The Zanti Prisoner

The original Outer Limits was one of my all-time favorite TV shows and while it’s nearly impossible to pick a single favorite amongst it’s numerous offerings, the episode which ran on December 30, 1963 ranks right up there. That episode was entitled “The Zanti Misfits” and featured a race of alien beings with the bodies of ants with human-like faces. The plot involves this race sending it’s criminals to Earth to be incarcerated here. The Zantis were brought to life using stop-motion animation and while the effect was not always convincing, the creatures themselves remained impressive because…..well, they’re bugs with human faces and that’s just creepy.

In 2002, Sideshow Collectibles released both designs that were used in the show, limited to 5,000 pieces each. Both toys feature the same scuplt on the body, with a slightly different paint scheme, and have similar but slightly modified heads. The Zanti Prisoner has a lighter brown body than the Zanti Regent and his mouth is open wider. There is white hair above the eyes and all along the both sides of his head, so he tends to look older than the Regent. The Zanti Prisoner didn’t appear in the episode very much, only showing up near the end in a crowd of other Zantis.

The body of each is 8″ long, 9″ if you measure to the very tip of the antennae. There are 8 points of articulation, at the base of each leg as well as in-between each body segment.

The great thing about these toys is that they are actually “life-size”, or at least the same size at the props from the show.

The packaging is pretty cool. It’s an approximately 9″x9″ box, with a fold out lid that you can lift to reveal the toy stored beneath a cellophane window. The underside of the flaps fetures a synopsis of the episode along with episode credits and information. The lid is held in place by velcro when closed. The box for each toy is the same, except that each has it’s name on the side.

The Zanti Misfits were sold individually, but in my opinion, you just can’t buy one without buying the other.