Tag Archives: Star Trek

#0479: Admiral Kirk & Khan

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

ADMIRAL KIRK & KHAN

STAR TREK MINIMATES

Hey, how about some Minimates? It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any, and I’m starting to miss them!  One of the most overlooked Minimate licenses is Star Trek, to which the whole concept of Minimates owe quite a bit. Star Trek was one of the earliest Minimate licenses, way back when the figures were still on the 3 inch bodies. The 3 inch figures never really took off, but the Trek figures brought in a few dedicated fans. When Marvel came in and moved the figures to a smaller scale, Trek was brought back again, lasting through five series. DST has made a few attempts to keep the line going, with the various Enterprise releases (you can read my review of the Pike Enterprise here). They also tried to bring the line back out right under the Legacy heading, but that only got two series (and one of them was a TRU exclusive). The quality is certainly there, but it seems Trek doesn’t have the pull it once did. Today I’ll be looking at Admiral Kirk and Khan.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES
Kirk and Khan were released in the specialty series of Star Trek Legacy Minimates. The two of them are based on their appearances in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is widely considered the best film of the franchise. They are definitely a fitting choice for the Legacy heading.

ADMIRAL KIRK

This is the 8th Minimate version of Kirk, and the second Minimate of him from Wrath of Khan. The last one was based on his main uniformed look from the film. This one is based on his away team look, which he actually spends a good chunk of the film wearing (he even wears it during the pivotal “Khaaaaaaaaan!” scene). The figure is roughly 2 ½ inches tall and features the standard 14 points of articulation. He’s built on the typical Minimate body, with add-on pieces for his coat, hair, and wrist monitor. All three of these pieces are new to this figure and they’re of varying success. The coat and wrist piece are both nicely sculpted and accurate to the material. Had the line not fizzled out, I could have seen DST re-using these parts for away team versions of Sovak and Dr. McCoy. The hair is well sculpted, but I’m not sure it’s a good fit for Shatner’s hair from the movie. It seems just a bit too Elvis. It’s a little better than the last attempt, but it’s still off. The figure’s base paint is decent; nothing amazing, but solid work with the colors and such. There’s a little bit of bleed over here and there, but nothing too bad. The detail work is where the figure shines. The face is a pretty great older Shatner, and they’ve even got the piping going down the sides of the legs. Under the coat, there’s a fully detailed vest, just like the one Kirk wears frequently throughout the movies, which is a nice touch. Kirk is packed with a phaser, a communicator, a spare set of white arms to display the vested look, a clear display stand, and a spare head yelling “Khaaaaaaaaaan!” which is by far my favorite piece from this set.

KHAN

Ah, yes, the guy with all that Wrath. Someone with that much wrath should probably have that looked at by someone. We wouldn’t want it to …task him. This figure marked Khan’s 3rd venture into the world of Minimates. The last two (as well as the one that followed this one) were based on Khan’s appearance in his TOS episode “Space Seed.” This one is very definitely based on his movie appearance, specifically the look he sports for most of the movie. It’s the character’s definitive look by far, so it was definitely a good choice. The figure is about 2 ½ inches in height and has 14 points of articulation. He’s built from the standard Minimate body, with additional pieces for the hair, jacket, and watch. All three of these are new to Khan, and unlike Kirk they all are good fits for the character. The watch is the same one that was recently used on the Alien set’s Ripley and Kane, and it’s a straightforward piece. The hair and vest are both very nicely sculpted, and they’re pitch-perfect to the look of the character in the film. Khan’s paint is pretty well done. The base colors are decently applied, with no real slop or bleed over. The detail work is really great, with line work that not only provides some nice texture to his clothing, but also replicates Ricardo Montebon’s likeness perfectly, right down to those uncanny valley pectoral muscles. Khan’s sole accessory is a clear display stand, but what more does he need?

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Kirk and Khan were another purchase from Luke’s Toy Store, my go to for Minimates purchases. I picked them up during last year’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale. I had fully intended to pick this set up when they were first released, but I kinda… forgot. But, Luke’s had the whole first series for $8, which, at $1 a ‘mate, was just enough incentive to buy. Truth be told, I really like these two, and I’m a little ashamed that I didn’t get them before now. I guess I’m the reason we can’t have nice things…

Kirk&Khan4

#0435: Data

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

DATA

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (PLAYMATES)

Following its presence at Mego in the late 70s, the Star Trek license struggled to find a home. Most of the movies didn’t get a dedicated toyline (aside from a very strange offering of figures by Ertl, based on Star Trek III). Galoob held the license for two short series based on Next Generation, but a third never materialized. Then, with the release of Generations, Playmates, best known for their definitive work with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, picked up the license, and provided the largest selection of Trek characters that is ever likely to be offered. After having decent success with Generations, they moved on to figures based on the entirety of Next Generation.  Today, I’ll be looking at their second take on Data.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Data was released in the first series of Star Trek: The Next Generation figures. Following the one offered in the Generations line, this is the second figure of the character that Playmates offered. Data is based on his appearance in the middle seasons of the show, after the uniform had evolved a bit. The figure is just shy of 5 inches tall and he features 14 points of articulation.  As far as I can tell, Data’s sculpt is unique to him. It’s possible that he may share one or two parts with some of the other crew members, but I don’t have any to compare. For the time, it’s a pretty good sculpt. It’s simple, but not in a bad way. The Brent Spiner likeness is good. The proportions are a bit off, though; he’s definitely got a case of the monkey arms. The sculpt of his right arm is also disrupted by the addition of the flip up panel to reveal his inner workings, but that’s a cool enough feature that it’s worth it. The figure also featured a bulky phaser holster on his leg, but that could easily be removed, leaving a mostly unnoticeable peg-hole on his leg. Data’s paint is pretty decent, and it’s certainly good by early 90s standards. Everything is clean and well applied. A slightly less shiny finish would have been nice, but that’s another “true to the time” thing. Most of my Data’s accessories have been lost, but I’m pretty sure he had a phaser, a tri-corder, and a stand. The phaser is rather laughable because it had a molded beam that wasn’t removable, meaning the holster was pretty much useless, and he was left with this lightsaber looking thing. To make matters worse, he can’t even hold it properly!

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This figure was the third version of Data I ever got. It was a figure I had wanted for a while, mostly because I really liked that flip up panel on his arm (I’m easy to please). I ended up getting him from one of the toy dealers at Shoreleave, for $5, I believe. This figure actually got me into a little bit of trouble, because I went down to the Dealer’s Room without my parents’ permission (I was like 7, and they were very much in the right on being mad. Shoreleave’s Dealer’s Room is no place for a lone 7 year old). Some kid’s sneak out to go to parties, I snuck out to buy action figures. There was no way I was escaping this lifestyle…

#0332: Data – First Contact

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

DATA

STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION

DataFC1

Star Trek movies have a tendency to be rather hit and miss. The shows all have their loyal fanbases (even Voyager and DS9, much to my own amazement), but the movies tend to be very polarizing. There’s the common adage about the odd movies being the bad ones, which sort of works (well…if you overlook Star Trek VI and Insurrection). Two movies that support this theory are Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek: First Contact. In the case of the latter, I think the movie is even better than the show that spawned it, and it remains one of my favorite movies to this day. Around the time of Nemesis and Enterprise, Art Asylum picked up the license for Star Trek and began doing figures of the current stuff. When Art Asylum merged with Diamond Select Toys, DST took over the line and changed up the release method a bit, doing just 2-3 characters at a time, with multiple character looks released different places. Today, I’ll be looking at Data, based on his look from First Contact.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

DataFCWilsonData was part of series three of Diamond’s Star Trek: The Next Generation line. This particular variant of Data was released as a Previews Exclusive, meaning he could only be gotten by placing an order for series three through Diamond Distributers. The figures stands about 7 ½ inches tall and features 16 points of articulation. The figure is based on the character’s appearance in First Contact, specifically the final 10-15 minutes of the film, after the human implants given to him by the Borg are destroyed. The figure’s sculpt is a mix of unique and shared pieces. The arms below the shoulder, and everything below the waist are shared with the regular series 3 versions of both Data an Lt. Barclay. The figure gets a new torso and shoulders to represent his movie uniform, as well as an all new head sculpt to represent his “exposed” look. The body is pretty good, though not perfect. The legs are skinny, and the slightly odd positioning of the feet, coupled with the lack of any sort of swivel joints on the legs, makes the figure difficult to stand correctly. The hands also seem a bit on the large side, but they aren’t terrible. The head sculpt bears a passing resemblance to Brent Spiner, but it’s not as close as some previous sculpts. The mechanical part of the head is superb, very accurately recreating all the exposed circuitry seen in the movie. It’s the highlight of the figure, which is good because it’s also the selling point. The paint on Data is clean and well applied. The skin seems just a bit thick, but it’s not too bad on a robotic character like Data. Data includes an alternate head, an alternate arm, a hair piece for the extra head, and a transfer tube of some sort to be plugged into the head. The extra head is mostly unscathed Data, with a removable piece of hair exposing some more of his circuitry, and the extra arm features a rolled up sleeve, exposing even more circuitry. The head is pretty nice, and swaps pretty easily. I can’t tell whether the likeness is improved or made worse by seeing more of his face. The arm is nice, but for the life of me, I have no idea how you’re supposed to swap it out. The regular arm he comes packaged wearing is very definitely not coming off.

DataFC2 DataFC4 DataFC3

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

One of the earliest movie-going experiences I remember is going to see Star Trek: First Contact with my parents. I was four at the time. I think I had seen an episode or two of the series, and I’m pretty sure I had seen Generations. I definitely knew Data was my favorite character. In preparation for the movie, my Dad bought me the Data action figure from the Playmates First Contact line. I clutched that figure tightly through the whole movie. One thing I always lamented was the figure’s lack of extra head for the look from the end, which was long one of my favorite looks. For years, I would make use of silver silly putty or duct tape to customize my own. I was thrilled when Diamond announced their own version of the look, but I never really got a hold of the figure. At local con Shoreleave this summer, one of the dealers had a large table of DST Trek figures, all marked $15. I saw Data under a few other figures, and after some encouraging words from Super Awesome Girlfriend (have I mentioned that she’s really supportive?) I decided to finally get one. It’s not the greatest figure ever, but I really like the look, and it’s a pretty great representation of it!

 

#0191: Charles Tucker

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CHARLES TUCKER

ENTERPRISE (ART ASYLUM)

So, I believe I’ve mentioned my controversial opinion of Star Trek: Enterprise on the site before, but for those who didn’t know: yes, I am a fan of it. It’s actually my favorite series after The Original Series and Next Generation. Sure, it wasn’t the greatest show, and there are some downright horrible episodes, but I do kinda like it. I think part of what I liked may have been the show’s action figures, produced by then up-and-coming company Art Asylum.  They did two waves of figures, the first based on the show’s pilot episode, and the second based on some of the crew’s away team looks. Today, I’ll be doing a review of the show’s chief of engineering, Charles “Trip” Tucker.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Trip is from the second series of the line, and is presented here in his EV, or Environmental, suit. The figure stands about 7 inches tall and has 22 points of articulation. The sculpted work on the figure is really quite nice. There’s lots of great details on the figure, and he features separate helmet and torso pieces that can be removed, which adds some very nice depth to the EV suit. The head sculpt looks pretty much spot on to actor Connor Trinneer, who played Trip on the show.  The paint work is not quite as good as the sculpt, but it’s not terrible.  The worst of it seems to be on the head, which has some pretty bad bleed over from the skin into the hair. Said skin is also very yellow, which gives Trip an unhealthy look. The paint on the EV suit is a lot better, and actually has some pretty cool details, especially on the chest piece. Trip includes a removable helmet and chest piece, and one of the weird coins that Art Asylum was including with all their figures at the time. So, yeah…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, there’s actually a story to how I got this one. I was in the dealer’s room at ShoreLeave, a local sci-fi convention, and I found this figure from the resident action figure dealer. This guy was at a lot of the conventions, and had seen me lots of times before, what with me buying lots and lots of action figures. I really wanted the figure, but I didn’t have any money with me. So, one of the guys working the table walked the figure down with me so I could find my dad. When we found him, the guy walked up to my dad, who was definitely in the middle of something else at the time, and told him he needed to buy the figure for me. They offered to knock several dollars off the price as a “frequent-buyer’s discount.” My dad actually bought the figure for me, in spite of what most normal, sane, and rational people would do. Because he’s just that cool.

#0112: Spock & Uhura

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

SPOCK & UHURA

STAR TREK MINIMATES

Did you guys realize that I’d gone over two weeks without any Minimate reviews?  I’m starting to go into withdrawal!  So, to remedy that, I’m taking a look at another set, STAT! (I have no idea what that means, but doctors always end their sentences with “STAT” on medical dramas when stuff gets all serious.)

Today, it’s another look at the Star Trek minimates line, this time from their first venture into the smaller 2-inch scale, not the more recent Legacy line I’ve looked at previously.  My previous Trek ‘mate reviews have been a bit more on the obscure side for non-Trek fans, but not this time!  Today, I’ll be looking at classic series mainstays Spock & Uhura.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the 2nd wave of the initial small-scale Star Trek Minimates line.

SPOCK

First up, the logical choice, the Enterprise’s chief science officer and one of the most known characters from the series, Mr. Spock.  This was the second Spock released in the line, so Diamond decided to depict him in his uniform from the original pilot “The Cage.”  It’s not too far off from his regular series uniform, but instead of the usual black v-collar, he has a blue turtle-neck, and his rank band-thingies on his arms are a bit different.  Spock is built on the usual Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and features 14 points of articulation.  Spock has 3 sculpted pieces: his hair and his pant cuffs.  The hair is appropriate to the character, showing off his unique bowl-cut and pointed ears, as well as conveying some nice detail work.  The cuffs are different than the ones featured on the previously reviewed Captain Pike.  Diamond seems to have moved to the slimmer pieces for the new line.  I’m not sure which ones I prefer, but the ones present here do their job.  The earlier Trek ‘mates can be a bit more simplistic than some of the more recent offerings, but this doesn’t seem to affect Spock too negatively.  His face, in particular, holds just as much detail as modern Minimates and offers a unique facial expression that suits the character well.  The rest of the details are fine, although some of the gold details can get lost.  Spock included a tricorder and a “Cage”-style phaser.

UHURA

Next, it’s the Enterprise’s faithful communications officer, Lt. Uhura.  She’s not as well-known as Spock, perhaps, but she’s definitely up there.  Uhura is shown in her main uniform from the series.  Like Spock, Uhura is built on the usual body, and has the same height and articulation.  Uhura has 2 sculpted pieces:  her hair and her skirt.  The hair looks to be pretty spot on, and the detailing is quite nice, perhaps even better than that on Spock’s hair-piece.  The skirt is fine, though it does look a bit on the dated side by current Minimate standards, being rather on the boxy side.  Like Spock, Uhura doesn’t appear to have been hit too hard by the occasionally lesser paint apps of earlier minimates.  Most of the paint work is nice and clean, and the face is a nice approximation of Nichelle Nichols.  A slight negative:  The paint of the boots is rather sloppy, and similarly to Spock, the gold parts can get a little lost.  Overall, she’s well done, though.  Uhura was packaged with a phaser and a communicator.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

These two were picked up on clearance from a nearby FYE.  I actually had been looking for them, and just happened upon them at FYE along with several other sets of Minimates.  Trek Minimates have never been the highest priority for me, but I always enjoy them once I get them.  This was a pretty good set, and is necessary for anyone looking to complete their Original Series bridge crew.

#0081: Captain Pike & U.S.S. Enterprise

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

CAPTAIN PIKE & U.S.S. ENTERPRISE

STAR TREK MINIMATES

It’s Day 3 of my post-Christmas Review.  For those of you that have been following the blog, it should be no surprise that amongst my assortment of gifts, there were Minimates.  Though in my own defense, there weren’t a whole lot, but there were a few.  It’s another Star Trek Minimates review, though I’ll be looking at one of Diamond’s vehicles for the first time.  On we go!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

First up, I’ll be looking at the Minimate included in the set, Captain Christopher Pike.  A little back-story for the uninitiated: Captain Pike was the captain of the Enterprise in the original pilot of the original Star Trek series.  He was replaced by William Shatner’s Captain Kirk in the series proper, when Pike’s actor Jeffery Hunter decided to drop out of the show.    Anyway, he’s a fairly popular character, so he’s no stranger to the toy-world.  This is actually his second venture into the world of Minimates, but since the first one was just mediocre, I was glad to see him get a second shot.  Pike is based on his main look from the episode in which he appears.  It’s the look that’s most often chosen, and it’s the one that most people know, so that’s alright I guess.  Pike’s built on the usual Minimate body, so he has the typical 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  He has a sculpted hair piece, collar, and pants cuffs.  These are all well done and suit the character well enough.  I believe that they’re all reused pieces, but they work well enough, so no complaints there.  The rest of the work on the figure is done via paint, which is all applied cleanly and evenly.  The detail lines are all very sharp.  The Jeffery Hunter likeness isn’t spot on, perhaps a bit too old looking, but it’s serviceable.  Pike himself is pretty much an accessory to the Enterprise, but even still, he still includes his trusty phaser.  The phaser looks really cool, and is based on the uniquely designed one that Pike carries in his episode.

THE VEHICLE ITSELF

Next is the true star of the series, the U.S.S Enterprise.  This in particular is the version from Pike’s episode, which has a few minor differences from the one used in the series proper.  Since I’m only a moderate Trek fan, I won’t attempt to list the differences, I’ll just say that they’re there.  The Enterprise is about 8 or 9 inches tall with stand, and roughly 4 without, and about 8 inches long.  It’s packaged in four pieces; Saucer, body and each nacelle.  The pieces snap together with a small bit of effort, and stay together well.  The saucer and the body each have a hinged top to allow a figure to be placed within them.  The sculpt of the Enterprise is fairly nice.  It’s done with a nice simplicity, and the proportions have been tweaked a bit so as to better fit the Minimate style.  As with most Minimates, a great deal of the Enterprise’s detail is supplied via paint detailing.  The paint is pretty good, though it’s not quite as clean as the paint on Pike, with a few noticeable scrapes and smudges.  Nothing that ruins the piece, mind you, but enough to be noticeable in comparison to some of the other stuff Diamond has done.  The top of the saucer opens to reveal a nice, miniatureized version of the bridge, depicted via s set of decals.  It would be nice if they were actually painted on the walls, but the decals look good enough.  The main focal point of the interior is the captain’s chair.  It’s a very nice approximation of the chair from the show, and it can rotate within the saucer.  It can also be removed and placed on an extra included stand, in case you want to just display the Captain sitting in his chair separate from the Enterprise itself.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

This was another Christmas gift from my increasingly awesome parents.  Pike is my favorite Trek captain, so I was glad to get him, and the Enterprise is actually a whole lot of fun.  If you’re just looking for a fun little toy Enterprise that doesn’t cost too much, picking up one of the many variations of this one that Diamond has released is very definitely the way to go!

#0063: Captain Archer & Dolim

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CAPTAIN ARCHER & DOLIM

STAR TREK LEGACY MINIMATES

So, yeah, it’s more Minimates today.  This time, they’re from a line I haven’t yet looked at, Star Trek.  Minimates actually owe a lot to Star Trek, as Trek was one of the earliest licenses, back when the figures were still 3 inch scale.  Sadly, Trek hasn’t seen a load of success in the Minimates world.  The 3 inch line only lasted a single series, and the first 2 inch line only went 5 series, barely making it past the classic Trek crew.  In the last year, Diamond attempted to relaunch the line again as Star Trek Legacy.  This time around, they focused on several of the Trek show simultaneously, releasing the captain from each series with one other character.  There were Toys R Us and Specialty assortments, with 4 two-packs each.  Today, I’ll be looking at Archer and Dolim from Star Trek: Enterprise.

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

These two were released as part of the first specialty series of the Star Trek Legacy Minimates line.

CAPTAIN ARCHER

First up, it’s the captain, and de facto lead of the show, Captain Nathanial Archer.  He’s shown here in his basic look from the show, his blue jumpsuit.  He’s built on the basic Minimate body, so he stands about 2 ½ inches tall and has 14 points of articulation.  He has sculpted hair and a belt.  These pieces both look to be new.  The belt is rather basic, and could conceivably work for many different purposes.  The hair piece looks fairly accurate to Archer’s hair from the show, but I’m not sure it’s spot on.  The paint detailing is all well done.  The face looks to be set a slight bit too high in the head, but it looks to be a pretty good interpretation of Scott Bakula.  If I had one complaint, it would be that he looks a bit stern for Archer, who tended to be more jovial.  Archer includes a communicator, a tri-corder, a phase pistol, and a clear display stand.

DOLIM

Next, it’s Dolim.  He’s one of the great…umm…wait…no, he’s, hmmm.  Yeah, I don’t actually know who Dolim is.  According to the box, he’s “A reptilian commander in the Xindi alliance…”  So, there’s that I guess.  I honestly wasn’t watching Enterprise when this guy showed up, so I know nothing about him.  Nor do I have any kind of attachment to him, but he was in the box with Archer, so here he is.  He’s on the usual Minimate body, so he’s got the 14 points of articulation and stands about 2 ½ inches tall.  In place of the basic head and hands, Dolim has uniquely sculpted pieces.  He also has a sculpted robe thingy, which covers most of the body.  The paint is up to the usual standards of a Minimate, though there’s a bit of slop on the robe.  Dolim’s only accessory is a clear display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

So, another controversial opinion of mine:  I actually don’t mind Star Trek: Enterprise.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was my favorite Trek after the original.  I’ve never been able to get into DS9 or Voyager, and Next Gen was just too stretched out for me, and I tend to like Scott Bakula’s work.  Anyway, I was rather excited to see Captain Archer get a release in the line, even if I did have to buy a villain I didn’t really want.   I kind of wish Archer had come with his pet beagle, but I guess this is Archer after Scotty lost it in a transporter accident.  That would explain the stern expression…