AA/ DST Special Feature: Assembling The Ultimate Crew!

So I am not sure if you guys have heard or not, but Diamond Select Toys recently unveiled plans for a new Star Trek figure line called "Star Trek Select". The new line will consist of individual 7" figures featuring packed-in dioramas and interchangeable parts. While I am all for new Trek toys, it seems these figures will lean more towards pre-posed stances as over the high articulation of the older DST efforts. You can check out pictures of the first release in this line, Spock, right here: Star Trek Select Spock.

I believe I will hold out my final judgment until I get ol' pointy ears in my hot little hands... but this new line got me thinking about my AA/ DST crew. While previous Trek toy manufacturers like Playmates and Mego really offered one definitive version of the main crew, AA/ DST released so many different variations on the mainstays that it could be pretty daunting for a new collector to go back and pick out the cream of the crop. Which leads me to this post...

With this new announcement pretty much putting the nail in the coffin of the old line, I figured it would be a good time to give you my version of a definitive AA/ DST crew. Some of these are pretty easy picks... others not so much. Some are gonna take a little elbow grease and extra dough to make happen. But you want the best, ya gotta work for it... And of course, this is all my opinion here. You may not agree with my picks, and that is totally cool. These just happen to be my personal picks after years of Trek collecting. So without further ado... My ultimate AA/ DST Classic Star Trek Crew!

Spock And McCoy:



These are pretty simple, and require very little effort to make "perfect". Both McCoy and Spock were best represented in their DST reissues due mostly to the gold used on their rank braids and uniform insignias. The original releases from Art Asylum (while great) featured a cheaper gold paint that I've noticed turns a greenish color over time.



Both Spock and McCoy came as single card reissues or in 2-packs. Since we are assembling the "ultimate" crew, go with those 2 packs. Spock (originally spotlighted HERE) comes with Scotty, while McCoy (spotlighted HERE) includes Sulu. The offerings in both sets (as we will see) are just about perfect... with the exception of one minor detail:



Just like usual, DST only saw fit to include a "Live Long & Prosper" hand on Spocky-poo... So you'll need to crib one off a different figure to really make him shine.

Scotty & Uhura:

For the 2 immortal red shirts, I'd recommend hitting those reissues yet again (and you'll already have Scott thanks to the Spock 2-pack). Not only ifs the gold better, but unlike the original Art Asylum versions, the red actually matches between the two! Who'da thunk it.



Mr. Scott (originally spotlighted HERE) is pretty much ready to go right out of the box... except for one essential accessory- Liquor! Thankfully, you'll be buying a DST Casual Kirk soon enough, so you'll have a bottle of brandy ready for Scotty's eager mitts.



Uhura (who was originally spotlighted HERE) is also ready for display right out of the box with the exception of one accessory... A phaser! Again though, you'll be picking up that extra Kirk that will supply the lovely Uhura with the firepower she was sorely lacking.

Sulu:



I know I am starting to sound like a broken record here, but once again the DST reissue 2-packs offer the best version of the character in this style. The gold is great once again, but more importantly, the yellowish gold shirt is much better match to most of the "standard" DST Kirk figures. The original Art Asylum versions (much like Scotty and Uhura) didn't match up between characters, so this Sulu offers a great starting point for a matching crew. The only bummer is that he was only released in the 2-pack with MCoy, so you're gonna be stuck buying 2 to complete the custom Chekov and Kirk needed for our ultimate crew.

Yep. You read that right... Time to get into the tough stuff.

Kirk:



I am gonna make a bold statement here- AA/DST never released a truly definitive gold-shirt Kirk. There. I said it. Don't agree? Well, show me one that has a great head sculpt, a shirt that matches Sulu & Chekov, and a tunic that doesn't look like it was fitted for a 7-year-old girl that only eats crackers for every meal. Can't do it, can ya? That is because there isn't one of those. The first AA release (featured WAY back HERE) was pretty good, but it featured a shirt that ended up not matching Sulu or Chekov. Then DST took a few turns, and each one ended up using McCoy's shirt mold for some reason, leaving you with a weird ill-fitting look like the Kirk featured HERE. Oh, and almost all of them used the original AA head sculpt, arguably the weakest of the entire crew. Poop. So what do we do about Kirk? Glad ya asked!



Time to stretch those customizing muscles! We start off with that Kirk you just got from the Uhura 2-pack. His arms are the right color to match Sulu, but his head and shirt are absolute turds. So here is what you're gonna do...

1.) Get some water to a boiling point and then remove it from the heat source.
2.) Dip that Kirk's torso in the water for about 60 seconds or so to get the plastic soft.
3.) Pop his head off.
4.) This part is a little tough. You're gonna need to slowly work that rubbery shirt portion up and off of his body. This probably the hardest task of the entire job and will take great care to get it off without tearing the material (which you will need to do since we will be using this shirt later on). Hopefully, practice will make perfect... as you're gonna need to do this a few more times.
5.) Repeat steps 1-4 with that extra 2-pack reissue Sulu I mentioned you would need earlier.
6.) Work the Sulu shirt onto the shirtless Kirk body.

See, that wasn't so hard was it? And you were worried. You should now have a gold-shirted Kirk that will match your reissue Sulu, sans his head. For the head, I highly recommend you pick up DST Season 1 Casual Attire Kirk (spotlighted HERE). Not only will you get the definitive AA/DST head sculpt, but you also get those extra accessories we snagged for Scotty & Uhura earlier on! The head switch works just the same as when you removed Kirk's head just a bit ago- Boil up some water, dip it for 60-90 seconds, pop it off and then stick it onto the custom Kirk while the plastic is still soft. There ya go! Perfect practice for...

Chekov:

Chekov presents the biggest challenge of the bunch, since he never got a DST reissue... Meaning we don't have a really good base to start with. Let's look around at what we have left though... Looks like we have a reissue Sulu body with no shirt, and the shirt we took off of the reissue Kirk. Well that looks like a good start. We do have a problem though- Sulu has rank braids on his arms, while Chekov's rank as ensign means he had no rank braids. Poop again. While we could try and dremel or sand them off, that may leave us with uglier arms than what we are hoping for. Oh... We also don't have a Chekov head. Poop to the third power. Whatever shall we do?



The missing head is actually the solution to both our problems... but also means forking over some cash for another figure. Head on over to eBay or your favorite secondary-market dealer and snag one of the old Entertainment Earth Exclusive Mirror Chekov figures (spotlighted HERE). Using the same methods we discussed before, pop the head off Pavel. We now have the head we need for ultimate Chekov! Now we just need those arms. This part is a little tricky; You're going to need to pop him apart at his mid-torso ball joint (the point of articulation hidden under his shirt that allows him to hula hoop). You can do this the same way you took off his head- Stick him in boiling water and just yank the upper joint off of the lower one. Once you have his head and his upper torso taken off, remove that rubbery Mirror Universe shirt. Now take your shirtless Sulu from before, dip him in that hot water, and remove his upper torso just like you did Chekov's. Pop the upper Chekov torso and arms onto the lower torso and legs of Sulu and slip that Kirk shirt you had sitting around onto the body. Since that Mirror Chekov was made in a very similar color to these DST reissues, you now have ensign arms that match the gold shirts of the 2-pack releases. Finish up by heating Chekov's head up just a bit and attaching it to his new body. Voila... You now have a reissue-style Chekov, and all it really cost you was the price of the Mirror version (since we already had the Sulu body and Kirk shirt from our ultimate Kirk custom).



There ya go... The ultimate AA/ DST Classic Star Trek crew! As I said before, these are all my personal picks, so you may not agree with choices here. I do hope that you at least enjoyed looking this over and that maybe you'll take a stab at pulling off these customs. If you have any questions or need any help, just shoot me an e-mail over at apieceoftheaction@live.com

Live long and all that good stuff...

-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Original Series Communicator

Item Name: Original Series Communicator
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Diamond Select first released this communicator around 2007 in the black style box seen above...



...followed by a pairing with the TOS phaser (pictured is the Entertainment Earth version)...



...and lastly, in the blue "universal" branding single box (available through Toys R Us). *Phew*



The Rundown: If there's one thing that Diamond Select has done better than just about any other Star Trek licensee, it's offering really nice prop replicas at affordable prices. Sure, their stuff might not be as screen accurate as a Master Replicas piece, but you absolutely can't beat what you get for the price. We've previously looked at the various DST Tricorders (which you can find HERE), and one day I'll get around to highlighting the plethora of Phaser releases... but today we are gonna get chatty with the TOS Communicator replica!



Now I'm no prop expert, but I think DST did a heckuva job replicating the screen used prop here. The size and shape seems just right, and the internal area looks like it jumped right off the screen. Often times, a toy (and yes, this is technically still a toy) will have to compromise it's accuracy in favor of electronics. Not so with the DST Communicator. Everything works exactly as it should, with no oversized buttons or enlarged speakers getting in the way.



Speaking of the electronics- there's no shortage of bells and whistles here! Let's start with moire. A lot of previous communicators settled for a lenticular sticker to reproduce the spinning moire effect. Stickers suck. With the DST Communicator, flipping open the grill activates an actual electronic "spinning" effect. It's a bit on the noisy side, but man does it look sweet...



Now that we have her open, we can access the rest of the effects. The interior area features 3 lights (yellow, blue, & red) and a small silver area which houses 2 buttons and small speaker. The lights activate when the communicator flips open, but most of the sound effects are initiated by the use of the 2 buttons. The button on your right (closest to the wall of the communicator) allows you to cycle through the different voice clips stored in the device, while the button on your left activates the "red alert callback" feature. Press it in for a few seconds, close the lid, and your communicator will actually call you... You don't even need friends with this thing.

Check out this quick video for a rundown on the electronics. Oh... and I used the "test" feature on the voice clips so that I wouldn't have to keep pressing the button over and over. Just in case you were curious. Which you probably weren't.



Pretty slick, huh? For those of you that have the standard DST Communicator in your collections, you may have noticed that there were actually 9 phrases featured in that video instead of the 8 featured in a standard version. That's because I used the Entertainment Earth exclusive version for this demo. The EE version includes the extra Spock phrase "Your signal is very weak, can you turn up your gain?". But that's not the only difference in that release...



DST used three distinctly different grills (or antennae if you prefer) across their Communicator releases. While the standard and EE versions only differ in color, the TRU version looks to be an entirely different mold. Let's check 'em out!



Up there is your 'standard' release- metal grill with a nice brass paint job. I think this is my fav of the grills.



The Entertainment Earth exclusive features a golden paint job over a metal grill. While I prefer the bronze of the standard, I have no problems with this one either. I just imagine this one as a brand new, "polished" Communicator... How they might look before Kirk breaks 'em in.



Lastly, we have the newer Toys R Us release. Eh. I'm not a fan of this one. I guess for cost reasons, they switched to a gold plastic for this version... and boy does it show. The mold is thicker, with larger rings connecting it to the Communicator's body. The holes in the grill are also REALLY small, making the lid seem more solid than it should. Overall, a definite step down in quality.



Still, no matter which version you opt for, there's no denying that this is one fine piece of equipment. The sound effects are great, the callback feature is really fun, and the overall design is sharp. If you can, try and grab one of the earlier 2 releases... but if cost is an issue, go ahead and snag the Toys R Us version. Most TRU stores I've seen have it on clearance at a measly $18, which makes the cheaper grill a little easier to accept. Now I just gotta find some nice velcro to attach this thing to my pants with...

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.

AA/ DST Spotlight- Star Trek Minimates Series 1 (3")

Manufacturer: Art Asylum
Item Name: Star Trek Minimates Series 1 (3")



Art Asylum released this series of Star Trek Minimates way back in 2002. They were available in these nifty hard plastic tubes (I seem to have misplaced my Mugatu)...



... or on standard cardbacks. The "Trouble With Tribbles" Kirk was only available in the carded packaging. And it looks like I've managed to lose my carded McCoy as well.



The Rundown: Man, it's hard to believe Minimates are almost a decade old now! I guess time really does fly. Today we are taking a look at the granddaddy wave of Star Trek Minimates: The original series 1 3" figures from 2002! I really don't have a lot to say on these guys individually, so I figured I'd group all the 3" guys into one post to make this worthwhile. But first- a little more info on these "less-mini" minimates...



The original Minimates from Art Asylum were based on a slightly larger scale, with figures clocking in at 3" instead of the now standard 2". While the larger size made sense for individual figure releases, the block figure concept doesn't really work when the figures are this big. The simplified detailing just looks better on the slightly smaller 2" scale.



Take a look at the difference in the McCoy likenesses here. Part of the reason the smaller McCoy looks so much better in his 2" version is due to improvements in Art Asylum's work over the years, but I feel part of it is due to the scale as well. Those simple features look a little ridiculous blown up like that, but might be just fine shrunk down to 2" scale.



It's not just the faces on these that look a little primitive either. As evidenced by the "casual" Kirk comparison above, the costume detailing is almost non-existent on these early minimates. It's weird to see how much is crammed into the little guys, while these larger guys look almost unfinished. And it's like that pretty much across the entire wave. Let's take a look at each of 'em!



Kirk is featured in his standard "gold" shirt, which is a no-brainer for the first release of the good captain. Kirk's likeness is just about on par with his 2" counterpart, but that's mostly because the smaller version is one of the least accurate of that scale. The fact that his delta shield isn't even painted gold (it just uses the yellow of his shirt with a stenciled outline) is a big no-no though. Kirk comes equipped with his trusty hand phaser... Oh, and before I forget, each of the 3" minimates came with an odd Art Asylum puzzle piece thing. It wasn't really a base, since there weren't any peg holes or anything; They were just weird, useless plastic puzzle pieces... So I threw them in a box somewhere and forgot about them (thus why it isn't pictured).



Next we have Dr. McCoy. The blue of the shirt used with both Dr. McCoy and Spock is a little on the dark side for my tastes. Other than that, Bones isn't too bad, though his likeness is a bit easier to capture due to the "character" in De Kelley's face. McCoy comes equipped with a tricorder.



Spock rounds out the 3 crew releases. The likeness here is pretty weak when compared to the others, with an over-reliance on Spock's distinctive eyebrows to help sell this as Spock. Mister Spock does feature something unique amongst these releases though: an interchangeable hand! It seems like every AA Spock, no matter the scale, has to come with a "Live Long and Prosper" hand. It must be in Spock's contract or something. He also comes equipped with the tricorder, just like McCoy. Let's take a minute to look at those accessories a little closer:



Again, we see how the detailing improved when the decision was made to shrink down the minimates. These original 3" scale accessories lack even the most basic detailing when compared to their smaller brethren.



To combat our three intrepid heroes, Art Asylum included a trio of dastardly villains in this initial wave. Khan here has no accessories and comes in a very odd outfit choice (as opposed to the solid red later released in the 2" line). I will say this about the larger Khan though; I actually think the face looks much more like Ricardo than it does on the smaller one. He is probably the only one of the bunch that I can say that about.



The Gorn is another obvious choice for an initial villain in any Trek line. I was pretty pleased with him when he first came out, but comparison with the 2" version brings out his shortcomings more than any of the others. The square blocks on the tunic, the painted-on attire, the weird yellow squares on the knees... It's like comparing the graphics on an Atari 2600 with those on a Sega Genesis. Hey, sweet analogy James! Oh... and the Gorn comes with a spike and a translator, but I dropped the translator before I took the picture. So use your imagination.



Finishing out the wave is the Mugatu! This one has the distinction of being the only 3" Trek minimate to not get a 2" counterpart... which is a really shame because he's probably the coolest release of the batch! What he lacks in accessories (he has none), he makes up for in cool sculpted parts. Check out those sweet back spikes!

So that's all of them... oh wait! There's this one too-



While not part of the initial wave, I'm grouping the "Trouble with Tribbles" Kirk in with this post too. TWT Kirk was a separate exclusive release through Figures.com. He's built on the 3" body, just like the initial wave, and comes equipped with the same silver hand phaser. He also includes a bunch of fuzzy "tribbles" (basically just little colored puff balls on a string). While there's nothing very memorable about this release, I do think his cocky grin is pretty well done.



And that's it for the 3" minimates. A second wave was planned that included the rest of the core crew, plus a "mirror" Kirk and a klingon... but it got the axe when the larger format was retired. With only this small grouping of figures released, there really isn't a need for most folks to pick these up. If you are interested in getting into the Trek minimate line, you're better off going with the 2" guys. The line is much more expansive, and the product is just plain better.