The Prisoner Action Figures.. from Wandering Planet Toys

Way back in 2021, Wandering Planet Toys announced a Kickstarter campaign to get backing for 4" retro style action figures of Number Six, aka "The Prisoner".  Their plan was to offer a handful of different versions, some with accessories.  

I personally found out about the figures a bit too late to officially score the special "Arrival" figures, offered to the first backers.  But a couple of emails later, I was given a way to order two of them, along with a nice t-shirt.  

Just in case, I pre-ordered one of the other versions from Big Bad Toys, as did my boyfriend as a present.  We then waited.  

Fast forward 2022 and I started reading about the figures getting out into collector/fan hands.  So I tried to find my BBT preorder info, and came up empty handed.  Turned out I either never actually placed that pre-order, or the order got lost.  That left me with the figure my boyfriend pe-ordered for me.

Then, in late December 2022, what arrived in the mail but two "Arrival" figures and a shirt!  They didn't forget me!  Then, late January 2023 brought the "Beach Escape" figure my boyfriend had pre-ordered for me!

Now, I haven't bought an action figure since I was a kid, and I didn't buy those... Mom did.  I collect lots of stuff, BUT not action figures.  So when I suddenly owned 3, I needed to do something to keep them in nice condition and dust free.  After searching online forever, I couldn't find a source for single clear plastic protective cases. 

Then I accidently learned about a store called The Toy Vault in a Massachusetts mall that looked like a great place to ask about cases... they sell EVERYTHING from Funko Pop figures to vintage Star Wars play sets.  I took a drive to see what I could find, and not only did I score 3 ProTech cases (the clerk was very helpful), but a nice 1/64 AMC Javelin AMX for one of my OTHER collections.  

So what about the actual figures?  Well, they are not intended to be exact, fully operable copies of Mr. Patrick McGoohan himself.  Instead they are reminiscent of the 1970s action figure styles.   That means non-articulated arms and legs.  It also means little holes on the bottom of the feet (for planting on playsets) and also in the hands (to hold accessories).  

They do look a little like McGoohan. The hair is too light, but parted on the correct side and in the correct style, if a little "full". The eyes are a tad too close together, and should be mesmerizing-electric-blue, not that there's much room to apply any paint! People can argue if Number Six's actual jacket was black or dark brown, but 99% of people think it was black, so the figure's is also black. The "Arrival" version is simply the same figure painted all black.

If you are a Prisoner fan, you should try to get at least one of these figures.  You'll have to find one on Ebay or at a collectibles show, though, as they are sold out at Big Bad Toys.  That means one thing:  MARKUP.  The market will decide the actual value of these figures in time, but don't get ripped off.  As badly as I wanted one, they are, after all, only bits of plastic.

Number Six knows the REAL truth about the balloons over America...

 

OBSERVATION: The Prisoner "Chimes of Big Ben" Ship Painting

Ever since The Prisoner first aired on television in 1967… FIFTY FOUR YEARS AGO… people have been arguing whether or not the main character, Number Six, was actually John Drake, aka Danger Man and/or the Secret Agent. 

Personally, I lean toward the opinion YES, Six is Drake… UNLESS the two characters were simply just that similar to Patrick McGoohan himself.

I am not into long, drawn out arguments on ANY topic, especially ones where there are only a handful of people who could ever settle things. There may not even be that many, since we no longer have McGoohan to ask. Does his wife Joan know? Probably, but I bet she won’t tell, either. Maybe some day his daughters will spill the beans.

I am rather new to the Prisoner world, and recently fell into the what-does-it-all-mean trap when I began to wonder why a massive copy of a painting depicting a sea battle was so prominently featured in the Prisoner episode “The Chimes of Big Ben”.

Six and Nadia have escaped the Village and are in an office Six "knows very well" in London, apparently that of Fotheringay, played by Richard Wattis, who was one of John Drake’s bosses in the first incarnation of Danger Man (... so why does Fotheringay leave Six alone with the colonel if it is his office and he is senior enough to know of Six's reappearance?). There are quite a few ship-related items on the shelves. Largest is a big print of a sea
battle. You can’t help but see the thing!

Now, Sir Francis Drake was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, naval officer, and politician. So was that artwork of a Drake sea battle? Hence a hint to Six being Drake?

Using various online reverse-search tools, I discovered that the original painting was painted in 1799 by Philip de Loutherbourg. It is called “The Battle of Camperdown” and does not depict Francis Drake, but a battle between Admiral Adam Duncan and Dutch ships. The painting measures 5x7 feet.

A black & white engraved print was made by James Fittler in 1801. It is this print that is depicted behind Number Six.

And so my theory that all of the office’s nautical doo-dads were a hat tip to “Drake” seems to be “blown out of the water”. Still… the prop people put an awful lot of ships and things on that set…

No doubt, Prisoner fans have already beat this dead horse senseless after FIVE DECADES…

Now.......... what's the deal with THIS painting??

Philip James De Loutherbourg, The Battle of Camperdown (1799)
Photo © Tate
CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0 (Unported)
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/de-loutherbourg-the-battle-of-camperdown-t01451

OBSERVATION: Number Six & Captain Kangaroo Sporting PRISONER Jackets

While not exactly the same, discovering that Cpt. Kangaroo had a red jacket similar to Number Six's was a bit of a shock!  I mean... they don't exactly look "separated at birth", do they?