In case you missed the memo, DC Friday is on hiatus for a little bit, as I’m all caught up and waiting to pick up some new statues or figures. It’ll return, but probably not as a regular ongoing thing. In the meantime, it’s almost Spring, and I’ve been getting a jump on my Spring Cleaning. That means going through boxes of stuff, deciding what, if anything, is going off to Ebay to make room for more toys, and also discovering things that I totally forgot I had. It also means I have a busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get started! One of the boxes I discovered contained a whole bunch of Bif Bang Pow’s Mego-style figures from Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who! I looked at BBP’s Starbuck and Apollo from this series waaay back in 2015, where I also reminisced a bit about what Mego meant to me. I won’t rehash it all here, but I’ll just say that if my love of toys were an epidemic, Mego would be patient zero. It all started back when my uncle gave my brother and I his Mego DC, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Gabriel Lone Ranger figures, and ever since this format has been like a super concentrated shot of nostalgia. And while Battlestar Galactica had its own vintage toy line, the series is so perfect for the Mego treatment. Hell, if these figures don’t look like they jumped right out of the late 70’s, well then I’ll be the son of a daggit.

The packaging is identical to what we saw for Apollo and Starbuck. The cards are generic with head shots of the characters on the front and a “Collect Them All” style layout on the back. The character’s name appears at the bottom, and sometimes this was done with a sticker. The figure itself comes in a big bubble with her flight helmet in front of her. I have to hand it to BBP, because the presentation feels so damn authentic. The only thing that would have probably been different is that her helmet would have been loose in the bubble with her and not secured with a smaller plastic piece. I’m not usually one that hesitates to open toys, but this is one where it gave me some pangs of regret. Partly because she looks so damn good in the package, and partly for reasons I’ll come back to at the end.

Out of the package, Athena comes wearing a more demure version of the Colonial flightsuit that we saw with Apollo and Starbuck. Naturally, it’s been reduced to fit the fashion doll proportions of Athena’s body, but there are also some changes, like the color of her pants and boots. The jacket is made of the same material, which looks like a dead ringer for the jackets worn on the show, and comes complete with sculpted plastic buttons running up the sides of the front flaps. On the downside, Athena’s flight jacket doesn’t have the reinforced strips on the shoulders, nor does it have the patches. It’s likely that BBP couldn’t make these work on the smaller jacket, or maybe they just didn’t want to bother. The underlying shirt is a softer cloth, it’s also sleeveless so that the jacket sleeves fit the figure better. Taking it off for display isn’t advised, as the jacket has transferred some brown die to the figure’s arms.

While Apollo and Starbuck has surprisingly good likenesses for this style of figure, I don’t think BBP was attempting accuracy for Athena. Or at least I hope not, because this looks nothing like her. The head is typical fashion doll style with some passable paint apps, and a copious coif of rooted hair. It can be tough to keep it under control, but I’m glad they went with it. It’s probably the one thing here that most resembles Athena in the series, and I think it also adds to the authenticity of the Mego stylings.

If I’m not counting the lack of likeness, the biggest disappointment about this figure is the gun belt and holster. It’s the same rig used for the guys so the fit is absolutely terrible. The belt itself has a whole bunch left over in the back to hang free, and likewise the thigh strap for the holster is way too big and just kind of hangs there around her leg. The holster came secured with a clear rubber band, and I’ve opted to leave it on just to keep holding the holster in place. This aspect of the figure just feels like a cheap cop out on BBP’s part, but I seem to recall Athena being one of the later figures released in the line, so they may have just been eager to wrap up the line and call it a day.

The Colonial blaster is identical to the ones that came with Starbuck and Apollo. It’s a pretty good sculpt for a Mego style accessory and the paint is fairly good. Another major drawback for this figure is that her hands aren’t sculpted so that she can hold it.

Athena’s other accessory is her flight helmet and this is the same piece that came with the other pilots. I think BBP did a nice job on these. I was afraid it would be really loose on Athena, but it fits her pretty well thanks to all that hair. I suppose you could tuck it all into the helmet, but it looks fine with the hair hanging out the back as well. The plastic on the helmet feels rather light, but that’s all part of the faux-Mego charm.

This is all about the nostalgia, folks. If Mego doesn’t give you the warm and fuzzies, then nothing about this figure is likely to be appealing. No doubt, there are a few disappointments here, most of which revolve around her blaster and holster rig, but overall, I think she still displays well and she looks great alongside the boys. On the downside, I don’t think BBP produced a large number of this figure (or Lucifer) and so Athena can be crazy tough to find. Just for shits and giggles I tried finding one on Ebay and was only able to uncover a single sold listing. Hell, it took some doing for me to find her back when she was originally released. Is she worth hunting down and paying a premium for? Not on her own, no. But if you’re looking for a complete set, or at least a nicely fleshed out display, then I think she’s a must have for this collection. Just looking up at this trio on my shelf makes me wish BBP had some kind of laminated cardboard hanger deck to display them on.