Hey, look! It’s the Holodeck Series! I haven’t done any of these before! But first, let’s wax nostalgic about the Holodeck for a moment. When I was a teenager, “The Next Generation” was destination television for me every week, and every time a Holodeck episode came up I would flip the hell out because I thought it was a waste of a slot and I’d have to wait another week and hope for something better. Now, in my old age, I’ve mellowed a lot on these episodes, and while some of them are still terrible, others are not so bad. Next to the Sherlock Holmes episodes, “A Fistful of Datas” is probably my favorite. It may have to do with my love for westerns; it may be because it tugged at my nostalgic love for the Classic Trek episode “Specter of the Gun;” but in the end I think it’s because it’s a fun episode that makes really good use of Worf and Troi it’s one of the few episodes with Alexander that I can stomach.

The set comes in a compact little window box and is branded under the general “Star Trek” line. The front window displays the three figures Worf, Alexander, and a Holographic recreation of Data (ok, so it’s really two and a half figures!) and each of the figures are held in a tray against an illustrated backdrop that shows part of the “Ancient West” town and part of the Holodeck grid. As always, there’s a foil sticker with an individual collector number. The back panel of the box has a blurb about the episode, a shot of the figures against the backdrop and shots of three other boxed sets available in the line. I’ll point out here that Sheriff Worf was available as a single-carded figure, but if you wanted the other two in this set, I’m pretty sure this was the only way to get them. Bastard points go to Playmates for forcing us to double dip!

Starting off with Data, we get a Holodeck recreation of our favorite Starfleet android as a crazed gunslinger. The head sculpt is pretty good, and possibly better than my regular Data figure. He has the little added mustache and his hat is removable, which I was not expecting. As for the rest of the figure, the sculpt is very simple but it does hit all the right points. His black coat bellows up a bit behind him and reveals his holstered gun on his left hip. He’s an Ok figure, but he does seem a little lacking compared to Worf.

Yes, Worf is clearly the star of this set as Playmates put the most work into him. That probably has something to do with the fact that he was also a single-carded release. The head sculpt is excellent, and while the hat isn’t removable, that just means it doesn’t constantly fall off like Data’s does. Worf’s outfit consists of a detailed kerchief, a vest with buttons and his sheriff badge, and a buttoned shirt with the flap hanging down. The proportions are also a lot better than previous Worf figures. I love this figure!

Last up is Worf’s son, Alexander, which is just a static piece. I expected him to be a throw-away, but Playmates stepped up on the sculpt here. He’s wearing a miniature version of Worf’s outfit right down to the vest with the little deputy badge. I also get a chuckle out of the fact that he’s the only one in the set holding a gun and he looks like he’s ready to gleefully murder someone with it.

The paintwork on all three figures is quite excellent. I don’t know why, but I love the high gloss paint that Playmates uses. It makes them look so toyish and 90’s. Feeling nostalgic for the 90’s is a scary thing. The contrast between Data’s muted grey and black outfit and the brighter browns and reds of Worf and Alexander’s makes for an appealing set and I’m particularly impressed by the paintwork on the little Alexander figure. In terms of overall coloring and paint, this is some of Playmates best work on the Star Trek line.

The three figures in this set are like an illustration of the evolution of action figure articulation. Worf features most of the points we’ve come to expect from Playmates Trek figures. His arms rotate at the shoulders, swivel at the biceps and have hinged elbows. His legs swivel at the hips and have hinges in the knees. He can also swivel at the waist and his head turns. The only thing really missing here are the thigh swivels that began to appear late in the line. Data, on the other hand has the five basic points (neck, shoulders and hips) plus swivels in his biceps. He does have a waist swivel, but his coat prevents it from working, and it severely limits his hip articulation too. Last up is Alexander, which as I already mentioned is just a static figure. I don’t have a big problem with Alexander just being a display piece, but Data’s limited articulation really irks me. He should have at least had elbow and knee hinges.

The sad thing about this set is you get zero accessories. Granted, Playmates’ accessories usually suck, but if you want Worf’s accessories you need to buy the single-carded figure as well. Or you can buy Troi as Durango and give her stuff to Worf since she can’t hold any of it anyway. You do, however, get a display stand with an illustrated sticker to match the backdrop. The idea is you cut out the backdrop and stick it into the slot on the stand. If you’ve ever picked up any of Kenner/Hasbro’s Star Wars Cinema Scene sets than you already get the idea.

I have no idea how much this sold for originally, but I recall picking up mine at a Trek Convention for $10 and you can’t go wrong there. The lack of accessories is a downer and Data’s sculpt and articulation doesn’t jive with the work put into Worf, but all in all this is still a cool set representing a fun little episode.

And that’ll put this week of Toy Closet Finds in the bag. I’ve still got a bunch of unearthed treasures from my trip into Narnia, but the rest will have to wait, because I’ve also got a bunch of new receivings piling up and begging for attention. Next week I’ll be doubling up on some new Lego, new TMNT, and new Transformers. See y’all on Monday.