Toy OTD: Mezco Underdog Figures: Simon Barsinister, Sweet Polly Purebred, Underdog

Mezco's done a bang-up job adapting these characters into toy form! The sculpts and paint work are great, the posing and articulation are well-suited for their scale, and Polly Purebred even comes with a base! The accessories are well-chosen, too - Simon comes with a couple of his inventions, Polly has her retro-enormous tape recorder, and Underdog comes with replacable hands and a huge lightning bolt to replace his legs if you want to match his flying pose in the opening credits! The separately-molded, poseable ears are another great touch. He's even wearing his pill-holding ring, usually the first detail to be dropped in merchandising.

Can I also say I'm thrilled that they don't look like the current live-action feature?

In my mind, the only minus from this first series is the Riff Raff figure - he's technically well-executed, but his pose is stiff and symmetrical. It feels a little more like a prototype in that sense than a finished figure. I prefer the sculpt of Funko's Riff Raff Wacky Wobbler, myself - it's a lot softer, but I think it's also more lively. See how simply posing him with the gun and putting the cigar in his mouth make a big difference in throwing off the symmetry!

I'm not sure that there's enough other well-known characters to necessitate a series two, but I would like to see a figure of Simon's sidekick Cad, and maybe a limited convention exclusive of Overcat. Who's Overcat? That's why I think he should be a convention exclusive - I think he's too obscure to sell as a traditionally released figure.

These figures came out during Comic-Con, so they should still be easy to find. I bought mine locally for thirteen dollars each - you can buy all four at once at toynk.com for $49.99 + shipping, or you can get Simon and/or Riff Raff at Screaming Monkey Comics (an eBay store) for $11.00 + shipping each. Underdog and Polly are more expensive, fetching $14.99 + shipping each at toywiz.com.

PS - Keep in mind Mezco's penchant for multiple head sculpts and facial expressions, too - I've only seen a couple of Underdog, but that doesn't mean there aren't more!