I think I've mentioned before that that
Deep Space 9 was my favourite Star Trek series, so it's a little odd that other than
a pair of MiniMates I haven't had any of the related toys around. I think I always had the impression that most of the Star Trek figures were a little weak - I think based purely on the two TNG tie-in figures that my sister owned back in the day.
Given how silly a lot of my own '90s figures look these days, I decided I would get over my aversion to the various ST lines and have have picked up a figure from Playmates late 1990's lines - the Tribble-themed version DS9's Captain Benjamin Sisko. There was a regular version as well, but how could I say no to the little Tribble accessories, right?
I was actually very impressed with the packaging on this one - there was very little waste, and the figure was fairly easy to free from the packaging, as he was only attached to the backing with two ties. Given that some figures of this age have dozens of taped-over ties, that was a nice surprise.
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| The front of the box. |
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| The back of the box. |
The box itself opened up via a side flap, which allowed the inner backing containing the figure and accessories (a phaser, two Tribbles, a communicator and a stand) to slide out.
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| The inner packaging. |
I was impressed again when I took the figure out of the packaging - the face sculpt looks reasonable similar to the character, the clothes are actually decent quality, and most surprisingly for a figures with only 9 points of articulation, he poses fantastically - the joints bend and pivot - and that's not something I expected from a figure of this age (1998) and at this relatively low original price point.
He can even do the splits!
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| Always stretch before taking your Tribbles for a walk... |
Undressed, you can get a better view of the joints (although since the ankles aren't jointed, and the boots are moulded on, it's not possible to take the trousers all the way off):
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| Caught with his pants down! |
Although the wrists aren't articulated, the hands are sculpted to hold either accessory, so that allows for some additional posing fun:
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| Holding his phaser and communicator |
If I had to pick one negative feature, it would be that the figure is an odd size (9"/25cm in height), which would make it hard for him to fit in with figures from other lines.
Figures from "collectible" lines like those from Hot Toys or Sideshow tower over him:
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| In between Hot Toys' Wolverine and Sideshow Toys' Krycek |
Meanwhile, he towers over action figures of similar vintage like those from DC Direct or Toy Biz:
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| Between DC Direct's The Drummer and ToyBiz's Nightcrawler |
He is similar in height to PlayArts/SquareEnix figures, but the difference in proportions makes them look a little odd together:
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| Between Adam Jensen and Commander Shepard |
Still, that's a minor complaint to have, so overall I have to say that I think is an awesome figure - my expectations were low, but they were exceeded by far!
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| From this angle he's almost smirking, isn't he? |
Yup, he's definitely smirking in the last one, lol. What a great figure! I'm also surprised by his articulation (especially those hips, wow!) His outfit even looks pretty well made. I wasn't as into DS9 so I'm not even sure if I know this character. I was more of a Next Generation watcher, I think. :) Great find to add to your collection. I love your Hot Toy's Wolverine as well!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the smirk! ;)
DeleteCool figure! Congrats on having him. I have some of the 12" Playmates figures. The faces oddly enough are more bland than this smaller figure.
ReplyDeleteIf he had a younger face, he could fit among the 12" guys as a child. But bald and bearded, he'd be a Wayans brothers parody of a child ;-)
That's funny that the bigger line had less detailed faces - weird! Same moulded-on boots though, I see.
DeleteAnd heh, if I had the patience to do photo stories I would totally run with that parody - I'm laughing just thinking about it!
Haaaa haaa! Bearded baby!
DeleteOh, I have watched all of the Star Trek spin offs. From the original to Next Generation, DS9, Voyager and Enterprise. This is a good likeness of Captain Benjamin Sisko! The figure looks to be very well made for that scale and his clothes look well made too. I have watched all of the movies too! Congrats on your find!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I was happy to find a good likeness like this. :)
DeleteI'm impressed that you've seen all of the Treks - that's dedication! I've caught most of them, but not quite all. I think I've only seen about an hour's worth of Enterprise - maybe someday I'll get caught up though!
I think he looks pretty cool actually! Even with his trousers round his ankles LOL ;)
ReplyDeleteMy favourite of the Star Trek series was TNG because I loved the characters in that series (although I admit that apart from the very first series, I've not watched those other than TNG, just glimpsed in passing!) ...maybe there is a plastic Captain Jean Luc Picard out there somewhere just waiting for me to bring him home :)
And yep, I see the smirk too!! :)
xx
Thanks!
DeleteAnd heh, I have no doubt that there might be a little Captain Picard somewhere with your name on it! ;)
It's a great figure! Isn't he more or less the hight of old Mego figures? He has great articulation, the clothes look very good too!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I think you're right - now that you mention it, he is very Mego-reminiscent.
DeleteI enjoyed seeing your Captain Benjamin Sisko out of his cardboard house. I am not certain the one I have is the same, but mine still lives in his box. The 9-inch height is awkward.
ReplyDeleteMego produced a number of 9-inch dolls and action figures during the 1970s. Here's a link to their museum.
Perhaps Playmates was thinking along the same lines as Mego.
dbg
Thanks for the link. I going to have to put aside some time to read through the museum - I've seen Mego figures around, but I don't know very much about them, so it'll be a great addition to my figure history education!
DeleteYou are welcome. Happy reading.
Deletedbg
I never got into Deep Space 9, but I would have to say that is quite a nice tribute to the character and actor. Not bad, not bad at all. *nods*
ReplyDeleteThey did to a good job of capturing the character, it's true. :)
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