There are Always… Possibilities - A Wish List for the Playmates Toys New Line

With the announcement that Playmates Toys would once be making Star Trek toys came the further detail that Varner Studios was also returning to do the design and sculpting of the toys.  Though the first series has not officially been revealed, a little Photoshop work by some other collectors have given us a pretty good guess on who will make up the first wave.  Almost immediately a lot of collectors have started building their wish lists for what we all hope will be a line that integrates in to the hundreds of 4.5” figures we already have.

As such, here is my wish list for wave 2:

Admiral James T. Kirk - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

There is no more glaring omission from the 90’s Playmates line than a lack of the original crew in the maroon movie uniforms.    As I shared in one of my first posts, the Classic Star Trek series Lt. Saavik is one of my favorite figures.  They got all of the uniform details right, and the figure is just perfectly executed.  Beyond that, we only got Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov as movie figures from the Star Trek: Generations line.   I don’t know why the movie line got reduced articulation since later series went back to the standard articulation points and even added the thigh swivel with the Voyager waves.  So, in addition to the reduced articulation, there are also numerous costume design flaws that take away from the overall quality of the figures.  The black piping along the chest flap should continue down to the bottom of the jacket, but these figures   End it at the belt line.  The back of the figure is the most troublesome, with the large belt loop at the small of the back missing, and the details around the divisional rank band at the shoulder completed in accurately.  By releasing Admiral Kirk in this uniform Playmates could have a popular character to “anchor” the wave and deliver a figure we’ve been waiting 25 years for.

Captain William T. Riker - Star Trek: Nemesis and Lower Decks

I don’t know when William T. Riker has been more popular than right now.  He obviously had many memorable episodes as part of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the focus on Data in the Next  Generation movies made it feel like they didn’t know what to do with Riker. 

Jonathan Frakes’ return in front of the camera in Star Trek: Picard and Lower Decks has raised Riker’s profile and it would certainly be a fan-favorite to add him to the wave.  

While a First Contact style uniform figure of Riker was part of the Target exclusive “Starfleet Command” series, it is one of the most disappointing figures.  It reused the Chakotay and Harry Kim mold, which left Number One shorter than Picard and Data whereas he should have been taller.  Plus, it used the same Riker head that had been used for every other Playmates figure, and a more brushed back hairstyle like the 6” and 9” figure portrait was desperately needed. 

Captain Benjamin Sisko - Star Trek Deep Space Nine Seasons 5 - 7

I know a lot of people (myself included) have made a custom version of Captain Sisko in the gray and black “First Contact” uniform, and it would be great for Playmates to do an official release of him.  The Sisko is obviously the most important character from Deep Space Nine, and so if the new Playmates line is really going to cover the 55+ year history of the franchise then he sound be the first character to represent that series.

If a Captain Riker figure is made then, realistically, Sisko could reuse the entire body from that figure.  Jonathan Frakes wore Avery Brooks’ costume in Star Trek: Generations, so the two are similarly built.  

Ensign Sylvia Tilly - Star Trek: Discovery Season 2

With Michael Burnam and Saru in wave 1, I think Ensign Tilly is the next best choice for more Discovery characters in the line.  And given that Discovery is one of the series currently airing, it would make sense to continue including its characters until the crew is fully represented in plastic.

I will admit that I am not caught up on all of Season 3 of Discovery.  I like parts of the show, but I just haven’t gotten as invested in it and its characters.  I hope to see the main cast all made as figures, but characters like Lt. Stamets just aren’t as interesting visually and therefore as “toyetic” as others.  The inclusion of Anson Mount’s excellent Captain Pike, and the teases of Number One and the Enterprise was the real reason I followed Season 2 as closely as I did.  

Subcommander T’Pol - Enterprise Seasons 3 & 4

Playmates Toys can’t be faulted for the lack of Enterprise characters in the original 90’s line since they lost the toy license in 1999 and Enterprise didn’t premiere until 2001.  I’m sure there is a parallel universe somewhere in which the Star Trek: Generations figures were made with the same elbow and knee articulation and matched the on-screen uniforms, and therefore the Star Trek: First Contact figures were kept in the 4.5” scale and sold as well as the regular line, and this butterfly effect kept Playmates Toys making Star Trek figures until at least 2001 to release a wave or two of Enterprise toys.  But alas, in our reality we know that was not the case.

I decided to go with T’Pol as the first Enterprise character for a few reasons.  One, with Kirk and Sisko already in my wish list wave I didn’t want it to just be all the captains so that meant no Archer.  For another, Playmates was always good about including female characters so it felt right to add another female to the wave.  Thirdly, the pink, salmon, blue, or purple catsuits T’Pol wore in season 3 and 4 create some visual distinction compared to the Starfleet uniforms.  And lastly, given the popularity of Playmates’ 7 of 9 figures, and the fact that T’Pol was just as blatant an example of “eye candy” as Seven on television, the parallel in action figure marketing seemed to make sense.

Romulan Commander - “Balance of Terror”

Star Trek has never been a good guys versus bad guys type story, but that doesn’t mean that aren’t a wide variety of adversaries across the various series and movies.  One of the most iconic adversaries is the unnamed Romulan Commander from the classic episode “Balance of Terror”.  While we got Koloth to represent the Klingons from the Original Series, the absence of a classic Romulan is as tragic as this character portrayed by the great Mark Lenard.  

Wave 1 is all Starfleet (or former Starfleet in the case of Picard and Discovery Season 2 Spock) characters, so a “bad guy” would be a great way to broaden the scope for Wave 2.   

Of course, none of this speculation will matter if Playmates reveals the first wave of figures in full and they end up being 6” scale or a totally different aesthetic than the original 4.5” line.  I know some other internet detectives have analyzed the announcement image and calculated that the proportions and shape of the hands match the 90’s line… so we can all hope that Playmates learned something from its mistakes.

Custom Figure - Lieutenant Commander Data Season One

When I compared the first few series of Next Generation figures in my collection to the Classic Star Trek, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager series, there was clearly some evolution and changes in the approach to figure aesthetics.  The early Next Generation figures showed Playmates Toys’ pedigree coming from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line with things like Riker’s ripped uniform, the exaggerated proportions of Worf, Gowron, and the Ferengi, and Data’s access panel play features.  As toys marketed to kids, the play features are fun.  But even when I was 11 and first started collecting the first wave of Next Generation figures they bothered me because I didn’t have those characters in “regular” uniforms.

The wave 2 Data figure in his first and second season uniform is a very slight retool of the wave 1 figure.  The torso did eliminate the access panel on the back, but there is still an access panel on Data’s right wrist.  But, unlike Picard, the uniform details are mostly right.  The biggest problem for me in terms of uniform accuracy is the belt that carried over from the wave 1 figure since that was molded after Season 3 - 7 uniforms.  

Data, LaForge, O’Brien, and any other engineering or security officer who uses the LaForge torso will probably have Data’s right shoulder and LaForge’s left shoulder because those create the best neutral arm postures.  Both this Data and my Season 7 Data use the arms from the Data in Dress Uniform figure because they are a repaint of LaForge’s arms and therefore don’t have the access panel or the hands that only work with Data’s diagnostic device accessory.  And, like most figures, Data has a waist and upper legs from the Voyager Tuvok / Paris / Doctor “buck”.

The lower legs on this figure come from the wave 1 LaForge figure with the division colored piping around the yoke.  Since the LaForge legs mold has a wider stance the feet were angled outward, and so a dunk in boiling water followed by some pressure straightened them out to a more neutral pose to match the upper legs.  

A quick recap of the recipe:

-  Season one Data head, torso, and left shoulder

-  Wave 1 LaForge right shoulder

-  Data in Dress Uniform arms

-  Voyager waist and upper legs 

-  Wave 1 LaForge lower legs

Everything Old is New Again

I’ll be honest… I had mostly forgot about this blog.  As you can see below, the last post was almost 5 years ago in September 2016.  

And yet, we live in an era where sequels to properties that have lay dormant for decades come out and bring the characters and stories of those universe back to the zeitgeist.  Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill returned to Star Wars after more than 30 years.  The Incredibles II came out 14 years after the original.  Bill and Ted, Super Troopers, Bad Boys, Zoolander, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Mad Max, and so many more went back to the well to varying degrees of success.

Star Trek followed the reboot trend of movies like Batman Begins and Casino Royale with the Abramsverse not-really-a-reboot movies set outside the Prime universe, but stalled out after Star Trek Beyond.  Either because of that less than blockbuster reception at the theaters, or in spite of it, I was surprised when Star Trek: Discovery was announced as a new TV series.  

But not as surprised as I was when Sir Patrick Stewart made the announcement that he was returning to the role of Jean-Luc Picard, almost 20 years after Star Trek Nemesis.  

So in the 5 years since my last post we’ve gone from a box-office “disappointment” with Star Trek Beyond to 3 active Star Trek series (Discovery, Picard, and Lower Decks) with 2 more coming in the next few months (Strange New Worlds and Prodigy).

When Star Trek: Picard  started its first season I looked through the various Playmates figures to see if there was anything that could serve as a decent base for Picard in any of his civilian outfits.  Not finding anything that I could use without a total resculpting beyond my ability, I dreamed of Playmates Toys somehow regaining the umbrella Star Trek figure license and making new figures in the same 4.5” style.

 And then they did. 

I’m sure the behind-the-scenes negotiations have been underway for quite some time, but I know I’m not the only one who was totally blown away by the announcement.  Additional information has come out that Varner Studios, the same group that sculpted the original Playmates figures, will be sculpting this new line.  Some folks have taken the image above and adjusted the lighting to get a little better look at who is behind the transporter effects, and the current assessment of the lineup is TNG Data, Discovery Season 2 Burnham and Saru, Pike (in his gold Enterprise uniform, and bearded Spock, and lastly Picard in his black jacket from season one of Picard.  

I can, like many others, only hope that these figures have the same aesthetic as the original 4.5” Playmates figures.  If they change the V crotch and add any articulation like wrist swivels I’ll be fine as long as the basic styling fits in with the old line.  

After I saw the announcement of the new Playmates line I searched out some Facebook groups, and I was amazed to find this:

Somehow, in all the algorithms and logic of the interwebs, this long forgotten blog still had life.  If Jean-Luc Picard and Playmates Toys can do it, maybe I can rise from the ashes as well.

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...