Doctor Bernardi Bobblehead Announced!

Well now, who's this handsome devil?

From season two's brilliant "Eye of the Beholder" comes the hideous (but compelling) Doctor Bernardi.  He's already been immortalized in plastic in last year's excellent action figure (spotlighted here), and now our friends at Bif Bang Pow! are giving him the bobblehead treatment as well.  $12.99 plus shipping is all it'll set you back to add this dark-eyed surgeon to your collection of bobbleheads (Twilight Zone or otherwise).  It's scheduled for a December release, but like all good things, you may have to wait a bit longer (these things tend to get delayed a bit; I'm just sayin').  Pre-order yours here.

Faithful readers of this blog will recall that, two short years ago, I (with the invaluable help of my wife Teresa) assembled my own homemade version of the character for Halloween.

While I may never again don the distorted visage of the good doctor, I still have the scrubs and stethoscope stashed away somewhere in my storage unit.  One must be prepared if one is to play doctor....

Bif Bang Pow! brings The Twilight Zone to SDCC!

The title says it all.  Have a look... see anything new?

That's right, the Doctor Bernardi (from season two's "Eye of the Beholder") bobblehead is glimpsed here for the first time.  Predictably, it looks great.  Nearby is the "Invaders" diorama, plus a nifty TZ license plate bracket (which I just might put on my car).

Also seen for the first time here (but previously announced) is the Cyclops action figure (from season five's "The Fear"), standing between the "Eye of the Beholder" Nurse and Alicia (from "The Lonely").  I bitched at length about this figure a few months back, but I can't deny that the figure actually looks kinda cool.

And here's a nice display featuring the color and monochrome versions of the highly-coveted Mystic Seer replica.  It's probably a good thing that I'm not there... I might've busted the glass and snagged one.

*Pictures stolen without remorse from Action Figure Insider.

Spotlight: Dr. Bernardi action figure (Bif Bang Pow!)

We turn our attention now to Bif Bang Pow!'s latest Twilight Zone action figure offerings. All four of the characters depicted are TZ icons in their own right, and each depiction carries with it both successes and, unfortunately, stumblings. Happily, the good far outweighs the bad. First up? Doctor Bernardi, probably the most famous face in TZ history (well, other than Rod Serling, that is), from season two's "Eye of the Beholder."


The Doc is a natural choice for the action figure treatment; in fact, I'm a bit surprised he didn't show up in the first waves of figures last year, given his stature in the pantheon of TZ icons. I'm happy to report that he was well worth the wait.


I complained about Bob Wilson/Don Carter's bulky suit and tie (and I'll complain again tomorrow when I look at the Henry Bemis figure), and The Doc's outfit makes my case quite effectively: single-layer thin fabric outfits work best at this scale. The surgical smock and scrubs fit perfectly (okay, the collar is a bit big, but nothing untoward), and look great.

The Doc's got no socks. Not a problem, since his scrubs hang low enough to hide his ankles. The shoes are standard-issue for the human males in the line: Bob Wilson/Don Carter and The Three-Eyed Venusian have the exact same shoes, as does Henry Bemis (but his are gray instead of black).



CHARACTER LIKENESS

Well, see for yourself. It's basically dead on. Probably the best head sculpt the line has offered so far. My only comment --- and this is pretty minor --- is that I would've liked some shading on the various porcine facial features to make them stand out a bit more. A bit of black around the eyes and inside the nostrils would've looked good too. However, the sculpt is amazing as is, and I can't wait to see the companion Nurse figure (due out next year) in person.




ACCESSORIZE ME!



Doctor Bernardi comes with his trusty stethoscope, which looks great. It's a bit stiff, though, so don't expect it to hang loosely around his neck. Maybe a tiny dab of Velcro would remedy this.

Sproing!

What The Doc doesn't come with is his wristwatch, which is a real shame. Bob Wilson/Don Carter comes with a great wristwatch, which would've worked quite well here. A syringe would've been great too... maybe the Nurse will come with one? The pre-order pic over at Entertainment Earth doesn't show one, but I'll remain cautiously hopeful.


PACKAGING

Doctor Bernardi arrives in the usual blister pack, heat-sealed to a card. The newest figures are depicted on the front (all five of which we are spotlighting this week).


Since Doctor Bernardi is a standard 8" figure, he gets the standard bubble. His lone accessory, the aforementioned stethoscope, can be found underneath him, beneath a piece of supporting plastic holding his legs in place.


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 Doctor Bernardi is number 839.

Doctor Bernardi comprises half of "Series 4" in Bif Bang Pow's ongoing Twilight Zone action figure releases. The Doc, along with Henry Bemis, can be purchased from Entertainment Earth here. Each action figure is limited to only 1704 pieces, so I'd probably bust a move if I were you.


FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm Doctor Craig, and I approved this blog entry.

Longtime readers will recall that, for Halloween 2010, my wife Teresa helped me put together a Doctor costume (okay, "helped" isn't really accurate... she basically did everything. All I did was buy the scrubs and stare at her cleavage while she applied my makeup). It's safe to say that I have a special fondness for The Doc now, so I'm glad to see his action figure turned out so well. Highly recommended!

Halloween 2010: The Doctor Is In

For a few months now, I’ve been silently working on the feasibility of creating a Kanamit costume for Halloween. I think I’d pretty much figured out how to pull it off, but time grew short, and it became apparent that it would have to wait until next year. About a week ago, I casually mentioned to my wife Teresa that I’d still love to put something together for THIS Halloween (since I haven’t dressed up in at least ten years), something Twilight Zone-related. I happened to be organizing my DVD screen captures for my weekly episode promos, and I showed her some shots from “The Eye of the Beholder.” We briefly discussed how a doctor costume could be achieved, and then I went on with my business, not really thinking anything of it.

The next day, she called me at work to tell me that she’d picked up some supplies to create the mask. This was Wednesday, a mere four days from Halloween. I was pretty skeptical, but she seemed intensely determined to pull it off (I dunno, maybe since her father had just stayed with us for a month, she wanted to compensate me somehow).

Her plan was to sculpt the facial pieces on top of an existing mask. She chose a Guy Fawkes mask because, well, I’ve got a pretty wide face, so a larger mask was needed.

She trimmed off everything but the actual face section and started sculpting the eyebrow, nose, cheekbones and upper lip using Crayola Magic Modeling Clay (which air-dries to a soft, semi-pliable state). By the time I got home from work, she’d already created the basic mask. She had me try it on, which allowed her to identify some areas that needed work (for example, the upper lip was way too big, which made me look like a pig-duck hybrid, which makes a perverse kind of sense, since I’m an overweight Oregon Ducks fan).


The next day (Thursday), she did some additional trimming. Most notably, she scaled the upper lip down considerably.


On Friday, while I spent my lunch hour buying surgical scrubs and a stethoscope, she further refined the mask (including minimizing the upper lip even further) and applied a base coat of paint to it. We decided Friday evening that simply wearing it as a mask (with an elastic band) wasn’t good enough: we would actually glue the thing to my face to make it as realistic as possible. She trimmed off the temple sections, where the elastic band was attached. The mask was ready.


Saturday, we picked up some spirit gum and her costume (“Voluptuous Vampiress”) at a local Halloween store (Spirit, in Tigard). I then did something that was necessary to the success of the costume, but something I was absolutely dreading nonetheless: I completely shaved my face: mustache, goatee, sideburns, everything. Keep in mind, I haven’t had a bare face in ten years. The results were shocking: I knew I was chubby, but I didn’t realize how much of that chub resided in my face and neck. Jeeeeeesus. The house mongrel Bijou actually backed away from me in horror.

Anyway, that evening I took her out to dinner. It was the least I could do.

Sunday arrived. About 3:30 in the afternoon, we began.


After the appliance was, well, applied, Teresa began the arduous task of matching the mask to my skin color. There was a LOT of makeup involved. And then... it was complete.

I'm Doctor Craig, and I'll be performing your plastic surgery today.

I've got a PhD in sexy.

Reviewing surveillance camera footage. Man, that chick was fugly.

When I've had a long hard day at the plastic surgery clinic, I like to unwind with a smoke. Chesterfield Kings... try 'em, they satisfy.

Doing my part to Save the Boobies.

Taking a break from today's rounds to watch The Leader's speech on "glorious conformity." Man, what a tool. Between you and me, I wouldn't mind throwing a little Lee Harvey Oswald his way.

For the entire photo shoot, go here.

The results speak for themselves. Teresa did an amazing job. I think every serious Twilight Zone fan has probably dreamed, at one time or another, of being made up like a doctor (or nurse) from “Eye of the Beholder.” Thanks to the tireless efforts of my beautiful wife, I got to live that dream. Nice work, Bunny!

The Voluptuous Vampiress (aka Bunny).

Next year: Kanamit, baby. It’s happening, folks. Stay tuned.