Playmates Toys was synonymous with Star Trek throughout the 1990s and now they’re back, planning multiple waves of figures and toys tied to classic and new Star Trek. Today we’re taking a look at the first wave of 5″ (1:14 scale) action figures.
Back to the ’90s
In the early nineties, I spent many a Saturday morning at the local Toys-R-Us, scanning the action figure aisle for new Star Trek merch. With Star Trek: The Next Generation and then Deep Space Nine in production and The Original Series still adventuring on the big screen, Star Trek was probably at its pop culture apex. It wasn’t just the numerous action figures that drew me back to the toy store week after week; from 1992-99, Playmates Toys produced phasers, tricorders, vehicles, and playsets along with 4 ½” action figures of nearly every major character from TOS to Voyager.
Playmates revamped their Trek toy line this year, with a fun collection of fan-favorite figures—maybe as a harbinger of continued good things to come? The packaging is 100% nostalgic, reflecting the original ’90s style, albeit a tad smaller.
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- Playmates 2022 Wave 1 – TNG figures
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- Playmates 2022 Wave 1 – TOS movies figures
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- Playmates 2022 Wave 1 – Discovery figures
This first wave includes Picard, Riker, and Data from TNG, Kirk, Spock, and Khan from “Classic Star Trek Movie Series,” and Michael Burnham and Saru from Discovery.
Group shot of Playmates first wave of 5″ Star Trek figures
A Picard that looks like Picard
I went up to my attic and brought down one of my originals for a quick compare and contrast. Taking a closer look at just the Picard figure gives you an idea of the differences between the vintage lineup and the new versions. Gone are the bulkier/clunkier limbs and giganticus claws that passed for hands. The new sculpt is smooth, nicely articulated, and, to my eye at least, closer to capturing Patrick Stewart’s look.
New Playmates Captain Jean-Luc Picard figure
The accessories are also similar, with a base, tricorder, PADD, phaser, and personal viewscreen. Unlike the ’90s originals, though, these accessories are barer—the originals included stickers that replicated the control panels, whereas the new ones are unadorned.
This video gives a closer comparison to the original and new Playmates Picard figure.
Riker and Data include similar accessories as the originals. And as for the head sculpts, well, to my eyes Riker resembles John Krasinski more than Riker, but Data looks like a nicely bemused Data. And, like Picard, they’re a little more slim and natural looking, as opposed to the bulked-up “Power of the Force” style chests on the figures of yore.
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- New Playmates Lt. Commander Data figure
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- New Playmates Commander William Riker figure
Superior classics
Speaking of bulked-up chests, Khan reigns supreme in that department. Like the other figures in the series, Khan is a lot more articulated than in days of old—even his feet can move.
New Playmates Khan Noonian Singh figure
Spock looks pretty much like Spock—especially in profile—and comes with a pair of removable reactor room-compliant gloves.
New Playmates Captain Spock figure (with gloves)
And as for Admiral James T. Kirk, he looks… young.
New Playmates Admiral James T. Kirk figure
The articulation on all the figures allows for some fun scene setting.
Look behind you Khan!
The back side of the packaging is pretty typical, with “clip & collect” bios of our heroes and a QR code “for parents only” that takes you to the Playmates site.
Back of packaging includes a “bio”
Playmates goes Disco
The two Star Trek: Discovery entries are of course brand-new for Playmates, but they are also nice sculpts with great articulation and suitable accessories (love Burnham’s Alice in Wonderland!). Saru is particularly impressive for his height and detailed hands.
Playmates Discovery Commander Saru and Science Officer Michael Burnham
Back to the future
All in all, these figures are well done and great for kids and collectors alike. These are perfect stocking stuffers for the Trek fan in your life. I, for one, am looking forward to more waves of figures. Bring back the ’90s!
Each figure is priced at $14.99 and is worth it. They are all in stock now at Amazon, discounted to $12.97 each.
Wave goodbye for now guys
Look for TrekMovie review of TOS roleplay toys
The first wave from Playmates also included a USS Enterprise and a phaser from Star Trek: The Original Series, which are available now. We will post reviews of those with video coming soon.
Coming in 2023: Playmates first wave of Prodigy figures
The next releases from Playmates will be all about Star Trek: Prodigy in January 2023. You can pre-order those now at Entertainment Earth.
Keep up with Star Trek merchandise news and reviews at TrekMovie.com.
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when are they gonna announce the next wave?
I would’ve happily taken a Janeway and Seven, vs. Burnham and Saru.
Yeah. Because Janeway and Seven are actually Star Trek characters. (!)
Yes!
It’s really nice to see Star Trek toys and action figures being made for the masses and not just collectors with a ton of money to spend. It feels like the 90s again!
I collected a TON of the Playmates stuff. I remember them using the Playmates Enterprise D on the packaging for the VHS edition of ALL GOOD THINGS… so it was pretty iconic for the time. Their roleplay stuff was very hit-or-miss, though the TNG Tricorders probably took the cake. Their playsets, however, were INCREDIBLE. The TNG Bridge was iconic in every way and was the PERFECT playset! The TNG Transporter room was positively magical– even though you had a fully-enclosed chamber, it was PERFECT because it actually did a practical beam-out effect that could BLOW YOUR MIND! The Engineering playset was pretty good as a companion piece. I only ever wished they made more.
Waiting for that Protostar playset
I’ve always loved the Playmates.
I really love these and hope for longevity for the line. On Playmate’s Star Trek online site Prodigy figures are now shown as coming out in Summer 2023 not January. I really hope this means they will bump up Wave 2 so we have something new in January but Playmates is keeping a tight lid on what’s happening behind the scenes. I really was hoping that this article had some input from Playmates themselves. Thank You Trekmovie for at least helping to get word out to the fans because I am sure there’s still a significant many who are unaware of the existence of these.
I am too, but it’s a little sad how limited the lines are. For example Wal-Mart is only selling the TWOK figures. They are not carrying DISCO or TNG. I couldn’t even find them listed on their app.
I have two of these new figures so far
burnham and Kirk
I’ve seen these figures in our local sci-fi shop and they look great! Interesting that the card design seems to be markedly different in the UK – they’re all the same design for all the series, which is a shame. I remember the 90s TNG playmates fondly and would to get that packaging design again.
these really bring back the memories of the 90s excess of Trek merchandise that I loved…
by any stretch, these are vastly superior to the originals…better articulation (only the waist swivel is missing)…better proportions (also no more goofy poses or torn uniforms…looking at you Riker)…better coloring on the accessories…
the Enterprise is nice but some aesthetic choices (why screw holes on the OUTside of the nacelles instead of inside?) take that down a notch from the Diamond Select versions…
the phaser is adequate enough but, again lacking compared to the DST