Comments on: Star Trek Headed Back To Playmates

By: John D'oh!

John D'oh! — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 19:12:20 +0000

I bought some playmates toys (TNG era [riker and Geordi]) a while back from a collectables store. I bought thr USS enterprise a few weeks ago from an unsatisfactory Toys R’ Us near my house

By: Harvey Henkelmann

Harvey Henkelmann — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:24:08 +0000

Still got my Micro-Machines Enterprise, Klingon D7, and Romulan BoP… unopened

By: Spock II

Spock II — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:32:33 +0000

I had Star Trek Generations action figures growing up

By: Captain Munoz

Captain Munoz — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:21:37 +0000

The first figure I bought was riker. I didn’t undertsand why at of all the figures his is the only one battle damaged. He had rips all over him. But sadly when I bought them it was the end of playmates and I cried why! I hate getting called a freak only because of star trek I do hope these figures make star trek cool again.

By: USS Anduril's Captain

USS Anduril's Captain — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:34:34 +0000

This news does not instill confidence, no. By the time Playmates lost the license, the Star Trek line had declined. The figures were the only things still worth buying in terms of accuracy. Playmates props were always oversized, with the exception of the TNG tricorder and other TNG accessories. Ships like the 1701 and the Ent-D and the Romulan and Klingon ships were great, but detail started failing around the time of Voyager, the Voyager herself having some neat features, but being a bit too fat in the saucer and having hard to work buttons. The Defiant was close, but the unnecessary feature of a moving front section was dumb. And need I bring up both the First Contact and Insurrection versions of the Enterprise-E? That and the fact that, unlike Art Asylum, Playmates was too lazy to actually paint on the starship registries, making crappy stickers that didn’t stay on for an extended period of time. I’m not looking forward to the toyline until I see some indication that they’ve improved. If I really want the new Enterprise, I’ll wait for the Christmas ornament.

By: Geez, EVEN MORE G.I.Joe related news… | Blog of Much Holding: a Joseph Dickerson joint

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:07:27 +0000

[...] Well, with less than three weeks away from New York’s Toy Fair (where retailers get a chance to look at the new merchandise that the manufacturers offer so they can place advance orders) news is beginning to leak out about various licenses and product lines. Last week Playmates, makers of Star Trek toys throughout the 1990s, announced that they have re-aquired the license, for the new Star Trek movie… which is cool enough, BUT not what this post is about…Sideshow Toys, makers of super-high quality 1/6 scale action figures (which is the scale I collect) announced on thier site Sunday they will be making G.I.Joe products. Very little details as they announced it in a “superbowl ad” - video here.Sigh. And here I am, trying to save money. Oh well. I wonder what cat food tastes like… UPDATE: Reax from the 12″ collectors here. G.I.Joe, Star Trek [...]

By: M.

M. — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:08:22 +0000

#143

Huh?!

We must have bought two entirely different sets of figures from Playmates. I don’t know which supposed figures you purchased, but mine were horribly sculpted and terribly painted. They resembled the characters from the animated series more than anything.

And as for your criticism for the Art Asylum line….

Again, I say Huh?! I think somebody needs a lesson in human anatomy and correct proportion if they think that the Playmates toys were the ideal…

By: J

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:57:15 +0000

I used to have a big collection of the Playmates Star Trek toys……from various figures over the years, including the TOS Enterprise, FC Enterprise-E and even the Space Talk Enterprise-D. I even had the Enterprise Bridge, Transporter, and Engineering Playsets. They were the best figures and toys ever made…..no doubt about it. There was one downside: as their toy license neared an end, they began to slowly produce figures in less and less quantities. I could never find an Insurrection Enterprise or any 4.5 Insurrection figures in my local Wal-Mart. Hopefully, with Playmates reobtaining the license, maybe we can see a reissue of some of their classic lines.

Art Asylum has one thing, however, that Playmates never did in eight years of holding the license: release the Enterprise Refit/Enterprise-A in any form. (of course if they had, it would have looked utterly horrific) Prior to Art Asylum, the only electronic model of the first movie Enterprise that ever came out was a little toy by South Bend issued in 1979-80 for TMP.

By: Star Trek Movies » Playmates Prototypes Provide Clues To New Star Trek Uniforms

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:45:43 +0000

[...] Earlier this week, TrekMovie.com broke the news that Playmates Toys was granted the toy license the new Star Trek film. Now a new article from one of the Internet’s most popular collecting websites, Action-Figure.com, not only confirms the Trekmovie.com news, but also gives details on some of the first prototypes being shown off at UK ToyFair which kicked off today. According to Action-Figure.com, Playmates was showing off prototypes of three different lines: 4″, 6″ and somewhere between 9″ and 12″ versions (approximated). There are also interactive playsets, including the Enterprise bridge and transporter room scaled for the 4″ action figures. These sounds similar to Playmates Enterprise D Bridge and transporter playsets from the 90s, which featured authentic sounds and visual effects. [...]

By: Patrick Lynch

Patrick Lynch — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 01:15:22 +0000

When the Playmates toys first came out, I was thrilled because the 9 inch Kirk figure actually looked like Shatner. The majority of the nine inch figures looked just like the actors that portrayed them and they still hold up well today. The prop toys were fabulous but I wished the TOS tricorder had been bigger or that the communicator beeped when the lid was flipped. But compared to the Star Trek toys of past eras, these were practically prop quality by comparison. I felt the quality of the little figures had gone down hill by the end, but the early small figures were really good. I really liked the twelve inch figures and hope they start doing them again so I can have a proper Kirk to go with my McCoy and Spock. A Dr. Crusher at that size would be nice too. These were the kinds of toys I would loved to have had in the 60’s so I started buying this stuff in my thirties and I still have all of mine proudly displayed on my fireplace mantel and I’m approaching 46. I have a couple of the Art Asylum figures but mostly the ships. I love the articulation of the Art Asylum figures and that they have well, figures. Compare the Art Asylum Uhura or Vina the Orion Slave Girl with any of the Playmates small female figures or the First Contact Dr. Crusher which being slightly taller is a nice size but she has a very generic figure.

I have both the Art Asylum TOS Enterprise and the Playmates TOS Enterprise and I love them both for slightly different reasons. The Playmates ship is clearly as Rick Sternbach said based on the AMT model kit. In fact, when the Playmates Enterprise came out, I stopped working on an AMT kit of the same vessel. Loved the sound effects and that it was in scale with my other AMT ships.

However, I like the Art Asylum ship for being more accurate and also for its cool sounds though I wish the sounds would play longer. Especially the warp drive, but the Playmates ship was more fun because you could hurl as many photon torpedoes as you want!

I’m glad both Art Asylum and Playmates have the license. All I want Playmates to do is do what they originally did well and make some cool stuff again.