I can't claim to be a devoted Star Trek fan. Quite frankly, I've never been interested by anything Trek until I saw the trailer for the new movie that this very toy is based on. Playmates has made an attempt to do the movie justice with their new Star Trek Warp Collection line of 6 inch figures, although I can only hope that the movie isn't as poorly done as this toy. There are a few redeeming qualities in Kirk, but only a few.
Name: Kirk
Line: Star Trek, Warp Collection
Manufacturer: Playmates
Released: 2nd Quarter 2009
Price: Retail: $7.99-$10.99, Online: $9.99-$13.99
Scale: 6.00 in.
Accessories: Removable Belt, Communicator, Phaser, Stand
4 / 10 - Super boring sculpt; everything looks soft and rounded, with no dynamic or interesting shapes/angles; his face is expressionless with no distinguishing physical features; his general shape is too blocky and geometric; some nifty smaller details in pants and boots; texture on torso adds realism; his shirt is a separate and annoying rubber piece; one leg is too short; accessories look pretty good; just no style in sight here; belt is impossible to fasten in back.
6 / 10 - The colors are simple, but based on the movie accurately enough; arms don't match torso because of color difference from plastic to rubber, and the upper arms are shiny while the lower arms are matte, making it all look odd; the silver bands at the wrists are messy; has a clean decal on his chest; skin tone doesn't match, and he looks kind of sickly anyway; hairline is messy but face details are okay; accessories showcase crisp applications.
4 / 10 - Just not a lot of points; impossible to pose dynamically with super limited leg articulation; knee joints are awkwardly low on his legs, resulting in super-long thighs; ab joint totally hindered by shirt; arms have a full range of motion; elbows, shoulders, and hips all come off ugly and sculpt-breaking. nothing is broken!
2 / 10 - Kirk definitely wasn't designed with collectors in mind (or kids for that matter); looks ridiculous, and plays even worse; accessories add some possibilities; hard to play with due to poor articulation options; frustrating just trying to get him to stand up unaided; posing is impossible; lazy packaging with no fun info or images doesn't help either; belt won't attach in back, adding anger to the equation; not exactly visually stunning.
4 / 10 - No way to actually use this figure since he doesn't play or display well; just an average sized 6 inch figure; joints feels relatively tough and well made; rubber shirt is susceptible to damage; comes with a few tiny accessories; very little effort put into design and construction; overprived for an early 90s equivalent action figure, but reasonable by today's standards.
Overall Score: 39 / 100 - This is a Bad Toy
Introducing you to an all new grading category on Articulated discussion is Kirk. Because of frustrating design elements, well below average sculpting and paint in this scale, and a super limited articulation model, Kirk is actually a bad toy.
P.S. This could be the figure I'm giving away this month, just leave a comment for a chance to win (if it's the one, and you should hope it isn't).
-The Articulated One
