The cards on these figures have changed very little throughout the course of this series. I still dig the animated style that seems to go so well with the highly stylized figure sculpts. As I’ve commented before, these cardbacks are just littered with text, and I’m not just talking about the figure’s bio and what they come with. There are ads and exclamations for everything from Star Trek videogames to some kind of design an alien contest that possibly netted some kid a spot on Deep Space Nine. Each card also has a silver foil sticker in the upper fight corner designating it a “7th Season Figure.”

For a long time, Playmates issued collectible Skybox trading cards with the figures, but these “7th Season” figures came with “Space Caps” which were basically cards that had punch out circular button type things. I think this was to cash in on the whole pogs craze that might have been going on back then, or I could just be talking out my ass. Either way, I’ve never punched any of mine out, I just keep them as cards.

These figures of Data and Picard disguised as Romulans are taken from the 5th Season two-parter, “Unification.” This episode was famous for featuring Leonard Nimoy reprising his role as Spock and boy was it a big deal back when it aired. The story itself wasn’t so great and Spock was only in the second part, which made it seem like they really squandered his return. Either way, the story featured Picard and Data traveling to Romulus and putting on some prosthetics to make them pass as Romulan citizens while they hunt for the suspected defector, Ambassador Spock. I guess you can also use these figures as generic Romulans too.

Right out of the gate, these figures suffer from having molded plastic robes, which means their articulation is seriously limited, and there isn’t a whole lot of detail in sculpt and paint. Now, on the flipside, their head sculpts are really well done. They definitely look like Spiner and Stewart in Romulan makeup, complete with the subtle creases in the forehead that separated Vulcans from Romulans in the series. But from the neck down, there just isn’t a lot going on with these guys. Data’s robes have more detail and texture than Picard’s which are just plain. One thing in particular that does bug me is just how out of proportion their arms and hands are. Playmates’ Star Trek figures were often stylized, and its no secret that some of the figures had gorilla arms, but I think they went really overboard with the chunky arms on these two.

As noted, articulation on these figures is limited to a rotating head, arms that rotate at the shoulders, swivel cuts in the biceps and hinged elbows. That’s it. Granted, Playmates’ Trek figures were never really known as being super articulated, but like I said, the molded plastic cloaks really limite the potential articulation on these guys.

One thing you can always count on when you pick up Playmates Next Generation figures is that you’re going to get a shitload of useless and inappropriately colored accessories. Well, Romulan Data and Picard here are no exception to that rule. As noted, both figures come with their Space Cap, and each figure also comes with a Romulan insignia stand. This stand is the same one that came with the generic Romulan figure, only with their name labels stuck on.

Data’s accessories are all bright orange, except for his phaser, which is silver, but with an orange phaser beam permanently attached to it. I say permanently, just because I haven’t gotten around to snipping it off with a pair of scissors yet. He also comes with a Romulan disruptor rifle, a PADD, and a computer terminal with Klingon graphics on the display. I assume the Klingon computer is because he and Captain Picard were taken to Romulus on a Klingon Bird of Prey.

Picard’s accessories are all purple, except for his black Romulan disruptor (the same one packaged with the generic Romulan figure, and again with orange beam coming out of it). He comes with a disguise kit, a PADD and a bowl of soup. Yes, folks, a friggin bowl of soup, so that you can recreate the gripping soup eating scene when Picard and Data were staking out the Pro Consul’s office. Only Data doesn’t come with his own bowl of soup, so you can’t really faithfully recreate scene, after all. To my knowlege, this is the first action figure I have ever owned that came with a bowl of soup, and a purple one at that… kudos Playmates.

I put off adding this pair to my collection for a long while, mainly because they are so scene specific. Truth is, they’re pretty good figures. Beefy arms aside, they do look pretty close to the make up and costumes worn by the actors, and again, the head sculpts are some of the best we’ve seen in this line.

Jolan Tru, Everybody! Jolan Tru.