AA/ DST Spotlight- Vina The Orion Slave Woman

Figure Name: Vina The Orion Slave Woman
Manufacturer: Art Asylum


Vina was released carded as part of Art Asylum's third wave of Classic Star Trek figures.



The Rundown: Though they made very few appearances in TOS, Orion slave women have become synonymous with classic Trek. Sure, they made quite a mark in "Enterprise", but mention them to most folks and you'll usually get an answer like "oh, you mean those green chicks that Kirk used to hook up with?". Funny thing is that the closest Kirk ever got to actually bedding an Orion female in TOS was crazy ol' Marta in "Whom Gods Destroy"- and that was actually all part of a plan by Lord Garth to trick the good captain. Well, I guess there's also Gaila in the 2009 film, but that was an alternate timeline; We don't actually know if Kirk ever even met her in the regular timeline. That leaves us with the most iconic Orion female of them all... and she wasn't even a real Orion. Plus, she didn't even interact with Kirk. Weird, huh? Anyways...



Vina here was released as part of the insanely awesome third wave of Art Asylum's TOS figures. She hung on peg shelves along the likes of the Gorn Captain and Kor the Klingon. That's some pretty stiff competition, but Vina held her own. She featured the same great sculpting and paint work seen on those... plus she was a freaking Orion slave woman.



Though it's tough to tell in pictures due to the solid green coloring, the likeness to actress Susan Oliver is actually pretty strong here. This is one case where a company could have phoned this one in and most folks wouldn't have even cared, but it looks like AA actually strove to make this a true Vina figure, and not just a random Orion female.



Sitting atop that great head sculpt are Vina' beautiful locks. Instead of being molded in the same material as the head, AA used a funky rubbery material. The rubber is a little different than the stuff they used on the crew uniforms. It feels more like the material they used on Kor's shirt than those.



Vina's dress is a separate piece as well, and is made of the same type of material as her hair. I keep going back and forth on whether I like the use of this stuff on this figure. I'm afraid it's going to degrade pretty badly over time, but I do like the fact that Vina's articulation isn't hindered at all. Speaking of her articulation-



Yeah, okay, so I looked up her dress. But it was all for your benefit, so leave me alone. If I hadn't done that, you might not have known that Vina's articulation is a little different than your standard AA figure. While her right hip has the same swivel joint used on most of the line, her left hip actually features a ball joint, allowing her to pull off crazy dance poses like this one:



Pretty nifty, eh? Dancing was an integral portion of Vina's scene as the Orion slave woman, so it's nice to see the AA kept this in mind when designing this figure's articulation. There is one drawback to them going for her "dancing" look though-



Vina's hands are sculpted to capture the look of her "jazz hands" from this scene as well. While that's great if you want to pose her in that way (as most will), it does leave her looking a bit odd of if you want to put her in a neutral pose. This is one release that would have benefited greatly from interchangeable hands in my opinion.



Accessories: Vina didn't really come with anything, except a small figure stand. The stand is made of a clear blue plastic with one peg that plugs into her foot. I actually misplaced mine, so the best I can offer is a pic of the one in the package. I will say this- Vina is constantly taking dives off my shelf, so I'm definitely glad one was included (and I'm kicking myself for losing it).



Vina is a great release overall and is definitely worthy of inclusion in any AA/ DST display (despite her limited onscreen appearance). Her rubbery bits may pose a problem in the years to come, but right now? She's looking pretty sharp. As of this writing, she's never been reissued by DST, and she's long gone from stores which makes snagging one a bit tricky. Your only option for getting her is turning to the secondary market. Her price can range pretty dramatically, going from anywhere between $15 and $40. While I'd be hesitant to drop 40 clams on her, I think she's a steal at anywhere between $15 and $25..... aw, who am I kidding. I know I'd pay $40 for her if I didn't already have her. We only got three figures from "The Cage", so paying a little extra for Vina isn't so bad. And Pike needs his main squeeze, green or not.