Playmates Spotlight- Klingon Bird Of Prey (Star Trek Strike Force Collection)

Item Name: Klingon Bird Of Prey
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released this BOP in the "Warp Factor" style packaging as part of the "Star Trek Strike Force" line.



The Rundown: Playmates Strike Force line seems like the counterpart to the Star Wars Action Fleet line. Both feature tiny little figures which sit inside ships that are sometimes "slightly" out of scale. Unfortunately, the Strike Force Series(like it's predecessor the Innerspace Series) didn't quite catch on like the Star Wars stuff, and the line was canceled fairly quickly. This Bird Of Prey marks the only "classic" release in the line, since it's inspired by "Star Trek III The Search For Spock".



Let's look at the crew first. You get Valkris and Kruge with your BOP. This is Kruge's second figure from Playmates (to go along with his 4.5" figure), but this is the only Valkris ever made. I'm a little curious why Valkris was chosen for this, since she was never actually on the Bird Of Prey. She sure is showing a lot of skin there. Maybe that's why. The figures don't look very detailed, but you have to remember that they are only a little over an inch tall. Not too bad for that size.



If you're looking for the most accurate representation of a Bird Of Prey, this ain't it. The ships of this line are built with the gimmick of the line in mind, so certain liberties are taken with size and scale. The Bird Of Prey features 2 different play features. First, there's the wing deployment. Press the little switch on top to change the wing position to this:



Yep, that's it. I didn't accidentally post the same pic twice or something. that really is it. Pretty disappointing, huh? The wings don't really move up all that much. I actually thought maybe mine were broken or something, but no, that's it. Oh, and they are really floppy when they are down too. Lame.



The other feature is the opening cockpit for you to place Commander Kruge in. You'll notice he's coming out of the seat quite a bit there. That's because he's too big to fit in the cockpit all that well. In fact, I couldn't even get the thing to close with him in it.



The ship is kinda short on detailing too. I'm trying to cut it some slack, since again this is a toy, but this thing is pretty bad. It doesn't have the weathering shown in the packaging pics, nor does it have the red "feather" detailing on the wings. Even a decal would have been better than nothing, and I hate decals.



The ship includes a stand which is actually pretty nice. There's even little spots for you to plug the figures into, which is good since they can't both fit in the ship.



There's the box bio for ya...



This is one best left for the young Trek fan. The ship is light on detailing and heavy on size inaccuracy. I'll bet it would be a ton of fun for a 7 year old though...

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Galileo Shuttlecraft

Item Name: Galileo Shuttlecraft
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released the Galileo Shuttlecraft as part of it's Classic Star Trek line (with an exclusive "Where No Man Has Gone Before" Captain Kirk).



The Rundown: Playmates released 3 figure-scaled vehicles: the TNG Shuttlecraft, the DS9 Runabout, and this Classic Series Galileo Shuttlecraft! While it may not have the electronics of the other 2, it's still packed with plenty of features.



Since I just spotlighted him yesterday, you already know the Galileo includes an exclusive figure- the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" Kirk. This is the only one of the 3 figure-scaled vehicles to include a figure, so I feel like that helps justify the lack of electronics. As a little side note- The box lists the Shuttlecraft as first appearing in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (thus the Kirk), but the Shuttlecraft didn't make it's first production appearance until "The Galileo 7".



The Galileo is a 2-seater. The front of the shuttle lifts open to place 1 figure at the controls:



While not entirely screen accurate, there's enough details in here to make it appear like the classic shuttle's controls. The seat has a safety belt harness to keep the figure from flopping around (which has a TNG symbol on it...probably a reuse from the TNG shuttle). It's a little tough to get a figure seated in here though, especially with that V-crotch....



The back of the shuttle opens up to reveal the second seat. Same deal as the front- there's a safety harness back here too. It's even more difficult to get a figure in here though due to the cramped space.



There's a bunch of panels that open up on the Galileo for added play value. There's one up front...



...and one on each nacelle. Perfect for making repairs when your crash land near Zefram Cochrane's house!



Playmates also tried to incorporate the door mechanism seen in the series. While it's a cool feature...



...there's obviously no way a figure's getting through there. I can't fault Playmates for adding a feature in though ;)



Accessories: In addition to the Kirk figure, the Galielo includes the laser cannon featured in "The Cage" (so this set includes stuff from at least 3 different episodes).

So even though it's not really accurately scaled, and Playmates definitely took some liberties with it, the Galielo is still super-cool and definitely worth picking up. It looks great in a figure display and has a bunch of cool features. Makes me wish DST would make one for their figures...but we all know that probably ain't happening.

-James

Playmates Spotlight: Klingon Bird-Of-Prey

Item Name: Klingon Bird-Of-Prey
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released the Klingon BOP in both a Star Trek Generations and a Star Trek: The Next Generation box (I don't have a TNG version for pictures). The ships are the same inside.



The Rundown: I've been on a "Klingon Ship" kick lately with these spotlights...so I figured why not throw in one of Playmates' finer efforts: the Klingon Bird-Of-Prey! I'm a huge fan of this ship design, so it's nice that Playmates did a pretty decent job with this one-



As you can see, the detailing is pretty nice for a Playmates product. You have to remember that these aren't like the Art Asylum/ Diamond Select ships; the Playmates ships were made really as toys first and as a display piece second. At the price range these were released in though ($25 usually), there's a good amount of bang for your buck.



Here's the bottom of the ship...again, good strong detailing and a nice, clean paint job. Sure, the ship could have used a little more weathering...but this is pretty much what you'd expect of a mass-market toy at the time.



As with most of the Playmates ships, there's some nice electronic features to add some play value to the piece. There are 3 buttons on the top of the ship to activate it's 3 different sounds: torpedo launch, engine cruise, and disruptor. The sounds are all very clear and pretty loud. The ship has 2 lighted areas that are also activated by the buttons. There's the engine exhaust as seen above and...



...the torpedo launcher as seen here.



The BOP also comes with a stand with an attached battery compartment covery. Switch out the battery compartment cover that is on the ship in 'play-mode' with the stand for a very nice display piece! I much prefer this 'switch-out battery cover/ stand' to some of AA's 'pegged' stands (which sometimes don't hold up well over time).

So it's a really nice ship, even by today's standards. My only gripe is the lack of movable wings. I'm guessing it has to do with either leaving space for the electronics, or Playmates just getting cheap. Either way, it's a feature that I hope DST squeezes into their rumored version...

Oh...read the box bio!



-James