Playmates just announced a return to making Star Trek figures, and while I fear that line will be populated by stuff from the grim-dark, depressing, dystopian shit that is Discovery and Picard, it’ll certainly be worth a look. But it wasn’t too long ago that Super7 announced that they had secured the license to The Next Generation and that got me more excited! I don’t think a week ever passes me by without watching at least one episode of Star Trek. It will forever be my Go-To show when I want to put something on to relax or watch something while I’m having dinner. No, it’s not always The Next Generation, but that one remains one of my all-time great comfort shows. So, when Super7 announced they were adding TNG to their ReAction series, I smiled and said Make it So!

Now, I say in the title Wave One, but I bought an extra Borg Drone instead of Guinan, so I was fibbing just a little bit. The others include Picard, Data, Worf, and Wesley Crusher. If you’re keeping score, this is the second time ReAction and Star Trek teamed up, but the first time it was Funko doing Classic Trek, and well, they weren’t very good. I had high hopes for these, however, as I’ve been enjoying most of Super7’s ReAction lines. Transformers, Alien, ThunderCats, Jem, I’ve been buying a lot of them. Most of those I’ve chosen to keep carded, but I decided to open this TNG line, mainly because I want to be able to crew my Shuttlecraft Galileo from Galoob’s old line, and it’s just not compatible with the totes and totes of Playmates Trek figures I have.

I dig the cards a lot. They are personalized with some great character art on the front, set against a snappy silver foil Delta symbol. The backdrop features the multi-colored star streaks with The Enterprise at warp, and the familiar title logo is at the top. The figures are on trays, so they don’t rattle around in their little bubble coffins, which is always a plus. The back of each card has a little blurb about the character, and oddly enough Star Trek is written in the Classic font at the top. It also features the standard ship’s computer LCARS display, which is really cool. Finally, you also get a Collect Them All style look at all six figures available in this wave. It’s not a bad assortment, but I would have preferred another alien instead of Guinan. Maybe a Romulan or Ferengi.

Straightaway, the Enterprise crew all share the same body, which is fine for some and a bummer for others. I have no problem with Data and Picard sharing a body, but Worf should have been bigger. Yeah, he is very slightly taller, but only because of his big head. The uniforms are modeled after the later seasons, with the tunic and trousers as opposed to the S1 jumpsuits, and that was probably a good choice. I dig that the patterns on the tunic are actually part of the sculpt, and the tiny comm-badges look good. Oh yeah, the rank pips on the collar are different sculpts. As always, these ReAction figures feature the old style five points of articulation. I like that the T-crotch doesn’t cause their legs to spread like they did on the Playmates figures. Ironically, these might actually be more compatible with the Playmates Bridge Playset than the Playmates figures were!

Wesley features a newly sculpted torso and arms for his fashionable sweater, although they cheaped out by giving him the same legs as the uniformed figures, so he’s as tall as Worf and kind of lame. The Borg is the only figure among these that uses a completely unique sculpt, and they did a beautiful job on him. Sure, it’s simplified design to match the retro style, but it still looks great, with tubes and implants all over. I think I actually like this one more than the Playmates Borg.

The head sculpts range from pretty good to outright fantastic. I think Picard’s is the weakest, but not terrible. I think the smile is a little uncharacteristic, as he tends to come across as a little stodgy and dour a lot of the time. Still, I dig it.

Data’s is second from the bottom, but again decent. The yellow eyes are a nice touch. When you punch in this close with the camera, the paint tends to look sloppy, but it’s not something that’s noticeable with the figure in hand. And at least his face isn’t bizarrely speckled like Galoob’s first Data!

Wesley’s is surprisingly good for being so simple. A lot of the likeness is conveyed in the hair sculpt, but the facial features are pretty good too, especially the shape of the mouth.

Worf comes out on top among the Enterprise crew. Holy shit, this is a phenomenal sculpt for a 3 3/4-inch retro line. Sure, they had the most to work with here, but the detail is still exceptional. They also managed to refrain from giving him a giant bobble head. I should also mention here that Worf’s baldric is sculpted separately and worn by the figure. That’s one of the few advantages of Super7 recycling the same body, because it looks great.

The Borg is on par with Worf as just having a fantastic portrait. Again, they had a lot to work with here, but it turned out fantastic. The Borgified part of his head is actually sculpted separately and attached to the head.

I hope you don’t like accessories, because half the figures in this wave come with bupkis, and the ones that do all come with the same one! Wesley and the Borg get nothing and the others get the same phaser. Now, in fairness, the phaser is incredibly detailed for such a tiny accessory. They can hold it pretty well, although they have to have their arms lowered to have it pointed straight out to shoot. But hey, that’s better than sculpting it into their hands like Galoob did back in the day!

So, here’s the deal. At $18 a pop, Super7’s ReAction figures are expensive for what they are. But their past lines like ThunderCats and Transformers have justified the cost to me with gorgeous card artwork and excellent unique sculpts. They’re just cool What If? lines to me and fun to collect and display. That’s not the case here. The Next Generation already had its turn at 3 3/4-inch and 4-inch figures, making these less a cool curiosity and more of a Here We Go Again! The cards look good, but I didn’t shed a tear when I was ripping into them. And while the figures look good, this wave features too much parts recycling to justify the cost. I like the phasers, but these really needed a few more extras. A tricorder with Data? A bat’leth with Worf? Maybe a PADD with Picard? Keep in mind, with shipping these set me back $120. That’s insane! I had no problem spending that for past ReAction waves, but the value just isn’t’ there on these. I don’t know if the cost of acquiring the license required cut backs, but with CBS/Paramount running the franchise into the ground, it couldn’t have been that expensive to get. Even McFarlane walked away from it just a year or so ago. Even still, with half the wave sharing the same body, these should have been no more than $10-15 a pop. Will I buy any more? It depends on what they show for Wave Two. Or more to the point, if there is a Wave Two! That’s all I have to say about the figures… so feel free to dip out now, but for anyone interested, I’m going to see how these work with…

The Galoob Shuttlecraft Galileo! I don’t have any loose figures to go with this beauty, because all my Galoob figures are carded, but they were the same scale as ReAction and not stylized like the Playmates line, so let’s see how they do!

The shuttle is definitely undersized, but that was the case with the Galoob figures as well. But they certainly fit well in the vehicle. The box claims this thing holds six figures, but I’ve always called bullshit on that. It comfortably seats four, with two in the cockpit and two in the back cargo area. Where are the other two supposed to go? Maybe if you pull them apart it would work, but it always seemed like a fascicle claim to me.

I always liked this original TNG shuttle design and I was sorry when they dumped it. Although the replacement isn’t bad and Playmates did an excellent job on that one. As a toy, Galoob’s Galileo ain’t so great, but I do adore it as a curiosity. There’s no electronics, the sides of the nacelles are detailed with stickers, which never stay on, and the Pop Up Sensor Unit and Slide-Out Phaser Cannon are kind of underwhelming. It’s not a cheap toy to get nowadays, so I can’t really recommend hunting one down. Still, it’s nice to finally have some figures to go in it!