Review: Star Trek Enterprise Bridge Playset
In my opinion, last summer's Star Trek relaunch (or reboot or re-whatever) was the best "grown-up" movie of the summer. It had its faults, of course, but overall it was absolutely fantastic.
As an added bonus, a lot of the older toys seemed to go on clearance to make room for the new figures and sets. That how I ended up with the Diamond Select Enterprise. Well, it turns out a few of those new toys stuck around themselves, and that brings us to Playmate's Enterprise Bridge set, which I found on clearance at Toys R Us.
This is meant to invoke playsets from the seventies and eighties, incorporating various pieces and combining to form the bridge from the film. Actually, it's far from complete: to build the complete bridge you'd need to get most of the single-packed 3.75 inch figures, which come with bucket-loads of accessories.
I don't expect to be doing that.
So, let's take a look at the set as-is. While I'm going to keep the same structure I've been using, the review might feel a tad forced, since this is a very different creature than the action figures I'm used to reviewing.
As an added bonus, a lot of the older toys seemed to go on clearance to make room for the new figures and sets. That how I ended up with the Diamond Select Enterprise. Well, it turns out a few of those new toys stuck around themselves, and that brings us to Playmate's Enterprise Bridge set, which I found on clearance at Toys R Us.
This is meant to invoke playsets from the seventies and eighties, incorporating various pieces and combining to form the bridge from the film. Actually, it's far from complete: to build the complete bridge you'd need to get most of the single-packed 3.75 inch figures, which come with bucket-loads of accessories.
I don't expect to be doing that.
So, let's take a look at the set as-is. While I'm going to keep the same structure I've been using, the review might feel a tad forced, since this is a very different creature than the action figures I'm used to reviewing.
Appearance and Construction: 8/10
Before we get started, let's talk about what this set includes. You get a plastic floor map, a raised console unit with three chairs, two standing translucent panels, a view screen displaying the Romulan mining ship from the movie, a Kirk action figure, and some small accessories for Kirk.
I'm going to consider Kirk the accessory and look at him later. The rest of it's getting counted here.
The first thing I'll say is that this subverted my expectations at pretty much every turn. Pieces I was expecting to be cool weren't and vice versa. Let's start with one of the largest disappointments: the floor mat.
This actually fares pretty well in the photographs, but in real life it's nowhere near what I'd expected. From the pictures on the package and Playmate's descriptions, I was imagining a foam-rubber mat or, at the very least, a thick plastic. In reality, the quality here is less playset than place-mat. Think the substance of those small plastic bags kids use at Halloween. In addition, they've printed the layout plan right on the mat, so if you don't have every piece, you're stuck looking at numbers.
I'm going to consider Kirk the accessory and look at him later. The rest of it's getting counted here.
The first thing I'll say is that this subverted my expectations at pretty much every turn. Pieces I was expecting to be cool weren't and vice versa. Let's start with one of the largest disappointments: the floor mat.
This actually fares pretty well in the photographs, but in real life it's nowhere near what I'd expected. From the pictures on the package and Playmate's descriptions, I was imagining a foam-rubber mat or, at the very least, a thick plastic. In reality, the quality here is less playset than place-mat. Think the substance of those small plastic bags kids use at Halloween. In addition, they've printed the layout plan right on the mat, so if you don't have every piece, you're stuck looking at numbers.
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The side panels, on the other hand, are far nicer than I'd expected, though one of mine came cracked. The decals here are nice, if not completely even, and they function well as scale set pieces.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the central console, at least from an appearance standpoint. This is an attractive piece that looks great on its own. Be aware that the levers are sculpted in place with flimsy plastic or rubber, a strike in the construction department. The view screen is good but not great. It actually like the effect of the panel much more than I'd expected, though the whole thing looks awful from the back (a problem, since this set really needs to work from every angle). How this rates depends a great deal on how everything gets weighted. I'm basically giving Playmates a pass on the mat and scoring this on the console, panels, and view screen. These look good, but be aware they do feel somewhat toyish. |
Packaging and Extras: -2
The set comes packaged in a large, oddly shaped box. They've tried to duplicate the effect used on the packaging of the action figures, where they utilized curved lines to invoke the Federation symbol. Here, it just looks like the box is warped.
I will admit the picture in the lower left corner of the back showing the fully assembled bridge looks awesome. Not necessarily $85 worth of awesome, but pretty cool nonetheless. But that's enough about packaging. It won't affect the score, anyway.
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Ultimately, accessories are a tad ambiguous in situations like this. I'm considering Kirk, his belt, and phaser as the "extras" here for the purposes of description. The scoring, on the other hand, is going be handled a tad differently. More on that in a moment. First of all, this "Kirk" looks nothing like any version of the character I'm familiar with. Honestly, he looks more like Chekov to me. His articulation is identical to the Spock I reviewed a while back, so I'm not going to go into that here. The phaser is also the same, and, once again, it's a disappointment. At a distance, it looks fine, but up close it looks like it's been melted. The belt, also identical, is quite a bit better than the phaser. |
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The penalty I'm applying here isn't really because of Kirk: it's a touch more holistic. Here's the thing: this set, considered as whole, just isn't worth the money it was originally going for. Honestly, if it came with EVERYTHING - all the chairs, the panels, and the consoles that you currently need to buy a dozen figures to collect - I'd only value it around thirty-five bucks.
As it is, you're not getting anywhere near enough to justify this price tag. At minimum, there should be several alternate panels for the view screen and a few spare consoles and chairs.
As it is, you're not getting anywhere near enough to justify this price tag. At minimum, there should be several alternate panels for the view screen and a few spare consoles and chairs.
Play and Display: ----
Normally, things like this get a default +1, but this set squanders that bonus. There are several odd choices that limit this set's display potential.
First of all, the chairs are made to stay in place: you can turn them, but they'll snap back to their original position. This may seem like a minor issue, or perhaps not one at all, but it grates on me. You can add a lot of character to a scene by turning one chair a bit out of alignment, and here that's impossible. Really, I just can't get my mind around why they did it this way.
Next, there are those levers and knobs on the console. There's no excuse for these not to function. What's more iconic than having Checkov or Sulu engaging warp drive? Come on: how much money did this really save? A penny per unit? Less? To put things into perspective, just about everything in my Pigs in Space playset works. But then Palisades CARED about the products they released.
Even with the default, I almost hit this with a -1 penalty. But then I gave the matter some thought. For all the problems with this set, the pieces work well independently. The panels, the view screen, and the console can all be placed in other displays or used with other small toys. So I called it even.
First of all, the chairs are made to stay in place: you can turn them, but they'll snap back to their original position. This may seem like a minor issue, or perhaps not one at all, but it grates on me. You can add a lot of character to a scene by turning one chair a bit out of alignment, and here that's impossible. Really, I just can't get my mind around why they did it this way.
Next, there are those levers and knobs on the console. There's no excuse for these not to function. What's more iconic than having Checkov or Sulu engaging warp drive? Come on: how much money did this really save? A penny per unit? Less? To put things into perspective, just about everything in my Pigs in Space playset works. But then Palisades CARED about the products they released.
Even with the default, I almost hit this with a -1 penalty. But then I gave the matter some thought. For all the problems with this set, the pieces work well independently. The panels, the view screen, and the console can all be placed in other displays or used with other small toys. So I called it even.
Price Tag and Final Analysis: 6/10
Six out of ten isn't quite a glowing review, but keep in mind the deductions have more to do with quantity than quality. But, frankly, quantity does count. This set started around twenty-six bucks, plus or minus depending on the retailer. Considering how little it comes with, it's just not worth that kind of money.
I paid half of that when this was on clearance at Toys R Us. At thirteen dollars, it felt more reasonable. But, honestly, it didn't feel like a bargain by a long stretch. Then again, I'm spoiled: I bought my "Pigs in Space" set for less (nine, if memory serves) at a KB Toy Works years ago.
And, while the Star Trek bridge set has some good points, it's not a tenth as good as the Muppet sets.
I paid half of that when this was on clearance at Toys R Us. At thirteen dollars, it felt more reasonable. But, honestly, it didn't feel like a bargain by a long stretch. Then again, I'm spoiled: I bought my "Pigs in Space" set for less (nine, if memory serves) at a KB Toy Works years ago.
And, while the Star Trek bridge set has some good points, it's not a tenth as good as the Muppet sets.
Hey, you! Yeah. You. Have you bought a copy of my novel yet? If not, what are you waiting for?
