Playmates Spotlight- First Officer Spock (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: First Officer Spock
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Spock was released as part of the excellent Playmates Classic Crew set. He was also released in a "Tholian Web" 2-pack with an Interphase Kirk (which I still need to take a picture of).



The Rundown: The last figure from the Classic Crew Set to get the spotlight treatment- Mr. Spock! If you're displaying a classic crew, this is the most 'vanilla' of the Spocks available, even though he has one slight issue...



On the plus side, the body sculpt is good and does a fine job capturing the tall slender Mr. Spock. It's pretty poseable and can manage a decent amount of logical poses.



I'm a big fan of the Playmates Classic Spock head sculpt. They did a fine job recreating Nimoy's distinct features. Ah, but there's my gripe in that picture up there! See it?...



...the dreaded Vulcan salute hand! This figures were made before the days were interchangeable hands were commonplace, so Playmates decision to make Spock permanently doing the "LL&P" is a bummer. The pose really limits your display choices.



Accessories: Spock includes his display stand (not pictured), a phaser, and a communicator. Too bad he can only hold 1 accessory at a time...

Box bio:





Despite the hand issue, Spock is still a really nice figure from an insanely sweet box set. The Classic Crew Collector Set is really one of the gems of the Playmates line, and I can't recommend it enough. You can get it for a fairly cheap amount nowadays and it's the perfect place to start a Playmates collection. It also makes a great set for younger fans getting into the classic show (both my boys have their own sets, and they are their "go to" Trek figures of choice).

Playmates Spotlight- Dr. McCoy (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Dr. McCoy
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



McCoy was released as part of Playmates' Classic Star Trek Collector Set.



The Rundown: McCoy is one of the better figures from this awesome set. There's not much to nitpick on Bones here...



The body sculpt is really nice with good proportions. No stubby legs like Scotty, and a nice thin chest mold that really fits Kelley's build.



The Playmates McCoy head sculpt is pretty good, though maybe just a bit thick at the neck. The face is pretty dead-on though, capturing all the great details of McCoy's slightly older face.



One of the nice things about McCoy is that he can actually hold both accessories well, as opposed to some of the other figures in the set like Kirk and Spock. They both fit really well and you can get some good action poses out of McCoy with them in his hands.



Accessories: McCoy includes a sciences display stand (not pictured), a phaser, and a communicator.

Box bio-

Playmates Spotlight- Chief Engineer Scott (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Chief Engineer Scott
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Mr. Scott was released as part of the Playmates Classic Crew Collector Set.



The Rundown: Another figure from the insanely sweet Playmates TOS Bridge Crew Set- Scotty! Mr. Scott is probably the figure with the most problems out of the bunch. It's not a bad figure, but there's definitely some hinky stuff going on.



Let's start with the good: The head sculpt is quite good and looks very much like Doohan. There's even some worry lines painted on the forehead that I feel work really well for Scotty.



The body is where things get a little weird. The upper torso looks fine on it's own, but the legs throw everything off. For some reason the legs are really short and stubby and it makes the upper torso (and especially the arms) look inordinately long. The proportions throw the look of the figure off a bit. It's a shame because other than the wonky legs on Scott, I don't have any real problems with any other figure in the set.



Accessories: Just like the other figures in the set, Scott includes a display base representing his division (not pictured), a phaser, and a tricorder.

His box bio-





I don't want to seem like I'm hating on this figure too much. I really do like it, despite the legs. I've heard some folks switch out Scott's lower legs with Chekov's, making Scott taller and Chekov a little shorter. I may try this myself to give Scott a better look...

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Lt. Uhura (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Lt. Uhura
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Uhura was released by Playmates in their sweet boxed Classic Star Trek Crew Collector's Set.



The Rundown: Another fine addition from the excellent Playmates Classic Star Trek Collector's Set: Uhura! Uhura here only had 2 TOS-style 4.5" figures from Playmates, so thankfully this one's a winner!



Playmates did a fine job on the Uhura body sculpt. The uniform is well sculpted, the joints don't look overly bulky, and the figure has a decent bit of articulation. Unfortunately, the skirt prevents the hip articulation from really doing anything, so there's now way of getting Uhura into a good sitting position. But since Playmates never gave us a Classic Bridge playset for her to sit down on anyway, I guess that's kind of a moot point.



The head sculpt is pretty decent. It looks enough like Nichelle from certain angles that you can definitely tell it's her. I think they really got the nose right, but the face may be just a tad thin. Still not bad by any means...



As with some of the other figures in the set, the hands aren't sculpted all that well for holding the accessories. The communicator fits well, but there's not a good way of having her hold the phaser naturally. It's a bit of a nuisance, and I wish they had designed the hands a bit better, but that's picking nits. I still love this figure and the rest from the set.



Accessories: Uhura (like the others in the set) comes with a phaser, a communicator, and a display stand depicting her division (not pictured).

And her box bio-



-James

Playmates Figure Spotlight- Lieutenant Sulu (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Lieutenant Sulu
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Sulu was released by Playmates as part of it's boxed Classic Star Trek Crew Collector's Set.



The Rundown: If you've been reading this blog you already know of my affection for the Playmates Classic Crew Collector's Set. The pack looks fantastic and the figures are all great (if you dig Playmates style...which I do). Sulu here is another fine figure from the set.



I think the head sculpt is pretty darned good and looks allot like Takei. The skin tone and hair are especially nice.



I don't believe I've mentioned this before, but I really like that the rank piping on the wrist is sculpted on and not just painted. It helps the rank 'pop' more and looks much better than a simple paint app.



You're looking at standard Playmates articulation here. Pretty solid, but of course the figures have the dreaded 'V-crotch' style articulation. Not a huge deal, and it's part of Playmates style, but of course I would have preferred different hip joints. Still, I love Playmates-style Trek figures and I think Sulu is a fine example of their stuff.



Accessories: As with all figures in the set, Sulu comes with a display stand (not pictured), a phaser, and a communicator.

And his box bio-



-James

Playmates Figure Spotlight- Captain James T. Kirk (Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Captain James T. Kirk
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Kirk was released as part of the fantastic Playmates Classic Crew Collector's Set.



The Rundown: As with the other figures in the classic crew set, Kirk here comes dressed in his standard uniform from the series. Getting all the crew together in their standard uniforms made this set a 'must-buy'. If you dig the Playmates style of figures, and you want Kirk in his regular outfit than this set was the only way to do it. Sure, Kirk is available in his gold shirt in other ways...but they all have slight changes (like the gold sash in the Balok set, or the 'battle-damage' in the Amok Time set).



I've said it before and I'll say it again...I think Playmates did a fine job capturing the Shat-man's likeness. This figure is the first classic Kirk from Playmates and they'd go on reusing the head sculpt for all the TOS Kirks. That's fine because it's a solid head sculpt. The paint job on this release is sharp too, with less emphasis on the forehead lines and better eyes than some of the later reuses.



The body sculpt is your standard Playmates style. If you don't like that style, you'll hate the figure, but if you do, the whole set features some of their nicest bodies. I personally love the playmates stuff and the classic crew are some of my favorite figures ever produced. Sure, they may not be as accurate as the AA/ DST sculpts, but these are figures that were made as 'toys' and not scaled replicas.



My only big gripe on the set is with some of the hands on the figures. They aren't sculpted to hold their accessories very well. You'll be lucky to get Kirk to hold a phaser...you can pretty much forget about the communicator. It's the one major flaw and I wish they would have done a better job on it.



Accessories: Kirk comes with a phaser and a communicator. He also comes with a command display stand (not pictured).

And here's Kirk's bio from the box:



-James

Playmates Figure Spotlight- Ensign Chekov(Classic Star Trek Collector Set)

Figure Name: Ensign Chekov
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Pavel was released as part of the insanely awesome Classic Star Trek Collectors Figure Set.



The Rundown: Let me start off by saying the Playmates Classic Crew Collector Set may be my favorite Star Trek toy ever produced. It's an awesome set and I highly recommend getting it if you dont have it already. The box is awesome and you get all 7 main crew members in one swoop. They all feature very good likenesses too, like our boy Chekov here-



That's a pretty good likeness for Playmates. To me, it's easily recognizable as Chekov. They really got the boyish, Davy Jones look that Pavel sported at the time. The body sculpt is solid too with a good, young build. This is the only classic series Chekov Playmates ever did (not including the Transporter series one that shared this same sculpt) so thankfully it's pretty much spot-on. If you're a fan of playmates style figures, this figure (not to mention the whole set) is a must-have.



Accessories: Like very other figure in this set, Pavel comes with a phaser and a communicator. Both are very well sculpted and painted. Each figure also comes with a delta shiled display stand matching their field- command, sciences, or engineering (not pictured).

And in case you want to read the bio from the back of the box-