Thursday, October 8, 2009

Mego 8" Penguin

This is Mego's 8" Penguin from 1974. I believe he was released in tandem with Mego's Joker and Riddler 8" figures.

Penguin was a popular Batman character in the early 1970s. This was due, in part, to Burgess Meredith's fantastic portrayal of the feathered fiend on the Batman television series. In fact, Penguin went on to train a boxer named Rocky to be champion of the world. He trained Rocky under the alias "Mickey" but we Bat-fans knew who he REALLY was.


Mego's Penguin uses a base body that is a bit different than the standard body used on most Mego characters. He's a on a shorter body with a round, fat abdomen. Mego only used this body on a handful of characters (like Dukes of Hazzard's Boss Hogg and Superman's foe, Mr. Mxyzptlk). Since his torso is different, he lacks the usual waist articulation that most 8" Megos enjoy. In fact, he has zero waist articulation. However, all the other usual Mego articulation is there.

Mego's Penguin features a very nice head sculpt that really captures both his sharp wit and maniacal nature. It should also be noted that Penguin's hat is part of the head sculpt and is not a separate accessory.


A complete Mego Penguin should include black shoes, a screen printed nylon body suit (to simulate pants, shirt, and tie), and a nylon coat and tails (which is VERY prone to fraying). His hands should also be molded in white plastic to simulate gloves.

It's really a shame that Mego didn't supply Penguin with some sort of umbrella accessory considering that's a Penguin "trademark." It's really a no-brainer but Mego never was very generous when it came to giving their figures extra doo dads. They got better at supplying accessories by the time figures like Green Arrow were produced but poor Pengy will just have to rely on his wits alone to foil the Caped Crusader.

2 comments:

  1. how much would one of these be worth today in fair to good shape with no shoes?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have to say this is one of the best figures I've seen, the mold of the head is awesome!

    ReplyDelete