Star Trek Minimates Wave 1 - Captain Kirk and Vina
Diamond Select Toys return to the Star Trek well for more Minimates, now shrunk to 2" and packed 2 figures to a set instead of their original 3" single-packed wave.
Packaging
Once again DST have opted for the more aesthetically pleasing blister card for their packaging. The card itself has a space graphic which goes from dark red at the edges to an orange white at the centre which helps the figures stand out from the packaging. There's a red card insert with the Star Trek: Celebrating 40 Years logo at the top and the Minimates logo underneath. The insert is windowed so that the figures are clearly visible though some of the accessories are obscured by the card. There's a Starfleet logo to the left of the insert with the legend 'series 1' across it. The names of the characters in the pack are on a sticker which has been applied to the outside of the blister.
On the back is the usual array of company logos. Thankfully not as many as on the packaging for the Battlestar Galactica Minimates! The Starfleet insignia from the front of the box has been repeated in the upper left of the card, a nice image of the Enterprise NCC 1701 is in the upper right.
All of the Minimates in the wave are pictured on the back, it's a shame they've not gone for the large group shot as seen on the new Marvel packs. Though at least the pictures of the 'mates aren't as small as on the backs of the DC and BSG cards. The picture is for the variant set as we have no other still-in-packaging shots, but it gives you all a good idea of the look of the card. If you want to see the actual packaging pics then Ivan's Minimate Database has them - it's a fantastic reference guide!
The Figures
Captain Kirk
James T Kirk, the maverick Captain of the USS Enterprise. Doggedly upholding the prime directive (except when he didn’t want to) and smooching his way across the final frontier. He is, to my mind, the greatest of all the Captains of all the Enterprises.
He was a big hit in his original 3" fom so let's see how the 2" Kirk compares.
It’s funny, when I broke this guy out of the packaging I thought he was a bit ‘meh!’ It really didn’t look like Kirk to me. Then, while deconstructing him for the purposes of this review I removed his hair piece and lo and behold Will the Shat was looking right back at me. How bizarre that I couldn’t see the resemblance until I removed his hair! It is actually a very good likeness, so simple that it’s not until you really look you can see it. It’s in the arch of the eyebrows, the slight upturns at the corners of the mouth. The eyes look like they should be twinkling. Hat’s off to whoever put this guy together. You did a great job here.
The body is really no different to the other Command Crew Trekmates. Naturally Kirk’s shirt colour is different, and the decoration around the cuffs is as accurate as possible. Kirk has a third insignia line on the cuffs so I’m fairly certain that my ponderings in the other wave one reviews are on the money and the sleeve detail as well as shirt colour denotes rank. There is a small amount of decoration on the body block - The Starfleet badge sits on the left breast and there’s a hint of muscle definition too. Nothing outlandish though, if anything the tiny hint of a six-pack is quite flattering to Kirk. Maybe this ‘mate is holding it in?
Kirk is accessorised with a phaser and communicator. Both are brilliantly realised for such a small scale and fit well in the figures hands. Great to see Kirk get a communicator as this was a glaring omission in the 3" version. There is also a phaser rifle in the pack. I’m assuming it’s Kirk’s as I don’t recall Orion slave women needing such crude weapons. Kirk also has the same ankle pieces as the other Crew’ mates, as well as C3 feet and the peg hole in the head. Like the rest of Wave one Kirk’s body is cast in white plastic and then painted. The legs and feet are cast in black plastic.
In Conclusion, another very good Trek-Mate. I’m impressed with the likeness, something which is so important with this style of figure.
MMC Score - 9 out of 10
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Vina
Ah Vina, the Orion Slave Girl who wasn’t. Vina’s not really green you see. This Minimate is based on a brief scene from the pilot episode ‘The Cage’. Vina should really be packaged with Captain Pike as they both appeared in the pilot, but, well... Kirk always gets the girl!
To be honest the cynic in me expected to find She-Hulk repainted. It seemed too coincidental that the most recent Marvel wave also had a babe with green skin. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Vina is almost 100% original. The face is great, it’s a very close approximation of the character, largely helped by the blue eyes and of all things, the line of the eyebrow. That may sound weird, but it’s the little touches that help nail the character. The hair piece is new. At first glance it looks like it could have been the same piece as found on Dark Phoenix and Firestar, but while it appears similar it’s actually very different.
Vina is sparsely decorated; there’s a red circlet on her left upper arm, and she’s wearing a silver dress that has a kind of leaf motif to it. I think a mistake has been made with the dress. On one particular photo I’ve seen of Vina the dress appears silver, but I think that’s down to how the scene was lit. I believe the dress was actually gold and have found numerous photos on the web that confirm this. A bit of an oversight on DST’s part perhaps? Nevertheless the figure still looks good even if the motif has a bit of a ‘will this do?’ vibe to it. The only extra that Vina has is the asymmetric skirt piece, this again is an original piece, testament to DST putting the rash of part re-use behind them (I hope!). For my sins I did have a peek under the dress, Danny gives the most excruciating dead legs so I thought it was best to volunteer rather than have him ‘insist’ again. Once again DST produce the kind of girl you wouldn’t take home to mother, leaving aside the fact she’s two inches tall and made of plastic.
Vina has no accessories, although there was a Phaser rifle packed on her side of the blister tray I believe this part was an extra for Kirk. Vina has C3 feet and the usual peg hole in the head. Like the rest of this wave Vina is cast in white plastic and painted.
In Conclusion, the slight error in the dress colour doesn’t distract from another nicely thought out Minimate.
MMC Score - 7 out of 10
More pictures
Review and pictures by Stewart Kay
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