Colin Farrell has been busy collecting awards for his recent turn as Oz Cobb (a modern spin on the original comic-book name Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot), aka The Penguin, in the television miniseries spin-off from The Batman (2022), starring Robert Pattinson as the man in the cowl. It’s fair to say this gritty crime drama is a far cry from the Penguin of my childhood! While I’m also a fan of the downright creepiness of Danny DeVito’s portrayal in the Tim Burton reimagining of the Batman universe, I’ll always have a soft spot for Burgess Meredith’s Penguin.
For Gen Xers our first encounter with this notorious bird-obsessed villain was through reruns of the cult 1966–68 TV series starring Adam West as the Caped Crusader and Burt Ward as the Boy Wonder. Nobody waddled into a room with more villainous flair than his Penguin. With his ever-present monocle, cigarette holder, and a top hat perched on his head, he was a hugely popular villain with fans of the show, albeit a delightfully absurd one! Alongside Joker, Riddler, and Catwoman, he was one of the show’s infamous Big Four baddies, and probably the closest to his 1941 Detective Comics comic-book introduction as an eccentric high-camp figure.
Mego Corps clearly understood the importance of a nemesis when they released an assortment of Super-foes in 1974 as a fourth wave of 8-inch action figures in their beloved World’s Greatest Super-Heroes series. Featuring three of the Batman arch enemies (together with Superman antagonist Mr. Mxyzptlk), Catwoman found herself hissing from the side-lines, somewhat out of place amongst the Super-gals, Supergirl, Batgirl, and Wonder Woman!
I picked up my Penguin at a huge collectors’ fair in Rome – Toyssimi – a couple of years ago. Alas, the seller looked me in the eyes and swore he was all-original, but my Spidey-sense (forgive the Marvel reference!) was always slightly off and I suspected even BEFORE I handed over my Euros that his jacket cuffs were a tad too white, with no yellowing at all, and that his shoes had the tale tell plastic mould line – faint but visible – on the toecaps. I REALLY wanted him though! And the price was still reasonable, even factoring in the possible repro parts. Undressing him straight away on my return home, I was slightly disappointed (but not really surprised) that my suspicions were confirmed: the shoes are clearly marked DM inside, as is the jacket. DM, for the uninitiated, denotes reproduction parts created by Dr. Mego, an amazing resource for completing figures for display purposes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Dr. Mego, but I would prefer to know from the outset.
Everything else about my Penguin is the real deal, however! Mego cut a few corners by giving him a printed, sleeveless jumpsuit, rather than a shirt, trousers, bowtie, and spats, but there were fewer accessories to lose I suppose! His top hat is part and parcel of his head sculpt, as is his monocle, which is slightly raised, rather than merely painted. If I had to wish for an accessory for this item, it would be his umbrella! Now THAT would have been a fun gadget, but alas Mego cut a few corners with this figure and there were no extras in the box with this one.
Penguin’s portly figure is on an early Type 1 body with metal rivet joints, and white hands to represent his gloved fingers. COO is Hong Kong, with a copyright notice registered to Mego Corp and the date 1973 stamped across his back. His head, meanwhile, is also date-stamped 1973 and carries a just about legible “N.P.P. Inc” copyright notice (standing for National Periodical Publications, Inc., the company that owned DC Comics). Like Friar Tuck, and several others of the larger body types, there is no pelvic section, and the legs are attached directly to the rotund body, meaning he loses movement at the waist, but he’s still super-posable with a grand total of 13 points of articulation at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees, and finally ankles.
He is, of course, a must have in any Mego or Batman collection … Collect them ALL! Waugh, waugh, waugh, waugh!
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