Star Trek Minimates Wave 1 - Spock and Captain Pike
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" 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.
The Figures
Spock
Half human/half Vulcan Science Officer and First Officer of the USS Enterprise. There’s no Star Trek character more instantly recognisable than Spock. He got a very nice figure in the only 3" wave so let's see if the 2" version is up to snuff.
Facially there’s something not quite right about this Spock. He has the arched eyebrows, the slit eyes, those famous pointy ears, but there’s definitely something amiss with this ‘mate. I think it’s the limitation of the Minimate design, Leonard Nimoy has a long slim face. That simply can’t be realised in Minimate form. To be fair to the designers they’ve given it a good shot. The lines for the cheek bones are pretty much spot on, perhaps if the hair piece had gone straight up from the temples rather than flaring out as it does it may have looked better? Though I think there may have been problems with the ears if there was less plastic on the hair piece so I guess compromises have had to be made.
The body is a basic Minimate body. Spock’s Starfleet uniform shirt is well represented. The Starfleet logo is present and correct, and the gold piping around the sleeve cuffs is very accurate, in fact while reviewing this figure I’ve realised that the sleeve decoration on Dr McCoy and Scotty has a solid lower line and a broken upper line while Spock has two solid lines. Subsequent checking (gotta love the internet) confirms that this is indeed correct. I’m by no means a Trek academician so I’ve no idea what exactly the different lines signify but I’m guessing it’s something to do with rank? Whatever they signify I’m even more impressed with the attention to detail shown on these ‘mates. Simple they may be, slapdash they ain’t! Like the other Trek ‘mates Spock has the cuff pieces around the bottom of his legs to illustrate the turn up (wacky flares?) of the Starfleet uniform trousers.
Spock’s accessorised with a phaser pistol and a tri-corder. The tri-corder is just as fragile as Dr McCoy’s but it’s still a very cool accessory. Spock also comes with an alternate hand, meant to symbolise the Vulcan salute that accompanies the phrase ‘live long and prosper’. Oh dear oh dear oh dear... For a start the hand’s been given four fingers where really it should be three. I guess for the salute they could have even gotten away with two even? Then there’s the thumb. On the Vulcan salute the thumb is held out at a right angle to the palm. On the alternate hand the thumb sits across the palm. Spock appears to be saying Nanu Nanu, rather than live long and prosper. This is a major error, and one the Trek fans (never the calmest of people) have leapt upon. Spock’s feet have the C3 holes and his head/hair has the peg-hole/post.
In conclusion, this isn't an awful Minimate. It's just not as good as the rest of Trek wave 1.
MMC Score - 6 out of 10
More pictures
Captain Pike
Christopher Pike was Captain of the Enterprise prior to Kirk. The Captain featured in the first pilot episode of Star Trek (The Cage) and later appeared in the series itself in the story titled The Menagerie.
I can’t see a lot of Christopher Pike in this figure. About the only similarity to Jeffrey Hunter, the actor that played Pike, is the eyebrows. The eyes seem too dark, and the mouth is far too small. The hair piece looks wrong too. Pike’s hair was light brown but this Minimate’s hair is a very dark brown, it also looks the wrong shape entirely, almost as if a generic piece has been used. It just ain’t right!
Happily the body is a little better. The Starfleet badge on the left breast is smaller than the TOS badges and in place of the zig zags on the uniform sleeves there’s a simple gold circlet. The detailing around the neck is slightly better than on the TOS Minimates as it shows more of the round necked detailing. Again body definition is minimal and that’s a good thing with these ‘mates. Pike has the same ankle pieces as the other Enterprise crew, however I believe this to be an error. I could be wrong but I’m fairly certain that the Starfleet uniform in The Cage had straight legged trousers, rather than TOS’s three quarter length flared trousers.
Captain Pike’s only accessory is a phase pistol. It’s quite cool looking, more reminiscent of a Flash Gordon-style ‘ray-gun’ than the business like phasers of the regular series. Captain Pike has the obligatory C3 feet and peg hole in the head.
In conclusion, nailing the likeness of real people is a Minimate minefield. Sometimes they nail it, sometimes they fail it. This is definitely the weakest figure of the set.
MMC Score - 5 out of 10
More pictures
Review and pictures by Stewart Kay
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