Star Trek Minimates Wave 1 - Scotty and Dr. McCoy
It came as something of a surprise when Diamond Select Toys announced that they were re-visiting the Star Trek licence for Minimates. They'd tried once before to produce Trek-Mates. That was back in 2002 and those 'mates were in the then-established 3" format rather than the 2" format as that came with the Marvel licence later on. Despite Minimate fans loving the 3" mates and wanting more, it seemed that Trek fandom at large dismissed them as not worthy and so the line spluttered to a close. Thankfully Minimates as a concept have gone from strength to strength and if 2006 was the year of no 'mates, then 2007 has been very much the year of new 'mates. Now shrunk to 2" and packed 2 figures to a set, Star Trek wave one flew out of the stores on release and are proving difficult to come by. Enough of the hyperbole though, let's review some Minimates.
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.
The Figures
Scotty
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott. The Enterprise's Chief Engineer, and third in command, as portrayed in the original series by James Doohan. Generally calm under fire (unless Klingons are insulting his ship) Scotty had a reputation as a miracle worker. A reputation he did his best to uphold generally by saying a job would take far longer to undertake than it really would. This is the first time we have had a Scotty Minimate - the original Star Trek 3" series didn't get to wave 2 in which he would have appeared.
At first I thought DST had missed the boat (no pun intended) with the likeness on the face of this figure. But having checked out a few pictures of Scotty I think they've done a fairly good job of it. Perhaps a less dour looking downturned mouth would have helped nail it, but the hairstyle and general hangdog expression work well.
As far as the body goes... Well you can't really go wrong with Star Trek costumes can you? Even the later spin-off shows have fairly utilitarian uniforms. They are, after all, the military in outer space. So while there's nothing really special about these 'mates there's nothing wrong with them either. There's a little body definition going on, but only a little. These are ordinary people, not superheroes. Something I've been noticing with a lot of newer Minimates is the practice of casting body parts in white plastic and then painting them the appropriate colour. I have to confess to being a fan of this practice as it eliminates the problem of colour matching plastics that may have been cast in different factories or from different batches. The only slight downside is that sometimes a white shoulder or hip post is noticeable, but I'd rather that than three different shades of red on the same figure.
The Starfleet insignia is present and correct. At least I think it's correct, I wouldn't be at all surprised to be pounced on by rabid Trek fans telling me exactly why it's wrong. One thing I really like is the gold detailing on the sleeve cuffs. It's the sort of thing you'd imagine some companies using a couple of solid gold bands on, but DST have gone for as close an approximation of the correct pattern as possible. I'm glad to see it too. The only non standard part on this Minimate is the little bits of plastic that are meant to represent the turn-ups on the uniform trousers. Doesn't look at all amiss though. From the back this 'mate is nothing special, but then there's no decoration on the back of a Starfleet uniform either so it's not cause for complaint.
Scotty comes with a phaser and a communicator. Both accessories are well realised for this scale and just as importantly they both fit the figures hands without stretching them out excessively. Scotty has C3 feet and the peg-hole in his head.
In conclusion, there's nothing wrong with this Minimate apart from a minor gripe regarding the mouth. It does its job of realising the character from the show, and it does it as simply and cleanly as possible.
MMC Score - 7 out of 10
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Dr. McCoy
Doctor Leonard 'Bones' McCoy; Ship's Doctor, as portrayed by the brilliant Deforrest Kelley.
He's a Doctor! Not a bricklayer!
Whereas Scotty's face is just slightly off, McCoy's is pretty much perfect. Kudos to the designer. If you look at pictures of Deforrest Kelley from the ero of T.O.S. (the original series) you'll see he has the most fantastically mournful eyes. He's almost a human version of Droopy the Dog. Just a couple of simple lines around the eyes of this mate convey the same world weary look. The likeness continues to the wry grin of the mouth. There's no doubt this is Bones McCoy. The look is topped off by the hairpiece which is brand new and will probably only be seen on this figure.
McCoys uniform shirt is blue as opposed to Scotty's red. As with Scotty there's a slight hint of definition to the upper chest. One small complaint, and the same goes for all of the T.O.S. Trek mates, is that little black triangle at the top of the chest block. It's there to suggest the black neckband of the uniform but as it only suggests rather than represents it looks a bit odd. Having moaned about that it's also worth mentioning that the viewable area of the neck post has been painted flesh colour. All too often this section is left unpainted. Fine for Superhero costumes, not so good for real people, so it's nice to see such attention to detail. The sleeve cuffs have the same gold decoration as Scotty's.
The only non-regular piece is the turn-up attachment at the base of the legs.
Dr McCoy comes with a phaser and a tri-corder. The tri-corder is another great accessory though it is a tad fragile.
I, in my haste to get my Trek 'mates all kitted out, initially removed the heads to get the Tri-corder straps onto the shoulders. I then find out this is unnecessary as the strap unplugs from the tri-corder. Only problem is the strap can become unplugged without you realising meaning it'd be easy to drop and lose. A shame that there's no medical scanner to go with the tri-corder, but considering the scale it's probably best that this was over-looked. It'd be very easy to lose. McCoy also has C3 feet and a peg hole in his head. Like Scotty his upper half is a white base that's been painted while his legs and t-piece are cast in black.
In conclusion, another good Trek-mate, clean and simple yet well realised. I'm scoring this one slightly higher than Scotty as I'm so impressed with how well McCoy's likeness has been captured.
MMC Score - 8 out of 10
More pictures
Review and pictures by Stewart Kay
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