Mork from Ork

In this review we are going to take a look at the alien baddie from the latest Indiana Jones. Uh wait, wrong film alien. I was sorting through some things the other day and came across this figure in box of vintage odds and ends. For some of the younger generation, I need to explain a couple of things.

First, Mork is from the TV show “Mork & Mindy.” The show aired between 1978 and 1982. In the show an alien name Mork (from the planet Ork) is taken in by a girl living in Boulder, CO. The two encountered a variety of comical situations as Mork endeavored to understand humans. (Ed. Note: Mork was spun off of “Happy Days,” but that’s way too much to go into.) Most of the humor was ad libbed out of the bizarre mind of Robin Williams back when he was new (and funny).

Next, Star Wars figures were all of the rage during the same time period. Everybody was trying to come up with a 3 3/4″ figure to capture on the craze. Everybody wanted aboard the ride Star Wars figures were going to take us on.

My Mork came with an egg shaped ship. However, it’s long since gone. Shazzbot! I wish it wasn’t. I seem to remember it being used as an escape pod in a variety of play scenarios.

Appearance:

At the end of each episode, if memory serves correctly, Mork would contact his planet and expound on his Earthly expolits. During those scenes he would wear the outfit this figure is based on. A basic red jumpsuit with silver boots and gloves. For most of the show he wore a striped shirt and rainbow suspenders. I guess they thought the spaceman outfit would go better with Star Wars figures.

I believe that the arms and legs from this figure are borrowed from the Battlestar Galactica line (Click
here to see Cmdr. Adama). There are extra doodads on the side of the boots that would be missing on Mork’s boots. There’s also a sculpted braid just above the cuff of the gloves reminiscent of the BSG figures.

Paint is used formost of the details. Which is mostly not a good thing. The silver triangle and shoulder details look flat and have no sculpting to backing them up. There should be a second triangle on his back that is missing, as well. Also, similar to the Galactica figures, the eyes aren’t painted. Which gives Mork a stoned glazed over look.

The other issue with the paint, is more of a modern thing. It seems the silvery paint used for his boots and gloves is has deteriorated into a sticky mess. I can’t really take away for that, though. Arnie at Star Wars Action News said it best on recent podcast. To paraphrase, these are children’s playthings, and weren’t built to last 30 years.

Fun:

If I still had the egg, this figure would be a little more fun. A single Robin Williams figure with no Mindy or other folks to interact with is just boring.

He has the 5 standard joints for figures of that era, legs, arms and head. No balljoints back then, btw. I would have expected the right arm and hand to be permanently posed in the Nanu-Nanu pose. But, alas, they’re not. I seem to recall my Mork liked to hang out at the Creature Cantina. Ironically, when ever Stormtroopers started firing he ended up being collateral damage.

Overall:

Okay. Let’s face it. Mork is not a great figure. However, he’s part of the era than helped pave the way for all of 3 3/4″ collectors of today. In his own time, I would bet he worked fairly well for what he was suppose to do. A piece of plastic to hang on a peg where a parent would walk by. The parent would think, “My kid likes that show, and action figures. I’ll get it for him.” I’m pretty sure he was never intended to be a “collectible,” but rather more of an impulse buy.

I have to think somewhere there’s a movie company thinking “Mork & Mindy” would be the next great big screen comedy. I’m sure with it will be super articulated Mork figures. Maybe even one with rainbow suspenders.

Engineernerd Score: 75/100 (85 if he still had
the egg)

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Tags: Action Figure, Mork, Ork, Review, TV

Category: Other Television, Toy Reviews