Review of Egghead - Batman 1966 Television Show Statue

Introduction

When people opine about the good old days and the differences back then, I'm usually one to scoff. Very little changes, sometimes for the good, sometimes for the bad, and we consistently color the past differently than the present. It's rarely true.

However, there is something that's different today than when I was a kid, and it's a reflection of the current style of horror films.  Back then, we had some great horror actors, people that were consistently in gruesome films and always stood out thanks to their acting chops. I'm talking about actors like Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee, and of course, Vincent Price.

They didn't only do horror of course, but horror was their bread and butter. Vincent Price took a turn on the marvelously fun Batman television show as one of my all time favorite villains: Egghead. The "world's smartest criminal" was one of the best baddies on the show, although he was only in a few episodes.

Tweeterhead has just released their statue of him, part of their on going series based on the show. You can pick him up for around $250, depending on the retailer. You can only get the Signature Series direct from Tweeterhead, which is the version I'm reviewing tonight.

Packaging - ***
The box holds everything safely, and the exterior has shots of both the statue and the actor/character, allowing you to compare.  The box doesn't appear to have the edition number and size, but it is printed on the brown shipping box, as well as on the bottom of the statue itself.  This is ONLY true of the Signature Series version, as the regular version from other retailers does not have a COA or edition number. Everything is collector friendly of course, as you'd expect with any statue packaging.

Sculpting - ***1/2
There's no shortage of great photos out there of Egghead.  I used this one, this classic marketing pose that inspired this design, and this for a bit more of an action shot.  Oh, and let's not forget the costume!

Let's talk about the design and pose first. This expression, and him holding up something in this exact way with his right hand, was a common theme. Of course, that something he was holding was usually a standard egg, at least in the marketing stills. They went with a radar egg, one of Egghead's many egg toys. This egg egg-splodes - okay, that's the only time I'll do that, I swear - and allows him and his henchmen to egg-scape - I lied - the clutches of Batman and Robin.

He is posed next to the Egg of Ogg, a giant golden egg he steals in his later appearance on the show. He's wearing his jaunty egg white and yolk yellow tux, a costume that was, perhaps, my favorite villain outfit in the entire series.

The portrait (and overall statue) is sculpted by the talented Trevor Grove, who has worked on the entire series for Tweeterhead.  This is clearly Price, and the work on the eyes, nose, and lips really sells it.  The expression is perfect, and the pose and design are very true to the character.

The statue comes in three pieces - the base, the big egg, and the character.  These assemble easily, and they fit together properly all around.

I do think the head is a little too elongated however. It's not that it's too tall - the fake head was quite large, an indication of his genius and his eggy nature. Rather it's a proportional thing, where the height overall from chin to crown is a little too great compared to the width, ear to ear. I think most of this is not caused by the large upper head, but by too much length in the face itself from the eyes down. It's as if Trevor tried to make the head symmetrical, extending the lower half as much as the upper half, when in fact it should be asymmetrical.

My bigger issue is actually with the radar egg. The long, thin antenna came bent right out of the package. The only shot that shows it this way is the Lifesizer photo above, where you can see it leaning off to the left pretty badly. I think the antenna is metal, or at least it feels that way, and I was able to bend it back very carefully to something closer to straight. But doing this by hand is a tricky business, and I was very hesitant to get too crazy with it.

Still, it's a top notch sculpt, and is easily the best representation of this character we've ever gotten in collectible form.

These are sorta, kinda sixth scale, but not really, as they are slightly larger in volume. Egghead stands about 14 1/4" tall including the base, and I've included a photo of him with the Hot Toys Batman for comparison.

Paint - ***
The one area which could use a little work is the paint application. It's not terrible by any means, but there is a bit more slop here than I like to see on a statue in this price range.

The work on the face is eggs-cellent - you thought I'd stopped, didn't you? - and is much better than we usually see with statues. Makers of sixth scale figures have found ways with certain softer, porous materials to get a more realistic skin tone and color. But with the hard, impenetrable surface of a bust or statue, it is much more difficult. Tweeterhead has done an admirable job here, and clean work on the eyes, eyebrows, lips, and mustache all work together with the skin tone to create a more realistic portrait.

The suit is where the majority of the issues lie. I love the color, and they have captured the off white suit with yellow highlights and yellow shirt beautifully. The big white satin bow is given a shinier finish, implying that satin material, and the colors are quite consistent.

But the edges are a little wonky, particularly around the yellow striping. Even the smaller details, like the white buttons, could have been cleaner and neater.  To top it off, there's some glopping of the skin tone between the index and middle fingers of the right hand, indicating too heavy of an application.

Let's finish on another high note - just check out those fingernails!  They are pretty impressive in their subtle realism. While there's a few issues here and there, you'll be impressed overall by the way he looks on the shelf.

Accessories - N/A
I'm going with an N/A here for now, because I have not yet received the printed signature COA from Tweeterhead. They didn't get packed in with the original shipment, and are shipping out in the next couple weeks. Only the Signature Series has the COA, so I'm counting it as an accessory this time around, but I don't want to score it until I see it in hand. I'll update this section later, depending on how long it takes to get here.

Value - ***
While $250 isn't cheap for any statue, it is in line with the current market pricing for collectibles in this scale and quality range. I'm giving it a slight bump up, thanks to the tremendously low production run on the Signature Series - only 150! I'd drop it to ** for the regular release at this same price point.

Things to Watch Out For -
Assembly is easy, but you'll want to put the Egg of Ogg on the base first, then the figure.

Also, if your radar egg antenna comes slightly bent, I *think* it's safe to put a *little* pressure on it to straighten it. I wouldn't go nuts, however.

Overall - ***1/2
I boosted this score slightly because of the overall impression he gives on the shelf. I'm not thrilled with the paint work, but the colors are gorgeous, and the portrait is excellent. Yolks are going to love it. Hey, I had to get one more bad egg pun in before I finished.

By the way, if you are digging this series but missed out on the Catwoman, Tweeterhead has just opened orders for a 'ruby variant' version of the statue.

Score Recap (out of ****):
Packaging - ***
Sculpting - ***1/2
Paint - ***
Value - ***
Overall - ***1/2

Where to Buy 
The Tweeterhead store has this guy (Signature Series) for $250. Other online options include these site sponsors:

- Entertainment Earth also has him at $250.

- or you can search ebay for a deal.

Related Links -
Tweeterhead has done Riddler, and the excellent Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Catwoman. The Joker is yet to come.

You should also hit the Search Reviews page, in case any other applicable reviews were done after this one was published.

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