Review – Six Million Dollar Man Col. Steve Austin

Buying this Mego-like Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin action figure (at Amazon.com*, at Entertainment Earth*) was my attempt at knocking out two annoying itches at once:

1. I would love one of the old Kenner Six Million Dollar Man action figures.
   
2. The various Mego-like action figures keep attracting my attention and demand I buy them.

So how did this toy do in dealing with those two itches? Just fine . . . if I don’t think about the fact that now those two itches are stronger than they were before I got this toy.

Tight Rubber Bands!

If you’re unfamiliar with the design of the classic Mego action figures of the seventies then I suggest this Mego Museum page where the repairs of a “Type 2” body give you an idea of how the rubber bands inside the torso hold everything together. Steve Austin’s rubber bands are very tight, meaning that he does a pretty good job of holding poses and the arms and legs have zero floppiness to them. And after stripping the toy of its cloth jumpsuit and rubber shoes (hey, stop looking at me like that) I can get a really good look at . . .

Articulation

Using the basic Mego-like action figure design, Steve Austin decent articulation with:

• Head – A swivel neck where the head plugs into the torso. No up or down movement, but the head can rotate 360-degrees.
  
• Arms – The rubber band design gives the shoulders some give in and away from the body and up and down swivels. It’s not a full range of human movement, but it works pretty good. There are also bicep swivels, hinged elbows, and swivel/hinge wrists.
  
• Torso – The waist has left and right movement and some forward/back movement; the way the rubber bands stretch from the hips to the shoulders means the bands run through the waist; I think you really have to hold one of these toys to really understand how those rubber bands provide tension and affect the feel of the joints.
  
• Legs – The legs can kick up and a little out at the hips (but not back), plus there are hinges at the knees and ankles. What’s nice is the toy is easy to balance and seems to stand very well without any support.

So overall the articulation works just fine. There are action figures with more points of articulation, but there’s more than enough here to play with and they all feel tight and hold their poses well.

Clear Joints

The Kenner Six Million Dollar Man action figure of the seventies used a rubbery layer and hinged parts to conceal the inner workings of the character’s bionic limbs. Today, clear plastic with printed circuitry takes the place of the more elaborate bionic limb design of the seventies action figure; unfortunately, I have to say that the toy from almost forty years ago (okay, let’s not think about the age of the Kenner line again) handled the bionic limbs better than today’s toy does.

The above photo shows this figure’s clear limb and the limb of the original (photo from The Fwoosh) and the clear is kinda neat, but it cannot compare to the look of the original. Even if they couldn’t have concealed the parts today I think I would have rather seen a sticker or printing on a flesh-colored arm instead of the clear plastic.

Legs Forever Locked On

Another way in which the original was superior to this newer toy is that Kenner’s Steve Austin action figure had removable legs. The above photo shows today’s clear legs as well as Kenner’s Critical Assignment Legs (photo from The Fwoosh) and I do so very much wish that today’s figure had removable bionic limbs. I addressed the whole “outfit set” a few months ago — see “The Death of Action Figure Outfit Sets” — and it would have been awesome if this Mego-like action figure had been designed to carry on that concept.

Closing Thoughts

I know I went on and on about the clear limbs and how I feel the Kenner toy handled the bionic limbs better, but considering the size of Bif Bang Pow and how very old this property is I think the company did an excellent job with their Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin action figure (at Amazon.com*, at Entertainment Earth*). It very clearly has that old Mego-like feel — I didn’t have much experience with these as a kid, but holding this did trigger a memory of playing with Action Jackson — and everything’s durable and well-manufactured.

You’re not likely to run out and grab one of these unless you’re already a Mego collector of a Six Million Dollar Man fan — in which case there’s a good chance you already have this toy — but I hope seeing this gives you a better idea of how the toy looks and moves. Bif Bang Pow did an excellent job in giving a seventies property the fitting seventies figure, and they did a good enough job that I’ll buy more of their figures.

Unfortunately, they didn’t do such an amazing job to erase my want for an original Kenner Six Million Dollar Man action figure. I’ll just have to keep staring at auctions and hoping for an amazing deal.