Jan 28 2013

Star Wars Vintage Collection: R2-D2 (“Jabba’s Sail Barge”) by Hasbro

Way back in October of 2010 I scored Hasbro’s awesome Jabba’s Throne set and ever since then I’ve been meaning to rebuild my once great collection of Jabba’s denizens. In the years since, I’ve been picking them up here and there, but mostly relegating them to storage totes until I could get motivated to start opening them and piecing the display back together again. Well, cleaning out the Toy Closet this weekend, I stumbled upon some of those figures and have been putting them aside so I can start opening them and looking at them here. And so, the first feature of this week’s Toy Closet Finds, might seem like an unlikely start, but I felt like opening me up an R2 figure and he just so happens to be the version from Jabba’s sail barge.

God, I love this packaging and it’s a crying shame that Hasbro is doing away with it this year. As superficial as it sounds, the vintage packaging is probably the only reason I even look at the Star Wars pegs anymore. Of course, I don’t buy a lot of them because it actually makes me sad to open them, and that’s coming from someone who usually doesn’t give a crap about tearing open his action figures. I’ve managed to shake a lot of the hold Star Wars figures have had on me since I was a kid, but even I can’t resist the appeal of the figures when they’re carded on pure nostalgia. When Vintage Collection came back I started to buy doubles, but space concerns being what they are, that strategy couldn’t last. And so, even now, I don’t want to open this figure, but like taking off a band aid, I’m just going to do it fast so it doesn’t hurt so much.

It has been AGES since I bought an R2 figure. In fact, the last one was probably the one from the Original Trilogy Vintage Collection, and I never opened it. It’s still stacked on a shelf with the other VOTC figures sealed in the clamshell. Having been out of the Star Wars scene for a while now, I couldn’t begin to follow all the repacks and slight modifications R2 figures have gone through over the years. Thankfully, I don’t have to, because this R2 is a completely new figure. That means this little droid should be a whole lot better than the last one I opened, right? I was pretty anxious to play around with him and see what Hasbro has done with him lately.


Make no mistake, this R2 is full of gimmickry, a lot of which intrudes on the articulation and aesthetics of the figure, so before we get into those, let’s start with the sculpt first. R2 has always been one of those figures that looks perfectly fine to me until the next release comes along and emphasizes everything that was wrong with the last one. That having been said, I think this one looks pretty solid. It seems like there’s still a little room for improvement on the dome, and I wish Hasbro could figure a way to not have seams running up the sides of it. But the body has all the appropriate sculpted panel lines, vents, ports, and doo-dads, front and back. For some reason the cables on R2’s feet have always been a sticking point with me and his figures, but they look good here. On the downside, he’s way too big for the Vintage Collection 3PO, but then I wasn’t a big fan of that figure anyway. That’s about as far as I can go without starting to talk about the gimmicks so let’s get to them.

Hasbro tried to make this a pretty versatile representation of R2 as seen in Return of the Jedi. In addition to the obvious drink tray and serving arm, he has a retractable servo arm, a sensor scope, and a lightsaber. About the only thing missing from the movie is the Ewok zapper and the buzzsaw.  Easily the most unsightly of the gimmicks is the servo arm, which is poorly concealed behind the lower blue horizontal servo arm on his chest. In the movies, this blue piece is the actual arm that closes up flush with his body. In the figure, the whole panel opens one way and the servo arm swings out the other way. Considering the door doesn’t close properly and it isn’t screen accurate, I’d rather Hasbro left this one out and went with one of the vertical arm hatches instead.


The third leg gimmick is bewilderingly tied in to the sensor scope. To extend the leg, you have to put the sensor scope into the open panel on R2’s head and push it all the way down. The scope conceals nicely, but if you leave it in there you can’t turn R2’s dome. You can, however, use the scope to extend the leg and then pull it out to regain dome movement. Because the two gimmicks are connected, in order to display the sensor scope extended, R2’s dome has to be centered and the third leg has to be retracted. That having been said, the scope looks really good and since it just sits in the socket, you can rotate it. The lightsaber… wait isn’t that Obi-Wan’s lightsaber? Ahem… the lightsaber also just sits in the same socket as if R2 is preparing to launch it to Luke.

The drink tray is definitely the coolest piece of all the gimmicks, but then I guess it’s more of an accessory than a gimmick. It’s wonderfully sculpted and far surpasses the crappy one that Hasbro released previously. It sits snugly on R2’s shoulders and the drink serving arm plugs right into the socket on the top of his head. Amazingly enough, the drinking glasses are actually removable.


I won’t deny this is an ambitious and, in some ways, fun little figure. He will definitely look great dispensing drinks to Jabba’s minions, but I was also hoping this R2 would be a definitive version and clearly he’s not. I think Hasbro packed a few too many gimmicks into him and the figure struggles under the weight of its own over-engineering. But I think in the end, it’s the loose front servo arm hatch that bugs me the most about him. Ah, but a little super glue should soon fix that.

Jan 26 2013

Star Trek Starship Legends: USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D by Diamond Select

As I mentioned last Saturday, the fine folks at Diamond Select have taken pity on those of us who missed out on their Starship Legends line by reissuing the ships with some minor tweaks and refreshed packaging. I was quick to jump on board and pre-order the “Wrath of Khan” Enterprise and the “Next Gen” Enterprise-D. I’ve got a little while to wait on WoK Enterprise, but 1701-D showed up at my door this week in a giant slab of a shipping box. I’ve been jonesing after this thing for a long while now, so I couldn’t wait to get her inside and open her up. This is a big ship, there’s a lot to talk about, and there will be some bumps along the way, so sit tight and engage your inertial dampeners…

The huge window box is actually not quite as big as the Bird of Prey’s package, but it is deeper. It’s the same style of blue cloudy star field deco only this time you get a shot of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, with arms crossed, staring out approvingly at you, as if to say, “Well done on buying this ship.” That makes me happy. After all, deep down don’t we all really just want approval from Captain Picard? The Star Trek logo is in “The Original Series” font with “The Next Generation” below it. Wait… they can’t do that… can they? I’ll confess the mixing of the two generations looks weird, like it’s a knock off package or something. The front panel of the box is cut out to show the bulk of the ship, while still hiding the two pieces of shit stands in the lower right corner. There’s a “Try Me” hole in the window so little bastards can run down the batteries when they see it at their local comic shop. The back panel of the box shows a shot of the model with a couple of paragraphs on the series and the ship. It also seems to take great pleasure in chronicling the fact that the mightiest ship in the Starfleet, the Flagship, was destroyed by a small rogue Bird of Prey after Picard gave Riker the keys and Troi crashed it into a planet. Cue Picard Facepalm.

The ship is packaged fully assembled. You just have to clip the wire ties to get it off the tray, and that’s where the fun starts. I honestly didn’t expect to have anything bad to say about this thing, and yet we’re going to start off with one major annoyance. As expected, the ship comes packaged in “Try Me” mode and to get the full effect of the electronics you need to switch it over to “Play Mode.” Unfortunately, the switch is inside the battery compartment on the bottom of the Star Drive section. Some may argue that’s a good thing because the ship doesn’t have a switch exposed on it anywhere, but it didn’t bother me so much with the Bird of Prey. Anyway, this situation sent me scrambling throughout the house to find one of my tiny screwdrivers, which by now I should keep in a very prominent place, but I can never remember where I left it. After about ten minutes of swearing under my breath and rummaging through every junk drawer and catch-all I have in the house, I got my hands on it only to find that I couldn’t budge the screw. Diamond obviously used some kind of self-sealing stembolt (Right? Get it?) to secure the hatch down. I went back to searching until I turned up a pair of vice grips so I could get enough torque and break the seal on the screw. After that it was easy. I also noticed the super shit batteries they put in here, so I’m going to have to go get a couple of packs of the best AAA batteries I can find for the Enterprise and Bird of Prey so they don’t shit battery goo all over the inside of my precious ships. But wait! We’re not done yet! You also need to take off a second battery cover on the top of the Saucer Section right over the main Shuttle Bay and flip a switch under it in order to get the Saucer Separation SFX to work. Yes, the Enterprise is also powered by three additional button batteries in the Saucer. This cover is slid back by inserting a thin implement into a notch and pushing back. It’s a jarring ordeal because I had to apply just a bit more force than I was comfortable with. Keep in mind, as annoying as this all was, it’s just something to deal with during the initial unboxing and not something that’s going to really spoil the enjoyment of the model once you’ve done it. Ok, now that I’ve put everybody to sleep with exciting battery talk, let’s look at the ship.

I was expecting a lot of detail, but I’ll confess the finished sculpt still exceeds my expectations. The Enterprise-D has a lot of surface space, and every bit of it is covered with panel lines. I mean, damn, you can practically see every single plate of tritanium-duranium alloy that went into the hull’s construction. The Escape Pod hatches are sculpted, the ridges on the Shuttle Bay doors, even the little docking hatches on the sides of the Torpedo Bay launchers. If Art Asylum left any details out, I sure as hell can’t find them. There is a little more assembly seaming on this ship than was evident on the Bird of Prey. It’s mostly noticeable along the aft edges of the ship and where the back of the neck meets the front two pieces. They aren’t terrible, but worth mentioning.

The paintwork compliments the sculpted detail wonderfully. Every window is painted onto the ship’s skin from the random windows of crew quarters to the line of panels that runs across the wall of the Conference Room and even the viewports of Ten Forward. The Escape Pod hatches are painted tan and you’ve got a darker grey on the Shuttle Bay doors and the Phaser Array strips. The lettering is all crisp and hugs the hull better than what I remember seeing in the test shots. Of all the tiny details, I think the one that impresses me the most are the tiny scoring lines that run along the perimeter of all the Phaser Arrays. Holy shit that’s cool!

The Saucer Section is secured to the Star Drive Section with some of the most insanely powerful magnets I think I’ve ever seen in a toy. Separating the ship is as easy as pulling them apart. When you go to connect them up again, the magnets will aggressively grab at each other and do the rest. Connecting and reconnecting the two sections give you a sound and light show, which we’ll talk about in a little bit. Obviously reconnecting the two halves of the ship will lead to rubbing on the surface so I’ll probably avoid doing it to excess. I’ll point out here that Diamond stamped a bunch of large type copyright information inside the area where the Saucer Section connects to the neck. It’s annoying and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t there on the original release.

The Enterprise comes with two display stands and they are the biggest pieces of shit I’ve ever seen. They’re basically the same style of thin, opaque plastic pieces as the one that came with the Bird of Prey, only these feature the ball joint under the connection points and are sculpted with the Starfleet “Comm Badge” style insignia. They look cheap, but that’s not the problem I have with them. While the Bird of Prey used a fixed connection that works perfectly, these stands use ball joints and they work well until you manipulate them a couple of times and then they fail miserably. The ball joint just can’t handle the weird weight displacement of the ship and it constantly wants to drop the ship forward onto the Saucer Section. They will work fine if you want to pose the ship in an upward climb, but forget about getting it displayed parallel to the surface its standing on. You see those two side shots of the ship? Well, the stands won’t do that anymore. Hey guys, what the hell is the point of a poseable ball joint if it can only hold the ship in one position???  I’ve tried gumming it up with blue tack, which didn’t work.  I may try some nail polish next.

So two stands? Yes, The complete Enterprise displays on either stand by plugging it into the hole closest to the Deflector Dish. You can also display the Enterprise separated by plugging the smaller stand into the middle hole of the Star Drive section and using the larger stand for the Saucer Section. While I doubt I’ll ever display the ship separated, it’s very cool to have this option. The instructions show a plug that can be put into the hole of the Saucer Section to cover it up when you are displaying the ship as one piece. It’s a great idea, but sadly no such plug was included in my box.

Ok, let’s talk electronics and we’ll start with the lights. By pressing and holding the concealed button just below the main Impulse Engine on the Star Drive section, you can put all the lights into “Display Mode” and they’ll stay lit until you press it again. You get red LEDs in all three Impulse Engines and the front of both Warp Nacelles. Blue LEDs light up in the front Deflector Dish and in the strips around the Warp Nacelles. The lights are all bright and gorgeous, particularly the fronts of the Nacelles. There’s one more light, a white Bridge light on the top of the Saucer Sections dome. Alas, this one bleeds through the paint and plastic around it quite a bit. I can sort of convince myself that the light bleeding through is just the light reflecting off the hull. Yeah… sort of.

The sound effects and voice clips aren’t quite as loud and clear as the Bird of Prey’s SFX, but they’re still pretty good. The sounds and voice are activated by pressing the top dome of the Saucer Section and the lights will come on when the sound is activated. One thing I do not like at all is the way the blue Nacelle lights blink to match the speech or sound effect. It’s just like the lights on the top of a Dalek when it talks. What is the point of this, Diamond? WHY? At least all the lights don’t do it. The sounds and voice clips play in the same order and if you hold the button down it’ll run through everything in one long sequence. All of the voice clips are from Captain Picard himself. Here’s what you get…

  • “Open a hailing frequency. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard.”
  • “Energize.” [Transporter SFX]
  • “Scan for life forms.”
  • “Shields up! Red Alert!” [Red Alert SFX]
  • [Phaser Alarm. Phasers Firing.]
  • “Make it so.”
  • [Warp Drive Engaging]
  • “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.” [Replicator SFX]
  • “Dispersal pattern Sierra and fire!” [Torpedoes SFX]
  •  “Transferring command to the battle bridge.”
  • [Impulse Flyby]
  • “Continual fire, all phasers!” [Phaser Alarm. Phasers Firing]
  •  “Damage report!”
  • “Warp 9, Engage!” [Warp SFX]
  • “Let’s make sure history never forgets the name… Enterprise!”

I could have done without the Earl Grey quote, but I adore the way the sequence ends with Picard’s memorable battle cry from “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” The weapon sequences are so awesome that I really wish there was a way to select them specifically to avoid the following scenario: “Hey, wanna hear the Enterprise-D kick some ass?” “Sure!” “Ok, here we go.” [pushes button] “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot!” “Oh…”

Separating the Saucer section plays, “Prepare for emergency saucer sep” and engages the lights and sounds. Reconnecting plays the sound of the moorings locking down. Very cool!

If it sounds like I’m nitpicking the Enterprise more than I did the Bird of Prey, well that’s because I probably am. The Bird of Prey didn’t have as many issues. Besides, this is the goddamn Enterprise after all and I’m going to hold it to higher standards. My issues with some of the electronic SFX are fairly minor and in one case (the lights flashing in time to the voice) just a matter of personal preference. The stands, however, are just poorly executed and considering this is the second time this ship has been released, they should have been fixed. I’d much rather have a stand that gave me less display options but actually worked well. I would even have been willing to pay a little extra for a ratcheting stand. In terms of the ship itself, however, well it’s absolutely gorgeous. I love it so much that even with all the other hiccups, I’m still so very glad that I finally own it. When you consider what the old Playmates Enterprise-D goes for these days, picking up this Diamond version is a no-brainer. At $70 shipped, it’s just worth every penny, horrible stands and all! Now if only I can find a place to display it so I don’t have to put it back in the box.

And that’s going to wrap me up for this week. Tomorrow is my day of rest and I’ll actually be continuing to clean out and organize one of my bottomless toy closets. Next week is going to be a complete run of some of the stuff I find so it should be an interesting mish-mash of who knows what!

Jan 25 2013

DC Comics: Bishoujo Power Girl Statue by Kotobukiya

It’s been over a month since I last checked in with Koto and their awesome line of Bishoujo statues. Yes, I still have some older ones to look at, but Power Girl just arrived on my stoop yesterday, and I was plenty anxious to check her out. Giggity! Surprisingly, she’s actually my first Bishoujo statue from the DC side of the fence. I pre-ordered her a ways back, completely forgot that she had been released, and found that she was sitting around in my Pile of Loot, so I quickly gave the go-ahead to send her on her way to me. I love Power Girl. Even though I’ve converted to reading my funnybooks exclusively by way of digital device, she’s one of the few DC characters that I still have complete runs of bagged and boarded and I’ll still buy any books  she appears in if I come across them at the comic shops.

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Yep, Koto does packaging well. Looming space concerns make me really picky about the packages I save, but I never toss a Koto package. Besides being collector friendly, the Bishoujo packages feature the gorgeous concept art that I simply have to keep. If you’ve purchased these statues before, you should know what to expect in terms of packaged presentation. Power Girl comes in a white box with windows on the top, front and right side panel. The left panel has a huge color illustration inspired by the work of Yamashita Shunya. The back panel has a comparison of concept art to statue and a great blurb about Power Girl and the statue on the bottom. And, Oooooh, The Huntress is coming soon! Giggity! Ok, that’s the last giggity, I promise. Of course, despite the three windows she’s still wrapped in plastic, you really need to open it up and remove her from her plastic trays to get the full effect. So let’s go ahead and do it.

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Some Koto statues require minimal assembly, but Power Girl comes out of the box all ready for display. While many of my favorite Bishoujo statues have been based on candid action shots, there’s something to be said for an obvious pose. I really liked the sultry and gratuitous stance Koto used for their vastly underappreciated Ghostbusters Lucy statue, and I’m totally digging the one they used for Power Girl every bit as much. I just love the fact that she’s blatantly mugging for the invisible camera, tossing her hip to one side and flexing her arm. She’s just the right mix of Kryptonian muscle and curves and the pose is coy, sexy, boastful, heroic… it’s brilliant.

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Kara’s been made over with the typical bishoujo face with big blue eyes and a sweet little smile. She’s turning her head to the side, but her eyes are looking straight at the invisible camera. Her short blonde hair is ruffled by the wind and looks awesome, with one strand protruding upward. I’m really glad Koto didn’t go with the transparent effect for her hair. It works sometimes, but I don’t think it was necessary for short hair like this.

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Power Girl’s outfit consists of her white skintight one-piece with her iconic boob window, blue gloves and high heeled boots, a red cape and a red belt that hangs off her hip. The metallic gold belt buckle and cape clasp round out the package nicely. Koto went in an interesting direction with her one-piece as the glossy finish and exaggerated seams make it look like it’s intended to be leather. I’ve always imagined it was just spandex or cloth, but I’m seriously digging on this look and I’m not some freak with a rubber fetish… at least not one that I was previously aware of. The boots and gloves have the same great glossy leather finish. The sheen of Kara’s outfit really contrasts beautifully with the soft matte flesh tones. And with her legs, cleavage, and flash of derriere, Kara’s showing an ample amount of skin. Much of my Koto collection happens to involve a lot of black and drab outfits, so it’s nice to have Power Girl to add some color to my shelf, and I absolutely adore the coloring on this statue.

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For the base, Koto went with a silver textured disc that looks like it’s supposed to be stainless steel. The texture is cool and it’s embossed with “Power Girl” in case you couldn’t quite recognize her… um… face. It’s a simple, clean looking design that compliments the statue’s bright, beautiful colors.

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And that’s the Bishoujo take on Power Girl! Back when I first started collecting this line, there were certain Marvel and DC characters, which I thought were a perfect fit. My beloved Power Girl was one of those and I knew Koto would get around to making her sooner or later. She’s a lot simpler than some of the other statues I’ve looked at, but there’s a certain minimalist elegance that works well for this piece. There was no need to complicate her with an elaborate base or diorama set up, because she does just fine all on her own. She’s also packed with personality that strides both the familiar character from the comics and this new bishoujo version. Well, done, guys… she’s outstanding! Now, I’m kind of anxious to pick up the Supergirl or Wonder Woman to go with her.

Jan 24 2013

Star Trek Starfleet Academy: Picard, Data, and Worf by Playmates

I’ve got some social obligations today, folks, which means that I can’t stay home and drink, I have to go out and drink. It’s jarring and unsettling, but people tell me that spending too much time at home drinking among crowds of fake plastic people is not good for my psyche. As a result, I was looking for something quick and dirty for today’s feature. I’m going to parse out three figures from a recent Lot of Playmates Star Trek that I recently bought on Ebay just because nobody was bidding on it and I wanted to give these guys a good home. It was basically a bag of about 20 loose figures with no accessories and a handful of stands, most of which didn’t even match the figures in the Lot. I don’t usually like to buy Playmates Trek loose because they’re so damn cheap when they’re new and carded, but then the ones we’re looking at today I would have probably never picked up any other way.

Yes, the Starfleet Academy line! Somehow Playmates thought that even after scraping the bottom of the barrel for questionable releases like Vedek Bareil (DS9) and that smug Benzite dickhead from “A Matter of Honor” (TNG) they still just weren’t making enough Star Trek figures and so they had to think outside the box and create this kind of Expanded Universe sub-line featuring our favorite Next Gen crewmembers as Academy Cadets. Jim Henson’s Trek Babies? The packages boasted “All new Starfleet Crew Members as young cadets!” C’mon, Playmates, it was hard enough to get kids to play with Star Trek figures without exposing them to this terrible idea. I’m the biggest Star Trek whore ever and even I didn’t want to buy these. Anyway, some of these figures came on a “Starfleet Academy” cardback with a CD-ROM game and the typical crappy Playmates accessories, none of which came with mine. Cadet Data was released a couple of years later (along with Cadets Troi and Crusher) as part of the generic “Warp Factor” series. I did get a single figure stand from the series, which is actually kind of cool because it’s made to look like the Academy badge complete with the Golden Gate Bridge. Too bad it’s molded in purple plastic with yellow paints. Oh, Playmates.

Let’s start out with this guy. I swear I thought this was Riker, but a little research tells me he’s actually “John” Picard. I’m not going to quibble about the likeness, but it is somewhat of a novelty to have a Picard figure with hair. He’s wearing a “Standard Starfleet Issue Flight Training Suit” which I have to reluctantly admit is kind of cool. It’s grey and has the same black shoulders and collar as the regular uniforms, which makes it a little Starfleety. There are also holes near the belt and arm, which I presume was for tubes or something.

Next up is Cadet Worf and ain’t he just adorable? I’ll actually concede that Playmates did a pretty good job sculpting his likeness as a younger Worf, even though he still has the beard. Unfortunately, Worf is wearing what Playmates calls “Starfleet Night Recon Gear” which makes this figure all kinds of stupid. What the hell kind of night recon gear involves wearing the brightest white gloves and boots I’ve ever seen? Even the bulk of the outfit is light grey and the only thing appropriately dark is the belt and cross strap. I’m guessing that Worf was the victim of a lot of hazing, with him being the only Klingon at Starfleet Academy, and some of his peers thought it would be funny to give him arctic gear and tell them it was for night recon ops. I’m also guessing that those pranksters were later found behind one of the lecture halls with their spines removed.

And last up is Cadet Data. I understand that it’s canon that Data graduated from Starfleet Academy, but I honestly can’t imagine how that worked since he was constructed to be super strong and remember every piece of information that he was exposed to. Maybe the idea was to have him spend time interacting with other cadets rather than just download every course into his neural net and get his commission. Anyway, since Data doesn’t age, he looks pretty much the same as his other figures. I might even go so far as to say this figure’s head sculpt is better than my regular Data. I have no idea what his outfit is supposed to be, but I have to say, this is my favorite figure of the three and the fact that his gear doesn’t have a Starfleet insignia anywhere on it means that I can use him as Lore or even B4. YES!

And there you have it. I doubt I’ll ever circle back to pick up complete versions of these three figures, but being the nutter that I am, I won’t discount the possibility that the other cadet figures won’t show up here at some point in time. Looking at incomplete figures really aggravates my OCD, but there are a bunch of figures in this Lot so chances are I’ll pick out another handful of them to check out next week.

Jan 23 2013

Doctor Who: Character Options Shows New Who at UK Toy Fair

I know, I know, I don’t do news and even my coverage of next month’s NY Toy Fair will likely only add up to a couple of lists of what I like and don’t like. But Doctor Who going to 3 ¾” scale this year is undoubtedly going to be my biggest industry event of 2013, so I thought I’d chime in with what’s been shown.

To see the pictures, hop on over to the excellent photos on The Doctor Who Site.

50th Anniversary Dalek: A giant Dalek deco’ed out with the flag of the United Kingdom and a big “50.” It looks like it’s a repaint of one of the RC Daleks. It’s kitchy, it’s crazy, I like it, but probably not enough to buy it. CO is hinting at other possible variants. I can’t imagine what they’re going to be.

More 5” Scale Talking Daleks: I don’t own any of the last wave of these, but I did get a chance to play around with a couple. I love them, but at around $25 per Dalek, that’s just too steep for me. On the other hand, I noticed that one of Bracewell’s Ironsides from “Victory of the Daleks” is in the new assortment. If that thing actually screams, “WOULD YOU LIKE SOME TEA???” then I’m already sold.

The 3 ¾” Scale TARDIS: It looks fantastic and I’m buying it as soon as I see it. First, it’s going to be part of a GI JOE caravan with Cobra trying to steal it. Next up, Indiana Jones will likely team up with The Doctor for a trip to the present, and lastly, Cable and Deadpool are going to take it for a joyride. Thank you 3 ¾” scale… so many possibilities!!!

3 ¾” Figures: So, CO showed off The Doctor, Clara (or whatever her next name will be), a Weeping Angel, a new Cyberman, and a modern Dalek. I think these look really great. Well, Clara’s accessory looks like crap, but the figures themselves look great. I really dig the finish on the Cyberman and HOLY SHIT IT’S A DALEK ON A FLIGHT PLATFORM LIKE IN THE OLD COMIC BOOKS!!! Yes, I still lament that we won’t be getting Clara or the new coated Doctor in 5-inch scale, but I do really like what I’m seeing here and I am most definitely on board. C’mon CO, bring on the new console room playset!

5” Iconic Scenes Collector Sets: They’re basically Classic Who 2-packs, a Doctor and an enemy, with a diorama backdrop. These look really cool, but I don’t know if I’ll buy any. The Doctor figures don’t appear to be variants, and while the backdrops look cool and I could always go for more aliens, I think they’ll be too expensive. I’m concerned about CO taking a beating on these because so many collectors already have the figures and won’t want to double-dip any more then they’ve already had to. I just hope they aren’t going to gauge the popularity of the Classic figures based on the sales of these sets.

There is also tale of a new 11 Doctors set and they showed off some weird Stress Balls shaped like the heads of Ice Warriors and Weeping Angels. Yeah, odd. These goodies are due to start hitting around May or June and I am officially excited. I am, however, also a little dismayed at the lack of new Classics figures and I’ve been putting a lot of hopes in the idea that CO will do some kind of Classic console room playset for the 50th. I know the fact that these things weren’t shown doesn’t make them impossible, but it would have been cool to see some confirmation.

Jan 23 2013

DC Universe Signature Collection: Saint Walker by Mattel

Hey, folks! It’s the first figure of the year from Matty’s Club Infinite Earths! Last year’s inaugural figure was the much coveted Jay Garrick Flash. Obviously, Matty realized he would be a tough act to top for 2013, so they didn’t even try. Yes, this year’s first figure is Saint Walker, and this guy wasn’t anywhere near my list of wanted characters. In fact, he actually set around here for a couple of days before I got around to opening him. Toss in the fact that I’m still reeling from all the Lantern Corps stuff Mattel has pushed down our throats over the past couple of years, and I honestly couldn’t be less excited about this figure. Let’s do it…

I’ve been pretty consistent in my praise for the Signature Collection packaging, so at least I can be excited about seeing another one of these pleasing boxes… oh, wait… Matty redesigned the packaging. Well, ain’t that a kick in the nuts! The redesign is more of a tweak than a total overhaul. The overall configuration of the box is mostly the same with a big window on the front, wrapping around to the side panel, and another window on the top. The deco is what’s changed. There’s now an illustrated leather-like pattern with a hexagonal grid trim. That f’ugly new DC Comics logo appears on one side panel. Seriously, guys? Your business is basically selling artwork and this logo is the best you could do?

The back panel of the box is mostly the same as the old style, complete with bio, and the character artwork is still great. It may take me a couple of releases before I decide whether or not I really dig this new look, but I can’t say as I hate it. I’m still at the point with these boxes where I’m fooling myself into thinking that I’m going to keep saving them all, when in truth I just don’t have the space. I can see the point coming soon where I’m going to clip the backs off and keep them like cardbacks and probably only keep the complete packages for the oversized figures.


My only experience with Saint Walker is based on his appearances in Final Crisis and Blackest Night. I haven’t read any of his appearances in the New 52, but then right now my sustained readings in the New 52 only amounts to about six books, and I’ve been shying away from most anything concerning the Lantern Corps. I dig his backstory, but as I already mentioned, he’s not a character that I was jonesing to have in figure form, other than the fact that he helps fill out my Lantern Corp leaders and I guess that’s a cool thing. I guess I also still dig the idea of having more alien Lanterns in the DCUC style and Saint Walker certainly fits that bill.

Ok, let me start out by saying that I don’t like the head sculpt very much. Saint Walker is usually drawn one of two ways: You’ve got him with the round “crash test dummy” dots for eyes or sometimes with more almond shaped eyes. DC Direct went with the almond eyes for their Saint Walker bust and I think it looks so much better. Hell, even the artwork on this box features that version and it looks so much better. Maybe, this is a matter of personal preference, but at the very least, Mattel should have had the styling of the box art and the figure agree with each other. Even the configuration of the sculpted lines on Bro’Dee’s face doesn’t really match the artwork. Am I being too hard on the likeness? I don’t hate it, but in light of the many excellent head sculpts we’ve been getting in the Signature Collection, I think it could have been so much better.

On the other hand, I love the body on this figure, and since a lot of what I love about it is the articulation, let’s start there. The arms are ball jointed at the shoulders, have swivels at the biceps, double-hinges at the elbows, and swivels and hinges at the wrists. The legs feature the usual DCUC style hip joints, swivel at the thighs, have double-hinged knees, and hinged ankles. The torso has an ab crunch hinge, swivels at the waist, and the head is ball jointed. You also get a swivel cut in his head-tail. This is really phenomenal articulation and all the joints are strong and sans warping. Honestly, the only thing I could possibly think to add would have been ankle rockers.

Saint Walker’s costume itself is comprised almost solely of paint apps and the paintwork is excellent. I do adore the rich, deep shade of blue Mattel uses for the Blue Lantern costumes and the overall deco when mixed with the black really looks striking on the figure. The white Lantern Corps emblem tampo on the chest really ties everything together. Bro’Dee’s left hand is obviously sculpted in a fist so he can wield his power ring and his right hand is sculpted so he can hold his lantern.


So, Saint Walker is a bit of a mixed bag. If he were a figure that ranked high on my want list, I would have probably taken further issue with the head sculpt, but as he’s just going to be another face in the crowd on my Lantern Corps shelf, I can live with it. Make no mistake, there’s a lot to love about this figure, particularly if you prefer this style of portrait and I hope to see this style of articulation in more figures this year. But I still cannot help but look at the figure next to the character art and say “No!” He’s one of only a select few figures that have appeared in CIE that I wouldn’t have purchased if I wasn’t a subscriber, especially when you consider the fact that he was $28 after shipping.

Jan 22 2013

Doctor Who: “The Three Doctors” Collectors’ Set by Character Options, Part 2

So, last time I got a little sidetracked over my bromance with The Brigadier. Today, let’s set that aside and actually look at the figures. Having gassed on a lot about The Brig, I don’t want to sell the other figures in this set short, so I’m actually going to start with them and save Alistair for last. In fact, let’s get what is probably the least anticipated “figure” out of the way first. The Gel Guard!


Yes, it’s a lump of bubbles with a single eye and a crab claw, but I don’t want to hate on him, because I think he’s cool. The Gel Guards were globs of anti-matter that Omega was able to conjure up and animate with his pure will. He used them as scouts to venture into our Universe and further his plot to escape his anti-matter exile. One of the things I always loved about Doctor Who was the show’s unwillingness to just glue some ridges on a person’s nose and call them an alien. Nope, aliens were truly alien looking, even if that meant an actor crawling around in a bin liner. The Gel Guard represents all that is awesome about Doctor Who’s truly alien aliens.

Sure, he’s rotocast, which makes him a bit like a glorified hollow chew toy, but I can’t deny he looks great and he actually does feature one whole point of articulation, which is rather impressive for the design of the monster. You can even pop a small mag light in him and he’ll light up! It’s only natural that this guy would take a back bench to the other highly demanded figures in this set, but that doesn’t make him an unwelcome addition to my collection. In fact, I’d rather like two more, so CO can feel free to repack him with a Mike Yates or Sgt. Benton and I’ll fork over the monies.


And then there’s the lovely Josephine Grant. I’ll confess Jo was never one of my favorite companions, probably because I resented her for replacing Liz Shaw, even though it wasn’t Jo’s fault. Nonetheless, I will gladly scarf up every companion figure CO releases (yes, even Adric and Turlough… and Mel… well, probably Mel… well, maybe Mel… on clearance.) and Jo was part of UNIT so she can’t be all bad. Early test shots of this figure have been floating around the Interwebs forever and even actress Katy Manning played fast and loose with her figure by twittering it all around. Based on early shots, I was concerned about the head sculpt but now that the figure is in hand, most of my fears have been dissuaded. The likeness is ok, albeit not perfect. I think the eyes are too small and if you’ve seen Katy recently, I think you’ll agree that the figure looks more like her older self. Still, all in all I’m happy with the portrait.

Jo features the outfit she wore in “The Three Doctors”: A lavender outfit with a furry coat and her trademark platform Go-Go boots. It’s a good recreation of the outfit, and CO even went the extra mile by allowing collectors to display her with her jacket off. Yes, she comes with an extra set of arms without the sculpted jacket sleeves. All you have to do is pop out the arms, take off the jacket, and pop the other arms on. I think I like the jacketed look better, but she has better articulation without the jacket. Either way, the ability to display her in two ways is really going above and beyond for CO, especially considering this set doesn’t rely on repacks or repaints. My only complaint with Jo is that her left leg pops off rather easy at the thigh swivel. It plugs right back in, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.


Jo’s articulation features ball joints in the neck and shoulders. Both sets of arms have swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in her elbows, but the elbow hinges on the coat arms are virtually useless. Her legs feature movement at the hips, which is mostly marred by her dress, swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees.


And then, there’s The Brig and he is one outstanding looking figure. The likeness to a young Nicholas Courtney is perfect, and he sports that wonderfully stoic look that only he can pull off when being faced with a weekly alien invasion. He has his peaked officer’s cap, which is not removable, but does appear to be sculpted separately, which means The Brig in a beret may not be far behind! Either way, I think this is one of CO’s best likenesses.

The Brig’s uniform is an amazing piece of work. Every little detail is sculpted on from the epaulettes, pockets and buttons, rank and medals, sidearm holster, gloves, belt and shoulder strap. Yes, even the UNIT patch on his arm is accounted for. It’s all here and he looks every bit the dashing hero! Aside from a small black mark on his left elbow, the paintwork on this figure is otherwise immaculate and there is quite a bit of fine paint detail, right down to the buttons and buckles. The Brig does come with his automatic sidearm, but sadly no swagger stick. I’ll also toss in that the holster is non-functional.

 

Alas, The Brigadier’s articulation conforms more to the older Who figures, meaning you don’t get ball joints in the shoulders. I’ll admit this is rather disappointing, since I was hoping to get some cool dynamic poses out of him. Let’s run down the articulation: The arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivels in the biceps and wrists, and hinges in the elbows. The legs have universal movement at the hips (although the tunic hinders it quite a bit), swivels in the thighs, and hinges in the knees. The head rotates. Part of me wants to bitch about the lack of ball joints in the shoulders, but when I look at how awesome and unlikely this figure is, I’m content to shut the hell up and be thankful.

 


There have been a lot of outstanding Classic Who Collector Sets, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is probably the best of the bunch. The sculpts are all excellent and the paintwork (black elbow mark notwithstanding) is among the best quality that CO has ever done. These figures are gorgeous! Between the overall quality and the great extra touches, this set really gives me a renewed confidence that CO will continue to pour the love into the Classic Who line even after the NuWho figures have gone to their new scale. And beyond the quality and the workmanship, this set crosses two very important characters off my need list and tosses in a cool monster as well. CO, if you guys were to produce only three or four Classic Who sets of this quality over the course of 2013, I would be a very happy Whovian.

Jan 21 2013

Doctor Who: “The Three Doctors” Collectors’ Set by Character Options, Part 1

If you collect CO’s Classic Who line, then you know you’re forced to buy a lot of rehashed figures bundled with the figures you really want. It’s just one of those things that we Who fans have had to accept in order to make the line cost effective, and for the most part, I think it’s been a worthy trade. But as The Doctor once said, “The universe is big, it’s vast and complicated, and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.” And here, folks, is one of those miracles, because not only does “The Three Doctors” set contain no rehashed or repainted versions of The Doctor, it actually has no repacked, repainted, or remolded figures at all. It also bestows upon my collection one of my most anticipated figures that this line can produce… oh yes… it is my favorite of all The Doctor’s companions: Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.

Before moving on to the goods, let me indulge myself with story time. It was the mid 80’s, and every Saturday night a teenaged Figurefan warmed up the old B&W TV (complete with faux wood grain cabinet) in his bedroom and tuned in to watch Doctor Who. It was usually the highlight of my week, and the best thing about it was PBS had finally started over and began showing the stuff from before Tom Baker and Peter Davison. It was brand new Who to me, and I was positively glued to the TV. I delighted in seeing the origins of the series with the 1stDoctor and the little bits of the 2nd Doctor that still survived. But then we hit The Pertwee Era, I became totally engrossed as The Doctor found himself marooned on Earth and made to forge an uneasy alliance with UNIT and The Brigadier

Over the course of the episodes that followed, the somewhat adversarial friendship that formed between the Time Lord and soldier was so gradual and natural that it really served to enrich both characters through their interactions. The Brig was the perfect Yin to The Doctor’s Yang. He was skeptical, parochial, a jingoistic patriot, a bureaucrat, and best of all, the poster child for “the military mind.” In a lot of ways he was the opposite of The Doctor and they played so well off of each other. And yet as much as The Doctor exasperated The Brig with his pacifism, scientific gobbledygook, and anti-military ways, in the end The Brig best summed up his feelings for his old Time Lord friend as a “wonderful chap… all of them.”

For the first time I found myself watching Doctor Who not just for The Doctor, but for another character as well. The Brigadier was just awesome. Naturally, the character owed some of his appeal to the writers, who weren’t content with just creating a two-dimensional tin soldier for The Doctor to butt heads with. No they created a rich character, which just had his own way of doing things. He gradually opened his mind to the possibilities that The Doctor represented, but he never compromised his core philosophy of strength through superior firepower. I’ll never forget his greatest lament: “Just once I’d like to meet an alien menace that isn’t immune to bullets!” Of course, what really made the character work so well was the great performance by the late Nicholas Courtney. He was the perfect choice to breathe life into the role and while companions have come and gone, The Brig has always remained my favorite. I wish he lived to see this action figure, but I know that he lived to understand how timeless his work had become. Ok, enough sentimental stuff… let’s take a look at the packaging…


And there it is: One of the coolest sets to come out of CO’s Classic Who collection. Sure, it’s been a crazy, mind blowing ride getting figures of all The Doctors and some of the Companions, but this is the friggin Briagadier and Jo Grant!! I know I’ve said this before with other Classic Who sets, but holy shit, I can’t believe these figures finally exist. I am so damn happy! Wait… where was I? Oh yeah, the packaging. The style and deco of the box is very similar to what we saw with “The Pyramids of Mars” set. As with all the Classic sets, this one uses printed inserts to recreate a display inside the box, and this one does it better than any so far. It’s a deep interior tray dressed up to look just like the set of Omega’s antimatter palace. The Brig and Jo Grant are to the left and the menacing Gel Guard is to the right, all held in place with string. I really hated to open this thing up because it displays so damn well just the way it is, but I had to get at my figures and saving boxes is just no longer possible for me because of lack of space. The back of the box has portraits of each character from the episode and a blurb about “The Three Doctors” story. Hey, look! The episode originally aired in 1972, the year I was born. Cool! All in all, this is an amazing piece of presentation.

Ok, obviously I got a little off track today, so I’m going to break now and come back tomorrow to actually take a look at the figures. And no, it has nothing to do with me trying to pad out the week because I finally replaced my Xbox and I’m anxious to get back to it and start killing things again.

Jan 19 2013

Star Trek Starship Legends: Klingon Bird of Prey by Diamond Select

Hey guys, I like me my Star Treks. You’ve probably figured that out by now. One of my great collecting regrets was selling off my fleet of Playmates’ Star Trek ships about 10 years back. They were fairly solid representations of the ships and damn if they haven’t gone up in value. Woops. Bad call on my part! Another regret I’ve had was not jumping on board with Diamond Select’s line of starships as they were originally released. Fortunately, that’s no longer a problem, because 2013 is going to see a slew of re-releases of many of the Diamond’s proud fleet of Enterpriseseses, and I’m not missing out on them this time around. But before we get to the Enterprise, we’re going to kick things off with a look at Diamond Select’s newest release, and their first crack at an alien ship: The Klingon Bird of Prey!

This now iconic ship design was first introduced in Star Trek III, it practically starred in Star Trek IV, and it subsequently appeared in every “Original Crew” movie produced since, including Generations. This particular release, however, is based on the ship’s appearance in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. What’s the difference? Christopher Plummer’s goddamn voice, that’s what.

Word is that Diamond has revamped the packaging for this year’s releases, but seeing as I don’t own any of the past releases, I have no frame of reference. There are things I like about it and things I don’t. It’s a freaking massive window box, but with a wingspan of about 19-inches, the box housing this ship has to be big! The front of the package has a kind of weird trident design cut out to show you some of the detail on the ship’s hull. The box’s deco is a blue cloudy-star motif, which doesn’t really fit Star Trek for me, and I would have much preferred the movie font over the old classic font because it just better fits the context of this ship.


There’s a decent blurb about the Bird of Prey on the back, which correctly points out that the configuration of this ship was applied to various classes from small scouts to larger warships. Oddly is proclaims that the BoP was equipped with photon torpedoes, disrupters and… phasers? It’s been a long time since my days of pouring over the stats in FASA Star Trek ship catalogs, but I’m pretty sure I never saw mention of a phaser bank equipped on a Bird of Prey, but I’m guessing that occurred sometime in the Next Gen era. Anyway, it took me a while to get all the twisty wires off the ship and free it from its tray, but I’m very happy that the ship comes in one piece and doesn’t need to be assembled. The stand does have to be fitted together, but it can easily be taken apart and the whole shebang can be returned to the box for storage.


The ship itself is gorgeous. I always used to think the Playmates version looked good enough (well, at least until I looked at it recently), but damn this thing looks phenomenal. There isn’t a square inch of this thing that doesn’t have some kind of sculpted detail. There’s pipes and vents and all kinds of windows. Hell, it’s easy to get lost in the intricate panels of the wings alone. I’ve misspent a lot of time in my youth sketching the Bird of Prey from various movie stills and FASA books and the like, so I consider myself intimately familiar with the design, and this model does it proud. Sure, close inspection reveals a few hiccups, like the hollow pieces on the back by the engines and a little bit of seaming, again on the back, but I’ve got to remind myself, this is a $60 display piece and not a studio model.


The coloring uses a mix of the base green plastic with all sorts of swirly brush strokes to convey weathering, different colored materials and panels. The red feathered coloring on the undercarriage of the wings is particularly nicely done, as is the brushed metal look of the black and silver grills of the engines. The Klingon writing and markings are all tampos rather than stickers, which goes a long way for both durability and realism. I’ve got nothing but praise for the paintwork on this piece. It looks weathered and battle hardened and awesome.


The Bird of Prey design has three basic wing configurations, and the articulated wings on Diamond’s model allows for all three. The landing mode features them raised up above the hull to allow for ground clearance; the cruising mode has them level with the ship’s hull; and finally the attack mode has them angled downward. Each wing moves independently of each other and the hinges are strong to keep them from flopping about. In fact, it takes a fair amount of effort to get them to move. I really dig the way the teeth interlock on the grills when the wings change position. That’s one delightful little detail that I never really noticed about the design.


And let’s not forget the electronics. The ship features lights, sound effects and a slew of General Chang’s hammy quotes from the movie, all accessed by a button cleverly concealed as a tower above the bridge. By holding down the button you can activate a “Display Mode” in which the powerful LED lights will remain lit. The ship has red LEDs in the rear engine and the front torpedo launcher, various yellow LEDs scattered about the ship’s windows, and a pair of green LEDs to simulate the wing-mounted disrupters. The disruptor lights are ridiculously bright!

The lights, sounds and voice clips cycle through randomly as you tap the button. Here’s the complete catalog:

  • Sound Effect: Cloaking Device Activating.
  • I can see you, Kirk. Can you see me?
  • Sound Effect: Torpedo Firing.
  • Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!
  • Sound Effect: Disrupter cannons firing.
  • I am constant as the Northern Star!
  • Warrior to warrior, you do prefer it this way, don’t you?
  • To be, or not to be.

I’m very impressed at how loud and clear the voice clips are. Sure, some may argue that Commander Kruge’s voice would have been cooler, but Chang certainly was a quotable enemy and as I mentioned in yesterday’s feature, he was one of my favorite things about “The Undiscovered Country.”

Ok, so the stand is kind of cheap looking, as it’s all cast in a smoky colored semi-translucent plastic, but overall I still like it for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it is easy to attach and remove the ship, which was always my biggest complaint about the Playmates ships. This stand has a simple peg that holds the ship securely and simply pops apart when you want to pick it up and handle it. Secondly, there’s no ball joint to fail making the ship droop. Finally, I actually enjoy the fact that there isn’t any flashy paint on the base. It’s a simple sculpted Klingon emblem, which is just fine. The quality of the ship speaks for itself and it doesn’t need to be upstaged by the stand. I can easily understand some collectors taking issue with the quality of the stand, but I’m fine with Diamond putting as much money into developing the ship as possible. The stand is perfectly functional and that’s all that I need.

Needless to say, I’m suitably impressed with my first Starship Legends acquisition. I had very high expectations and the Bird of Prey certainly lived up to all of them. While I will concede that the Bird of Prey has been way overused in Star Trek over the years, I still love and admire the design. I can remember being in awe of it when it first appeared in Star Trek III, and one of my favorite Trek photos has always been a double-page spread (in Starlog maybe?) of the soon to be doomed Enterprise facing off bow to bow against Kruge’s Bird of Prey. Diamond’s release captures all the greatness of this iconic design. It’s both ugly and graceful at the same time and wonderfully constructed. I knew when I bought it that it would probably be stored in the box, but now that I have it, I’m going to have to make room to put it out. It’s just too glorious and epic not to be on display… at least until next week, when my Enterprise-D arrives.

Jan 18 2013

Star Trek Classic Series: General Chang by Playmates

Since tomorrow we’ll be looking at Diamond Select’s take on Chang’s ship, I thought it would only be fitting to end this Trek Trifecta by spending some time on the General himself. Now, I have a real love-hate relationship with Star Trek VI. I won’t bother to point out it was better than Star Trek V because, well what isn’t? But, what I loved most about “The Undiscovered Country” was the Klingons. Not to knock Christopher Lloyd and his fun performance as Commander Kruge in “Search for Spock,” but Star Trek VI was released in an entirely different context. Sure it took place before The Next Generation, but for the first time Original Trek was able to take advantage of the rich characterization that Next Gen wove around the Klingon people and it really showed in this movie, not to mention the great casting. Christopher Plummer as Chang was awesome! David Warner as Gorkon… awesome!! Even William Morgan Sheppard as the Warden of Rura Penthe… awesome!!! The rest of the movie has some real cringe worthy stuff, like the whole Scooby Doo style mystery or any scene with Kim Cattrall. But seeing a great actor like Plummer don Klingon makeup for a Star Trek film really blew me away. And since neither Gorkon nor any of the other “Undiscovered Country” Klingons got figures, we’ll be content to look at Chang.

Chang was issued on Playmates’ “Classic Star Trek Movie Series” card. It’s an attractive card, but the inclusion of the Original Series Enterprise and font is pretty confusing and doesn’t really capture what this line is all about. I can’t recall the movie Enterprise appearing on any of Playmates’ artwork, which is rather a pity because it’s my favorite incarnation of the ship. Anyway, the Classic Movie Series was a scattershot sub-line that seemed to meander around and only offer collectors’ a frustrating cross section of figures from the various films. Case in point: Besides Chang, the only other figure released from “Undiscovered Country” was the shapeshifter Marta. I still find it amazing and insane that we got the entire bridge crew in their Original Motion Picture uniforms, but we never got a full set of the bridge crew in the uniforms they wore throughout the next five movies! Oh, Playmates!


And there is General Chang in all his Playmates glory. He isn’t exactly your typical looking Klingon as he’s bald and has pretty subdued ridges on his head. In fact, he’s easily the most human looking Klingon that we’ve seen since The Original Series. Still, you have to respect the eye patch… that thing is bolted right onto his face and that’s hardcore. The likeness is pretty good for a Playmates 4.5” figure, and the paintwork on the head is solid work.

Star Trek III taught us that Klingons in The Next Gen era wear the same battle armor as Klingons from the Classic Movie time, and yet “Undiscovered Country” went with a costume redesign. The new look is somewhat similar to the more familiar armor, but instead of being metallic, it’s more like quilted leather. Either way, Chang’s outfit is faithfully recreated on the figure right down to his ornately sculpted baldric and horned boots. I should also note that I’m extremely pleased with the proportions on this figure. Playmates didn’t go all wonky and give him a huge head or giant arms. He doesn’t look stylized at all, and there are no pre-posed shenanigans going on either as he features a pretty neutral stance.

Chang features fairly good articulation for the line. The arms rotate at the shoulders, swivel at the biceps and have hinged elbows. The legs have hip movement, which is unfortunately rendered inert by his sculpted tunic, and hinged knees. There’s no waist swivel, but Chang can turn his head.


No Klingon general is complete without accessories, and Playmates packed in a real mixed bag all molded in gold plastic. Hey, gold is better than neon purple, so I’ll take what I can get. Chang has his trusty disrupter pistol, which he can hold ok in his left hand. It’s actually the same mold that we got with Commander Kruge only without the cool add-on stock. Chang also has a communicator and a drinking glass, which no doubt contains Romulan Ale. The most puzzling piece in the assortment is Chancellor Gorkon’s walking stick. Maybe it’s a mantle of office for the Chancellor, but I never saw Chang with it after Gorkon died. It’s only purpose seems to be to mock me, as it will be the closest I ever get to a 4.5” David Warner figure (seriously, Playmates, I would have even settled for a St. John Talbot with a tiny cigarette). Lastly, you also get the very cool figure stand that comes with all the Movie Series figures.

I tend to think the “Classic Movie Series” features some of Playmates’ best efforts in their Trek line and General Chang keeps that tradition rolling along. The likeness is good and the paintwork is solid. In the end, he makes me long for more figures based on the Klingons from this movie and possibly even an assassin in Starfleet Spacesuit. When you think of some of the questionable one-shot figures that made it into the Next Gen figure line, it’s a crying shame that they didn’t treat the Classic Movies to a wider range of releases. But enough lamenting about what could have been, tomorrow we’ll end this marathon of Trek madness and take a look at General Chang’s Bird of Prey.

Extra Bonus: FigureFan Reads His Review Drunk. Wherein I drink, test a new microphone, scold my cat for trying to cough up a hairball, and offer some barely coherent commentary on Star Trek and my own review. This was never meant to see the light of day, but how often do I get a chance to add rare uncovered archival content? Enjoy!