Brain Fart 7: Bar Sinister

You've probably heard of Simon Bar Sinister, Underdog's arch-nemesis. But do you know why he's named Bar Sinister? Thanks to Flickr user samwibatt (and Wikipedia), I found out. I always thought, you know, sinister, mean, villainous... like that. Come to find out, it's a little more intricate:

Baton sinister is a charge used in heraldry. It is a diminutive of the bend sinister and constitutes a narrow strip that runs from the upper right to the lower left of a coat of arms. It has been traditionally used as an indicator of an illegitimate birth in the family line. Sinister, in this case, does not have a negative connotation, it is merely a directional indicator.

The baton sinister can be seen in the arms of the Duke of Grafton who is a descendant of an illegitimate son of King Charles II of England. Today, the College of Arms in England uses a bordure wavy to mark an armiger as illegitimate. The Court of the Lord Lyon in Scotland uses a bordure gobony to denote the same.

In French blazon a bend sinister is called a barre. Sir Walter Scott is credited with giving literature the macaronic phrase bar sinister, which has become a metonymic term for bastardy.

So there you have it! More pointless crap to fill your head, unless you get the Daily Double on Jeopardy or something.
Art by Patrick Owsley.

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!

One Good Thing To Come Out Of The Underdog Movie

Mezco's whipping up some great new figures this summer, presumably on the heels of the upcoming movie. Wisely, these look like the cartoon designs - I'm assuming the less-than-spectacular sales of the live-action Flintstones and Grinch toys had something to do with that. Cool!

If quantity's your thing, you can pre-order a case of Underdog figures for $167.99 + shipping at Entertaiment Earth.

There's... Some Need To Fear, As It Turns Out

A poster and still from the live-action Underdog movie. Why do I look for this stuff? It just winds up annoying me. At the very least, shouldn't the tag line be, "There's no need to fear"?

This is the toughest consequence of current film technology - it often seems to encourage a thudding literalism that crushes the whimsy from so many stories. What a shame.

Thanks (I think) to I Watch Stuff!