Custom Figure - Commander William T. Riker Season One

While many of my custom figures are updates to official Playmates Toys' releases with tweaks for better part choices or overall aesthetics, Commander Riker from the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation was customized to fill a void left by Playmates.  After the first series of figures depicted the "Big Seven" (minus Doctor Crusher) in what was, at the time of release, their "current" Season Five look, the second series of figures was patterned after the characters' appearance in Seasons One and Two.  These releases featured some slight retooling of the torso molds to change the high collar back in to the low collar of the first two seasons.  But, apparently there wasn't money in the tooling budget for a new Commander Riker head sculpt without the beard.  So, while Picard, Data, Geordi, and Worf represent their look in Season One, Commander Riker sports his Season Two look.   

For the second wave of figures I can cut Playmates a little bit of slack.  Like all toy companies, they were relying on repaints and minor tooling changes to recoup some of the initial investment needed to get the line going.  But, like may other collectors, as the line continued I would have much rather seen figures like Commander Riker from Season One than figures from single episode appearances like Riker as a Malcorian from "First Contact" or Geordi LaForge as a Tarchannen III alien from "Identity Crisis".  

The real kicker came when Playmates decided to release a non-canonical series of "Starfleet Academy" figures and finally gave us an "Ensign Babyface" Riker head sculpt.  

Many other customizers have done a straightforward head swap of the Starfleet Academy Riker head on to the Season Two Riker body.  While effective, I simply hate the standard Riker body with its exaggerated "martini glass" physique, permanent phaser trigger finger, and Heisman pose hands.  

  

So, in an effort to create a Commander Riker that was standardized with the other figures I was working on, I set to work on finding the right combination of parts.  The head is, like everyone else, from the Starfleet Academy Cadet Riker figure.  Like my custom figures of Picard, Geordi, O'Brien, and Q from Season One, Riker uses the Season One and Two Captain Picard torso.  In accumulating enough of that figure to supply a body for all those customs, I realized that there was a variant in the figure release.  

The torso on the left features four distinctly sculpted rank pips.  The torso on the right features three sculpted pips and one that is painted on.  The torso on the right just required a quick swipe with some acetone to achieve a demotion to Commander, and it was all set for use with my Season One and (coming soon) Season Two Commander Riker custom figures. 

One of the things I distinctly remember about the Star Trek: The Next Generation figures made by Galoob is that Riker and Worf were taller than everyone else.  It makes sense - Jonathan Frakes is 6" 4' tall.  And so while the arms are the same one I used for Captain Picard, the upper legs were taken from Q to provide some additional height.  

The Geordi LaForge lower legs with the red piping around the yoke are not as tall as the legs I used for my Season Seven (coming soonish.... I'll get there eventually I promise) and other Riker figures that have plain black trousers.  For those Riker figures I found that the Chief O'Brien legs from the first series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine figures gave the necessary boost to achieve height without looking out of proportion.  I may someday go back and remake the figure with that combination of parts on the legs and paint the red piping myself, but at the time I was avoiding paint whenever possible.  

Overall I am pleased to have Number One from Season One properly depicted in my collection.  While the officially released Seasons One and Two Captain Picard was exceedingly inaccurate with the wrong style pants and the belt separating the torso from the waist, Commander Riker only features the belt as a holdover from the first series tooling.  As described earlier, the Seasons One and Two uniform was very clearly a jumpsuit and while the waist swivel does create a separation between the torso and the waist it still more closely resembles the hated spandex space suit of those first two seasons. 

Once again as a quick recap of how I made this figure:

-  Starfleet Academy Cadet Riker head 

-  Season one and two Captain Picard torso and arms

-  Q in Starfleet uniform waist and upper legs

-  Season one Geordi La Forge lower legs

-  Additional Season one and two Captain Picard for left shoulder

Custom Figure - Captain Jean-Luc Picard Season One

And now, as teased far too long, I will start posting my custom Star Trek Figures. 

While I attempted a few custom figures back in the mid - late 90's during the Playmates run, none of those early attempts were really successful enough for me to keep them in my collection.  The real genesis of my current custom figure collection, and by extension the idea for this blog, started with the Blu Ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 2012.  

At the time I remember thinking that it was odd to see people get excited about the release given how universally disliked the first season of Next Generation is.  And while I did not purchase the Blu Ray myself, it did cause me to go back and rewatch that first season on Netflix to see if it was a bad as I remembered.  Make no mistake - I loved those early episodes when they first aired, but as I grew older and would catch them in reruns over the years it's pretty clear that for every great episode like "Encounter at Farpoint" there is a "Code of Honor".

That being said, the first and second seasons were not as bad overall as I remember them being.  This got me thinking about how excited I was by The Next Generation in those early days and how much I enjoyed my small collection of Galoob figures.  As I started thinking about picking up the season one and two uniform figures from the Playmates line that I had skipped over when initially released, an idea popped in to my head.  I looked over my Playmates toys collection and thought about the childhood joy of those few Galoob figures, and I thought about how thrilled my six year old self would be to have so many figures at his disposal.  At that moment I decided not just to pick up those few missing figures, but to also pick up enough custom fodder to make them in to versions of the figures that corrected many of the "mistakes" I saw from Playmates Toys. 

And so, of course, I needed to start with Captain Jean Luc Picard.

The season one and two uniform Captain Picard figure features the same Picard head used on pretty much every Picard figure throughout the line.  The torso is shared with the season one and two Lieutenant Commander Data, and is pretty much spot on.  I had to look closely at a few different Picard figures to determine if it was a unique torso or the same as Data's because the fourth rank pip seems to be three-dimensional and not just painted on as is the case with many parts reuses.   I still can't tell if it's a slight retool or just extremely well painted, but it looks good enough for me not to be bothered by it so that's what counts. 

From the waist down the figure is a mess.  While the high collar added to the uniforms in season three was the most obvious improvement to the costume, there are other key details that I wanted to get right. 

Two of the biggest features of the season one and two uniforms are the fact that it is clearly a one piece jumpsuit, and the department color coded piping around the yokes on the hem of the pants.  Unfortunately, the retail release of Captain Picard in his first and second season uniform does not have either of these features.  

A main reason for the inaccuracy of the figure is that it reuses the waist and legs of the first series Picard figure.  The "captain's jacket" Picard figure has the belt molded on to the waist, and the very obvious bell bottom trousers instead of the triangular yoke.  So, in order to make myself an accurate season one and two Captain Picard it was time to boil and pop. 

The waist and upper legs came from a Voyager figure - I couldn't tell you which one but it was the same "buck" shared between Tuvok, Tom Paris, The Doctor, and Lieutenant Carey.  This waist piece removed the "belt" of the later Next Generation uniform, and added an extra point of articulation on the leg.  The lower legs came from season one Geordi La Forge to add the proper red piping around the yoke of the pants. 

One of my other complaints about the early Playmates' figures is the "action" poses that many figures are sculpted with.  While some like Riker and Worf are much more extreme than others, the later Deep Space Nine and Voyager figures really captured a good neutral and static stance without making the figures too straight and rigid.  I really didn't want to have to go through all the trouble of repainting the black Voyager uniform arms to match the command red of the Next Generation uniforms, especially if that meant painting articulated joints at the elbow that are notorious for causing paint rub.  Instead, I discovered that I could flip around an additional left shoulder and put it on the right shoulder joint to create a more neutral "arms at the side" pose.

Here is the final comparison between my custom figure (left) and the production figure (right).

Of course one of the other things that I learned during my journey back in to Star Trek figure collecting and customizing is that one can acquire figures very cheaply online.  My pretty standard guideline is that if I can't get a particular figure for less than $5 shipped, I'll wait until I can find it cheaper.  Of course a lot of times I'll get a larger lot of figures where the price per figure ends up being $5 or less.  

As a quick recap of how I made this figure:
-  Season one and two Captain Picard
-  Voyager male waist and upper legs
-  Season one Geordi La Forge lower legs
-  Additional Season one and two Captain Picard for left shoulder 

Let me know what you think in the comments!  

Playmates Toys Top Five

After resurrecting this blog from limbo I felt the need to provide a bit more context and setup before I go straight in to the (hopefully) regular posting of custom figures.  Part of what kept me from getting pictures taken and ready for posting was a certain level of dissatisfaction in how the pictures turned out as compared to a lot of other bloggers and toy site postings.  But, partly for the purposes of this blog and partly for my continued eBay sales, I decided to finally invest in the mini photo studio that I have wanted for a while.  

It's nothing extravagant, but after my little photo shoot today I am very pleased with it.  

As a final lead up before I start posting about custom figures, I wanted to share a bit about some of my favorite 4.5" scale Start Trek figures that Playmates Toys produced.  Maybe it's because High Fidelity is one of my favorite movies, but a top 5 seemed like a reasonable number to capture some of what made these Playmates figures so much fun.  These are not necessarily in any particular order, and the figures aren't necessarily perfect, but before we enter in to the world of trying to achieve greater perfection through customization I think it's important to explore some of what I think makes a great figure.  

Captain Jean-Luc Picard - Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 (1991 - 1992)

Right there in the first series of Playmates figures, the first action figure release of Captain Picard will always rank as one of my favorites.  Partly because the "captain's jacket" is emblematic of some of the very best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes - "Darmok" and "The Inner Light", and partly because this figure captured all the details of that uniform so perfectly.  Of course, one of my favorite parts of this figure is the sculpting of the right hand to represent the iconic "engage" gesture.  

The figure's accessories are pretty basic, but suit the character appropriately.  The decision to include a Type I phaser whereas other figures include a Type II phaser seems to me a nod to the more diplomatic nature of Picard's command style.  One of the best things about these accessories is that they are a more realistic silver and not the orange, green, or fuchsia of so many other figures' accessories.  

Of course one of the more interesting accessories is the "Captain's Log" booklet.  This little pamphlet unfolds to a single page, front and back, that relays the story of "Unification Parts I & II" in a pretty straightforward young adult style.  It's interesting that they chose "Unification" and not "Darmok" since Picard appeared in this uniform in the latter, and the story with Dathon at El-Adrel was a much more Picard-centric episode.

I'm pretty sure that this figure was released before "The Inner Light" was aired on TV, and even if it wasn't I'm sure that the figure was already in production before "The Inner Light".  Nonetheless, it would have been nice for a later released Picard figure to include Kamin's Ressikan flute.   

Lieutenant Commander Worf - Strategic Operations Officer, Deep Space Nine - Star Trek "Unified" Series Wave 4 (1996)

There is little doubt that 1996, as the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek, was the greatest height of Star Trek related products available to collectors.  With both Deep Space Nine and Voyager on TV, Star Trek: First Contact in theaters, and Paramount's marketing machine running at full speed to mark the anniversary it was definitely the best year for Playmates' Star Trek line.  After starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation, Playmates released the Classic Star Trek boxed set followed by newly branded lines for Deep Space Nine and Voyager.  With 30th Anniversary logos on the front of the packages, Playmates pulled all 4 series under a single "unified" branding and started releasing waves that contained characters representing all 4 series.  

The character of Lieutenant Commander Worf joined the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at the beginning of the series' fourth season with the two part "The Way of the Warrior".  While people's opinions of Worf's addition to the cast are mixed, I felt that they were able to integrate the character in to the series in a way that made sense and that added new dimensions to the storytelling possibilities of the series.  All the way through until the end of the 7th season we got an even more in depth look in to Klingon culture, but still had plenty of room to explore the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, and Dominion.  

This version of Worf was released during the summer of 1996, prior to the premiere of Star Trek: First Contact that fall.  As such, Worf wore the red shouldered Deep Space Nine uniform that represented his new role as Strategic Operations officer through season 4 and the first half of season 5 before the series switched to the grey and black "First Contact" style uniforms.  As much as I enjoyed "The Way of the Warrior", it was really "The Sword of Kahless" that made me so happy to get a figure of Worf in his Deep Space Nine uniform.  

This figure is still a bit bigger and more stylized than other human figures, but not so exaggerated as the first Star Trek: The Next Generation series Worf figure.  Worf has a fantastic new head sculpt that captures his ponytail and slightly altered prosthetic from Star Trek: Generations and beyond.  The Lieutenant Commander rank pips are well defined, as are the updated crests on his baldric.  And most importantly, even though it was released in fuchsia or purple, Worf comes with his new signature mek'leth. 

This Worf figure would be slightly retooled and released again in 1999 as part of the Target exclusive "Starfleet Command" line, and is just as awesome a figure.  It makes one wonder if Playmates might have done a little better if it had released these figures instead of the 6" scale First Contact  line that fared little better than the ill-fated Generations movie line.  

Captain James T. Kirk Wearing Captain's Casual Attire - Star Trek "Unified" Series Wave 4 (1996)

The release of the Classic Star Trek boxed set with all seven of the main characters was one of the greatest things Playmates Toys ever did, and it's hard to pick out any single figure in the set as a favorite when all are so well done.  With the new unified branding in 1996 Playmates began to go back and explore the Original Series (Classic Star Trek) with some fantastic figures like Yeoman Rand and Nurse Chapel in the first series (Wave 3).  Along with the Worf figure featured above, Wave 4 also brought us the first single carded Captain Kirk from the Original Series.  

Sharing the same head, arms, and legs as the boxed set Captain Kirk, the torso is really the only new part of this figure.  But just as the green wraparound uniform was so distinctive on screen, the new torso depicting the seasons 2 and 3 wraparound tunic give this figure such new life.  Just as some of the best Picard episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation feature the "captain's jacket", so too does the green wraparound uniform represent a particular feeling and sense of character for Captain Kirk. 

Obviously one of the most iconic episodes of the original Star Trek is "The Trouble With Tribbles". And as great as the original episode is, the 30th Anniversary tribute done by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in "Trials and Tribble-ations" was just as memorable.  As you can tell, the figure just begs to be covered in cotton craft pom-pom tribbles.  

Captain Kirk came with the same phaser and communicator as the Classic Star Trek boxed set, the PADD previously introduced with Yeoman Rand, and the same tricorder that was released with the Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov figures in the Generations movie line.  The figure's tricorder is black along with the rest of the accessories, I just couldn't find it during the photo shoot so I substituted a blue Generations one rather than dig through the Rubbermaid tub full of accessories.  

Mister Spock as Seen in the First Pilot Episode "The Cage" - Star Trek "Unified" Series Wave 5 (1996)

 I can't quite explain my fascination with "The Cage".  At some point in the mid 1980's my dad signed up to receive the entire Star Trek series "Collector's Edition" VHS tapes.  Every month for a few years we would receive a new VHS tape containing two episodes.  And at the end, when we had received all the VHS tapes, "The Cage" was not included.  According to Wikipedia "The Cage" was long thought lost until an original print was discovered in 1986, and was finally aired on broadcast television in 1988.  I remember as a kid renting the VHS from our local movie store in the summers, feeling like I had found something rare and mysterious.  A few years ago I even bought on eBay a poster advertising the release of "The Cage" on Laserdisc and Video Cassette.

I think part of my fascination with "The Cage" is how everything is similar to, but just a little different from, the Original Series.  Captain Pike, as portrayed by Jeffery Hunter, is somewhat of a mix between Kirk and Picard.  I love the muted colors of the bridge and the turtleneck style uniforms.  So when Wave 5 of the "unified" series of figures was primarily focused on "The Cage" I was understandably excited.  

The Captain Pike figure released in the series was disappointing compared to Spock, Vina, and the Talosian.  While Spock featured the same basic build as the Classic Star Trek box set figures, Pike was skinnier and somewhat out of place.  Combined with a highly inaccurate laser pistol and recycled classic communicator, and the overall exuberance of getting figures from "The Cage" was tempered a bit.  

Spock fared better than Captain Pike in figure form.  The same body would later be reused for the exclusive Scotty and Sulu from "Where No Man Has Gone Before", as well as the Captain Kirk that was included with the Classic Star Trek shuttlecraft toy.  The uniform collar more closely matches the turtleneck style of the second pilot costumes than the rolled neck style of "The Cage", but it still captures the overall feeling of the uniform.  Obviously there is the same disappointment in the lack of proper laser pistol and "Cage" style communicator, but the figure itself is still a fantastic representation of the original pilot episode.

If I ever get really brave and confident in my customizing ability I may try to give Spock a haircut to better capture his Caesar style, but nevertheless this is a figure I am happy to have in my collection. 

Lieutenant Saavik - Classic Star Trek Movie Series (1995)

One of the biggest tragedies of the Playmates Star Trek line is that the company never released a full set of the characters in the maroon movie uniforms featured in Star Trek II - VII.  Sure, we got Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov in the Generations movie line, but the reduced articulation and lack of details on the uniforms was a major disappointment.  Decisions like this, and examples of figures like a mutated Tom Paris or Picard from "Gambit" receiving entirely new tooling when "red movie uniform" figures were never produced, lead many to believe that an increasing number of missteps and missed opportunities was what inevitably caused the demise of the Playmates' line.  

But, through the darkness there remains one singular, shining beacon of light.  The Lieutenant Saavik figure as she appeared in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a perfectly executed figure from top to bottom.  The details of the uniform are perfect - the rank badge on the shoulder and sleeve, the black piping along the front and back seams of the jacket, and the button on the back of the rank tab were all details that the Generations figures lacked.  

The accessories, albeit bright blue, were also perfectly executed and not just a recycling of the same Classic Star Trek phaser and communicator.  While perhaps a bit oversized, the boxy communicator is a prefect realization of the movie prop.  The heavy tricorder looks great, and the phaser is pretty dead on.  Since Khan himself never wields one in the movie you can easily steal the silver phaser he comes packaged with to arm Saavik as she escorts a flag officer down to Regula I.  

There are other great figures in the Playmates line that, in my mind, require no customization or modification to be a perfect representation of the character in plastic.  Screen accurate uniforms, neutral stances, and reasonably captured likenesses are the most important considerations in my collection.  Most of my custom figures are attempts to correct one or more of those errors in the "official" release of a figure.  But, as I said before, a top five seems like a nice number to stick with.  

After this it's time to start customizing...     

A New Start

So as you can tell from the posting dates, I got this blog started about a year and a half ago and then never kept up with it.  With 2016, and the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, upon us I decided it was time for a rededication of purpose.  

You may notice that the focus of this Star Trek toy blog is specifically on the line produced by Playmates Toys.  This may seem a bit anachronistic since Playmates Toys has not produced any new Star Trek merchandise since the failed 2009 movie line, and even more so since the focus is going to continue to be on the 4.5" figure line that hasn't seen a new release since the Target store exclusives in 1999.  These facts are not in dispute.  But, when it all comes down to it, the immediate association I make when I think of "Star Trek" and "toys" will always be the 4.5" Playmates series. 

Over the years my collection has seen items from various companies.  I remember, as a kid, getting an Admiral Kirk figure made by ERTL toys for Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.

 

There are, of course, the Galoob figures I mentioned in my very first post.  And in the mid-late 2000's I was an avid collector of the Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys figures.  But, as anachronistic as the 90's era 4.5" Playmates figures seem, the reality now is that there have not been any new Diamond Select Toys Star Trek figures since 2010.  

At some point after Star Trek Into Darkness was released and there was almost no related merchandise I recognized that Diamond Select Toys was not going to be making any new Star Trek figures any time soon, if ever again.  I thought about my collection of Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys figures, and realized that I had no real attachment to them.  Moreover, they were taking up a lot of space and represented a significant financial investment that was yielding no return for me.  

As I thought about my Star Trek toy collection I realized that I had 3 different scales of figures (4.5" and 9" Playmates and 7" Art Asylum/Diamond Select) and nowhere, between all 3 scales, did I have all 5 series' crews completely represented.  Playmates had lost the license before Enterprise existed, and Diamond Select barely finished its Deep Space Nine series before fading away meaning that there was zero representation of Voyager.  I got the idea in my head to sell my Art Asylum/Diamond Select collection, and couldn't get the idea of out my head. 

In the end I was just so disappointed in what had happened as Art Asylum transitioned to Diamond Select Toys.  What had started as a highly accurate, incredibly sculpted and detailed, "high end" line of figures had lost its prestige as the line limped along.  The progression is most obvious with the Nemesis / First Contact style uniform figures.  

Art Asylum started with Enterprise and Nemesis in 2001.  The Nemesis Captain Picard figure lacked some articulation, but was an incredible sculpt clearly showing the benefits of digital scanning.



When Diamond Select Toys picked up a few years later and started releasing figures from Star Trek: The Next Generation it added some articulation, but lost some focus on the details.  



As you can see from Commander Riker, gone are the details on the cuffs and hem of the jacket.  The uniform looks like a jumpsuit rather than a separate jacket and pants, and doesn't quite match with the style of the Picard figure.  When Diamond Select Toys' series 2 came out with Picard from First Contact, the figure kept in a similar style to Riker and Worf from series 1, but changed the color of the command uniform.



While I had been waiting for over a decade to see Captain Picard in his captain's vest realized in figure form, the reality was a bit disappointing.  I recognize that the costume designer changed the color of the command tunic from the brighter red in First Contact to a deeper wine color for Nemesis, but to have the figures standing next to each other was more than a little frustrating from a line supposedly so focused on the discerning tastes of collectors.  Moreover, the Diamond Select Toys' Picards all seemed far too large in comparison to the other characters.  

Things got worse as the Diamond Select Toys line went on.  Series 3 featuring Data and LaForge were suddenly scaled down in comparison to series 1 and 2.  There were reports that the factory in which they were produced accidentally scaled the final production model to 90% of what it was supposed to be, but this "90%" scale became the standard going forward.  The Nemesis Data, LaForge, and Crusher that were eventually released added a third style of design that removed the zipper detailing completely from the jackets and had the ribbing detail on the shoulders that seemed somewhere in between the Art Asylum Picard and series 1 Riker and Worf.

When the first wave of Deep Space Nine figures came out they were in line with Data, LaForge, and Crusher, but again trying to put the Nemesis Worf figure alongside Sisko and Dax seemed out of place. 



During the 2014 Christmas season I started the process of selling my Art Asylum/Diamond Select 7" scale figures.  I figured (no pun intended) that I would have better luck during the holiday season as collectors and those looking to buy gifts for collectors would increase their spending compared to other points in the year.  My assumption proved correct - overall I think I made more than I had initially spent on the figures over the years.  While I may have taken a loss on a few figures here and there, other figures that were rarer or more in demand more than made up for that loss.

What was somewhat surprising were the messages I got from buyers during the course of the auctions.  Many were asking about specific figures that had already been sold, but others were curious as to why I had decided to part with figures that they were so interested in acquiring for themselves.  I have seen a few collectors over the years who suddenly sell off large portions of their collections when unexpected circumstances in life necessitate bringing in additional money in a short amount of time, but that was not the case for me.  Obviously I was happy to have more money coming in, but to this day I still have no regrets in getting rid of that portion of my collection.  

And so after clearing out the 7" scale figures from my collection the focus returned to the 4.5" Playmates figures.  Of course all through this I have continued in other toy collecting pursuits such as G.I. Joe, Star Wars, and Marvel.  Without a new TV series and in between movies, Star Trek sometimes fades in to the background of my interests.  But, every now and then something will reignite the spark and stir some new interest for a time.  

The 50th Anniversary of Star Trek hasn't received a whole lot of pomp and circumstance yet, but I am curious to see what may come in 2016.  With Star Trek Beyond coming this summer and no mention of new Star Trek product at Toy Fair in February I highly doubt we will see a Star Trek toy renaissance.  But, with the new CBS All Access series premiering in 2017 I cannot help but be reminded of Spock's words in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...

"There are always... possibilities."