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...
