One of my all-time favorite toy lines was Playmates’ 1990’s-era Star Trek line. From the get-go, they provided a wide-array of characters, excellent paint applications, and generally wonderful likenesses. Okay, so they could only sit down “Indian style”, but I was willing to overlook that. Now, fast forward to about 15-years later, Playmates was doing a 3 ¾” line for the new Star Trek reboot movie. Despite my well-documented hatred of anything new, I was actually pretty happy with this movie. And, considering Playmates had years to make improvements in their toymaking procedures, I was expecting some seriously cool action figures to go along with this flick.
Then, the fateful day came when I saw these figures hanging on the shelves. I was…under whelmed. Not seeing the point in plunking down my easily earned money on these less-than-exhilarating figures, I passed. That was, until a few days ago. I was cruising through the local Big Lots, taking in the culture, and I spotted these guys for $3 a pop. I figured $3 was a reasonable price to pay in order to check these figures out, so I thought, “What the hell? I’m gonna buy me a Spock!” And, after taking everyone’s favorite Vulcan out of his package and examining him, I arrived at my conclusion on this line.
Boooooooooo! That’s right, Playmates, Booooo! At a glance, he looks okay. Reasonable likeness, good proportions, very nice paint applications. And, best of all, his right hand wasn’t permanently posed giving the Vulcan salute (he’s got interchangeable hands). Spock features a lot of articulation, but the only articulation that really hits home is the head, shoulders, wrists, and ankles. Spock’s hip articulation is hampered by his shirt (hell, even his waist articulation is hampered). But, worst of all, Spock’s elbows and knees barely move at all. I’m serious, it’s like 30-degrees of what should be a 90-degree point of articulation. He can’t even sit in the VERY CHAIR THAT HE’S PACKAGED WITH! Ugh!
Now, as I’m writing this review, I’m taken by the fact that there are many more good points than bad where this figure is concerned. I haven’t even mentioned the well-done accessories, which include a phaser, belt, (with non-removable communicator), chair, instrument panel, and a stand which doubles as a clip-on Starfleet insignia badge. And, like I said, the likeness, proportions, and paint are well done. But that elbow and knee articulation is unforgivable. I’m sorry. I don’t want to be one of those assholes on the internet that dwells on one issue and ignores a multitude of positive points. But I just can’t get past it. Sorry, Spock. I just can’t recommend you to loose collectors. However, if you prefer to keep your figures in the package, or just don’t care about articulation, I suppose there are worse things you can do than pick this figure up.
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