Tag Archives: star trek

Aug 4 2012

Star Trek Innerspace: Klingon Bird of Prey by Playmates

I promise, this will be the last time we look at Innerspace on Star Trek Saturday for a little while. By now I’ve probably devoted more attention to these little ships then they deserve, but when I went fishing into one of my Star Trek Totes, I pulled out three of these and I wanted to open all of them, so we might as well finish up the three. This time we’re looking at the Klingon Bird of Prey. If you’re keeping score, the Shuttlecraft Goddard was a pretty cool little toy all around, the Romulan Warbird looked pretty good as a ship and was kind of iffy as a playset, so let’s see how the Bird of Prey turns out…

It’s the same packaging we’ve seen for the last two weeks. The toy comes on a simple card and bubble with one flap open so you can peek inside and see what’s going on, and the two minifigures are beside it. The back panel shows photos of all the toys little features and has some trivia about the ship’s fictional specifications as well as its appearances in the various Star Trek media.

The minifigures are Worf and Gowron and both are pretty impressive for such ridiculously tiny little guys. The paint and sculpts are good enough so you know exactly who they’re supposed to be. Gowron has a little disruptor sculpted into his hand and both figures are articulated at the hips so they can sit down or stand up.

Unfortunately, as a little toy ship, the Bird of Prey doesn’t fare so well. Its proportions are seriously askew, so the body is too big for the wings and the bridge. Obviously, Playmates had to do this to create enough space for the playset compartment, but knowing that doesn’t make the ship look any less like it could be Playskool’s “My First Bird of Prey.” It’s a real shame too, because a lot of care went into the sculpt, particularly all the panel lines on the wings and the details in the engines. If this thing was properly proportioned it would have looked really bad ass. The coloring is pretty good too, with the hull being properly screen accurate green, the wings painted in, and the engines silver. There’s a lot better paintwork on this ship than the Warbird. The Bird of Prey also has a flip down stand to keep it from toppling over. It serves its purpose, but it only adds to the toy’s aesthetic problems.

Opening up the playset compartment and the Bird of Prey does a little better. Once again, it’s tough to cram a whole bridge into this little space, but I think the Bird of Prey pulls it off better than the Romulan Warbird’s two-seater roadster configuration. The open flaps turn into crew stations and there’s a central captain’s chair and a little viewscreen that you can rotate to show different views. Yeah, it still kind of looks like the captain is driving a car, but these toys really do require a lot of imagination and forgiveness to work. There’s a sticker on the back wall to create the illusion that the bridge is bigger and there are more Klingons on it.

I’d probably rank the Bird of Prey just a little higher than the Warbird, but mainly because of the minifigures. I like to use Worf in the Shuttlecraft and the Gowron figure makes a nice standard Klingon flunky. The ship itself is goofy looking and the playset isn’t going to impress anyone. Still, for the five bucks I paid for this toy, it’s an interesting little curiosity for my Star Trek collection.

Jul 28 2012

Star Trek Innerspace: Romulan Warbird by Playmates

I had originally planned on looking at two of Playmates’ Innerspace toys today, but I had some unforeseen social commitments arise, so we’re going to have to settle with just one. I know, bummer, right? Not to worry, we can come back to the other one another day. Today’s little piece of plastic Trek tat is the Romulan Warbird with Captain Picard and Romulan Sela. Once again, it’s been a long week, and I’ve got a barstool waiting for me down at The Pub, so let’s dive right into it…

Like the Shuttlecraft Goddard, the Warbird comes on a simple card. The ship is partially open so you can peak inside to get an idea of what you’re getting, and the two minifigures are mounted off to the side. Overall, this is the same package we saw last time. It’s not terribly attractive or exciting, but it does its best to tell you as much as it can about the toy inside. The back panel shows various shots of the toy’s features and has a smattering of information about the ship, of both the fictional and broadcast variety. You also get a little punch out collector card.

Out of the package, the Warbird is a pretty solid little recreation of the Starship from the TV show. I’ve always liked the design of this ship. It was bold and different and introduced way back in the first season of the show, and yet they stuck with it right up until the end. It’s molded in green plastic, which fits the onscreen color fairly well. The panel lines are also painted in. I could have probably done without these extra paint apps, but then again, the ship might have looked rather plain without them. The only real problem with the toy’s design is that you can see the interior if you look between the wings. It’s especially obvious if you have the minifigures rattling around in there. Still, this is a little transforming playset and not intended to be a completely accurate recreation of the ship, so it earns itself a pass.

The top of the Warbird opens up to reveal what the package calls “a detailed reproduction of the Romulan Warbird bridge.” What you actually get… not so much. I’m pretty sure the Warbird wasn’t a two-seater roadster, but that’s what we get here. There are seats, and two flip up workstations with screens and compartments for the figures to stand. Now, I know I’m being overly harsh. This little toy Warbird is way too small to even try to create a realistic bridge. I think Playmates did a fairly good job, considering the limited space they had to work with. What’s here is actually pretty well detailed, both in the sculpting and with the strategic use of stickers. I’m sure a kid with some imagination could have had fun with this thing, assuming, of course, you could find a kid that actually played with Next Generation toys. The flip up cover also has a sticker that serves as the viewscreen, showing off the Enterprise. I don’t know why, but I think that particular touch is really damn cool.

The tiny minifigures consist of Commander Sela and Captain Picard. Sela was of course played by Denise Crosby who decided she was better than the show and left, only to realize that she really wasn’t and so she came back to reprise her role as Lt. Yar, until they killed her off again, leaving her no choice but to come back as a recurring character based on her own half-Romulan daughter. Holy shit! As for Picard, don’t get too excited, because it’s Picard in his Romulan disguise, a figure I really didn’t need in this scale. I would have much preferred another Romulan. Either way, the figures are pretty damn good for their tiny size and have articulated legs so that they can stand or sit.

I really don’t want to be too hard on this toy. It’s a cool little idea for what it is and if nothing else it’s a kitschy little item for my Star Trek collection. It’s not the best of what the Innerspace line offers, but it is pretty typical of a lot of the toys, which means this line is really an acquired taste. On the plus side, you can pick these up for dirt cheap. I got mine brand new in the package for four bucks. Not bad for what is nearly a 20 year old toy. Next time we’ll check out the Klingon Bird of Prey.

Jul 21 2012

Star Trek Innerspace: Shuttlecraft Goddard by Playmates

Playmates put out a shit ton of Star Trek action figures and ships and roleplay toys, but they also launched a pair of interesting little lines called Innerspace and Strike Force. These consisted of little transformable playsets with minifigures. The concept is very close to the Micro Machines Star Wars playsets in that they’re pretty simple and you can close them up and take them with you. We’ll get into the Strike Force stuff eventually, but today we’re going to take a look at one of the Innerspace toys. It’s the shuttlecraft Goddard, and it’s one of the better toys in this little series.

While there were some larger, boxed Innerspace toys, the majority of the line came carded, which should give you an idea about just how small these things are. The Goddard is partially opened so you can get a peek inside and the two tiny minifigures are mounted off to the side. The back panel of the card has some specs and background information on the shuttlecraft, consisting of both fictional details as well as its first appearance in the series. You also get a bunch of close up photos of the toy and the various features. The packaging isn’t exactly attractive, but then this is Playmates we’re talking about. It is, however, informative and there’s even a little punch out collector card.

Out of the package, the Goddard is a really nice little recreation of the shuttle designs that started becoming standard about halfway through The Next Generation. In fact, it’s pretty spot-on. How small is it? Well, it falls right between the size of a Deluxe and Scout Class Transformer. There are a few nice details in the sculpt, and the markings on the toy are a combination of paint apps and fairly well applied stickers. About the only complaint I have here is that the windows are stickers instead of paint, and the main windshield is actually two stickers placed on each side of the seam where the toy opens up. I may get inspired enough to actually paint the windows on this thing one day, as I think it would be a big improvement.

The aft of the ship opens up and the boarding ramp drops down, just like it did in the show, and you can reach in and slide out the cargo pallet, just like you could on the larger Goddard vehicle that was designed for the regular action figure line. There are a couple of pegs under the shuttle that can be used to land on and pick up the pallet for transport. Honestly, even if this were all there was to it, I would still really dig this little toy.

But as the name, Innerspace, implies, the Goddard can be split down the middle and opened up to reveal an interior play area, as well as the minifigures (assuming you put them in there). The interior of the shuttle is even a bit more accurately portrayed than the larger Playmates shuttle. There’s a pilot area with a swiveling chair in the front, with some pretty cool stickers to make up those distinctive LCARS control panels. There are similar stickers on the two halves of the shuttle that open up, including stickers showing a replicator serving up a meal and another a piping hot beverage… earl gray tea perhaps? The back portion contains the cargo pallet, which can be slid out to allow the passenger seats to fold open. The interior really is well executed for such a tiny little toy.

The minifigures consist of Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge and Commander Deanna Troi. Really? A Commander? Every time I’m reminded of her rank, I want to call bullshit. But I digress. Imagine what you think of when you hear the term “minifigure” and now shrink it down a lot more, because these things are really friggin small. And yet, overall the sculpt and the paintwork are well executed to the point where you can certainly tell who they’re supposed to be. Geordi even has a little tool molded into his hand so he can run one of those damned Level 5 Diagnostics he was always talking about. Geordi is articulated at the hips so he can stand or sit in the pilot chair. Deanna on the other hand, has zero articulation, so she can either stand behind him and nag him while he’s flying or just lay out in the back cargo area. Her paint is a little less polished than Geordi’s. In fact,  someone went a little crazy when painting her comm badge.

The reason this toy works so well for me is because it’s totally in scale with the figures. There’s really no gimmick here, it’s just a little vehicle that opens up to let you play inside it. I would have LOVED it if the larger Goddard toy had been designed more like this tiny little toy. Unfortunately, the Goddard is pretty atypical for the Innerspace line, and as we’ll see next Saturday, most of the rest of the toys feature the huge Starships that really require you to suspend your beliefs and summon up all your imagination for them to work. Next time, we’ll look at the Romulan Warbird and the Klingon Bird of Prey.

Jul 14 2012

Star Trek: Classic Crew Bridge Set by Playmates

It’s Saturday… It’s Star Trek… It’s Star Trek Saturday! Playmates started out with only the license to do figures based on The Next Generation. Obviously that eventually expanded to epic proportions. As memory serves, today’s featured item was Playmates’ first foray into the “expanded universe” of Star Trek by going back to its classic roots with figures based on the crew from the original series. Instead of making collectors buy up an entire wave of single carded figures, Playmates issued this attractive seven figure boxed gift set.

Playmates is not exactly known for their tasteful and attractive packaging, but they really stepped up to the plate with this one. The set comes in a window box with a folded 3D cardboard tray illustrated to look like the bridge of the original series Enterprise. In retrospect, it’s a little off, and that big empty cardboard Captain’s chair in the middle of the package is kind of strange, but nonetheless, it did a nice job showing off the seven figures. The box deco was a simple space theme with “Classic Star Trek” in the old TV show’s font and an illustration of the old Constitution Class Enterprise. I had to borrow a stock photo for this set, as mine was opened a long time ago and let’s just say the packaging didn’t survive the process. Nonetheless, if there was ever a set of Playmates figures I wouldn’t mind buying again to have MISB, this one would be it.

Included in the package is Captain Kirk, Lt Commander Spock, Lt Commander Scott, Lt Sulu, Lt Uhura, Dr McCoy, and Ensign Chekhov. The figures reuse a lot of parts between them, but because they’re all wearing the same basic uniform with just a recolored shirt, it doesn’t feel so obvious. The sculpts are all actually quite well done for a Playmates 4-inch line. The badges are actually part of the sculpt, and not just painted on, as are the deco around their shirt cuffs. I was happy to see that Playmates went with a more prone and poseable style to the sculpts, rather than some of the pre-posed and awkward stuff they did with the early Next Generation stuff. The head sculpts on this classic set are all decent likenesses too, and there is the occasional flare for detail, like having Spock’s right hand in the form of the Vulcan salute.

Articulation is another thing Playmates did right with this set. All the figures have the same points. The heads turn, the arms rotate at the shoulders, swivel at the biceps, and are hinged at the elbows. The legs rotate at the hips and are hinged at the knees. All the figures can swivel at the waist. Again, unlike some of the early Next Generation figures that felt like they were designed to be poseable statues, these guys felt more like action figures meant to be played with.

The set came with the same accessories for every figure: Each one got a phaser and a communicator. While they were a tad oversized, these accessories were actually painted, and were loads better than the usual monochrome, day-glow crap that Playmates stuffs in with their other Star Trek figures. All the accessories came together in a single baggie, and you also got personalized stands based on the classic series badges, each with the correct department symbol for Command, Engineering, or Sciences. Cool! A couple of tricorders would have been nice, though.

Nowadays, this set is pretty easy to find on the second hand market and like most of Playmates figures, it hasn’t really gone up in value, so you can still pick up a set new in the box without blowing a lot of latinum. In fact, I’ve seen them listed on Ebay and go unsold in the $20 -30 range, and keep in mind we’re talking about seven figures! It’s a great deal, considering these remain some of my favorite Star Trek figures that Playmates ever put out. If they had produced a similar set with the Wrath of Khan theme, I would have probably died of pure joy.

Jul 7 2012

Star Trek Enterprise: Captain Jonathan Archer and Charles Tucker in EVA Suits by Art Asylum

Just so y’all know Star Trek Saturday isn’t going to be all Playmates all the time, today we’re going to alter course to check out an anomaly. Enterprise was, of course, the final Star Trek series to date, and while I don’t think it was received well by many, I enjoyed it quite a lot, except for all that third season Xindi nonsense. Art Asylum, a talented and upstart toy company, which has since been absorbed into Diamond Select, did a very impressive line of 6-inch action figures based on the series. Today we’re going to check out Captain Archer and Engineer “Trip” Tucker in their EVA suits.

No package shot, but we’ll get to some packaged examples of Enterprise figures eventually. These figures came in beefy carded bubbles that looked more like window boxes, thanks to all the illustrated inserts in the bubble. Each of these figures was carded separately, but we’re looking at them together because they basically share the same EVA suit body. Well, almost anyway. My Archer figure is slightly larger and his legs are at a bit of a wider stance. I don’t want to take away the fact that AA actually did two separate sculpts for two such similar figures, but for the purposes of this feature, we’re going to treat the bodies as one. Either way, the EVA suits were prominent garb in the first three seasons of Enterprise since the Transporter was still considered to be experimental and the crew had to suit up frequently whenever they went on Away Missions.

The first thing you may notice about these figures when you get them in hand is how hefty they are. The EVA suits aren’t particularly bulky, and yet they feel so satisfyingly heavy. The bulk of the suits are sculpted as part of the figure in a rubbery plastic that feels like the suit probably would in real life. The chest pieces, on the other hand are molded in harder plastic and fit on over the figures’ neck and around the arms. It is removable, but it’s a bear to get back on, so I’m going to bow out of including any photos of the figures with the chest piece removed.

The sculpting on the suits is absolutely fantastic, with every tiny detail of the EVA suits recreated. You get the little stitching, the tubes, the belts, the patches of silver material, and it’s all sculpted to look as if it’s a separate garment. Even the straps that run under the figures’ groins are cast in rubbery plastic over the suit so they can bend with the figure. The front of the chest pieces have a small control panel and feature the character’s name and the Enterprise logo tampo’ed onto them in fine detail. The back of the chest piece has a removable set of cartridges, which I always presumed to be the oxygen tank or O2 scrubbers. The helmets fit over the head and secure to the neck ring with three tabs. There are two main hoses and a wire that all plug into the top of the backpack. It fits together pretty well for display purposes, but because the hoses are so soft and bendy, it can be hard to get them into their holes, and it all tends to pop out pretty easily if you’re fiddling about with the figures.

It’s awesome that the helmets are removable because the head sculpts on these figures are fantastic. The likeness to Scott Bakula and Connor Trinneer is absolutely spot-on and really show off just how talented the guys at Art Asylum were. The paintwork on the faces is pretty solid. With this somewhat larger scale of figure, you get into that area where the usual mass market paint quality sometimes isn’t good enough, but what’s here is certainly looks great. The hairlines are well defined and I’ve always been a fan of the skin being painted on rather than left bare plastic.

Both figures feature the same articulation. The heads are ball jointed, the arms feature ball joints in the shoulders and elbows, and swivels in the wrists. The legs have a simple “T” joint at the hips, hinges in the knees, and ball joints in the ankles. The figures can also rotate at the waist. What’s here is pretty good and I think the only thing I’m really missing is lateral movement at the hips. Mattel’s DCUC joint would have been most welcome here.

Accessories… ah, well, here’s where I’m a bit foggy because mine seem to be scattered throughout different totes. Each figure has a phase pistol and I’m pretty sure each one came with a communicator as well. It’s possible there may have been some tricorders in there too. Lastly, each one came with a little sculpted Enterprise coin-disc thingy, which serves no real purpose. I find the absence of stands to be a shame. These figures are such outstanding work, they really deserve their own stands.

It’s kind of ironic that the one Star Trek series with the most precarious fan base got some of the best figures, but that was certainly the case here. These guys are absolutely amazing from the heft to the sculpt to the design to the paintwork, I can’t say enough good things about them. They certainly don’t feel like your typical mass market retail figures and yet there they were hanging on the pegs in Target and Toys R Us with the rest of the lines. I rarely have a lot of my Star Trek figures on display, but I always find room for Art Asylum’s Enterprise figures just because they’re so damn impressive. AA did a number of other cool things with this line, so I’m sure we’ll spend quite a few Saturdays checking out the rest of the Enterprise line.

Jun 30 2012

Star Trek Classic Series: Commander Kruge by Playmates

Welcome to a new limited series of features I like to call Star Trek Saturday. How long will it last? Long enough for me to get through some of the dreaded “Totes of Trek” that are stacked in the corner of my hall closet. A fair amount of this stuff comes from the 90’s and I was really torn on whether I should include it as part of Vintage Vault or not. In the end, I compromised and decided to just give it its own day, and tack it on at the end of the week. I may not do this every Saturday, but I will try to toss it in whenever I have time, because I have a lot of Star Trek figures and toys to go through. So, enough preambles… let’s get to it…

Playmates and Star Trek figures are certainly no stranger to FigureFan. I’ve been collecting the Playmates’ Star Trek toys since they were first introduced and while I regrettably sold off most of the ships over the years, I still have all of the figures. I have a strange love-hate relationship with these things, as the line certainly had its share of issues and questionable design choices. Not to mention some of the worst accessories ever. And yet every time I pull out my collection, I can’t help but love these things, right down to the cheesy “individually numbered” gimmick that laughably suggest these figures are some kind of limited edition collectibles. Anyway, I’ve looked at figures from the spin-off TV series and from the original series, but I haven’t looked at any from the Classic Movie Series, and I aim to fix that today.

Yes, it’s Commander Kruge from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. We have here an action figure of Christopher Lloyd playing a Klingon. It’s been almost two decades since this figure was produced and that still blows my mind. While the movie was no Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III was still a pretty solid and enjoyable film and a lot of that credit needs to go to Lloyd’s fun, scenery chewing portrayal of the Klingon bastard who killed Kirk’s son. Once the Star Trek license really got pumping for Playmates, no corner of the Trek universe was safe, and they started reaching out even to the classic movies as subject matter for their figures.

The card used for Kruge is a lot more subdued than the ones used for the Next Gen or Voyager figures. It feels less like a Vegas style billboard and more appropriate to the subject matter at hand, even if it does have artwork of the wrong ship on the top. You get a nice starfield deco and the classic series style lettering. The back of the card, however, is pretty busy. You get head shots of a bunch of other Classic Movie Series figures. You get a pictures and descriptions of the accessories, and you get a nice blurb explaining who Kruge is. All in all, it’s a nice looking package that displays the figure well.

And there’s Commander Kruge. Look familiar? Long time collectors of Playmates’ Star Trek line will no doubt recognize that the body is a straight reuse of the one used for Klingon Warrior Worf. I suppose it’s a fair move on Playmates part, since the costumes were practically identical. It also helps that the Worf figure came with his ritual robes, so you can still display these two figures next to each other and the reuse isn’t overtly noticeable. It’s also nice to be able to swap the robes between the two figures. Besides, as long as they didn’t go with a reuse of the vastly inferior sculpt for the Gowron body, I’m happy.

Yes, this is pretty fine sculpt for what it is. Sure, you need to get past the stylized look and wonky proportions that Playmates loves to do with these figures. The head and hands are just a tad too large and it takes a little while to get past the caricature style. But the detail on the Klingon armor is just gorgeous. Let’s face it, most of the Star Trek line gets by with minimal sculpting of the simple Starfleet uniforms, so it’s nice to see when they get an opportunity like this, they really knock it out of the ballpark. Every little detail and texture is lovingly reproduced here. And the head sculpt? Oh yeah, this has got to be one of, if not one of, the best head sculpts of the entire line. It’s totally Christopher Lloyd in Klingon makeup, and that’s just fantastic!

It’s also worth mentioning that the paint work on this figure is pretty impressive too, especially when I compare the paint with the work on my Klingon Warrior Worf and again, the shitty job they did on Gowron. Kruge’s armor is vibrant and shiny and has some really nice gold and silver that contrasts beautifully with the black and grey.
Kruge’s articulation is identical to the Worf figure. His head rotates, his arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivel cuts in the biceps, and hinges in the elbows. His legs rotate at the hips and have hinged knees, and he can rotate at the waist. It’s barely passable articulation because you really can’t do much with his legs.

Accessories! Here’s the point where I usually go ballistic all over Playmates, but that won’t be the case here. You get a tricorder, a communicator, a disruptor, and a stock attachment for the disruptor. Sure, Kruge’s accessories are all molded in the same monochrome color, but at least they’re cast in a brownish orange color that is fairly similar to the props used on the screen, as opposed to hot pink or neon purple like some other figures. The sculpts on all the accessories are well done and they match the on screen devices pretty well. The stock attachment for the disruptor is a really cool addition, and not something I would have expected from this line. You also get a collector card and a really nice personalized figure stand designed especially for the Classic Movie figures.

I’ve wanted to get Commander Kruge in my collection for a long time and I finally jumped at the opportunity when I found him for nine bucks shipped on the Ebays. While he may not stack up to modern action figures, when you put him in his proper 1995 Playmates context, he’s actually a pretty solid effort. Again, that may be a loaded compliment, but either way, I really like this one. Playmates’ Star Trek is not a line that often impresses, and that’s what makes a figure like this worth owning. It features solid sculpting and paintwork, good accessories, and overall it just really does the character justice.

Feb 17 2011

Star Trek The Next Generation: Lt. Tasha Yar by Playmates

It’s been a really long time since I looked at any of Playmates’ Star Trek figures from the 90’s. It tends to be a line that I forget about for a long time and then pick up again when I stumble across some figure that I need, or I think I need. Afterall, it’s a pretty extensive line of figures and while my collection is fairly large, there’s still a number of figures that I’m missing. I couldn’t for the life of me remember whether or not I had Yar, so when I stumbled upon her in a local comic ship, I took a chance and picked her up anyway. I got home and discovered… nope, didn’t have her. So this was a nice pick up.

The awesome thing about these Next Gen figures is that they’re usually dirt cheap so despite the fact that they’re old, I can still buy them carded and not feel bad about tearing them open. I’ve always liked the Next Gen cards. The animated style goes well with the stylized sculpts of the figures and Playmates loved to post advertisments all over the damn cards. Whether it was for Space POGs or video games on the Genesis or SNES, or what have you, these cards always looked like Las Vegas billboards to me. Nonetheless, the bubble displays the figure nicely and makes use of the collectible trading card to personalize the package to the character. The back panel shows some other figures in the line and has a little bio blurb about Yar’s past, which conveniently neglects to use the phrase “rape squads” probably because this is a toy aimed at kids.

Yar’s sculpt betrays the odd proportions that Playmates loved to inflict on these characters. The big stylized head isn’t unlike the big heads once found on the old GI Joe figures, so there’s some nostalgic factor here. Still, this Yar figure was a fairly late release, and the proportions and sculpt on the figures were getting closer to being more realistic and less stylized. By the time you got to the Voyager figures, they were looking fairly normal. The figure actually looks fine until you compare her with some of the other ladies in the line. Compared to Troi or Crusher, she’s a tad too big.  Yar was definitely one tough chic, but she was definitely not a big woman. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Playmates got the Denise Crosby likeness down, but it’s still better then some. I think the thing I like best about this figure as that she isn’t pre-posed like some of the earlier figures were. The uniform is pretty Season One accurate as seen in the gold piping around the collar and the pants cuffs. Nice touch!

Yar’s articulation is standard for the Next Gen line. Her head rotates three-sixty, her arms rotate at the shoulders, have swivels in the biceps and hinged elbows. Her legs rotate at the hips and have hinged knees, and she can swivel at the waist.

It wouldn’t be a Playmates Star Trek figure without a scary and inappropriate collection of off-colored accessories. Actually, Yar’s accessories are downright normal compared to some. She comes with a phaser with that terrible beam attached (but not for long… where are my scissors?), a PADD, a tricorder and a flashlight, which is completely at odds with the palm beacons I remember them using in the series. Either way, Playmates played it cool with Yar’s accessories, by keeping them down to a minimum and giving her useful stuff, although most of it is still molded in dark red plastic. Um, yeah. She also comes with the standard comm-badge style figure stand and the aforementioned collector card.

Yar’s figure was released fairly late in the line, as Denise Crosby was already off the show by the time Playmates got The Next Generation license away from Galoob. Based on the biography on the back of the card, it was after she reprised her role as Yar in the episode, “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” but before she returned to play her own half-Romulan daughter, Sela. Lest we forget that Ms. Crosby thought her acting chops were better than Star Trek deserved and then quickly found out that they really weren’t. She then became a born-again Star Trek actress alumni and started producing documentaries like Trekkies and Trekkies 2, while simultaneously haunting Star Trek conventions. I guess she learned her lesson, eh? All bashing aside, I picked this figure up for under five dollars, which was certainly not a lot of money to fill a vacant spot in my collection.

Aug 27 2010

Star Trek: Hot Wheels Enterprise-D by Mattel

I’ve had this ship sitting on my desk for a little while now. It was back when I was hunting the pegs at Toys R Us for something or other and came up empty handed that I decided to pick up this ship rather than call it a wasted trip. Well, I’ve been on a Star Trek kick lately, rewatching episodes from all across the Trek continuum, but mostly some of my favorite Next Generations, so I decided it was time to take a look at this nifty little ship.

A while back I looked at the Hot Wheels Enterprise and Reliant from The Wrath of Khan. In that article I went through some of the other various attempts by toy companies to market collectible Star Trek ships from Micro Machines to Johnny Lightning. I won’t go through all that again, but I’m pretty sure that even back then I predicted this Hot Wheels line didn’t have any staying power, and sadly I was right. Mattel produced the initial assortment of the two Enteprises and the Reliant. A later revision saw the release of a Klingon Bird of Prey and the 2009 movie Enterprise, but that was it.

I don’t have the packaging anymore, but these ships came in a window box that showed off the model pretty well. The packaging was functional, but nothing spectacular.

The ship itself is a mix of plastic and diecast metal, with the stardrive section being diecast and the warp nacelles and saucer section plastic. The sculpting on this little guy is excellent. On my other Hot Wheels ships, there was a big contrast between the crispness of the details on the diecast and platic parts, but on Enterprise-D they both look quite good. The paint apps are also very nice on this one, albeit consisting mostly of the blues and reds of the nacelles and the deflector dish. The phaser arrays are all painted and the registry information is very precisely detailed.

While the other Starships I have are just static models, the Enterprise-D does have a detachable saucer section, which is a pretty neat little touch. It also comes with the same display stand as the other ships in this line. The display stand is plastic and has a ball joint that connects to the socket in the bottom of the ship and lets you position it in various ways. It’s a nice idea, but with a model this small, I’m not sure it’s really necessary.

Originally, these ships retailed at $14.99 a piece. I think I paid under five bucks for this one on clearance. I’m not going to say the original price was a rip off, afterall I know working with diecast can be expensive, but I have no doubt that the price tag was part of the reason this line of ships didn’t make it. Any way you slice it, fifteen bucks is a lot of money to pay for something this small that just sits there. The fact that it bore the Hot Wheels moniker, a brand synonymous with a line of collectible cars that typically sell for under a dollar, probably didn’t help either.

Still, if you’re like me and you unloaded your old Playmates Enterprise-D years ago on Ebay, and you don’t have the funds or the extra display space for the Diamond Select version, the Hot Wheels Starship is a pretty decent substitute.

Apr 19 2010

Star Trek (2009): Six-inch Figures by Playmates

I really was dead set against buying any of the figures based off the 2009 Star Trek movie. Its not that I didn’t love the movie, but aside from the 1:6 scale collection, I just wasn’t impressed with the figures. It seems like every one I picked up had something wrong with it. There were bad paint apps, questionable sculpts, and at least two I saw with joints popped out right in the package. I just wasn’t willing to invest in these things. Well, clearance being the great equalizer, I had an opportunity to pick up an entire set of the 6″ figures online for $3.50 a piece and God help me, I went for it.

Buying these figures sight unseen was a risky move, because the paint apps were notoriously bad. It wasn’t uncommon to have to flip through numerous examples of any given character before finding one that was acceptable. Getting them online was a complete crap shoot. I could have easily wound up getting a Scotty with one eye painted on his forehead. Amazingly enough, I wound up with a set with absolutely no paint problems. Either these figures were produced late in the game after Playmates fixed the issues, or I just got really, really lucky.

The 6″ assortment consists of ten figures. You have Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu and Pike all in their duty uniforms. Then there’s McCoy, Uhura and Chekov in their cadet uniforms. Lastly, you have the older Spock and Nero. I appreciate Playmates trying to mix things up vis-a-vis the uniforms, but it really irks me that all the crew weren’t available in their duty uniforms. Besides, I’ve seen the movie quite a few times, and I’m pretty sure that Chekov never even wore the cadet outfit, so why release his figure like that? I realize that Playmates was planning to release the remaining figures in their proper uniforms in the next wave, but hey, tell that to all the collectors still waiting to complete their bridge playset.

The body sculpts on these figures reuse a lot of parts, but that doesn’t bother me much. Both the duty uniforms and the cadet outfits are decently recreated. I’m still undecided as to whether I like the texturing on the uniform tops. I realize its trying to recreate the pattern in the cloth, but it doesn’t quite do the job. The boots are also a bit bulkier than they should have been.

The headsculpts range from horrible to excellent. Ok, actually there is only one that I would rate as horrible, but unfortunately that’s Kirk himself. Not only does he look nothing like Chris Pine, but he looks like he’s twelve years old and his head is ridiculously small for his body. Pike’s head sculpt looks ok, but it really doesn’t resemble the actor at all and the same is true for Scotty. The rest are actually pretty good, with McCoy and Spock being pretty spot on.

Articulation is pretty standard throughout the line. The heads swivel, their arms have ball joints in the shoulders and elbows and swivel at the wrist. Their legs rotate at the hips and are hinged at the knees and they swivel just above the boot. Old Spock’s leg articulation is hampered by his robe, but technically its still there. Swivel cuts in the biceps and thighs would have been welcome additions, but all in all the articulation on these figures is pretty solid.

All of the male figures in the duty and cadet uniforms come with the same set of accessories. They each come with a belt, a phaser and a communicator as well as a gold or gray figure stand. Uhura comes with the phaser and communicator, but no belt, and Chekov and Uhura each come with a PADD. Both Spocks come with an interchangeable hand giving the Vulcan salute, Nero comes with his staff-harpoon thingy, and both Old Spock and Nero come with a black disc stand.

The equipment belts are a nice touch and they actually hold the phasers and communicators, but the catch on the back is pretty weak and they are constantly popping open and falling off the figures. Its also a given that the thin plastic around the catch is going to weaken and break if they’re handled a lot.

Overall, I had really low expectations for these figures, but in the end they surprised me a bit. They are definitely worth the clearance prices, although I would have been decidedly less satisfied with them had I paid full retail back when they were released.

Apr 10 2010

Star Trek The Next Generation: Picard and Data in Romulan Disguise by Playmates

When Playmates named this wave, “7th Season” I’m guessing what they really meant was “7th Series,” because not only are these Picard and Data figures not from the 7th Season, most of the other figures in this wave aren’t either. Nonetheless, this was a pretty cool assortment of figures, six of which I managed to pick up carded for next to nothing. Rather than just cram them all together in one post, I just thought I’d take a look at Data and Picard donning their pointed ears and Moe Howard haircuts, and we’ll get to the other figures later on down the road.

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.