Hallmark Ornament Spotlight- 2011 Romulan Bird-Of-Prey

Item Name: Romulan Bird-Of-Prey Keepsake Ornament
Manufacturer: Hallmark



Hallmark released this ornament as part of their 2011 keepsake assortment. Here's the back of the box if you care to read it-



The Rundown: As the old saying goes- Third time's a charm! After the mediocre showings of the first two 2011 Hallmark ornaments, I'm happy to tell you that I saved the best for last. This year's ship entry, the Romulan Bird-Of-Prey, definitely rules the roost amongst his 2011 brethren... but that isn't really saying much, is it? Let's take look at her and see if she is actually worth plunking down the money for.



The first thing you may notice when getting your BOP out of the box is how "smooth" it is. The ship lacks the intricately sculpted lines and details seen on some of Hallmark's recent ship offerings, like 2009's Klingon Battle Cruiser and 2010's "JJ-Prise". There's a reason for that though: The TOS Romulan Bird-Of-Prey isn't supposed to have hyper-detailing! Duh. Take a look at this picture of the shooting model-



Now look at the ornament-



Not only did Hallmark maintain the integrity of the shooting model by not adding silly things like unnecessary gridlines, but they also did an incredible job of recreating what small details were visible on the original prop. Compare the number of "portholes" and their placement between the two pictures. Go ahead. I'll wait for ya. Done? Yeah, they match pretty darn well, don't they? Good job Hallmark!



Of course, the most integral element to a good Bird-Of-Prey replica is the fowl decoration located on the underside. I have zero complaints with Hallmark's rendition here. The paint lines are nice and tight, with no mismatch between the pattern and the coloring. I also have to give them kudos for incorporating the battery cover into the tail feather portion of the image. Pretty sneaky sis!



Speaking of the batteries- The Romulan Bird-Of-Prey is part of the "Magic" series of ornaments... meaning you're going to get some kind of electronic feature built in. Press the button located on her top side, and this happens:




Pretty sweet, eh? Not sure how well it translated in the video, but the nacelle lights are SUPER bright. Some folks may have issue with the color chosen for the effect, but I personally dig the blue. It looks really sharp. Oh.. and I actually had no idea that the front part lit up until it started blinking. Excellent work all around!



At $32.95, the Romulan Bird-Of-Prey is the most expensive of this year's Hallmark Trek offerings. Thankfully, it also happens to be the best of the bunch. If money isn't really a factor, but you only have room on the tree for one 2011 Trek ornament, make it this one. It really is quite cool, and it would look great hanging near the original Enterprise (if you have that golden oldie). With the high price, you may be tempted to wait out the inevitable post-season clearance, but I have a feeling this one will be the first one to "disappear". After all, it is a Romulan Bird-Of Prey... Ya get it? "Disappear"? Because it can cloak! Ha!

AA/ DST Spotlight- Romulan

Item Name: Romulan
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



The Romulan was released carded as part of DST's Star Trek TOS "Wave 5" assortment.



The Rundown: Proving yet again that one can never have enough Kirk and Spock figures, DST brings us yet another....wait... wait a second... this isn't a Kirk!?! And I see some pointy eyebrows, but this isn't a Spock either!?! What... can this be... A new figure!?! GAAAHHHHH!!!!



A newly sculpted Trek figure from DST? Yeah, saying that I'm pretty excited about this release would be a huge understatement. When we first saw this figure at one of the conventions, he was one of three slated Romulan releases, which would help offset the cost of all the new tooling involved in him. The Romulan seen here is the first figure of the batch to see the light of day, with the Romulan Kirk coming soon in a 2-pack... and the Romulan Commander sadly stuck in production limbo. If I'd have had my choice, I'd easily trade a Romulan Kirk for that Commander figure... but I digress. Let's look at the standard Romulan!



As stated, the Romulan features an entirely new sculpt.. and boy is it nice! The figure features the standard range of articulation featured on the AA/ DST style of figures, lacking only the mid-torso joint used on many of their releases. That missing point is due to the fact that the Romulan features a solid torso sculpt; no rubbery shirt mold here! The only reused part I can spot on this body is the disruptor holster on the belt which first belonged to Kor. No big deal there... The holster works just as well here as it did on Kor, and I'm a sucker for working holsters on figures.



DST just labels this figure as a random Romulan, not pinning it down to any one in particular. It doesn't really look like the one pictured on the package either (which I believe is one of the guards that grabs Kirk in "The Enterprise Incident"). To me, the head looks like a nice cross between Decius (Lawrence Montaigne) and the unnamed Romulan scope operator portrayed by Robert Chadwick. Part of me thinks it was sculpted this way so that it could pass for both. Take a look:



See? Pretty close to both of 'em. The only thing that throws it off is the fact that both of them have a sculpted adornment on the front of their helmets that this figure lacks (which was also lacking on the "Enterprise Incident" Romulans). Since I prefer "BOT", I'm going to say for my own display that this figure is based on those Romulans. The figure itself offers enough display choices to make it possible for a collector to display the figure as both characters too-



First, the sash is a separate removable piece that plugs into the back. The shirt underneath is fully sculpted and painted, allowing one to display the figure as the scope operator. I totally didn't expect that piece to come off when they first showed this guy so this was a welcome surprise!



Next up are the hands; The Romulan includes a set of gloved hands that can be switched out with his standard ones. The "ungloved" look was obviously sculpted for use on the upcoming "Enterprise Incident" Kirk, but it's nice to see that DST included those hands here as well. It's tough to see in "Balance Of Terror", but I think maybe the scope operator doesn't have gloves in certain scenes, meaning you could definitely use those hands for him. The gloved hands do have a problem though-



Notice anything odd? Both the gloved hand and the wrist have sockets, meaning there's no stem attachment on either piece. The regular hands have a stem piece to plug into the wrist, while the gloved hands have an empty socket where a stem piece should have been inserted. With no peg on either piece, the gloves can't plug into anything and are merely kept on the arm due to the tight fit of the glove around the forearm. And it's not just mine that has it- It's like that on every Romulan I have seen. It's a careless quality control mistake that knocks what would have been a perfect figure down just a bit.



Glove QC issues aside, there are so many display possibilities with this guy that owning just one doesn't seem right. It's almost like 2 entirely different releases standing up there!



Accessories: The Romulan includes the aforementioned gloved hands and a Romulan disruptor, which is a repaint of the original AA Kor disruptor.



Though it seems like this is probably the end of the road for DST Trek product, the Romulan stands out as one of the best figures from the entire AA/ DST stable. The many display options coupled with a fantastic paint job and great articulation make him a desirable release all by himself, but his status as the first "army-builder" in the line make this one a definitive must-buy! The problem here is that TOS Wave 5 was produced in VERY limited numbers, so owning multiples may be tough. So if you see one, BUY IT!

-James

Mego Figure Spotlight- The Romulan

Figure Name: The Romulan
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.

The Romulan was released carded as part of the third series of Mego 8" Star Trek figures (yeah, no carded pic on this one).



The Rundown: Here he is...the holy grail of the Mego 8" Star Trek line: The Romulan! The 3rd series of Trek Megos are all tough, but the Romulan (due to his superior quality) is the most sought after of the bunch. Is he worth the hype? Oh yes. Yes, he is.



Though most folks only display him with the helmet on, there's still one fine headsculpt under there. The sculpt has has a resemblance to Mark Lenard, which is fnatastic if you do choose to display him sans helmet. But really, if you have the helmet... you're gonna display him with it on. That helmet is awesome.



Mego missed the mark with ALLOT of the 8" Trek stuff...but I feel like they really got it right with the Romulan. The outfit is pretty close to the screen version, much closer than most of the other alien figures.



Accessories: So, yeah, you get the same old belt, phaser, and communicator....but I can ignore the reuse because of his other accessory: the beautiful gold Romulan helmet! Is incredibly well-sculpted, and fits the head just about as perfect as you could hope for.



So there he is... Even if you have to plug in the Diamond Select Reissue, no 8" Mego figure collection should be without this figure. He truly stands out as one of the shining pieces in the set.

-James