Review: Playmates 3 3/4" Spocks

I'm assuming that, by now, most of you have seen the new Star Trek movie.  If not, what are you doing wasting your time here?  Go.  Now.  See it.

If you haven't noticed, I was quite happy with the film.  It's basically a pulp SF version of the original.  I don't think it's for everyone, just nearly everyone.  I know there are a few old-school Trekkies out there who are bothered by the pacing and some of the choices, and I actually respect that.  I love old Trek, too, and there's as much Star Wars in this version as anything else.  For some, that's a deal breaker.  For the rest of us, it's a great summer flick.

At any rate, you can't make a summer blockbuster without trying to cash in on the toys.  And that brings us to today's review.  A few days before the movie opened I stopped by Toys R Us and found the figures on sale.  It wasn't a spectacular price, but it was just cheap enough to justify picking a few up.

I went with a pair of Spocks, since I wanted iconic characters, and the Kirk was awful.  At 3 3/4 inches, these are smaller than I usually collect, but I was intrigued by the accessories.

These are made by Playmates.  You can find them just about everywhere, and I doubt this will be the last time they're on sale.

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Appearance:

Original: 8
New Spock: 6

Before I go further, I want to caution that these scores represent the figures I got.  If you're buying online, don't be surprised if what you end up with looks strikingly different.  I dug through dozens of figures of each character before coming across ones I liked.  The Original Spock figure, in particular, varied a great deal.  Mine is fairly nice, but most were less impressive.  I'm not just talking about minor issues, either: comparing some of the figures side by side, some were completely different colors.  A few of the Original Spocks I saw were almost pink.

But I found a few I liked, and, of those, I bought the ones that looked the best.

Lets start with Nimoy's Spock, sold as "Original Spock," and billed in the movie as "Spock Prime."  The detail work on the face is much better than I'd have expected: up close you can make out the wrinkles and lines.  The eyebrows and ears are both expertly crafted, providing the signature "Vulcan" look.

Also worth noting are the robes, which are quite a bit better than I usually expect at this scale.  I have very few complaints about any of his costume, in fact.  Even the back of his robes is well sculpted.  While I like these, though, more detail could have taken this further.

While it pretty much comes with the territory, the joints on Spock are fairly intrusive.  I can't deduct too much, though, because there's really no way to make a figure this size any other way.  At least no way I know of.  The neck also has some issues, but you won't see them unless you scroll to the very bottom of this review, where I have a profile shot.  It may look good head on, but from the side it looks ridiculously wide.

While still good, the new Spock is notably less impressive than the original.  In addition to the paint issues on his face, he's just missing the elements that make Nimoy's toy shine.

There's some good detail work here, don't get me wrong.  You can tell at a glance who this is, and that's not always the case in this scale (just take a look at the Kirk figures in this scale: if you told me they were originally supposed to be Checkov, I couldn't correct you.

I also like the pants, boots, and federation emblem on his shirt.  But that doesn't make up for all his problems.

The first of which is a simple problem of ratios: his mid-section is a bit too square and boxy.  I suspect a little more shaping here could have corrected this.

His waist suffers from a similar issue, which Prime sidesteps due to his robes.  Still, it makes my earlier comment about obtrusive joints a bit trivial in comparison.

If I had scored these guys a year ago, they'd probably be a point higher each.  But there have been some great toys in this scale coming out that have pushed the curve.  I like both Spocks, but I can't go higher than 8 for the original and a 6 for his successor.

Packaging and Extras:

Original: +1
New Spock: +2

For what it's worth (which is nothing), I actually like the design on the packaging quite a bit.  Mostly, I like how they've incorporated arches and the Federation symbol.

The back gives you an idea of how many more figures you'll need to buy if you want the whole bridge/transporter sets.  It's time like this I pity the completists out there.

Both figures come with some nice extras.  Speaking objectively, I have to confess that New Spock is better off than his predecessor, though I actually prefer what you get with the Nimoy Spock.

Lets start with New Spock.  You get a stand (complete with removable shirt clip), a phaser, an alternate "Live long and prosper" hand, a belt, a chair and computer console.

The stand is one of those things that's simultaneously neat and worthless.  The idea is that it functions as a base, only you can pull off the figure, attach a clip, and wear it like a pocket protector.

Great, in theory.  Here is the problem: as ugly and useless as this is as a stand, it's even MORE useless as a shirt clip.  Even though the shape is fairly accurate, it's still looks like a lump of cheap plastic.  Plus, you've still got that peg sticking out the front.  Maybe kids will have more use for this than I do.

The rest of the extras are better.  If you look too closely at the phaser, it looks like Spock accedentally left it in the microwave, but from a few feet away it looks fine.  If you don't want Spock holding it, you can also slide it into the holster on the belt.  It's kind of odd that of all the accessories, this is actually the one that works best.

The extra hand was a nice touch, though, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it to fit right.  I got it well enough to snap a few pictures, but it wasn't really where it's supposed to be.

I'm really happy - here at least - with the chair and console (though I'll have some related things to discuss below.  Both these items look good, though, and that's what I'm scoring here.

The Original Spock comes with less goodies.  You get a section of the transporter, a "normal" hand, and black stand.

The black stand is nothing all that impressive, but it's about ten times better than the one above.  This hand gave me the same issues I ran into above, not that I care (I'm perfectly happy to stay with the other one).

But I really like the "build-a-transporter" piece.  Granted, I'm not going to buy other pieces unless they inexplicably get dirt cheap, but I don't really need them to get some use out of this one.  Regardless of what it was meant to be, it's a perfectly acceptable display stand for these figures.  It's a lot nicer than either of the stands these guys came with, anyway.  Incidentally, this is also why I like the chair and console that came with Spock: none of these really need to be part of a set.  They work fine as stands and accessories on their own.

I toyed with the idea of giving them both a +2, but that would have been disingenuous.  While I really like the transport chunk as a stand, at this scale, the best the three accessories add up to is a +1.  New Spock does better, with his large assortment.  Even though the stand/clip is useless, the hand barely fits, and the phaser is melted, along with belt, chair, and console, I think he deserves a +2.

Play and Display:

Original: ----
New Spock: -1

New Spock has more articulation, but it has some very disappointing limitations.  He's got cut wrists and neck, ball joints for the elbows, knees, ankles, and shoulders, T-hips, and a cut joint where his stomach meets the legs.

Original Spock is missing the ball joints at the ankles, and I can really only guess as to whether he's got the stomach joint or not: his cloak makes the issue pretty much moot.

Why then is New Spock getting hit with the deduction?  Simple: the elbows and knees barely work.  You can get a little motion out of them, but while the Original can bend his elbow at a right angle, the New one can't.  Just look at the "Live long and prosper" moment at the top of this review: that's as far as New Spock can go.

Likewise, he can't bend his knees to sit at his computer console.  So... Spock can't properly use his spare hand to do the Vulcan blessing, nor can he sit in his chair right.

Old Spock might not have perfect articulation, but at least he can do what he needs to.  On top of that, he's got better balance than his younger counterpart.

Price Tag and Final Analysis:

Original: 9/10
New Spock: 7/10

These guys retail for $7, which is more than I want to spend on figures in this scale.  But, even at that price, it's easy to argue that the accessories make them a far better deal than you usually find 3 3/4 inch toys going for.  The DC Infinite Heroes toys started around seven bucks each, and some of those came with nothing.

Even so, I didn't drop full price.  When I picked these up, Toys R Us was letting them go at two for $10.  At five bucks each, I feel like I got a decent deal.

I'm expecting some of these figures - particularly of the less sought after characters - to get a lot cheaper by the end of the summer.  If you're only planning to buy one, I strongly endorse "Original Spock", provided you find one that looks good.  Consistency doesn't seem to be one of the strong points for this line, so take your time looking these over.

You know, I really didn't mean to take this many pictures.  Oh well, just think of them as Easter Eggs or something.  What?  Not enough?  You want more?  Fine, I'll also throw in a link to The Middle Room, where you'll find a universe of geeky reviews and reflections.

And... have a few more pictures.  On the house.