In a lot of ways, the show was similar to the more recent and more popular Inspector Gadget, with Dynomutt playing the part of the bumbling robotic crimefighter who always managed to get his partner and straightman superhero, The Blue Falcon, into trouble. It was pure Hanna Barbara through and through and it was lots of fun to watch the interplay between The Falcon, who played out like a serious bonafide superhero, and Dynomutt (aka Dog Wonder) who could do nothing right.

I have no idea what compelled Toynami to release a box set of these two figures about six or seven years back. It might have coincided with their appearances on Adult Swim, but whatever the case, I stumbled upon it when it was initially offered online and thought I’d pull them off the shelf for a looksy. A lot of the toys and figures in my collection get cycled into totes from time to time, but these two have been displayed on my shelf since the day I got them. They’re just a couple of those quirky and seemingly unimportant pieces of my collection that I have an unreasonably high level of attachment to. Either way, I really wish I saved the box for these, because it was spectacular. It was a simple window box, to be sure, but the figures were packaged standing against a cartoon street backdrop that made them look like the cartoon had come alive.

I’ll start off with Blue Falcon, because I don’t have as much to say about him as Dynomutt. He’s a great figure and he’s also perfectly scaled and sculpted for display with Mattel’s DC Universe Classics line, which I think is just plain awesome. The sculpting of his musculature is a little more simplified because of his vintage cartoon origins, but the colors and sculpt capture the character really well. His cape is made of molded, soft plastic and he comes with a talon claw accessory, which isn’t pictured because I don’t know where the hell it is. The paint apps are pretty simple, he’s basically blue and gold with flesh color on his face and hands and he’s got his red “F” on his chest, which does appear to be a little prone to peeling if you aren’t careful.

The Blue Falcon’s articulation isn’t quite on par with DCUC, but for a one-off figure like this its actually pretty darn good. His head turns from side to side, he has ball jointed shoulders, hinged elbows, his legs move at the pelvis, he has hinged knees and ankles, and he swivels at the waist. Like I said, not bad!

Ok, now on to the real star of this box set…

Dynomutt’s color and sculpting also capture the character perfectly, right down to the dopey but well-intentioned expression on his face. I really love the coloring on this figure. His body is two-tone gray and his cape, vest, boots and mask are all green. And of course he has his big “D” emblazoned in yellow on his chest. Toynami also did a particularly great job bringing this 2D character design into a 3D sculpt.

Dynomutt has a lot of little features to show off his robotic nature. Just like in the cartoon, his legs and head are all on telescoping rods (yep, just like Inspector Gadget). Alas, none of these pull out too far, but Toynami did a pretty good job with this gimmick considering the figure is just only three and a half inches high. Dynomutt also has a slot on his back where you can insert a radar dish (in the cartoon it came up out of his back) and his vest opens up to reveal some of his inner circuitry. His basic articulation consists of his head rotating 360 degrees and his legs rotating at the upper joints. His feet can also rotate at the boots.

I seem to recall paying about $20 for this set when it first came out, which needless to say I think was a great deal considering their somewhat limited appeal. The set still shows up from time to time on Ebay, although not all that often, and when it does its not uncommon for it to sell for $50+ which is why I never picked up a spare set to display MIB. The original cartoon, on the other hand, is readily available on DVD for dirt cheap, so if you haven’t seen it and you are a fan of vintage Hanna Barbara, you may want to check it out for a few yuks.