AA/ DST Spotlight- Admiral Kirk (Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan)

Figure Name: Admiral Kirk
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Kirk was released carded in the first series of "Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan" figures.



The Rundown: I really feel like I need to make an apology to Diamond Select Toys. Over the years, I've not always been polite when it comes to their handling of the Trek toy license. While they have often canceled stuff that I REALLY wanted, and they've shown an incredible propensity for releasing Kirk & Spock repeatedly, I do need to give them credit for one thing. They did something with the Trek franchise that no other toy company ever did; They released an entire line of figures from "Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan".



For being one of the most beloved films in the franchise, TWOK always seemed to get the short end of the stick when it came to toys. Both of the surrounding films got toys, with Mego providing toys for "The Motion Picture" and Ertl handling the product for "The Search For Spock". Playmates put out an entire wave of 4.5" figures based on the classic films, but only included Khan and Saavik from TWOK. They also squeezed a few figures styled after the film in their 9" and 12" lines, but not nearly a full crew. Which leads us to Diamond Select...



Instead of just sprinkling a few releases into the Classic Star Trek line (like Art Asylum planned on doing), DST pushed all their chips to the middle of the table with the "Wrath Of Khan" figures. TWOK deserved a full line and DST knew it. They planned out three waves immediately, covering all the essential characters that one would want in a very short time. Of course, no Trek line can be without Kirk, so the good Admiral made it into the first wave. After that rather long-winded intro, let's take a look at good ol' Kirk!



The TWOK bodies are, in my opinion, some of the finest work of the AA/ DST era. The sculpting on the uniforms is incredibly nice and very well detailed, with a range of movement that allows for plenty of dynamic posing. And while the tunic does retain a bit of the lamented rubbery elements of the Art Asylum Classic Trek releases, it is thankfully limited only to the area under the belt. The rubber is thicker as well and feels like it will probably hold up better over time. Overall- Awesome work.



Unfortunately... I can't ay the same for the head. I've reviewed it before on the Regula 1 Kirk and the Kirk from the "Death Of Spock" 2 pack, but just in case you don't feel like going back and reading those, here's the cliff's notes version: I don't like it. It looks like it was probably a good likeness at one point... and then somebody went and pinched it. DST did a much better job capturing an older Shatner with their "star Trek: The Motion Picture" Kirk. So much better, in fact, that I did a little switcheroo with mine...



Take that TMP head, throw it on the TWOK body, and you get the first Kirk pictured up there. I think that works much better than the standard release (pictured in the middle). The TMP 2-pack is currently on clearance at most Toys R Us stores, so you won't be breaking the bank by doing this. Oh, and you'll then have an extra pinchy head lying around that you can throw on the "thicker" Terrell body for an acceptable "Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country" Captain Kirk (pictured on the left)! Customizing can be fun!



Accessories: Kirk comes equipped with a phaser and communicator, plus two interchangeable hands. What more could you ask for? Nothing... So don't go getting greedy on me.



Other than a wonky head, this Kirk is the bee's knees. You can't have a TWOK line without Kirk, so if you're thinking about getting into them, this one is a good place to start. He routinely sells in the $15-$20 range... but I've notcied that he is starting to dry up on eBay, so don't wait too long! Otherwise, you'll have to try and buy him at a CCCOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN!!!!!! Get it? "Kahn"/ "Con"? Sigh... Just go buy him.

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Custom Playmates Montgomery Scott & Will Decker ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Figure Names: Commander Montgomery Scott & Commander Will Decker
Made by customizer Matthew Hackley



The Rundown: Hey, it's a Twofer Tuesday! Except it's actually Monday. Hey, it's a Multi-spotlight Monday! Today we are looking at not one, but TWO entries from the ongoing "What if Playmates had kept the Trek license?" series of customs from Matthew Hackley! This time around, Matt helps Playmates round out the crew in their TMP uniforms with his Motion Picture era Scott and Decker customs! Let's check 'em out...



First up we have Scotty. I'm really surprised Playmates didn't do this one, especially considering they produced both Uhura and Sulu in TMP uniforms. Scotty has always been the "fourth wheel" of Classic Trek, so his absence from the Classic Movie Series is pretty glaring.



Since the crew uniforms are pretty similar between figures, this would have been an easy release by Playmates. Take a standard TMP body, slap a Scotty head on it, and you're done. Matt did this custom exactly like Playmates probably would have produced him, with the exception of adding a flat coat to lessen the glare of the plastic used by Playmates. Oh, and Matt also made sure to get the color used on the delta shield right... which is something Playmates had trouble with on these.



Next, we have Commander Will Decker... the "Charlie Brown" of Star Trek. It seems like every time Decker goes to kick that football, Kirk is there to snatch it away at the very last second. His dad dies fighting the Doomsday Machine, he gets the Enterprise taken away from him by Kirk, is appointed as science officer only to then be quickly replaced by Spock, has his girlfriend killed in front of him and then resurrected as a weird probe thingy, and at the end, winds up being turned into a glittery light effect. Oh, and only the only figures he ever got were a couple of Mego releases and a Mini-mate. Ouch.



Seriously though- What's up with Playmates never doing a Decker figure in any scale? We get Iman from Star Trek VI... but not DECKER!!? He would have been a simple release! Just like Matt's custom, all it takes is a new head on the existing TMP body. That whole bent-action-foot they used on Spock even makes a lot more sense when used on a dashing Decker figure.

I mean seriously... I can't be alone in wanting to do this on my shelf-



Am I? Hello? Anybody?..... Okay. Moving on then...



As stated, Matt's custom consists of a Playmates crew body with a new Decker head. I really like what Matt did with this one. I feel like this head captures the innocent charm of Stephen Collins quite well. I'm almost in seventh heaven just looking at it. Ha! Get it? "Seventh Heaven"? Because Stehpen Collins played the dad on that show? I kill me!



So there we go. While Playmates did a better job than just about everybody at putting out accurate versions of the crew from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", they still left a couple of voids that needed filling. Well, thanks to Matt, my voids are now filled (I felt dirty just typing that). Had Playmates kept the license just a bit longer, I think these 2 would have been front-runners for release, since they would have both been fairly cheap and easy to manufacture. For now though, a complete TMP crew in figure form is but a dream... Merrily, merrily, merrily...

Star Trek The Sci-Fi Channel Special Edition Extras- "The Devil In The Dark"

Here's all the extras from the Sci-Fi Channel Special Edition of "The Devil In The Dark"... Bill Shatner's favorite episode!

Reading Room Spotlight- "Star Trek- Perry's Planet" By Jack C. Haldeman II

After reading the first two novels in the "Crucible" trilogy back-to-back, I decided that I needed a little breather before tackling book three. The epic scope of both the McCoy and Spock novels, while very compelling, might have been a tad overwhelming. I needed to reign myself back in with something a little more grounded and with a smidge less "oomph" to it... something more akin to watching an episode of the animated series. This way I could also distance myself from the McCoy novel a bit more before tackling Kirk's segment, since I would probably face the same comparison issues I tackled while reading "Crucible: Spock". So I headed over to the book shelves and grabbed this guy-



"Perry's Planet" by Jack C. Haldeman II is the perfect definition of light Star Trek reading. The plot revolves around a planet colonized by a group of settlers 300 years ago. Kirk and crew are ordered on a first contact mission to the planet after receiving a signal that the colonists wish to discuss joining the Federation. When the Enterprise arrives, they find a planet full of blissfully peaceful people, lead by the mysterious Wayne Perry. Records show Perry as the colony's original leader... from 300 years ago. Just as the crew begins to question Perry's existence, they find themselves infected by a mysterious "peace" virus which won't allow them to make any aggressive actions, no matter the circumstances. The infection is unknowingly spread to the crew aboard the Enterprise... just as a Klingon ship captained by an enemy from Kirk's past enters orbit. Stranded down on the planet, Kirk and company must find a cure to the disease and solve the mystery of Perry's planet, which may be tied to a brutish group of the colonists known as the "Immunes"...

This book was exactly what I needed it to be: A fun romp through the Trek universe. At less than 150 pages, the book doesn't spend a lot of time with drawn out explanations or character biographies. The author seemingly wrote this with the knowledge that his reader already knows their Star Trek- he just gets right to the adventure without bogging it down in expository fluff... and sometimes that is exactly what I want from a Trek novel. It's not the best story I've ever read, but I'd say it's definitely worthy of a boring Sunday afternoon. If you see this one on the cheapy shelves at Half-Price books, you just might want to lay down the 2 bucks for it....

Mego Spotlight- Wrist Communicators ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Item Name: Wrist Communicators
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released these Wrist Communicators way back around 1979-1980. Yep, that's over 30 years ago folks. Feel old? Me too. Well, here's the back of the box to make you feel better... or worse, considering it pictures the insanely rare Mego TMP ships that most of us will never own-



Yeah, that didn't help.



The Rundown: I really need to apologize to you guys for taking this long to do this spotlight. Had I known how important these Wrist Communicators were, I would have given them top priority. But how was I supposed to know that this was the most exciting toy in the Space Age? Nobody told me. Oh wait... you didn't know that either? Well read the box, ya dummy!



See? Now who has egg on their face? You do. So there.



As explained in that blurb, what you'll find in the box are 2 wrist communicators with power packs. The box illustration above shows that these are pretty accurate recreations of the film props. Let's get 'em out of there and take a look!



...ummmm, these aren't quite as nice as the box illustration. What's going on here? Maybe I missed something. Let me have another look at that box...



Oh. Well thanks for teasing me Mego.



Kidding aside, these things are freaking awesome. I've always been impressed by Mego's role play toys, but these Wrist Communicators may just be my favorite of the bunch. Unlike many of their other releases, Mego didn't take too many liberties with the design here. These are remarkably similar to their screen counterpart, especially given the time at which they were made.



Underneath the "instrumentation panel" of the communicator is an area housing the microphone. While not entirely screen accurate, I applaud Mego's decision to incorporate the mechanism this way. By hiding it under a panel, they were able to maintain the look of the prop without breaking it up to house the microphone. Plus, flip open panels make everything more awesome.



The top of the communicator is where you'll find the speaker area. Again, Mego tried to maintain the look of the prop by placing the speaker in an inconspicuous location. Since the prop has a large black area on top already, placing the speaker device up there makes perfect sense.



The communicator attaches to your wrist by means of a plastic band attached at its back. The band is flexible, but still rigid enough to maintain its shape. The best part is that it can expand enough...



...to fit an adult size wrist! Pretty sweet! And that brings me to another thing I love about these: Their size! One would think that fully-functional communicators from this time period would have to be big and bulky to accommodate their electronics. Not so with these! Since kids were going to have these things strapped to their wrists, keeping them at a manageable size was important to Mego. Which is why they housed most of the electronics inside attached power packs-



Connected to the communicators by a thin electrical wire are the power packs. The power pack handles the bulk of the work for the toy, with the flexible antenna, batteries, and control button all located here. You attach the power pack to your person by means of a belt clip on back. There's even a Star Trek logo emblazoned across the front... just in case you forgot what you were playing.



I'm too lazy to go back and look through my old spotlights and see if I ever dubbed a different Mego role play toy my favorite... so if I did, ignore that. This is now my favorite. The size and design coupled with their functionality make up for one awesome piece of vintage Trek toyness. They don't crop up very often, but when they do you can expect to pay a pretty penny for them in nice shape. Their value isn't really what makes them cool in my eyes though; It's the fact that they don't make toys nearly this cool anymore. Toys like this make me wish I could go back in time and give these to my 7-year-old self, because I know he would have had a blast with them...

"A Collector's Trek #3" Is Now Up At StarTrek.com!

My third blog entry is now up over at Star Trek's official site! This time around, I take a look at the various Azrak-Hamway Star Trek toys of the 1970's! Check it out if you get a chance- A Collector's Trek #3: 1970's AHI Rack Toys

Playmates Spotlight- Lieutenant Uhura (9" Figure)

Figure Name: Lieutenant Uhura
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released this Uhura as part of the 9" Collector Series.



The Rundown: At only 12 spotlights so far, I've barely scratched the surface in showing you what the Playmates 9" line has to offer. Sure, the bodies aren't super-articulated and the releases often relied on the "Kirk-in-a-different-outfit" syndrome... but the sheer number of figures produced is impressive enough to warrant giving this line a look if you haven't already. Today we are taking a look at one of the "must-haves" for those of you who may be dipping your toes into the 9" water- Lt. Uhura!



Uhura follows the same format as all the other releases in the 9" line. Playmates designed a male and female buck body, and then individualized each figure by adorning them with different head sculpts and outfits. If a character was released in more than one outfit, they usually incorporated the same head sculpt across the board (like Uhura did with her 9" Mirror Universe counterpart).



The heads used on the bodies can sometimes be pretty hit or miss. The larger size would seem to offer a more detailed sculpt, but the roto-cast process used to produce these heads could sometimes lead to a slightly warped or distorted shape. Uhura falls right in the middle for me. While I don't think her head is bad, I don't think it is particularly good either. The nose is captured well, but there's something about the shape of head that throws this one off just a bit.



Playmates' 9" female buck body is decently articulated, but still has its limits. A swivel joint at the boot or wrist would have really improved the figure's poseability. But hey... these are mass-market toys from over 15 years ago. You can't go into this expecting a Hot Toys level of articulation. Ya gets what ya pay for!



One thing I will say for the body though- She can hold her accessories! Unlike a lot of the 4.5" figures, Uhura here has no problem gripping her phaser and communicator. Which is important since you want to be able to send her out on a landing party every once in a blue moon. Poor Uhura... Always stuck at the communications station.



While there wasn't much of an outfit to reproduce here, Playmates did do a nice job considering the cost and time at which this was made. The delta shield is a bit large, but other than that I don't have any major gripes with this one. Looking good Nyota!



Accessories: Uhura includes a phaser, communicator, and tricorder. While the communicator and phaser are a bit large, the tricorder is actually pretty nice and well detailed... for a Playmates accessory that is.

And here's her box bio:



Overall, Uhura is a pretty average release for the 9" line, which may make her a good place to start. If you're building a full crew, you'll need Uhura... and her "averageness" may give you a good idea of what to expect with other figures. She routinely sells in the $6-$10 range, so you won't be breaking the bank if you decide to go after one. Besides... you're going to need somebody to open the hailing frequencies for all your other 9" figures.

And just in case you were curious...



...she is sporting some matching undergarments. That one was for you Frederick. ;)

Remco Spotlight- Astro Buzz Ray Gun

Item Name: Astro Buzz Ray Gun
Manufacturer: Remco Toys



Remco released this colorful sidearm way back in the late 1960's. I don't own a boxed version, so you'll just have to make due with that catalog shot up there.



The Rundown: Ah, 60's Remco product... Why do you have to be so cheesy-cool? The Astro Buzz Ray Gun is definitely far from being accurate to anything ever seen in Star Trek, but that doesn't stop it from being the bee's knees. Don't believe me? Well, let's take a closer look so I can prove it to you...



Let's start with that name: Astro Buzz Ray Gun. It wasn't enough to call it a Star Trek Gun, nor was it enough to call it just a Ray Gun. Remco felt the need to throw a "Buzz" in there, and then like a kid who puts too many toppings on his ice cream, they just went nuts and put "Astro" on top of that. Boy is that name a mouthful. By the time you'd yelled out "Stop Klingon, or I will fire my Star Trek Astro Buzz Ray Gun at you!", it would be way too late.



So why does it look so crazy? Well, as I explained in my second article for StarTrek.com, most of the late 60's Remco Trek product began life as toys from the Hamilton's Invaders line. Hamilton's Invaders was your standard fare for the time- Military guys fight giant insects. The Buzz Ray gun was first released as a role play item for the Hamilton line, but was later recolored and tweaked a bit for use in some of Remco's various licensed toy lines... like Star Trek.



Remco did take the time to make this version at least a little different than the other Buzz Ray Guns though. The side features a Star Trek logo sticker, and a small clear plastic area in the back houses a slightly stylized delta shield. You know- just like Kirk's Ray Gun looked in that one episode...



Now what would a good ray gun be without some special effects? It would be crap, that's what. The Astro Buzz Ray Gun has not one, but 2 electronic features... easily elevating it past the crap stage. Pull the trigger and you'll quickly understand the "buzz" part of the name (here's a hint- it's due to the annoying sound it emits). The gun also features a lighted area up front. Twist a dial along the side of the barrel and a multi-colored disk will turn, allowing you to alter the color of the light beam emitted. Check it out-



As a kid, I'd have loved it. As a parent, I'd have hated it. It's amazing how your perspective can shift over the years...



The Astro Buzz Ray Gun is a neat peek at what Star Trek toys were like during the show's original run. While it's vintage charm an quirky coolness make it neat to own, it doesn't exactly scream "Star Trek" while sitting on your shelf. Unless you are building a staple of 60's Star Trek toys, you definitely don't need one of these for your collection. Even if you did decide to go after one, you'd have to consider the price; Nice loose samples like the one above can routinely bring $100-$150, with boxed versions doubling or tripling that. Yikes! So yeah, definitely skippable for all those but the most hardcore of vintage Trek toy fans...