Review: Ken as Kirk, Ken as Spock

Review: Ken as Captain Kirk, Ken as Mr. Spock

Posted by Lindsay

I know, I know. I said I didn't want these guys.

But they got really cheap!

And I am, if anything, growing more obsessed as time goes by, both with Trek 2009 and Trek TOS.

So when the sale went up at barbiecollector.com, they went in the cart.

All three Barbie Trek dolls (including Uhura, who I previously reviewed) are probably still on sale there until they run out.

Appearance and Construction: 7/10 each

Lets start with the problems. Both of these boys need about a quarter-inch of their neck taken out. It's just weird. It's a recurring problem with certain Kens; the head doesn't seem to match the long neck already on the torso. It looks okay with costumes that include collared shirts, but it's an issue here.

Neither one looks particularly like the actor in question, although Spock's head doesn't seem to have been re-purposed. His neck reads 2008, while Kirk's reads 2005. It looks like Kirk has the same headsculpt as Speed. In some pictures, I've tried to help the neck issue by cheating their black collars up, but it only helps so much.

Spock's hair has so much gel in it that it's dried in his ears and on his forehead, although this is more a silly thing than a real problem. The face designs are nice, and paint clean, on both boys.

Their costumes are really quite nice. The sweater look works and the detailing on the pants is lovely.

The boots look nice from the front, although the back leaves quite a bit to be desired. Although I'll happily take weird looking ankles so that I can have removable boots. The tunics look a bit weird from the back as well, although some of that is wrinkles from being in the box.

I like how big their hands are. Some Kens have tiny little fingers.

The department badges on their chests look great, just like Uhura's does.

I love that the badges and the rank stripes are all dimensional, not just painted onto the costume, but I wouldn't expect anything less from a Pink Label doll.

Packaging and Accessories: +1 each

Nice boxes. They look good and everything came out with a minimum of fuss.

They each came with a stand, a phaser, and one other piece. Spock has the tricorder, Kirk has the communicator. They can't hold the accessories without help, but that's par for Barbies. The stands say Star Trek on the rim, but the sticker on Kirk's stand is really far off-center, which is too bad.

What I didn't notice until I put all three Trek dolls together, is that the symbols on the stands are actually specific to each doll, and match the department symbols on their uniforms. Really nice touch, Mattel.

Also, all their accessories have moving parts! This is what I came down on the Playmates McCoy for not having. Here's some comparison shots for you. In all cases, the Playmates accessory is on the left, with the Mattel on the right.

Two nice accessories and well designed, fully removable costumes... that's worth a bonus point. That off-kilter sticker on the base almost keeps Kirk from his bonus point here, but not quite.

Play and Display: ---

They both have the slim jointed Ken body that I've seen before, with new hands. That includes a cut neck, ball joints at shoulders and hips, hinge/posts at the elbows, hinges at knees, and a springy “crunch” joint at the abs.

It's interesting to stand these guys next to my Playmates McCoy. It's like an optical illusion. At first, McCoy looks way too bulked up and muscular next to the lithe Kirk, then McCoy looks okay and Kirk's head looks too big for his shoulders. They're both inaccurate to life in different ways, but the contrast amuses me.

Special: Discussion of Custom Potential:

Like I'm going to break up this dream team?

Although, seriously, they're getting cheap enough that if I had some LoTR Barbies from a few years back I would consider picking up an extra Spock as a candidate for an extra generic elf-guy.

Price Tag and Final Analysis: 8/10 each

The Star Trek Barbies all started retail life marked at 40-some dollars, and the few shops I saw them in had marked them up to 50-60. But a year has passed since then, and all prices have a shelf life.

On sale on the barbie website, I got this pair for $12 each, plus shipping. At that price, I would pick up the whole set again, weird necks or no. That sale is over, but they are still clearanced at $15 each while they last.

See, this collector bug is getting bad. Now I'm really tempted to grab a Playmates Sulu... More Pictures Below!