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."

Playmates Anatomy Lesson and Customs Primer

No... Not that kind of Playmate.  

Before I get in to the meat and potatoes of showing my own custom figures I wanted to present some of the things that I have learned in my own journey as a collector and customizer.  I have seen a few posts here and there out on the interwebs in which people are confused, or at least unfamiliar, with some of the tricks and techniques that are a customizer's bread and butter.  I am by no means an expert, and you won't see a whole lot of sculpting or intricate paint work on my figures.  But, there are a few simple things that I have learned over the years that I have seen make a huge difference in the level of satisfaction I have with my finished custom figures.  

One of the most fundamental techniques in customizing figures - especially Playmates 4.5" Star Trek figures - is the "boil and pop" method of figure deconstruction.

So how do you go from the figure on the left to the one on the right without breaking, discoloring, or otherwise wasting your custom fodder?  

Start with this.

This is the basis for my custom toolkit.  Before the Dremel, or the X-Acto, or any of the fancy paints or modeling products come out pretty much everything starts here.  The pot is old and beat up - not anything my wife or I cook in.  The mug just happened to be handy one day and I found it to be the perfect fit for 4.5" figures - I'll explain more later on why I don't just drop the figures right in the pot.  The fork could easily be replaced with a flat head screwdriver for the purpose it serves, but it's just become a part of the toolkit at this point.  Lastly the Leatherman is just the perfect size set of needle nose pliers as I will show later.

The basic idea behind "boil and pop" is that plastic becomes softer and more malleable when it is warm.  Softer and more malleable means you can pull joints and other connections apart to break the figure down in to pieces that can be swapped around as needed.  As it cools back down the plastic returns to its original shape and consistency.  But, a word of caution - I don't know all the chemistry behind it but I do know that too much heat can cause the plastic to discolor and too much direct heat can (obviously) melt it.  

This is where the mug comes in.  My preferred method (your mileage may vary) is to heat the water in the pot to a boil and then scoop out a mug full.  I drop the figure in the mug for 2-3 minutes and then pull it out to begin whatever deconstruction is needed.  

Head swaps are one of the most basic customs, and for a while I would try to just pull out the head and then shove it back in to the body I was swapping it on to.  It worked well for some figures, but others were more difficult.  What I eventually realized is that the arms are a lot easier to pull out at the shoulder joint then trying to pull off the head.  

Once the arms are pulled out I submerge the figure back in to the mug of hot water so that the internal torso connections and neck post can soak and soften up.  I then use the needle nose pliers in the empty shoulder joint to pry open the torso.  Lying the figure on its side gives a nice flat surface where the shoulder joint is, and then a few quick hits on the counter top uses the wedge of the needle nose pliers to pop the torso open.

At this point you've got the torso completely separated and can swap out arms, the head, and everything from the waist down.  But if you need to go further, you can keep pulling the figure apart at the hips, elbows, and knees.  This is where the fork (or flat head screwdriver) come in.

The elbow and knee joints are held together with a small pin.  The upper leg and upper arm have notch that the elbow or knee fits in to, and then a pin goes through to secure the parts together.  By shoving the fork or screwdriver head in between that notch and the lower part you can pry them apart and pull them free from the pin.  

Reconnecting new parts is just a matter of putting everything back in place and then dunking back in hot water to soften up enough until you can push the pins back through all three holes to secure everything.  

As you will see once I start to post my custom figures, switching out the lower legs can increase or decrease the overall height of the figure based on what combination of parts you use.  Some figures, like Harry Kim and Chakotay, have short legs.  Other figures, like Q in Next Generation Starfleet uniform and DS9 O'Brien, have longer legs.  

One of the reasons that I have been customizing Playmates figures is that the large number of figures released over the course of the line offers a huge library of parts to start from.  The other reason is that they are relatively cheap to acquire on the secondary market.  If you are just getting started with customizing you can pick up a figure for $2 or $3 that you can perfect your techniques on without worrying about destroying a $10 - $15 investment.  

If you have any questions or need any further explanation I will be happy to answer them in the comments!

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my blog!  

I have been a Star Trek fan my entire life.  While I don't have a specific memory of the first time that I saw an episode or movie, I know that I was watching re-runs of the original series with my dad as soon as I could sit up on my own.  I know that I have seen old pictures from a Christmas in the early '80s with Star Trek coloring books that have art from Star Trek the Animated Series on them, and I vaguely remember watching animated epsisodes on Nickelodeon or some other cable network.  But it was when Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987 that I truly became a Star Trek fan (Trekkie, Trekker, whatever) in my own right.

In 1987 my toy world was changing.  G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero was at its height, but other mainstays of my toy box were on their way out.  The retail presence of Star Wars and The Power of the Force had all but faded away as was Masters of the Universe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were still a few years away from their dominance.  But luckily for me, about halfway through the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation a line of action figures came out from Galoob toys.

I got all of the Enterprise crew, and these figures became the center of my play time.  I built a bridge playset for them out of Construx (another great 80s toy line) and used various GI Joe and Star Wars figures in place of missing characters like Counselor Troi and Doctor Crusher.  By the summer of 1988, with the break until season 2 on TV and lack of retailer support for the Galoob line meaning that a planned second series of toys never got made, my childhood attention span had moved on to whatever the next big thing was on TV and in the toy aisles.

Fast forward to 1992.  On a trip to Toys R Us in the late summer or early fall I came across a lone figure surrounded by empty pegs...

It seems almost impossible to believe in our modern world of tweeting and live blogging from Toy Fair and SDCC, websites showcasing every stage of development from licensing agreements to painted prototypes, and figures making their way on to eBay before scheduled releases, that there was a time when one could walk in to a toy store and be surprised by something.  But there I was in the action figure section of Toys R us with a lone Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge figure that represented a brand new line of Star Trek toys that, before that day, I had no idea were coming out.

Whereas Galoob had never done an action figure line before it got the license for Star Trek toys, this new line of toys was made by Playmates Toys.  The same Playmayes toys that dominated the action figure aisles of the late '80s and early '90s with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  That shared parentage was most apparent in this first wave of Star Trek: The Next Generation figures with the ripped uniform of Commander Riker, the opening access panels of Lieutenant Commander Data, and the beefed up musculature of Worf, Gowron, and the Ferengi.  

Nevertheless, that first purchase of Geordi LaForge would be the beginning of what would define my toy collecting until Playmates lost the Star Trek license in 1999.  

A lot has happened in both the world of Star Trek and in the toy world since 1999.  The rise and fall of Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys, as well as the failure of Playmates toys to relaunch a Star Trek line with the 2009 reboot, could fill their own blog posts.  

One day they may.  

But for now I just wanted to give you a bit of a glimpse in to my history with Star Trek and its associated toys to put the posts that will follow in to some context.