VINA as an ORION ANIMAL WOMAN

STAR TREK (PLAYMATES)

In the last five years, I’ve reviewed a total of three Star Trek figures, which is, you know, not a lot of them.  Less than a yearly entry.  This is largely because I’m not really an avid Trekkie.  I am, however, unable to really avoid Trek.  It’s like a sort of a background noise of my life.  I do enjoy aspects of the franchise, with The Original Series being my personal favorite.  Pike’s always been my favorite Captain, and I quite like “The Cage” and its re-cut airing “The Menagerie.”  Playmates did a small set of figures based on the “The Cage” for its 30th anniversary, which included Pike, as well as the franchise’s first instance of the green-skinned space babe, Vina.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vina as an Orion Animal Woman was released under Playmates’ Classic Star Trek banner, as part of their larger “mixed” line in 1996.  She accompanied the other three “Cage” anniversary figures.  As the name implies, this figure is specifically based on Vina’s depiction as an Orion Animal Woman during one of the Talosian visions Pike experiences.  It’s not her standard look at all, but it’s by far the most distinctive one, and the one that everyone remembers.  The figure stands about 4 1/2 inches tall and she has 5 points of articulation.  Vina is notably not particularly posable.  She just gets the 5 points, and of those, only the shoulder joints are actually really usable.  She also really can’t stand.  Like, at all.  No position on those legs is gonna make it happen.  At least there’s a stand.  The sculpt was unique, and it’s an okay offering.  It’s pretty decent for the era.  The head’s got an okay likeness, and the proportions aren’t too crazy or off.  The paint work is generally on the basic side.  It’s inoffensive, but it gets the job done.  She’s packed with a display stand, a fountain, and a torch.  The fountain and torch are just solid color casts, in my figure’s case, blue.  She can’t actually hold anything, so they just sort of sit off to the side.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I got the Pike figure from this set as a kid, and he was a favorite.  Spock and the Talosian I got later down the line.  This one was the last hold-out, and I was actively searching for her for a fair bit.  Thankfully, I was able to snag a loose one that got traded in with a sizable Trek collection during the summer last year.  She’s fine.  Not very playable, even for this line, but she at least looks pretty decent, and goes well with the rest of the set.

Thanks to my sponsors over at All Time Toys for setting me up with this figure to review.  If you’re looking for cool toys both old and new, please check out their website and their eBay storefront.