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. ;)

Playmates Spotlight- Commander Spock ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Figure Name: Commander Spock
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Commander Spock was released carded as part of Playmates' Classic Star Trek Movie Series.



The Rundown: After doing this for 2 years, I've started to find myself forgetting which figures in my collection I have spotlighted and which I haven't. Take this Spock we are looking at today for example. I've probably looked at this Spock at least a dozen times on my shelves, and every time I've left him sitting there thinking that I'd already spotlighted him. Well, I guess there's egg on my face, because it turns out that I hadn't. So, without further ado... here's Spock!



Captured in his starfleet uniform from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", this Spock is basically your standard Playmates release. I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but I really feel like the Classic Star Trek Movie Series to which this figure belongs features some of Playmates finest efforts with the license. Each figures featured strong, unique sculpting for the most part, and the character selection was like a classic movie fan's wishlist for figures.



Each of the TMP-era figures released in the wave feature newly-sculpted bodies that do a fantastic job of recreating the screen costumes. I hear a lot of folks often complain about the Playmates bodies, but I don't see how anybody could look at Spock here and call this a bad figure. I'll admit that there work could be a bit questionable at times... but the TMP figures ROCKED.



BUT...Spock isn't a completely flawless Playmates effort. First, I believe they got the background color on his delta shield wrong. Second, Playmates for some reason felt the need to sculpt one of Spock's feet slightly bent to give the appearance that he is stepping forward. I have no idea why they chose to give Spock an "action-oriented" stance. Kirk? Sure. Sulu? Yeah, I get that. But Spock? That's just not logical. It's not really a huge deal, but it does makes it difficult to give Spock a straight stance without the aid of a figure stand.



Now here comes my big gripe with this release. While all of the other figures released in the classic movie series featured head sculpts that were a bit more aged than their TOS counterparts, Spock simply gets a new paintjob on his TOS-era head. Check it out-



It's a little tough to tell due to the paint on the TMP head, but if you look closely enough you'll see that this is indeed the same head. While you could argue that Spock looks relatively the same in TMP as he did in the classic series, I still feel Playmates should have given us a new sculpt. Sulu gets a new head, Uhura gets a new head, but not Spock? Oh, and to add insult to injury- having the skin painted on instead of being molded in flesh-tone makes this figure very susceptible to the dreaded "nose rub". You'll often find this figure with the paint rubbed away from the tip of his nose, sometimes even when he's still in the package. Bummer.



Accessories: Spock includes some engineering tools, a display base (not pictured), and an awesome little Kolinahr necklace...



...which you can use to reenact scenes from the recently spotlighted novel Crucible: Spock by David R. George III! Reading is FUN-da-mental!



Also included with Spock is a piece of V-Ger. Collect all 5 TMP figures to complete your own mini-V'Ger!



And there's the bio from the back of the box... just in case you like reading such things.



A couple of minor quibbles aside, Spock is still a pretty fine figure. He's got a solid sculpt and looks great alongside the rest of the TMP-era figures. While Playmates never released a Scotty, Chekov, or Decker from "The Motion Picture", the Classic Star Trek Movie Series is still overall your best bet for an accurate display featuring these uniforms. Mego's 3.75" efforts were diverse, but lacked accuracy when it came to the uniforms. Their 12.5" figures on the other hand were quite accurate, but only covered a handful of characters. DST put out great figures of Spock and Kirk (in both his Captain and Admiral uniforms), but never managed to release any other crew members. So yeah... if you want a good TMP figure display, you gotta go with Playmates. The best part is that you can do it on the cheap, with most of these guys usually going in the $5-$10 range. At that price, it would be a crime not to jump into these if you're a fan of the first film. Just remember to watch out for that nose...

Playmates Spotlight- Mr. Spock In Dress Uniform (Starfleet Officers Collectors Set)

Figure Name: Mr. Spock (In Dress Uniform)
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released this Spock in his Sunday-go-to-meetin' clothes as part of their Starfleet Officers Collectors Set.



The Rundown: After looking at Kirk in his dress uniform the other day, the only logical choice would be to follow up with a spotlight on Spock. Since we delved into the wheres, whys, and hows of the set last time, I won't bore you with regurgitating my views on it again here. Head back to the Kirk spotlight if you want to read all that again... but for now, let's look at Spock!



Just like Kirk, Spock features the same head used on all his TOS-era Playmates figures. You can say what you want about the Playmates bodies, but you can't really complain about their head sculpts for the most part. Their Spock head still rocks after all these years.



Playmates gave both Kirk and Spock unique chest sculpts for these releases. The attention to detail is pretty thorough here, with all of Spock's medals being individually sculpted and painted. They even made sure the gold piping was correct on these releases, with Spock lacking the gold piping that runs from his collar to his shoulders- just like it was on the show.



Unfortunately, Spock features the same open hands that we just looked at on Kirk. Again, since they don't really use any weapons while wearing these uniforms, it's not a huge deal... but it still would have been nice to have the option to display them holding their accessories.



You know what's a bit odd though? Playmates seemed to LOVE sticking Spock with a "Live Long & Prosper" hand whenever they could. Yet here is one time where the salute makes sense... but they skip it!? What's up with that? How is he going to show McCoy how to pull off the Vulcan salute now? Well, he can at least do one thing with these hands...



Spock is no Herbert. He reaches. Hey brother...



Accessories: Spock includes a standard phaser and communicator, which he can drop at his feet.



Like I said with Kirk, recommending this pack isn't as cut and dry as a single carded figure. You're going to spend around $20 or so if you want this guy, but you'll be getting the Kirk plus 4 other non-TOS figures. Is that worth it? It is for me just to get the Kirk and Spock, but your mileage may vary. You'd also get a cool display stand that you can throw your Dress McCoy on to complete the big three, but then you run into the problem of having those pesky logos from the later shows on there. Guess I'll need to buy some electrical tape and do a little cover up. I don't want anybody coming over to the house and thinking I'm a "Next-gener" or something...

Playmates Spotlight- Captain James T. Kirk In Dress Uniform (Starfleet Officers Collectors Set)

Figure Name: Captain James T. Kirk (In Dress Uniform)
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released this spiffy-looking Kirk in their Starfleet Officers Collectors Set.



The Rundown: Before I get to this spotlight, I am going to get on a soapbox for just a minute. While looking at this Kirk, I started thinking about just how vast a new Classic Star Trek figure line would be if the right company came along to produce it. Think of all the myriad aliens, the multitude of crew members, and all the different costume variations that the line could mine from for possible figure offerings! Now that isn't to say that Playmates did a bad job in the 90's; I've always been a big fan of what they did back then with the license. But I'm talking about a modern line, with today's standards of articulation and sculpting. Something like the current vintage-style Star Wars figures- 3.75" scale with great sculpting and a perfect range of articulation. Plus, that size is perfect for vehicles and playsets, and who wouldn't want a Classic Shuttlecraft scaled to their figures? Or a bridge playset? This line could even mimic the vintage-style Star Wars figures a bit by giving the packaging a vintage look, incorporating photos from the show and maybe even some Gold Key comic elements. Just like when Kenner revived the Star Wars line back in 1995, all it would take is a company that's willing to put the resources into making the line into something worth collecting. Done right, there's absolutely no reason why that line wouldn't be a hit.

Okay, rant over. Let's take a look at this Kirk!



Always looking for ways to get the main crew members out to the masses, Playmates devised the ingenious Starfleet Officers Collectors Set. The pack offered 6 figures, 2 from each of the shows created up to that point. Each pairing featured the captain/ commander and their second in command. From Deep Space Nine, there's Commander Sisko and Kira Nerys, Captain Picard and Commander Riker are included from The Next Generation (both of whom are wearing skirts), and last but certainly not least- Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock from the Original Series, both garbed in dress uniforms.



What makes the pack both ingenious and frustrating at the same time is the exclusivity of the uniforms. 4 of the figures in the set were only released in this manner. So if you wanted dress uniform versions of Picard, Riker, Kirk, or Spock, you had to buy this set. Being a TOS guy myself, I really didn't have much use for the others, so I paid the full price of the set for 2 figures. Actually, I paid it twice since I wanted one to open and one to keep sealed. And that was back at full retail. Ouch. I guess the set isn't as bad for someone who collects all eras of Trek, but even then the Sisko and Kira are straight reissues. So if you did happen to collect all the different Playmates Trek lines, you probably already had those two. See? Ingenious for Playmates, frustrating for collectors.



The Kirk figure itself is pretty decent, but not without issues. The head sculpt is the same as all the other TOS-era Playmates releases. By now you should know that I don't really have any issues with this sculpt. It's a strong Shatner likeness even by today's sculpting standards.



The figure features a new chest mold which replicates the dress uniform quite well. The gold trim features a raised texture, and each of Kirk's medals is individually sculpted. It's nice to see Playmates not cut any corners here.

So far so good, right? Well here comes the bad...



What's up with these arms? I realize using Kirk's existing arms wouldn't work, since they would have featured the rank braids around the wrists... but why did they go with these stubby jobs? Even worse, the hands are sculpted so that they are pretty wide open, negating the possibility of him holding his accessories. I guess that's not a huge issue, since Kirk doesn't really use anything while wearing his dress uniform, but it still kinda stinks. Oh well...



Accessories: Kirk comes with the standard phaser and communicator. Also included with the set is this display stand, which can hold all 6 figures-



And although it doesn't really feature any info, here's the blurb from the back of the box:



While the nature of the pack may be a little off-putting, getting the crew in their dress uniforms is a pretty cool subset in my eyes. Kirk was later released in his dress uniform a couple of times by DST, but since Spock and McCoy were only released in their dress uniforms by Playmates, you'll need to go that route if you want to have all 3 in scale with each other. Since the pack goes for around $20 nowadays, it's going to be a personal debate on what value you place on the rest of the figures in the set. For me, the Kirk & Spock are worth $10 each and the rest are just freebies... but maybe that's just me.

Up next time...

Playmates Spotlight- Lieutenant (Commander?) Uhura ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Figure Name: Lieutenant Uhura
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Uhura was released carded as part of Playmates' Classic Star Trek Movie Series.



The Rundown: Now here's a figure that really surprised me when it was released. Uhura in her TMP uniform!? I never would have thought that Playmates would have done this uniform before releasing a TWOK-style Uhura. But they did, and I of course bought it. Should you? Read on...



The figure is constructed in the same basic manner as all the Playmates releases. Uhura features a good range of articulation, allowing you to pose her in a ton of action poses like "welcoming the Admiral aboard!" or "opening haling frequencies!". One small gripe-



Uhura has some ITTY BITTY hands! Since she doesn't come with a lot of large accessories, this isn't too big of an issue... but there's now way she's holding that tricorder anytime soon.



Since the crew was a smidgen older by the time the cameras rolled on TMP, Playmates had to do a few new head sculpts for these releases. I think they did a fairly nice job of capturing Nichelle's likeness here... especially her new hairdo! I'm actually surprised that this head was only used once...



...since all it takes is a parts swap and some paint to make a perfectly fine TWOK Uhura! Sigh. I wish Playmates had just had one more year of releases. I have no doubt we would have seen all the classic crew in these uniforms given time. But I digress.



Uhura's uniform is very nicely detailed, with an impressive display of the lines and accoutrements unique to the "Motion Picture" costumes. There is one glaring error though. Can you spot it? Here's a hint-



See anything different there? Sure ya do-



Uhura carried the rank of Lieutenant Commander in TMP, and thus has one solid and one broken rank braid on her sleeve. The figure only features one rank braid, making her a Lieutenant. Even stranger, the package lists the figure as a Lieutenant! So in some ways, the whole thing is correct unto itself... but inaccurate when it comes to representing Uhura's look and rank from the film. Playmates made the same sort of error on their TMP Sulu, giving him Commander rank braids instead of the correct Lieutenant Commander braids. These errors got me thinking...



Perhaps the Sulu and Uhura TMP figures actually started out as bodies for Decker and Ilia? How cool would that have been!?! I guess we'll never know for sure, but it does at least make customizing a bit easier.



Accessories: Uhura includes a tricorder, wrist communicator, PADD and a piece of V'Ger! Collect all 5 TMP style figures and build your own miniature V'Ger! Here's a shot of it completed:



Pretty nifty... but incredibly small.

And here's her box bio if you'd like to read more. It is a bit on the inaccurate side though, since Uhura was already part of the crew under Decker's command BEFORE Kirk returned to the Enterprise.





Rank issues aside, Uhura is still a really cool figure. If you're a sucker for the crews' look from the first film like me, Uhura (and the rest of the figures from the set) may be right up your alley. Just like most of the other Playmates 4.5" figures, you can get this one fairly cheap nowadays, so I really can't think of a reason not to buy it. What else are you going to spend your money on? Candy? Candy rots your teeth. 4 out of 5 dentists agree that Uhura does not rot your teeth. So go buy her. Your teeth will thank you.