Was Invisible Girl Actually Space 1999 Barbara Bain?

[hedrap]

Ray Flores is a master re-rooter and Mego repainter, He posted this today and I was stunned at how much the Invisible Girl looks like Barbara Bain. I wanted to share this here for the non-FB crowd and here's my basic theory:

Mego was making FF and 1999 at roughly the same time, 75/76. 1999 was mainly new headsculpts on Trek bodies. IG is the only female WGSH to have a new sculpt and technically, she's the last new female figure as Wonder Girl is just a repurposed six-inch doll.

So was IG supposed to be Bain, but Palitoy opted for aliens as they showed no interest in releasing female figures?

This would explain Mego deciding for a one-time new IG sculpt, (instead of a reuse such as a Walton), which would have been more economic for such a basic figure. Compared to superheroes, Mego showed more care in getting actor likenesses correct.

[palitoy]

It's a nice custom and it certainly works but I don't see an uncanny resemblance to Bain there, the 1999s are pretty spot on.

I honestly feel Sue and Reed were simply based on comics, her artwork on the box has the same expression.

The 1999 figures aesthetically have no expression, one of the mego sculptors used to say he did everything in the "Russian Portrait" style and if it was Bain, I'd expect a more stoic look. 3/4 of the FF have these highly expressive faces, as do Thor and Conan for that year.

Mego recycled here and there and it's fun to find them but they commissioned new head sculpts more than anything else because it really wasn't that expensive especially when it's your big brand.

Edited to add: There is a classic shot of Bain making this expression in a publicity still, think I can find it? No sirree...

[hedrap]

Interesting you bring up the artwork, Pali. I've been trying to square something...

We've read/heard about how decisions were made based on what artwork was given to Hong Kong. The classic example is Cap and the black forehead as a misinterpretation of the shadowing from the box art image. Or Hulk's short stature has been explained (IIRC Museum interviews), that since the image used for Hulk's box art has him crouching, a full height extension would've put the figure at 9 inches. There's certainly a lot of accurate 1:1 recreations of the box art:figure creations, like the Thing.

But what about Iron Man? The nose is apparently influenced by the book from '74-'76...but the box art is from '73 and sans schnoze.

[PNGwynne]

Nice custom, I admire Ray's work and should send him some business.

IMO, I think any good Bain sculpt would have a stronger jawline and cheekbones, and more expressive eyes. I only own 1999 Paul Morrow, but it's a deft sculpt.

I'm dubious, though that IG's sculpt was only for IG, the indicia confuses me.

This is all very interetsing, I'm into Space: 1999 right now.

[palitoy]

But what about Iron Man? The nose is apparently influenced by the book from '74-'76...but the box art is from '73 and sans schnoze.

There's a number of factors, that they likely provided their (likely overseas) sculptors and what the art department had lying around when they did the box.

I mean some of the art materials used for the WGSH date back to the 1960s, other times it appears that they just got sent a box of comics. It's all over the place in that regard.

It's also completely possible the nose was added out of artistic license like the Denys Fisher Cyberman.

The only thing I'm certain that it wasn't, was a Doctor Doom.

[sprytel]

The only thing I'm certain that it wasn't, was a Doctor Doom.

Are you sure? I heard from my friend the internet that it was supposed to be Dr. Doom...

[palitoy]

Are you sure? I heard from my friend the internet that it was supposed to be Dr. Doom...

Is the same guy who thinks Virdon and Burke were recycled into Starsky and Hutch? I'd really like to talk to him.

[Nostalgiabuff]

am I the only one who does not find Barbara Bain attractive at all? I remember her being on MI and always playing the sexy spy part but even as a kid I did not think she was attractive

[RonnyG]

I thought she was a striking woman, but I wasn't attracted to her, either. She always seemed much older and more sophisticated than her other TV contemporaries like Barbara Eden, Elizabeth Montgomery, and Tina Louise, even though they were all born within a couple years of each other.

[PNGwynne]

I think she's attractive in Mission: Impossible. A lot depends on how's she's lit/photographed. She has lovely eyes but spaced a little widely, and that works against filming her head-on. Her 3/4-profile shots are terrific, she has good bone structure.

In all honesty, she's not shot or directed in (season one) Space: 1999 to her advantage. I think she gets a bit of a bad rap in that show.

Ronny, I think you've made a good point about her maturity. She's not the "girl next door." But that suited her well on MI.

[phil]

Could it be that MEGO went with a new head for the Invisible Girl with the idea of possibly using it again?

[Wee67]

This may be more a tribute to Ray's skills than Mego trying to reproduce Bain.

[Type Two]

Great catch! I think it is important to remember that the Mego people were primarily business people and probably had little interest in the characters they licensed other than to make some $$$$. Just because no one from Mego is on record saying, "Yes, the sculpt of a character from a TV show I did not watch was repurposed into the head for a character from a comic book I knew nothing about," doesn't mean it did not happen.

[palitoy]

It also doesn't mean it is.

[CrimsonGhost]

The Invisible Girl head, as well as the rest of the FF sculpts, look like they were sculpted using Romita art as reference, particularly Reed. It’s most evident in the shapes of the eyes and mouths of Reed, Sue, and Johnny. Gone are the generic almond eye shapes of the Captain America headsculpt. It’s clear they set the bar higher for the later Marvel figures as these sculpts are more sophisticated than earlier offerings.

The custom figure above looks great, but the likeness to Barbara Bane begins and ends with the hair style.