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- Lieutenant Sulu As Seen In"Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Figure Name: Lieutenant Sulu ("Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



WNMHGB Sulu here was released bagged as a mailaway exclusive tied into the release of Star Trek Season 1 on Blu-ray.



...and there's the nifty box he shipped in!



The Rundown: Sorry it took me awhile to get this one up. I try to make sure I have 2 of any Trek figure I review before I bust it out of it's packaging for pictures. Since this required buying 2 Blu-ray sets, I had to call upon a friend of mine to hook me up with his unwanted figure. DST took their time sending out his and he just got it this past week... so my Sulu was finally able to be freed from his plastic and cardboard prison. Watch those mailboxes if you're still awaiting yours! Now... onto the spotlight!



As stated earlier, the only way to get this Sulu was by purchasing Star Trek Season 1 on Blu-ray and mailing in the enclosed coupon. I was a bit miffed when I first heard about this, since I didn't even own a Blu-ray player at the time. What was I gonna do with a season set I couldn't even play? So that necessitated purchasing a Blu-ray player, which was actually a blessing in disguise since I now know the joys of Blu-ray... but I digress.



The figure itself as all made from pre-existing parts. The body is the same used on the WNMHGB Kirk that was included with the Captain's chair. I was a bit surprised by that since the Toys R Us Exclusive "Cage" Spock had just recently been released and I expected this Sulu to use that same body with a simple head switch. Kudos to DST for taking the time do a new run on the Pilot Kirk body and shirt, which fits Sulu much better than the Pike body reused on "Cage" Spock. (Did you follow all that? I don't know if I even did...)



Of course, since the shirt originally belonged to Kirk, the insignia on the delta is incorrect for Sulu. It should actually be the sciences symbol, which in WNMHGB looks like what we would come to know as the engineering division symbol in the series. (It's starting to feel like you need a road map for this entry)



The head is the same Sulu we've seen on all the TOS-era AA/ DST releases. It's a good, solid head sculpt that does a fine job capturing a youthful George Takei.



Since this is your standard AA/ DST Trek body, you get a good amount of articulation without compromising the figure's sculpt. The joints were all tight on my figure, and I was able to get him into a bunch of poses without him taking a nosedive.



Accessories: Sulu includes a phaser and a communicator. Again, DST cheaped out here by including accessories that don't actually appear in the episode. Yeah, I know Sulu doesn't use a phaser or a communicator anyways... but I would have much rather them throw in the phaser rifle than these pieces.



I'm pretty sure the promotion is expired by now, so your only hope of snagging this guy now is probably the secondary market. I've seen him routinely sell between $20 and $40. While that may seem steep, when you consider the cost of having to buy the Blu-ray set to get the coupon it isn't that bad. The only thing that keeps me from fully endorsing that price is not having the security that we'll ever get more of the crew in these uniforms. DST was supposed to released a WNMHGB Kirk/ Spock 2 pack, but like so many of their other releases, I'd say the chances that we actually get that are slim. A WNMHGB Scotty probably doesn't stand a chance at release either. Sure, you can do a little customizing to round out the crew, but then you're dropping even more money into this look. You'd have to be crazy to do that.

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Star Trek 2009 Unproduced Wave 2 Warp Collection 6" Figures

Item Name: Star Trek 2009 Unproduced Wave 2 Warp Collection 6" Figures
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



The Rundown: Yeah. I know. These are from the 2009 Star Trek movie and NOT the original series. What am I doing? Well, I think they are pretty sweet and I liked the new movie, so they get to be on the blog. So there.



When I first heard the announcement that Playmates was going to handle the figures based on the new movie, I was pretty excited. As a big fan of their original Trek toy run, I hoped that we might see releases compatible with the old stuff. Then came the announcement that they would be doing 3 scales... none of which fit with the old standard figures. Bummer. Still, I knew hoping for something in scale was a bit of a pipe dream anyway, and I was at least happy to be buying Trek figures in stores again. Do I wish the quality had been a bit better? Sure, but the pictures of the second wave figures gave me high hopes that quality would be improved as the line went on.



Of course, as we all know by now, the second waves for all the different scales got the axe when the first waves underperformed. Thankfully, with a little easy head-switching, you can fill out most of the crew in the 6" and 3.75" lines fairly easily (sans a regular Uhura in the 6" line). That leaves only the characters with unique sculpts as the major gaps in our collections. The second wave of the 3.75" line would have featured a BUNCH of new unique sculpts (like Keenser, Sarek, and Ayel), but the 6" Warp collection would have had only 2 new unique body sculpts for the regular "human" characters- an Instructor Spock and a orbital skydiving body for Kirk/ Sulu. I snagged some of the prototypes for these unproduced figures, so let's take a peek at them and see what we all missed out on...



First up is Instructor Spock. Spock here features the same style of body seen on the "cadet" figures from the Warp Collection, with a rubbery shirt over a standard articulated body. Playmates wasn't breaking any new ground here, and he's probably the least exciting of the batch. Here's what he would have looked like had he been produced-



Kinda neat, and he would have made a great addition to the academy subset, but not entirely essential. I will say though that Spock sold great in my neck of the woods, and I have little doubt that this release would have been a good seller just based on the fact that it's Spock. And Spock rules.



I did want to mention how much nicer these head sculpts look when they aren't painted. It's tough to capture it in pictures, but you can really see how a mediocre paint job can really affect a decent sculpt.



Next we have Kirk and Sulu in their orbital skydiving uniforms. Making these was a no-brainer for Playmates as the orbital skydive scene was one of the most exciting bits of the new movie. And since the uniform is identical except for color, they only needed to do one sculpt for 2 different figures.



again, take a quick look at the detail in the unpainted head sculpt on Kirk. Looks much better without the gloppy paint slapped on it...



Sulu was listed in the early rundowns for wave 2, but doesn't appear on Playmates site listings for the Warp Collection. I have no doubt that he would have been made had the figures actually been released though, since all he required was a simple head switch, and there are so many test shots of this figure floating around out there.



That's what Kirk would have looked like had these made it out. The body is really well done in comparison to the first wave releases. The mid torso articulation works much better without the rubber shirt covering it, and the hips are mounted on a ball-and-socket joint giving them a little bit of a wider range of movement. My protos don't have them, but the picture shows that both figures would have included removable helmets as well.



The skydiving suits have a couple of other cool features that really set them apart from the first wave as well. The left arm has a flip open communicator embedded into the wrist! Flip the panel open, and a small decal depicts the inner workings of a uniform-mounted communicator!



The other neat thing is the holster attached to the figure's hip. I'm a sucker for good, working holsters on action figures and this one puts the clunky belt from the first releases to shame. The phaser fits in snugly, and there is a little strap that closes over it. Nice! Oh, and notice the small peg hole in the figure's back? The skydiving figures would have featured removable parachute packs to plug into there. That's pretty sweet.



Sadly, these guys (like all the other wave 2 releases) are pretty much dead in the water. Sure, the Spock was "more-of-the-same", but the loss of the skydiving figures is a big disappointment. The quality and craftsmanship on those was a real upgrade from the first wave and gave a hint as to the potential that this line really had...

-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Mirror Sulu

Figure Name: Mirror Sulu
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST released this Sulu as part of it's Comic-Con 2006 Exclusive "Mirror, Mirror" wave of figures. Sulu was released through AFX.



The Rundown: We didn't really realize how good we had it back when this figure came out, did we? An entire wave of exclusive "Mirror, Mirror" figures?!? Nowadays, orders aren't even strong enough to guarantee getting product to stores, but back in 2006 DST was able to take the gamble on these. Boy am I glad they did- I love "Mirror, Mirror", so having a complete crew in this style is a real treat. Sulu was absolutely awesome in this episode, so how does his figure stack up?



While most of the figure is composed of reused parts, Sulu still matches his show look very well. Thank goodness they used the tall boots on these as opposed to the incorrect boots used on Mirror Scotty. Mirror Universe figures MUST have tall boots!



Sulu's head is the same used on his original AA figures. The face is a bit too somber to work as well on his Mirror counterpart but it's still a solid likeness. DST used a simple paint app to replicate the scar from the episode. It's pretty faint, and I really wish they'd have sculpted it on instead, but what can you do.



The rubbery shirt piece is new here. I'm happy to see they took the time to sculpt all of his chest adornments rather than cheaping out and just painting them on. Looks great! Oh, and the fact that you can remove the dagger sheath from the waist wrap is always nice too. I'm a sucker for that kind of feature.



All of the figures in this wave that I own seem to have nice clean paint jobs. The articulation is nice on the whole batch as well, with no stuck joints and a nice range of movement.



Accessories: Sulu includes his dagger (with sheath), a phaser, a communicator, and an interchangeable "Vulcan Salute" hand. I have no idea why they included that hand. Makes absolutely no sense.



Okay, so the head is a little off...but overall Mirror Sulu is a really great figure. In fact, the whole Mirror Crew from AA/ DST are all pretty great. I'm biased, but I'd recommend snagging the whole lot, buying the new I.S.S. Enterprise, and making a really sweet "Mirror, Mirror" display. So, yeah. Go do that.

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Lieutenant Sulu ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Figure Name: Lieutenant Sulu
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



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



The Rundown: If you want Sulu in his attire from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", this figure is your only shot at it. Mego didn't make one it's TMP line, and DST has yet to release anyone besides Kirk and Spock in this attire. Luckily, it's a pretty decent figure.



Like all the TMP style figures from Playmates, Sulu is pretty nicely sculpted. All the details are captured just fine here- from the belt monitor to his rank braids.



The head sculpt is pretty solid to, with a nice likeness of the slightly older Sulu. Since Sulu looked pretty much the same throughout his 6 movies, one could easily use the head for a simple Captain Sulu custom. Just pop it off and stick it on the Kirk "Generations" body and you're done!



And like most of the Playmates figures released around this time, Sulu has a nice range of movement. I still hate the "V-Crotch" style of articulation though...



Accessories: Sulu includes a display base (not pictured), a tricorder, a wrist communicator, a phaser, and a piece of V'Ger. Collect all 5 TMP style figures to assemble your own V'Ger (or at a least a tiny facsimile thereof...).

Box Bio-





Sulu is a nice figure from a cool subset of the Playmates line. I may be alone in this, but I've always been a fan of the TMP look. The Playmates line is your best bet for completing the crew in that attire. They gave us Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu and Uhura- and Scotty and Chekov are pretty easily customized. Check out how easy it is to make a Chekov using an extra Sulu and a "Generations" Chekov-



So yeah...good figure, especially if you dig "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".

-James