Little Big Man

Action figures are like rugby players, they are (and for) all shapes and sizes from the sky-scraping Chewbacca and Little John, to the diminutive Jawas, Pidge from Voltron, and the 3-foot something little person Felix Silla (still kicking at the time of this post), a giant in sci-fi, without whom, Twiki the boyish looking silver robot companion to rugged Gil Gerard's "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" would not have become such an integral character to the short-lived series.  Sure, Lucas had Kenny Baker inhabiting the Artoo-Deetoo dome, but Felix had so much more to do with his vertically challenged alter ego, incorporating a range of motion and mannerisms that earned Twiki a cult following among kids and collectors alike.  And so it's fitting that the little man commands the biggest ticket of the Mego Buck Rogers line, a loose off the-packet specimen still a sought after commodity almost forty years later, generally bought for between $20-$30, while untouched minties command three digits.  Proof that sometimes good things do come in small packages.

Superior to Battlestar Galactica's Daggit or the Timelord's K-9 robot companions, Twiki is the quintessential friendly robot action figure; he has a warm-looking disposition, and essentially looks like a boy encased in a garbage can.  His rainbow-design chest button, while firmly attached to the photographed specimen, can become loose over time (my original Twiki sadly suffered this cruel fate, like losing his soul) and like all his contemporaries, his rubber-banded waist relaxes with age leaving him with a distinct lean which could be best described as looking like a candidate for a hip replacement.  The best way to preserve a near-forty year Twiki is to be seen but not heard, so to speak, safely locked away in the display cabinet to cheat the forces of time and toll on inferior rubber joinery (curse you Mego!).  It's the great shame of these Mego figures that they're not more robust constructions, as Buck Rogers is one of the top ten (imho) action figures lines of all time.  

The intrepid Twiki and his classic staccato postures, made possible by the articulation in these Mego figures, really bring the characters to a life of their own in a child's hands, ensuring the action continues long after the greedy, short-sighted networks have cancelled all the fun (which in Buck's case, was notoriously fleeting).  Twiki is perhaps among the best known robots of the genre, behind mega duo Artoo-Deetoo/See-Threepio, and Robbie the Robot, and though not everyone would immediately know his name, his form and features are world renowned beyond his ephemeral TV profile.  An enduring legacy for a faithful servant of the industry, in Mr Felix Silla, may he kick-on eternally.  

Twiki | 1979 | Mego | Buck Rogers in the 25th Century