MiniMates 2002 Gorn and Mugato Figures

Some of the best things I have ever found were found at the bottom of a box filled with junk.

Last time I was at an expo, I spent a lot of time trying not to trip over children sitting on the floor and going through such boxes. I managed to find both a MiniMates Gorn and Mugato figure from 2002 under some practically dismembered action figures and sports cards.

The first package featured the Gorn as seen in the TOS episode "Arena".

The head makes me laugh, due to it's shape and the style in which the face was drawn.

On the back of the head, scuta are painted in yellow and outlined in black.

This Gorn figure came with a silver puzzle-piece base (which comes with all of the Star Trek 2002 MiniMates figures) and two accessories - the dagger from the episode (not shown, as Mugato stole it in a jealous rage) and what I believe to be a Gorn disruptor.

This particular Gorn is actually quite acrobatic, with great balance:

Because of the extra middle piece, the Gorn's body comes apart very easily - too easily. Mugato (TOS episode a Private Little War) on the other hand, is very sturdy.

Mugato's face is more well drawn, and the figure looks less block-y because of the fur and horn.

As you can see, Mugato is holding the Gorn's dagger. You can also see the spikes running down Mugato's spine:

Upon our trek outdoors (pun intended), I convinced Mugato and Gorn to pose for a photoshoot together:

Just look at Gorn's adorable smile, as he waves to the camera. Mugato just stood there, making grunting noises and shaking his newly acquired dagger.

The fun thing about these figures is that they break into segments. Like I said before, the bottom of the Gorn's outfit detatches as well, adding an extra piece to it's mid-layer. It is not detached in this next picture, however, where I show off my Gorn-Mugato hybrids.

One of my pet peeves is actually the mispronunciation/misspelling of Mugato as "Mugatu". I know that Bones and Kirk referred to the creature as Mugatu, and that misspelling occurred in a compendium, but that is simply not it's name.

Fun fact: Mugato's name was to be Gumato in the original script, but Deforest Kelley couldn't pronounce it correctly. Interesting, he and William Shatner couldn't pronounce Mugato either.