Galoob Spotlight- Mr. Spock ("Star Trek V: The Final Frontier")

Figure Name: Mr. Spock
Manufacturer: Galoob Toys



Galoob released Mr. Spock as part of their boxed assortment of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" turds....oh, I mean "action figures".



The Rundown: Well, I couldn't put them off forever... It's time to take a look at another of the Galoob "Star Trek V" figures! Today we look at Mr. Spock. Can you feel the excitement? It's palpable.



Just like the previously spotlighted Kirk, Spock is featured in his "infiltration" attire from "Star Trek V". I'm actually a pretty big fan of these uniforms and I'd love to get actual figures of the crew in them some day. Notice how I am totally overlooking the figure that I am now reviewing? That's because these are horrible. Let's start at the top...



Check out the awesome head sculpt! Galoob did a fine job of capturing Zachary Quinto's looks here, with a fine attention to.... Wait... This is supposed to be Leonard Nimoy circa 1989!? Oh. Nevermind.

Actually, I may be giving this one a bit of a hard time. As far as this line goes, Spock's likeness isn't half bad. It's just not that good either.



The sculpting on Spock's body isn't horrendous... if this were an actual action figure that is. Since there isn't any articulation in these though, there's no excuse for this being as bad as it is. If you market a line as "limited edition collectible figures" instead of as just action figures, then they better look good. As you can tell by the pictures, these look about as good as 2 hortas kissing. Yeah, with tongues even.



The quality control is almost non-existent on these as well, from the poorly-applied cheap paint applications...



...to the ugly seams...



...and right down to the excess glue residue left on the figures' base. Horrible. The stand itself isn't that bad though. In fact, it's probably the highlight of these figures-



The front of the stand showcases the "Star Trek V" logo. Instead of just a cheap sticker or something (like you'd expect at this point), the logo is actually etched into the base. The rear of the base features a beveled line to allow you to plug in the included backdrop piece:



See how much that helps improve it? Okay, so it wasn't much... but at least you can stare at the backdrop instead of Spock now.



Accessories: Spock includes the aforementioned backdrop... and that's it. The backdrops (as I've said before) are the highlights of these figures. They'd probably look great stuck behind better figures.

Here's his bio from the box:



Lots of info on Spock there, including a bunch of stuff that has no relation to "Star Trek V". Did we really need the reminder that Spock has a "high pulse rate" and "nictating membranes that protect Vulcan eyes"?



Yeah, don't buy this. Don't buy any of the Galoob "Star Trek V" figures. Had they made these like their quirky cool TNG 3.75" figures, this line would have rocked. But they didn't... they made these vinyl pieces of crap that nobody wanted then, and nobody in their right mind would want now. Avoid like the plague.

AA/ DST Spotlight- Scotty (DST Reissue)

Figure Name: Scotty
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST reissued the original Art Asylum Spock as a single-carded release in their "TOS Wave 5" assortment and...



...in a 2-pack with Spock!



The Rundown: Ah, the finale of the "TOS Wave 5" spotlights. Well, as you can see I didn't exactly save the best for last. While both the Romulan and the "casual" Kirk bring a lot of new stuff to the table, this Scotty is just a simple reissue... and it isn't the first time it's been reissued either. Scotty got the reissue treatment not too long ago in a 2-pack with Spock. Since both reissues are almost identical once they are out of the package, it's easier just to group them together into this one spotlight. Oh, and since both releases are just tweaks of the original Art Asylum figure (spotlighted HERE), we won't go into too many details about the figure itself. Instead, we'll just look at what's different on the reissues to see if it warrants another purchase. Got all that? Good, because there may be a quiz later.



Let's start at the top and work our way down... Scotty's head is the same as his original version, but this time around he has a slightly "pinker" tone to his skin. The original paint job isn't bad, but I do prefer the warmer tone of the reissue.



With both the gold and blue shirted crew reissues, there is a visible difference in the shades of material used. Reissue Scotty and his red shirt buck that trend, with a shirt tone that is pretty darned close to his original release. You can see a slight difference when they are side-by-side, but not enough of a difference to write home about. The gold paint on the reissue's delta shield however is a dramatic improvement of the original's (which has started to darken and smudge over time).



Like most of the re-releases, the rank braids on Scotty's sleeves are painted with a much more vibrant gold paint. It's a small change, but it really helps them stand out better than the original version's.



Lastly, the original AA version of Scotty had a slight paint wash all over his pants, giving them a bit of a "dirty" look. The new version eliminates most of that wash, opting for a clean flat paint job. I prefer the "clean" version, but I barely noticed this difference, so it's really not that big of a deal either way.



Accessories: Both the 2-pack version and single carded releases include the same accessories- a communicator and a white handled phaser.



So is he worth getting? Well, if you don't have the original, OF COURSE HE IS! It's Scotty! If you do have the original, I'd say he's not entirely necessary since there aren't that many drastic changes here. Unless of course the gold is starting to look dingy on your original releases (like mine is). In that case, you may want to go with the 2-pack since it comes with a nice reissue of Spock (check him out HERE). BUT... since most retailers only sell "TOS Wave 5" in sets, you may be stuck with Scotty as a single card release anyway, whether you want him or not. In that case, just pop off his head and make him a red shirt...

Playmates Spotlight- Dr. Soran ("Star Trek: Generations")

Figure Name: Dr. Soran
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Dr. Soran was released by Playmates as part of it's "Star Trek: Generations" line. (Mine has been autographed by Mr. Malcolm McDowell!)



The Rundown: This past weekend, the folks at HorrorHound Magazine held one of their conventions in my neck of the woods. While I am a fan of horror films, I wouldn't usually attend the show just based on my love of the genre... but this year featured a double whammy for me on the guest list: Meg Foster, who portrayed Evil Lyn in the 1987 "Masters Of The Universe" film, and Malcolm McDowell, known to Trek fans as Dr. Soran from "Star Trek: Generations". So I grabbed my carded Dr. Soran figure off the wall and hot-footed it over to the show for a signature. And since I took the time to dust him off for the show, I figured what better time to spotlight ol' Soran than right now! Let's take a look...



The "Star Trek: Generations" line is a bit of an oddity in general. Most of the figures are based off early conceptual costumes or deleted sequences that weren't in the film, like the Space-diving Kirk and all of the TNG crew being produced in uniforms not actually seen in the movie. All of the figures also lack the traditional articulation of your standard Playmates release, with most figures only having neck, waist, shoulder, and hip articulation.



Soran follows the trend of the line by missing out on one of the main visual cues of the character- the large scar that dominates his face! Again, since the line seems to have been based on a large portion of conceptual stuff, it's a detail that probably wasn't present early on and thus left out on the figure. And I could overlook that if the head actually looked like Malcolm McDowell...



...but no such luck. I consider myself to be a "Playmates-apologist", defending the inadequacies of many of the offerings by pointing out the nice head sculpt work that went into many of their releases. I can't do anything with this one. It just isn't very good.



Maybe things get better as we work down then? Umm, no. While the uniform is nicely sculpted, with a bunch of line-detailing throughout, the proportions of the figure are WAY off and look almost comical. The head is large even by Playmates standards, and those arms...



...What is up with these tiny arms!? I had no idea Soran was a Tyrannosaurus Rex. He must have a heck of a time buying long sleeve shirts off the rack. The arm issues drag down what was already a pretty mediocre offering into the land of dreadfulness.



Accessories: Soran includes an "action base", a pocketwatch, PADD, mulit-range light source, and a Klingon Disruptor. While the Klingon Disruptor is large, the pocket watch is ridiculously oversized-



Who has pockets big enough to hold that!? That thing looks like a wall clock. Might as well throw a chain on that and call him Flava Flav. Anyways...

Here's his bio from the box if you want to read it:



Dr. Soran is not one of Playmates finer efforts. In fact, I was a little bummed that this was the only Soran figure I had to get a signature on, as I am really not a fan of this guy. To be honest though, I'm not that big of a fan of the Soran character to begin with... You can totally skip this one. It doesn't add much to your shelf, and I'm sorry... but I just don't buy that this guy had a hand in Kirk's death.

Hallmark Ornament Spotlight- 2006 Transporter Chamber

Item Name: "The Transporter Chamber" Keepsake Ornament
Manufacturer: Hallmark



Hallmark released this piece as part of their 2006 keepsake assortment. Here's the back of the box if you'd like to give it a read-



The Rundown: With the holiday season now upon us, I feel like I really need to get cracking on the ornament spotlights. It looks like I've only done 10 so far... which doesn't give you guys nearly enough options for tree-trimming possibilities. So today we going to warp around the sun, taking a trip back to 2006 for a look at the "Transporter Chamber" ornament available that year. It's pretty keen...



This ornament recreates the famous transporter chamber we all know and love from the original series. Captured in a moment just before beaming are the intrepid away team consisting of Kirk, Spock, and Scotty. Not really sure why Hallmark went with Scotty instead of the more obvious choice of McCoy, but I'm guessing it was because they wanted to feature all three shirt colors.



At only 4 inches tall from the bottom of the base to the top of the transporter, there isn't a lot of room for detail on the three figures (which come in at a little over 2 inches each). The likenesses are almost non-existent, but there's enough here that you can tell who's who. The artist did do a fine job of capturing the body language on Kirk and Spock though; There's no mistaking that confident pose that Kirk would always strike just before beaming out...



Behind the three figures is the back wall of the transporter chamber. The wall features a nice reflective surface and some etched-in detailing that does a great job of replicating the "rainbowy" look of the series. It's tough to capture how nice this looks on camera, but the whole effect is really well done.



The transporter's base only features three of the pads, but this is an understandable tweak, as trying to make this totally screen accurate would have made it too large and cumbersome. At the center of the base is the button which activated the light and sound features... which ROCK! Check it out:



The lights are nice and bright, the sound is clear, and the duration of the effect is just right. And since this thing runs on 3 AAA batteries, you don't have to worry about trying to plug this into a string of tree lights. You can either use it as a regular display piece on your desk, or....



...hang it on the tree and clip a light into the provided hole in the back! The possibilities are endless! Well... I guess they aren't really endless. There's really just a couple. But they are at least good possibilities!



The "Transporter Chamber" is easily one of my favorite Hallmark ornaments. I really have no complaints at all about this one. If you're thinking of getting into the Hallmark ornaments, the transporter is a great one to start with. It originally retailed at $28, but now goes for just a smidge over that at around $30-$40. That may seem like a lot, but when compared to the current crop of $30 ornaments, this one really stands out in the pack.

AA/ DST Spotlight- Captain Kirk & Mr. Spock Ultimate Quarter Scale Figures

Figure Names: Captain Kirk & Mr. Spock (Ultimate Quarter Scale)
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



DST released these 2 individually in their "all-era-inclusive" style packaging. (Sorry, I can't seem to find where I put the boxed pics...)

The Rundown: There are very few Trek items that I absolutely dread doing spotlights on. Every once in awhile though, I have to look at stuff like the terrible Galoob Star Trek V figures and the horrendous Kurt Adler Nutcrackers. Writing those are just no fun because: a.) I have nothing good to say about them, and b.) I spent actual money on them. Today is one of those kind of days. Today is the day we look at the Diamond Select "Ultimate" Quarter Scale Kirk and Spock. See how I put "ultimate" in quotations there? That's because the only thing that these are the "ultimate" of is sucking. I dislike them so much that I can't bring myself to do this twice, so we'll look at both Kirk and Spock together today.



When I first heard about the UQS line, I was actually pretty excited. 18" figures, nice cloth outfits, electronic features, and decent articulation! They sounded like a great, affordable alternative to Sideshow's expensive premium format line. What was not to love? Very much apparently.



DST's first mistake was with this body. If I'm not mistaken, it's a re-use of an old Art Asylum 18" Bruce Lee figure. While the build is nice for Bruce Lee, it doesn't work for everyone... which is what DST expects it to do. I'm sorry, but Leonard Nimoy and Bruce Lee don't exactly seem like the same build to me...



With many of the UQS releases, the odd proportions of the body are at least hidden under multiple layers of clothing (like the "Hoth" Han Solo). Unfortunately, Trek doesn't have this same luxury, so every bit of those weird proportions is brought right to the forefront... and boy do they look bad. Both Kirk and Spock feature incredibly thin waists and long, gangly legs that are impossible to ignore.



Both figures feature one oddly opened hand (which might also be a carry-over from Bruce). The hand is basically useless and makes for some very odd poses. About the only thing you can do is gently place the communicator in it and hope it doesn't fall off. Oh, and speaking of poses... the articulation on these, while ample, is very difficult to work with. The figures are hard to move around naturally and can't really look good in any position other than standing still.

Inside each figure's chest houses their electronic features. Press in one of their ample abs and a line of dialogue from the show will emit out of their torsos. Take a listen:



The voices are fairly clear and the button is easy to get to. There ya go- I said something nice about these.



One would think that since this is such a large scale that the heads sculpts must at least be pretty decent, right? Yeah, not so much. Neither head turned out that great. Kirk is always tough to capture, but the head up there looks worse than the 6" scale version. Spock doesn't fare much better either...



That's just not that good, especially for this scale. But you know what upsets me most about Spock? These-



What's up with your boots dude? Did you steal these from Olive Oyl or something? I could almost excuse this as just lazy re-use of some other boot mold or something... if it weren't for the fact that Kirk actually has the correct standard boot! Look-



I actually asked DST why they went with this boot awhile back and their response was that they researched the boots and Spock wore different, shorter boots than everyone else on the show. I'm sorry, but I just don't think so. I know there were some scenes filmed where the actors did wear shorter, more comfortable boots (especially evident in outdoor scenes like in "Arena")... but to place that as the "normal" look for Spock is just crazy. That's basically saying every other figure produced of Spock up to this point was wrong, and only this turd has it right. I ain't buying it. It looks terrible. If I didn't feel like I'd already wasted enough money on these, I would be tempted to buy an extra Kirk and switch out the lower legs with Spock. But no... there is no way I'm putting any more money into the "Ultimate" Quarter Scale.



Accessories: Both Kirk and Spock include a phaser and a communicator, both of which are poor sculpts compared to the accessories included with the 6" figures. The communicator's antenna cover does flip open, but pops off very easily and is quite junky. A stand is included with each figure, which is good because getting these to stay upright for pictures was quite a chore. Spock includes an interchangeable Vulcan salute hand (which is at least the correct hand this time).



In closing- Please don't buy these. The original retail price was a whopping $79.99 each! That's crazy... and what sucks is that I probably paid pretty close to that for them. I am an idiot. Taking a look at ebay, it appears that you can now get them for around $30 each. That's still too much. Take that money, buy a ton of ice cream, turn your heat way up, and watch it all melt in your kitchen. That would be more fun than these.