from a South African store.
"It was just a case of 'Love at First Sight'. Although I knew nothing about them I felt really excited and knew I just had to have them all" Jane adds that her favorite was the mystery man "Jet Jungle really stood out as it was not a character I knew I was really intrigued by him. I thought I really must find out more about him but never got around to it until now."
After 16 years, Jane decided to ask the collectors at the Mego Museum forum if they had any information; she ended up educating them with this previously unknown figure.
The Jet Jungle figure utilizes the Mego Bruce Wayne sculpt (also used for Italy's Tex Willer) detailed with white hair and thick eyebrows, just like the character. His costume is a black turtleneck with unique bell-bottom pants: A close, but not perfect match would be the Action Jackson Secret Agent outfit.
Jet's box is truly incredible, not only does it feature WGSH characters such as Batman and Superman but also features a box of Jungle Oats which was Jet's sponsor for his entire career. The box is also bi-lingual and features English and the Afrikanse dialect.
Since Jane's sharing of a boxed Jet, a few more collectors have discovered they too, own Jet Jungle Figures.
Possibly the biggest revelation has come from Martin, a South African collector, who not only remembers Jet Jungle in stores but Mego's New Avengers line , until now, thought not to be produced.
Visit the Mego Museum Jet Jungle Gallery
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