Playmates Spotlight- Andorian

Figure Name: Andorian
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Playmates released the Andorian on it's "Warp Factor Series" style cardback.



The Rundown: I love Andorians. They didn't make many appearances in the original series, but man did they come into their own on "Enterprise". Oh how I wish there'd have been a fifth season of that show- just to see more of Shran! But I digress...



Playmates based their Andorian on the appearance in "Whom Gods Destroy"...mostly. The figure details the episode on the back, comes with a (great) accessory from the episode, and he's wearing this:



Yep. Giant pink furry thing. So pretty much "Whom Gods Destroy". But not entirely...



If you'll notice in that pic, the Andorian from WGD is just wearing a shirt and checkered pants under his big furry thing. Well, here's where Playmates did something REALLY cool. Cut the little white thread holding the pinkness on, pull it over his head, and you get this:



Which is pretty much a dead ringer for Thelev in "Journey To Babel"! See-



How cool is that? It's like getting 2 figures in one! Sweet bonus Playmates!



The head seems to resemble the WGD Andorian a bit more, since the figure is mostly based on that appearance. Still, it's generic enough that it could pass for Thelev as well...or even a Playmates style Shran custom! Hmmmm....



The only place where I have issue on this figure is the articulation. Since this one of the later "Warp Factor" style figures, some articulation is sacrificed in favor of a more dynamic sculpt. The Andorian only has 5 points of articulation, so you're kinda stuck with one pose.



Accessories: The Andorian includes a display stand (not pictured) and one of the coolest Playmates accessories ever- The rehabilitation chair from "Whom Gods Destroy"! The chair is perfect for slapping your Kirk figure in for some good ol' style torture at the hands of your non-existent Garth figure.



The Andorian is one seriously cool figure. Sure, he's not that articulated, but he has a nice sculpt, can pull double duty as 2 different characters, and has an awesome torture chair to stick Kirk in! Go buy 2!

-James

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Star Trek Mix 'N' Match Adventure Playset

Item Name: Star Trek Mix 'N' Match Adventure Playset
Manufacturer: Ata-Boy Inc. (1997)



The Rundown: I've been picking up some really random, crazy Trek stuff lately to stock up for future spotlights. Some of it really stinks and makes me sad when I think I actually paid money for it. Every once in awhile though, I get something where I feel like I found a treasure. I paid $5 for this magnet set. $5. That's a decent lunch. I'd skip lunch every day if it meant getting something this quirky cool.



The package promises "Magnetic Fun!". I've never been promised that before, so I didn't know what to expect. I hastily tore off the cellophane to find out what this sacred promise could possibly hold for me-



Inside I found a thick board with a metal sheet sandwiched inside. On one side is the bridge scene seen above...



...the other features an outdoor scene from "Arena".



And what are you going to stick on that board? Well, giant freaking magnets of course! The set comes with roughly 7" magnets of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, the Gorn, and Kor. Plus there's an assortment of starfleet gear for you to equip your crew with.



I loved colorforms as a kid. I loved magnets. I'd have pooped my pants for this set as a kid! These are like giant magnetic colorforms! You can't beat that kinda action! And the set is multi-purpose...



Use your Gorn magnet to keep your grocery list on the fridge...



...and stick the background behind your Gorn figure for a cool backdrop!

So yeah....$5 well spent! I doubt you'd have to pay much more than that to snag one of these, and everybody needs magnets for their fridge, so why not make them something cool? Thanks Ata-Boy! I salute you!

-James

Hallmark Ornament Spotlight- 1999 Blown Glass U.S.S. Enterprise

Item Name: U.S.S. Enterprise Blown Glass Ornament
Manufacturer: Hallmark



Hallmark released this "Crown Reflections" ornament as part of it's 1999 assortment of Keepsake Ornaments.

The Rundown: For Star Trek ornament collectors, this piece is one of the holy grails of the line. It's rarity and fragility move it to the top of most collector's want lists. The ornament can command a hefty price on the secondary market, usually selling between $50 and $70. Is it worth that? Check it out-



This guy isn't like your standard Star Trek Hallmark ornament. It's made of blown glass and is way more "ornamenty" than the regular releases. The standard ornaments can usually double as nice little display pieces, but this one really functions only as an ornament.



The ornament is two-sided, with one side showing the classic Star Trek logo...



...and the other featuring the Enterprise flying through space. Since the ornament is made of blown glass, you can't expect much in the way of detail, but the ship still looks pretty decent and the logo is nice and clean.

And that's about all there is to it. I'd have a hard time recommending this one to anybody but the hardcore ornament guys. At the current price, there's just not enough going on here to justify throwing down that kinda cash. Maybe it's just me and I don't appreciate the whole "blown glass" thing enough though...

Since this one was kinda short...expect another short spotlight today to make up for it!

-James

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Custom Playmates Kor The Klingon (From "Errand Of Mercy")

Figure Name: Kor The Klingon
Made by customizer Matthew Hackley



The Rundown: One of the biggest bummers of the original Playmates line is the lack of classic series villains. We got a few (Harry Mudd, the Gorn Captain, Trelane...), but there are so many great classic protagonists that a measly 4 or 5 figures just doesn't cut it. So when Matt and I set out to 'complete' the Playmates Classic Star Trek line, a huge portion of my to-do list for him focused on villains.



...and if there's one set of villains that a good Trek line needs, it's Klingons! Playmates only produced one classic-style 4.5" Klingon: Koltoh. While Koloth is great, and I'm glad to have him, he wouldn't have been my first choice. My top pick would go to this fella here... the original Klingon baddie- Kor!



Since the TOS Klingons all wear basically the same outfit, it's a pretty sure bet that Playmates would have probably reused the Koloth body for any other Klingons that might have been made. Matt did the same thing here, but he repainted it to better match the onscreen appearance.



The outfit did require one major change- The addition of Kor's baldric! Matt made it as a separate, removable piece, which I bet Playmates would have also done so that they could easily reuse Koloth's body.



Obviously, Kor required a new head sculpt for the Koloth body. Kor's unigue features are captured here, from his crazy beard to the little wispy tufts of hair near his ears.



Man, if we had just got another year or so out of the original Playmates line. Koloth came out towards the tail end of the line, so there wasn't enough time to really use that body to it's full potential. I bet we would have seen Kor here, and probably at least Kang as well if sales had kept it afloat just a bit longer. Guess we'll never know... but oh what might have been...



-James

New Facebook Address!

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AA/ DST Spotlight- Phaser Star Trek II : The Wrath Of Khan

Item Name: Phaser (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan)
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Diamond Select Toys released this phaser in the "universal" Star Trek packaging. Here's the back of the box featuring some of DST's other products-



The Rundown: Man, I love the AA/ DST Trek Tek stuff. I've been pretty satisfied with just about everything they've done, excluding the problems I had with my Medical Tricorder. This TWOK style phaser continues the trend, and may just be my favorite Trek Tek item ever.



The sculpt is great and looks very much like the movie prop. All the little details are here, from the "hologram" piping on the side to the smaller panels on the Type 1. Very nice!



Speaking of the Type 1, although it's never seen doing this in the movie, it is detachable from the Type 2! The feature works differently than the TOS phaser; instead of being attached with a simple post mechanism, DST used the same sort of magnetic featured they developed for the Enterprise D. It works incredibly well, and seems really secure when it's in place. The magnet is very strong too and actually feels like it pulls the Type 1 towards it.



The Type 1 is what actually houses all the electronic features. It's pretty lightweight since it just runs on 3 little watch batteries. Looks great, and can fit in your pocket for those sneaky away missions!



When the Type 1 is attached to the Type 2 body, the electronic features are activated by pressing the large round power button...and this thing is LOADED with features-



The phaser is covered in lights. The power button lights up, the panel lights up, and the emitter area lights up. When the phaser is powered up, the lights will blink showing it is activated. You can then shift the phaser into it's 5 different setting, with the light shifting between panels and the emitter beam changing in intensity.

The 4 different settings are as follows:

"Safety"
"Low Stun/ Heat"
"Stun"
"Kill"
"Disintegrate"

There's also a sound effect that plays when your Type 1 attaches to the Type 2 body. And perhaps the coolest feature of all: Press down both the Type 1 trigger and setting selector for about 5 seconds and the phaser enters "Overload" mode. Once "Overload" mode is initiated, press down on the trigger and the phaser will begin to overload, culminating in an explosion!

Here's a quick video showing off the effects:




This phaser ROCKS. I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do, but this thing is just awesome. It's hitting stores now, and I seriously can't recommend it enough. It looks and feels like a prop, and the electronic features are some of DST's finest work to date. Go pick this puppy up!

-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Mirror Uhura

Figure Name: Mirror Uhura
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST released this Uhura as part of it's Comic-Con 2006 Exclusive "Mirror, Mirror" wave of figures. Uhura was the Previews Exclusive figure of the set. She was also available later on as a signed diamondselecttoys.com exclusive (sorry, no pic of that one...but just imagine this one with a Nichelle Nichols autograph under the bubble).



The Rundown: I've been on a bit of a "Mirror, Mirror" kick lately in case you hadn't noticed. Today we take a look at another figure from the 2006 Comic-Con Mirror Wave- Uhura! She (thankfully) features much more new tooling than the male crew members...



Unlike most of the guys, Uhura's outfit was drastically different in "Mirror, Mirror", so simple parts reuse wouldn't have worked with Uhura. Sure, she was able to share most of her new tooling with Marlena, but since that figure was basically just a bonus anyway, Uhura here probably had much more cost built into her than the other figures from the wave. I'm really happy that the extra tooling cost didn't prevent Uhura from happening altogether. It would have stunk to have a mirror universe crew sans Uhura...



The only part on Uhura that remains pretty much the same from the original AA figure is the head. I liked it on the original figure, and I still like it now. It's a decent Nichelle Nichols likeness, so no complaints here on the reuse.



And just like Uhura's original figure, the only portion to get the rubberized material treatment is the skirt. It looks nice and keeps the hip joints free so they can move easily, but the gold paint is starting to show a bit of wear on mine and again I fear for the material's longevity.



Uhura features your standard AA articulation, adapted a bit to fit the female form. There's no mid-torso joint nor is there a mid-calf joint, but everything else is just about the same as the male crew members.



Accessories: Uhura includes a phaser and communicator, which she can't hold all that well. Not really sure why they didn't throw the dagger in there, since the scene where she uses it to defend herself from Sulu is pretty memorable.



Uhura is a fine addition to your Mirror crew. She was still available through Previews magazine months after the show was over, but has since sold out. You can still get her for around original retail on ebay though and is well worth that price. So go get one... you need to have somebody to slap your Mirror Sulu figure around...

-James