I figure those in this thread might be interested in this:
Phasers & Stilettos
- Thread starter Arpy
- Start date
I'm a little sad that the Playmates 4.5s and Mego 8s get all the love. Even though I had the first wave of original Megos as a kid, I'm kind of a fan of the Playmates 9-inch line now. They have fewer articulation points than the old ones, but the uniforms and accessories are night-and-day better and there's a wider assortment of TOS crewmembers (including Sisko & Dax). Not as many TOS aliens, of course, but the aliens they did make in 9" are much better implemented (and the lack of others doesn't bother me since I'm mainly concerned with the Enterprise crew).
Oh, and the Playmates versions are actually the size listed on the tin: 9 inches. Mego "eights" are really 7¾ inches. I know that's nitpicking, but it does make it harder to find/make objects in their weird scale. Mego 7.75" Spock is 1:9.29 scale (yuck) while Playmates 9" Spock is a lovely 1:8. (It appears to me that their 4.5s are also truly 4.5 inches, and if so then that's a smooth 1:16 scale.)
Anyway, no shade meant toward the collectors of the other lines. I just wish the nines' candle hadn't burned down so soon. Had they lasted one more year, we probably would've gotten a Yeoman Rand.
Since we didn't really get to see Antonia's face very well, it would be nice for stuntwoman Lynn Salvatori if this hypothetical action figure actually used her likeness (she's certainly pretty enough that they could have shown her closer up in the film). In addition to appearing in Generations, she's also a stunt veteran of TNG, DS9, and Voyager, so I'd say she's earned it.
1/18 is a better scale, especially for vehicles and playsets. I got spoiled by Star Wars vintage collection "super articulated" figures with ball jointed shoulders, elbows and sometimes wrists and ankles. Another basic thing the Star Wars line got right was army builders. I could buy sets of just clones or droids, stormtroopers and rebel troopers, etc instead of hunting for them individually.
I did enjoy the Netflix show about the toys how it showed how Playmates went down the rabbit hole of exclusives, etc.
I did enjoy the Netflix show about the toys how it showed how Playmates went down the rabbit hole of exclusives, etc.
Got a link to the nines? I think I have a few of them but I'm not sure.
Here's a link that has helped me: https://thetoycollectorsguide.com/playmates-1992-1999/
I use this because it seems to comprehensively list every item in that product line, but I find its organization method very inconvenient. You have to (1) click on an individual production year, (2) scroll down to find the nine-inch line, and (3) be aware that there are sometimes more nine-inch figures further down that page in a retailer-exclusives section.
This line was produced from 1994 to 1999, so don't waste your time on earlier years. I'll also share a thumbnail gallery I made of just the TOS ones; this should be literally everything in that line for that series.
For any Where's Waldo fans out there, click to enlarge and see if you can spot the blatant costuming error. I hope it's visible at this thumbnail resolution. (EDIT: hmm, it's probably too hard to spot, sorry)
Last edited:
Sorry, I should have taken a little more time to make a better image gallery than just a File Explorer screenshot. (I was being lazy because I haven't installed my image editing tools on my newest laptop yet.)
First, TOS plus the DS9 crew infiltrators, alphabetized by name (surname, if they have both).
___ ▲ ___
Now it should be easier to see that the costuming error was Sulu's missing lieutenant stripes. Every regular Sulu I've seen has this issue.
Here's the entire 9" line. If somebody would like one filtered/sorted a different way, let me know.
First, TOS plus the DS9 crew infiltrators, alphabetized by name (surname, if they have both).
___ ▲ ___
Now it should be easier to see that the costuming error was Sulu's missing lieutenant stripes. Every regular Sulu I've seen has this issue.
Here's the entire 9" line. If somebody would like one filtered/sorted a different way, let me know.
Last edited:
And finally, here's TOS & TOS-adjacent again, but grouped by theme.
I suppose I could have also included Odo and Worf, but I drew the line there since they did not board the ship or appear in Starfleet uniforms. Mainly I care about the original series crew (and its infiltrators), but I included Edith and the aliens since they're part of the TOS product line.
I suppose I could have also included Odo and Worf, but I drew the line there since they did not board the ship or appear in Starfleet uniforms. Mainly I care about the original series crew (and its infiltrators), but I included Edith and the aliens since they're part of the TOS product line.