AA/ DST Spotlight- Khan ("Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan")

Figure Name: Khan
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST released Khan as part of it's first assortment of "Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan" figures.



The Rundown: "Buried alive.....buried alive...." Khan is the greatest Star Trek villain of all time and I would buy just about any figure DST would release of him. This Khan from the first TWOK wave features him in perhaps his most iconic look.



Khan features the standard articulation of the DST Trek figures. All the points work pretty well and you can get a ton of great poses out of him. The hips are a bit close together for my liking, but that's a minor nitpick.



The sculpt is outstanding, capturing all the little details of Khan's costuming. These costumes were made to look as if Khan and his crew cannibalized any parts they could from the Botany Bay to clothe themselves with; I really get the feel of that with the sculpt on this figure. Plus, there's a nice dirty paint wash over the whole thing. Great job DST!



Khan's head sculpt is really amazing. It perfectly captures the older genetically engineered tyrant. I feel it is one of their best heads since... well, the TOS Wave 1 Khan from "Space Seed". Maybe it's just something about Montalban's likeness...



Accessories: Khan comes with an interchangeable hand, an adult Ceti Alpha eel, a bowl of baby eels, and a big pair of tweezers to pick 'em up with.



TWOK Khan is a fantastic figure; one no Trek figure fan should be without. If you don't have him, go get him. Now. He's pretty cheap now so there's no excuse...

-James

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Colorforms Star Trek Adventure Set

Item Name: Colorforms Star Trek Adventure Set
Manufactured By: Colorforms Toys



The Rundown: Though I was born a few years after the release of this set back 1975, I did grow up in the age of colorforms. I would have LOVED to have had this set as a kid, as colorforms were some of my favorite playtime accessories when I was just a wee Trekkie.



The first thing you notice on this set is the beautiful box illustration of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy with the Enterprise soaring behind them. It's a beautiful piece and I'd buy a poster of it in a hot minute.



Inside the box are 2 small cardboard sheets covered in colorforms. The larger one has various Kirk parts, someone in mid-beam, a Romulan Bird-Of-Prey, the Enterprise, a bunch of alien parts (including what appears to be the head of Dr. Sevrin from "The Way To Eden"), and various other parts.



The smaller piece has Spock, McCoy, and Uhura parts, plus random pieces to apply on the viewscreen and body parts for Dr. Sevrin. It really boggles my mind that out of all the cool Trek aliens to choose from, colorforms settled on Dr. Sevrin. Why not a Gorn or a Klingon? I mean there's even a Romulan ship here...why not a random Romulan? I guess you could kinda make the case that the large head piece is maybe Balok's puppet... but it doesn't have the same resemblance that the Dr. Sevrin piece has. Weird...



There's a small booklet also included in the box. It features the same beautiful art on it's front cover...



...an example of what you can do with your set on the interior...



...and a note to parents on the merits of colorforms on the end. I improved the six important skills listed there by making my own beautiful scene:



I took inspiration from the classic episodes, with a few movie moments mixed in. Kirk is applying his patented drop kick to an unsuspecting alien, McCoy is in the midst of a cordrazine-induced hysteria, Spock is putting the moves on Uhura (shades of Star Trek '09), and an evil double of Kirk is sneaking off to make time with Yeoman Rand, who's busy off-screen botching a transportation (Star Trek: TMP). Since there's no Scotty piece, the disembodied head of Dr. Sevrin is manning the engineering station.

Colorforms rule. The set is a bit pricey nowadays...but man is it fun.

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Captain Scott (TNG)

Figure Name: Captain Scott
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released this Scotty as part of their "Star Trek: The Next Generation" line.



The Rundown: What's this? A TNG figure sneaking onto my blog!?!? Well, yes and no. Sure, this Scott was released as part of the TNG line based on his appearance in the excellent episode "Relics", but Scotty is a TOS character first and foremost. Therefore I've always considered this figure (and for that matter the TNG McCoy and Spock) to be a "Classic" figure.



Man, was I excited about this figure when it hit! Since the attire is basically the same, this Scotty can easily pass for a movie era Scott, which thrilled me to no end. About the only thing that keeps it from being movie accurate is the TNG style communicator pin, but that's so tiny that you can easily ignore it.



The body sculpt is really good and captures the older, *ahem* fuller Scotty pretty well. I especially like the detail on the vest and the ribbing at the end of the sleeves. The vest hinders the hip articulation a bit, but it's not like you'll be putting this Scott in a bunch of gymnastic poses anyways.



Playmates did some really nice work on the head sculpt too. It may be a bit stoic for Scott, but it still looks very much like Doohan.



Accessories: Scott includes a bunch of reused TNG stuff. He's got a TNG style display base (not pictured), a dilithium crystal, an engineering monitor, a couple of bio-engineering tools, and a multi-range light source. Perfect items to help the miracle-worker do his biz-nass...

Box bio:





Captain Scott is a fine figure and a great addition to your movie era Playmates crew. I believe this is the only way you can get a Scott figure in this attire, so if you want him like this, you better start collecting Playmates!

-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Captain James T. Kirk "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (Fan Expo 2006 Exclusive)

Figure Name: Captain James T. Kirk ("Where No Man Has Gone Before")
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST released this Kirk as a Canada Fan Expo 2006 carded exclusive.



The Rundown: This spotlight has been a LONG time coming. Since this figure's release in 2006, I've only managed to pick up 1, which I left carded. He pops up for sale every once in a blue moon, but he usually hits a pretty high price (especially for me since I'd be buying him just to open). Well, I finally managed to snag a second one for a decent price so that I could open him and spotlight him!



The figure is basically the same as the WNMHGB Kirk that came with the command chair, with one major difference: the shirt color. The chair version features a nice, dark gold color that's pretty close to the show. This single carded version features a totally inaccurate bright yellow version of the shirt. I have no idea why they chose to do that. Wouldn't just throwing the chair version on a single card have been enough to differentiate him as the exclusive? Why make the figure inaccurate? The only plus I see in the shirt color is using your imagination and calling this a cadet Kirk or something (since he does look really young in this version for some reason).



Like I said, everything else is pretty much the same as the chair version, so you're looking at your standard AA sculpt and articulation.



The head is the same AA Kirk sculpt used on all of their TOS Kirks. It is painted nicely here though, and looks pretty sharp. Can't say the same about the symbol on the shirt though. That looks like a 3 year old painted it.



Accessories: Kirk includes a phaser, a tricorder, and a communicator.



This is easily one of the hardest to find figures in the AA/ DST Classic Trek line...but it's sadly not really worth the hunt. The version that comes with the chair is far more accurate and costs a fraction of the cost of this one (plus you get a chair). The only folks who need this version are the crazy "gotta have 'em all's" like me...

-James

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Custom Playmates Commodore Matt Decker ("The Doomsday Machine")

Figure Name: Commodore Matt Decker
Made by customizer Matthew Hackley



The Rundown: The poor Decker family... Commodore Matt here loses his entire crew to a crazy space machine and then goes bonkers, tries to sacrifice the Enterprise, and ends up piloting a shuttlecraft to his death in a failed attempt at destroying said machine. Oh, and then his son Willard grows up fatherless, falls in love with a Deltan just to watch her die and then be brought back as a weird space probe, then continues his dad's martyr complex by allowing himself to be merged into a weird glowing energy pattern. Makes you wonder what happened to Mama Decker...



Anyways... Decker here is another entry in the "What if Playmates had kept the Star Tek TOS license?" line of customs from Matthew Hackley. "Doomsday Machine" is one of my favorite episodes, so getting Matt to do a figure based on the crazed Commodore was a sure-thing. I figured this would be one of the simpler customs of the batch, but Matt put a lot of effort into this one, especially the head sculpt-



I wish the pic could pic up the paint detailing a bit better, because Matt really did a fine job on Decker's face. He's got the crazed, weary eyes, the unshaven face, the worry lines in the forehead...oh, and the sculpt on the hair is very nice too, capturing Decker's disheveled look.



Since Decker wears the basic Starfleet Uniform, there wasn't much work needed on the body, other than giving him the Commodore ranking on the sleeves, and the Constellation insignia on the chest. I really like the insignia work especially.



Decker makes another fine addition to the "What If?" line. It's a figure that would have been fairly easy for Playmates to have produced, and I suspect they probably would have done him eventually based on the low cost to produce. Ah, if they'd have only kept it going for a little while longer...

Oh well- At least I've got this Hackley original! Now I can recreate my favorite "Non-Kirk" TOS fight scene: The epic Decker vs. Red Shirt battle!



Please go back and rewatch this fight when you get a chance! Focus on the red shirt's sweet hand moves.... they are awesome.

-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Regula 1 Kirk

Figure Name: Regula 1 Kirk
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Regula 1 Kirk was released as part of DST's third assortment of "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" figures.



The Rundown: The away mission outfits from Star Trek II/ III are some of my fav Trek costumes ever. It's a look that's sadly been pretty much totally overlooked in figure form... until DST produced this Regula 1 Kirk! It's a pretty solid figure, and one I wish they'd reuse a little more.



The sculpt reuses a little from the previous TWOK Kirk offering; the legs and head are both from the regular Kirk. The torso and sleeves are new here though and are quite nice.



I'm not a big fan of DST's TWOK Kirk head. The face looks a little too pinchy for my taste. I did a head switch on one of these with the superior "Motion Picture" style head which I think makes for a better figure. (I forgot to bring him in for pics, but I'll try and update tomorrow with a pic of the switch)

Update! Head switch pic (well, I used the "Khhhaaaaan" Kirk body, but you get the idea):





The one bummer on the figure is the hindered leg articulation. Since the coat goes below the waist, the hip joints are pretty much useless which prevents him from striking many different poses. I'll take the accurate look over articulation though, so I'm not complaining too much on that.



Accessories: Kirk includes a phaser, a communicator, and a whopping 4 extra hands!



Regula Kirk is an all-around nice figure of one of the coolest attires in the Trek universe. C'mon DST- Get to reusing this sculpt for more away team members!



(I forgot to grab my custom McCoy head switch for this pic...)

-James