Saturday, December 10, 2011

Spotlight: The Invader action figure (Bif Bang Pow!)



Day 7 of our annual Bif Bang Pow! Celebration Week brings us to their Invader action figure. Longtime readers of this blog are undoubtedly aware of my deep and unfathomable love of the miniscule Invader, who was first seen in season two's "The Invaders" menacing poor Agnes Moorehead. Now, The Invader is actually human (yikes, spoiler alert!), so he's not really miniscule at all; nevertheless, Bif Bang Pow! has utilized the child-size body (6" tall), which sets it apart nicely from the other figures. It was the right choice.


CHARACTER LIKENESS


Well, there's no mistaking this guy for anything but an Invader. The sculpting of the head/torso is spot-on. The likeness isn't the problem... it's the overall proportions. Bif Bang Pow! uses generic bodies as the base for each figure, then adds character-specific heads and outfits. While The Invader is indeed human, his spacesuit is decidedly bulbous, almost inflated-looking... rubenesque, if you will.

The upper half of the figure is sufficiently plump. The real problem with The Invader figure is the legs. They're just too damned skinny. The clamshell armor could've been designed to extend down to the knees, which would have eliminated this issue. Bizarrely, Bif Bang Pow!'s earlier Invader bobblehead is much more faithful to the overall character design. This has gotta be the first time a bobblehead, with its inherent exaggeration of features, trumps an action figure:


Is this a deal-breaker? Well, damn it, no. It's a flaw, certainly, but not a fatal one. The figure still looks great.


The upper-body armor is a two piece clamshell affair. I pried mine apart, assuming that it would just snap back together, and was horrified to discover that the pieces wouldn't stay in place. So.... DON'T take the armor off, kids. Thankfully, a few dabs of super glue saved the day.



Under the armor, we have a metallic body suit with a Velcro strip running down the back. Oh, and NO FREAKIN' HEAD.


Topping off the outfit are a pair of boots, which unfortunately extend up under the pant legs. Taller boots, with the pants legs tucked inside, would have looked more accurate. The boots, along with The Invader's hands, are painted metallic silver, while adds to the metallic armor effect nicely.


ACCESSORIZE ME!

Nope. Nothing, nada, zip. Well, unless you count the clamshell-style armor that adorns the figure's upper half. I'm not counting it. The Invader SHOULD have come with at least one (but preferably two) laser guns. I can't deny that I'm a bit annoyed by this glaring omission. Christ, even the bobblehead has guns!


PACKAGING


The Invader arrives in the usual blister pack, heat-sealed to a card. The dimensions of the figure require a different bubble; therefore, this one is short but much deeper. The newest figures are depicted on the front of the card (all five of which we are spotlighting this week).


The back of the card features a delightful diorama featuring every single TZ action figure released so far, along with six figures not yet released (Santa Claus, Alicia, Maya the Cat Girl, Alien, Clown, and Nurse; those should hit in mid-2012). The Bob Wilson/Don Carter hybrid figure is marked as a Comic-Con exclusive; interestingly, last year's Willie the Dummy/Talky Tina pair is NOT marked as such. The wrecked spaceship in the background looks like it came from season five's "Probe 7 - Over and Out," which is a nice touch (wonder if we're getting a Richard Basehart figure at some future point...?). The new figures are limited to 1704 pieces each... my Invader is number 444.

The Invader comprises half of "Series 5" in Bif Bang Pow's ongoing Twilight Zone action figure releases. The Invader, along with the Three-Eyed Venusian, can be purchased from Entertainment Earth here. Each action figure is limited to only 1704 pieces, so don't delay, order today!


FINAL THOUGHTS


I was so prepared to hate this figure. And I should hate it, dammit, for the various reasons listed above. And yet ---- against all reason and logic --- I love it. Like, irrationally so. I don't know if it's the power of The Invader itself, or if Big Bang Pow! has me under some kind of spell, but whatever it is.... well, I'm not complaining. I'm happy to have The Invader action figure in my collection.... as I'm sure you'll be too.




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

WERE COMING FOR YA CRAIG.All the time in the world ya dont have.you may ask why Helen why and silence will be your only answer.So put up ya underwear, pull up ya boots.put on a peanut butter hat and by the way oh oh gotta go.

Craig Beam said...

Yeah, I remember my first beer.