Item Name: Klingon Bird Of Prey
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys
Playmates released this BOP in the "Warp Factor" style packaging as part of the "Star Trek Strike Force" line.
The Rundown: Playmates Strike Force line seems like the counterpart to the Star Wars Action Fleet line. Both feature tiny little figures which sit inside ships that are sometimes "slightly" out of scale. Unfortunately, the Strike Force Series(like it's predecessor the Innerspace Series) didn't quite catch on like the Star Wars stuff, and the line was canceled fairly quickly. This Bird Of Prey marks the only "classic" release in the line, since it's inspired by "Star Trek III The Search For Spock".
Let's look at the crew first. You get Valkris and Kruge with your BOP. This is Kruge's second figure from Playmates (to go along with his 4.5" figure), but this is the only Valkris ever made. I'm a little curious why Valkris was chosen for this, since she was never actually on the Bird Of Prey. She sure is showing a lot of skin there. Maybe that's why. The figures don't look very detailed, but you have to remember that they are only a little over an inch tall. Not too bad for that size.
If you're looking for the most accurate representation of a Bird Of Prey, this ain't it. The ships of this line are built with the gimmick of the line in mind, so certain liberties are taken with size and scale. The Bird Of Prey features 2 different play features. First, there's the wing deployment. Press the little switch on top to change the wing position to this:
Yep, that's it. I didn't accidentally post the same pic twice or something. that really is it. Pretty disappointing, huh? The wings don't really move up all that much. I actually thought maybe mine were broken or something, but no, that's it. Oh, and they are really floppy when they are down too. Lame.
The other feature is the opening cockpit for you to place Commander Kruge in. You'll notice he's coming out of the seat quite a bit there. That's because he's too big to fit in the cockpit all that well. In fact, I couldn't even get the thing to close with him in it.
The ship is kinda short on detailing too. I'm trying to cut it some slack, since again this is a toy, but this thing is pretty bad. It doesn't have the weathering shown in the packaging pics, nor does it have the red "feather" detailing on the wings. Even a decal would have been better than nothing, and I hate decals.
The ship includes a stand which is actually pretty nice. There's even little spots for you to plug the figures into, which is good since they can't both fit in the ship.
There's the box bio for ya...
This is one best left for the young Trek fan. The ship is light on detailing and heavy on size inaccuracy. I'll bet it would be a ton of fun for a 7 year old though...
-James
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