As I said in part 1 of this review I have bought all the Star Trek figures besides Chekov. The reason is I am avoiding the cadet uniforms to save money. However, it felt odd having Kirk and Spock without McCoy (kind of like a PB&J without bread) so I broke my own rule. Lots have been said about these figures and I thought before getting to them individually I would address a few issues collectively.
This is not the first foray into 1:18th scale for Star Trek. The first was the line for the original motion picture. Again Trek ventured into the 1:18th scale universe with Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Also of note is the Next Generation line from 1992 that even though lacked articulation and removable accessories was a nice set of likenesses of the Next Generation’s crew. However this is the first time we have ever had the entire original Enterprise crew in 1:18th scale which makes it somewhat special.

First is the huge one, scale. All over the web these figures have been called “Small” or “Too Short.” So the question is how do they stand up? Well compared to 25th GI Joes and the new MU line, yes they are indeed short. Of course conversely both lines are tall. If one were to call true 1:18th scale the size of the original Star Wars figures, then the new MU’s and Joes are too big to be considered that size. If you are a fan of these two current lines then the Star Trek figures will not mix well unfortunately. However neither will a lot of 1:18th scale lines.
Now compared to Star Wars, DC Infinite Heroes, Indiana Jones, ARAH Joes, Build N’ Brawl, Microman, Flash Gordon, Clash of the Titans, Ben 10, Hellboy, “New Sculpt” GI Joes, Army of Darkness, The Corps, Captain Power, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Terminator, Adventure People, Micronaughts, Pirates of the Caribbean, Chips, Dukes of Hazzard, and the myriad of other1:18th scale lines, they are a hair short but not so bad that it is a huge issue. My point is that sometimes scale is relative to perception. Depends on what you are into, as such I am much more into the longer lists of figures so the Star Trek figures fit in just fine.
Paint apps, all over the internet there have been horror stories of extremely bad paint. Myself I have only witnessed two such problems, one with Pike whose Starfleet symbol was painted in the wrong spot and Sulu whose face wasn’t bad but defiantly different (more like a surprise). I have heard other tales of paint gobs and such but never witnessed them.
First let me start with the uniformed figures (Pike, Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and Sulu). I group these together because for the most part they use the same body. This actually makes a whole lot of sense since really there is little variations in uniforms besides color. Because of this I will primarily address head sculpts after I speak on the basic uniform mold.
The mold has one major flaw, the arm articulation will not go a full 90 degrees. In some cases it can barely go in 45 degrees. This is extremely frustrating to say the least. I wonder if this is a QC issue as well since I have a few of the figures who can bend further than others.
Some things have been said about the midsection, however it is obvious the problem here is the belt that holds the Phasers. Really I see little that can be done to avoid the slight “bulge” of the mid section and keep the belt up. I suppose arguments can be made on this fact but really to have the removable aspects as they are wouldn’t be cost effective. Honestly is such a minor flaw I don’t even worry about it.

The holster does create another issue with the figures. With it on it is very hard to get the figures to rest their arms to their sides. Actually this isn’t a design flaw as much as it is a problem that really can’t be avoided. The phasers are not oversized and are even in scale with the figures so what else can be done. One way to avoid this issue is to move the belt slightly to the side (where the phaser is in front). In some of the early TV episodes you can see security guards wearing their belts like this.
The hip joints do prevent some issues with sitting, but the figures can still sit. I am not sure how they got the figures to sit on the boxes so well though. The only other issue I have had is with Kirk himself. I have bought both the single pack and bridge playset version of him and both have had QC issues (Single pack had a loose, almost broken, leg. The Bridge version has an arm that is about to break). This makes me feel like there isn’t a Kirk out there that is just “OK.” Bad enough I had to buy the figure twice, but the fact that both were defective really made the sting that much worse.
On to the head sculpts, Pike kind of looks like he is trying to be Kirk. Then again there is only so much you can do with your hair in Starfleet. Kirstie Alley pointed out in Star Trek II that there are still regulations. I feel kind of sorry for him cause even a fan of the old show will know his fate isn’t going to be too good. Kirk is a bit of a disappointment, first his hair doesn’t match up to how it appears in the movie. Then for some odd reason every picture I take with a flash he looks like he is wearing lipstick.
Spock is perhaps one of the best head sculpts of the set. He is definitive and while slightly resembling Nimoy he is a good likeness of his appearance in the movie. I have heard some people who are disappointed cause they wanted to make a Skylar from heroes custom. Unless you have some awesome shaving and sculpting skills this is not the route to go. His head is most assuredly Vulcan and there is no denying it. Scotty is the oddest head sculpt of the set, he only has a passing resemblance to Simon Pegg. In fact he mostly looks like the younger version of James Dohan. It makes me wonder if they are going for an amalgamation of the new movie and old series with these figures.
When I first saw Sulu I actually thought he looked like Grant from Mythbusters. Obviously there is a future joke here.
While there are some disappointments with the uniformed figures one of the biggest disappointments of the whole line is Uhura. Don’t get me wrong here, she looks great. However her arms are so thin that she has no elbow articulation. Actually her arms make Ashoka look like a porker. Also her mini skirt (which is a necessity in the Star Trek Universe in my opinion) really inhibits her movement in the hips and waist. She can’t even sit at one of the stations which begs the question what on earth is she going to do on the bridge? She can’t sit and decode transmissions as Nichelle Nichols did so wonderfully in the old series. In fact I would go so far as to call Uhura an icon as she was one of the few African-American women on Television at the time and really she had a vital role to play in the series. Sometimes in our modern world we kind of look back and scoff at her being reduced to such a petty role, but for the time a woman, let alone an African American woman having such a role on a television show was unheard of. Sorry back to the figure.
With all of her inhibited movement she also has another oddity to her, she is actually taller than the men. Now being married to a 5’10” woman myself I know women come in all shapes and sizes but from all appearances Uhura is shorter than Kirk (at least in the previews) and this fact defiantly raises an eyebrow (man I am full of groan worthy puns in this review, eh).
Moving on to McCoy, the only Cadet uniformed figure I have purchased and first thing I notice right off the bat is he CAN bend his arms at a 90 degree angle. OK so what is going on here? The figures that deserve the most attention (that being the uniformed versions) get a lesser treatment in articulation? Really Playmates should have known more people would have gravitated to the uniformed figures and pulled out all the stops for them. If flaws had to be made, put them in the cadets as the uniformed figures are the stuff of legends (OK maybe just to me).
All the figures come with a belt and Phasers that fit into the holsters. The Phasers are interesting in that they resemble the old series versions but look to have a slight high tech twist to them. I never was a huge fan of the “electric razor” version of the phasers from Next Generation on up, thankfully these still look like guns. While Starfleet has always presented itself as a scientific organization there is defiantly a militaristic aspect to it and a gun cements that I think. Phasers don’t have to be huge honking weapons (they are powerful enough anyway) but the presentation like a gun was a big thing to me when Next Generation came out. I felt that Next Generation on lost a bit of that idea. The members of Starfleet defiantly had self defense training as well as weapons training. I never understood the move away from that aspect. At least it is still present here.
And by the looks of our new villain it had better be. Nero is an interesting character to say the least. He looks human but obviously has something against Starfleet and the Federation. He has a very interesting staff like weapon and a phaser of his own. I think a holster would have made this figure almost perfect. He has a much better range of motion than the uniformed officers of the line and his awesome look makes him destined to stand beside Kahn as one of the great Trek villains (if he is pulled off properly). He is close to being the crown jewel of the line.
But nothing, I mean nothing can top the last figure in this review: Original Spock. Yes it is Lenard Nimoy as older Spock in this movie. How, why, and what you might ask. Well I have read up on some spoilers for the movie, and it just made me that much more excited for it. I don’t want to ruin it for those of you who like surprises, but it’s a good one and would encourage you to look it up online if you are interested.
The likeness to Lenard Nimoy is uncanny and this figure is given the royal treatment (as he should be IMO). Simply put he just looks awesome beyond anything else this line has to offer. All the bad paint apps and articulation issues are worth it for this figure. He is a strong contender for my top 30 list this year. As an old school Trek fan opening this figure brought back tons of childhood memories. He is familiar and unique at the same time, something seriously rare in this world. You know the character by heart and yet have never seen him like this.
The copper on the cuffs and collar give the figure a regal and royal highlight deserved to such a character. This is after all one of the original cast of a show that has become legendary. His one minor flaw is in his costume as it inhibits his movement somewhat. But really after getting such a great likeness in this scale its not something to make a huge deal about.

All the figures come with either transporter or Bridge parts, even if you don’t plan on getting the playsets these pieces do give you plenty of options (ever try to find good 1:18th sized chairs, it’s a pain.)
So on a ten scale how do these figures rate:
Pike: 7
Kirk: 4 (Mostly for repeated QC issues, but the lipstick look plays a part here too).
Spock: 7
McCoy: 7 (mostly for accessories)
Sulu: 7
Scotty: 7
Uhura: 4
Nero: 9
Original Spock: 10
Overall for entire line: 7

Some good points, some bad points, but overall not terrible, but just above average.

So what does the random numbers above mean to you. Basically if you are a fan of the old series, don’t mind new actors in the parts of the classic characters, and are a 1:18th collector this line is a dream come true.
The movie opens on Friday as of this writing and I suppose we will then learn how the general public feels about the line. It’s initial start (in my part of the world) has sold fairly but not sold out, which is very typical of movie related toy lines. However after weeks and weeks of peg warming by the Wolverine Origins line, this weekend some space was made (due to the movie release) so there is still hope for the Star Trek line yet.

Popularity: 20% [?]

When I was a kid, my uncle Chuck would watch Star Trek literally all the time. I really acquired a liking for the adventures of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest of the crew. Often campy, many times serious, but always something a bit different and unique. I never felt the same way about Star Trek’s many spin off shows like Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, or Enterprise. They never had the raw charm and power of the original crew to me. I am not a “Trekkie” even by the standard of just loving the original series. I can’t tell you what episodes appear in what seasons or their numbers or anything like that. I enjoyed it and the rest I left to others to deal with.
When I heard of a New Trek film and that it was going to be the original crew with new actors, well, I was a bit tepid about the idea. Lenard Nimoy is Spock to me, William Shatner is Kirk, Walter Kenog is Chekov, James Dohan is Scotty, ect, ect. It is hard for me to imagine other actors in those roles. However, slowly with trailers and ads I am now excited about this idea of a reimagining of Star Trek. It actually looks good. The actors resemble the original cast but not so much that it looks like the film is trying to go in a direction that would be non-complementary to the original series. They appear to have their own identity while being respectful to the original. Novel idea and I hope it ends up with a really cool movie.
But this is about the toys with this movie. Playmates stunned many with the announcement that they had secured the rights to the film. Reactions to the toys have been mixed and have covered the spectrum of love to loath. So what is the truth. Well I am going to attempt to go where no man has gone before (insert groan for bad pun here) and give an honest, non-biased, but opinionated look at these toys. I think part of the problem is that so many people are looking at these figures with pre-conceived notions of what toys should be and not looking at what the toys are. So here goes starting with the Bridge Playset.
The Bridge is one of those legendary areas in Star Trek. It’s the part of the ship we see the most of and is the most constant and stable part of any Trek series or movie (even when it’s getting blown up as has happened a lot in the past decade). The bridge is almost a character unto itself and honestly I would kill for an original series version in 1:18th scale. This is obviously not it, so let’s look at what it is.
Essentially what Playmates has done is made the bridge a modular playset with its parts included with the figures. They have done the same to a lesser extent with the Transporter as well. Not all the parts are in our hands yet, so hard to say what the whole thing really looks like other than press pictures. However, this has been a huge point of contention with many on the internet.
First off I can recall many saying the idea of a modular playset packed in with figures would be a great idea. I happen to think it is a great idea myself. If you just want the figures you have interesting diorama pieces and can avoid the playsets all together. However if you want the playsets you probably want figures to use in them so you will probably buy them anyway, it’s a win-win situation.
I don’t think the bridge is the best execution of this idea though. There are several reasons for that. The major one I have is there just seems to be so little with it to start out with. To be absolutely fair toy prices have really risen this year. Blame oil or shipping or whatever the new “cause” is this week but it doesn’t change the fact that all toys across the board have gone up.
When I was taking pictures of the Bridge for this, I saw my BARC speeder from Star Wars on the shelf. This item really hit it home for me about price as this summer it will be out (again) at a price point of $15. That is a not a lot to get for that amount of money. We defiantly get a whole lot more with the Bridge than that.
So what do you get, A Captain Kirk figure (which I will go over later), a Helm control and captain’s chair, two data screens, a large view screen and play mat. Lets go over the components individually. One part is the helm controls and captain’s chair. On the box is a picture of Sulu scooted up in the seat to use the helm. This has been a huge complaint so far as if sitting back in the chair the figures cannot reach the controls at all. It’s easy to see the argument here and hard to fight it. The fact is the chairs are too far back. What is worse though is there appears to be a spring in the chairs that force them face forward at all times. In other words it’s hard for Sulu to turn around and speak to the captain.
The Captain’s chair is raised up behind the Helm. This does seem a bit strange even though it was done in the original series, for the most part the chair has been at an even level since Star Trek II The Wrath of Kahn. Here though its not just raised up, it is almost a throne, up on a Diesis for everyone to look up at the captain. Also it is oddly placed on the helm part of the bridge, towards the back and partly suspended in the air (which you would think would be impractical). The Chair also suffers from the “Spring loaded” syndrome of the helm chairs. In other words no dramatic turn the chair and run moments like in the original Trek series and later movies.

The helm controls themselves look fantastic. While most of the effect is stickers there is enough detail in the control panel to make it interesting and very “Trek-like.” The other details (Step up to the helm controls, floor ect, ect) are all very well done and give that feel of Star Trek while being new and updated, more so than any of the bridges in other incarnations since the original.

One note is that one of the oddest complaints I have heard about the new movie is the bridge looks too “high-tech” as if a spaceship capable of interstellar travel is supposed to look low tech LOL. I realize this is in part do to people not wanting to disrupt the look of the old show, but I feel this is necessary when introducing Trek to a new generation. Still as it relates to the controls there is a good balance of both.
The Data screens are a very nifty part of the bridge, they look quite functional. They have the definite “Star Trek” look to them and although you might be able to use them elsewhere there is no denying their origin.

The view screen is huge, much larger than I expected from the pictures, which is a good thing. However you only get one picture to slide into the screen, I think the set could have used a bit more rather than having to print them out yourself if you ever want to change the view.

Lastly, is the mat, which to be honest makes this toy seem closer to preschool ages than anything else. I had playmats when I was a kid for Hot Wheels among other things, and while I don’t mind them so bad, it is strange to have one in this day and age. Is it a bad thing, no but defiantly not a good one either. Also the mat is rolled up and folded, creating the bend in the floor that is very noticeable. While it can be flattened out easily it does add another problem to the mat. However I will give credit that the mat while having the numbers for the bridge pieces on them are faint enough not to be noticed too badly. The design is dead on to what the bridge should look like IMO as well. Fresh while still retaining influence from the original.
So all that said there are some strong good points to this, but there are some very bad ones as well. First off is the price. At $25 I had hoped for more, while the pieces are good they seem to be lacking somewhat. Granted (as I said earlier) the price of everything has gone up, as evidenced by the jump for the BARC Speeder and repainted Armadillo mini-tank for the GI Joe Movie line ($15 each). So it is entirely possible we are just not used to this new level of pricing.
Also with price increases comes rebudgeting and debates over what new can come into the collection and not disrupt the space issues. Again this plays a huge part in how one views this toy. On space it is at least very easy to breakdown and put away as the set is made up of smaller components rather than one big set. However I just cannot get over how much better this would be if the captain figure was left out and a wall was included. I think that would have made the set right there. As it is the bridge is kind of in the open for everyone to see. Defiantly feels like a step backwards rather than forewords.
However for industrious diorama builders this set offers some unique pieces as a starting point for a truly awesome bridge (which is my plan to do as well), on that level the price is probably more fair as a great deal more money would have to be put in to get a similar effect.
So what is my overall opinion: Well there are tons of good and tons of bad. Very hard to say where my opinion might fall. I have to admit I already like it better than the overpriced PITT for the GI Joe Movie line. Not sure if I like it better than the Clone Wars Turbo Tank. On a score card I will give it a 5 out of 10. It’s a great starting point for an industrious toy collector/diorama maker, however as it is there just isn’t a whole lot there.

I would have to take away 3 points just for the fact that there should have been more (at least two more data screens and possibly a couple of stations to make the playset more “Playable” from the start). One point off for the price, its just too much for what little you get. What is there is very cool overall, but it just feels like its not enough. And one point off for the inclusion of Kirk, which is exactly the same as the single pack version. I have heard that Scotty will be changed to arctic gear cause he is included with the transporter room, but nothing on Kirk being changed at this point. Thus you have to buy two Kirks for an entire bridge, not good. There are other issues with Kirk that I will get into on the next part of this review of the Star Trek 3 & ¾’ toyline, but more on that next time.
In the next part I look at the figures themselves which have sparked much debate and controversy over the past few weeks. From being “too Short” to QC issues, I will cover all the figures with the exception of Chekov (which I will explain later) next time.

Popularity: 22% [?]