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Playmates Toys

Ships and Phasers…figures look….ok?
I don't do figures, but the ship and phaser are for sure on my list.
An electronic Enterprise Starship with lights, sounds, and MULTIPLE BUTTONS instead of just one? Aww shoot! That right there is my JAM!
Why the jam over multiple buttons. Choice over sequential is my preference. (ETA: multiple explanations given below and seen. :lol: )

I do have one question about the TOS phaser... How do we press the trigger if it's that far away from the grip?

Optical illusion is my guess, it really isn't that far away but may require checking out before purchase.

The Enterprise model is going to be 21 inches?! That's pretty big for a Trek toy replica.

Killer. I just hope the price isn't pretty big. lol. These should have toy prices, not collectible prices!
 
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Why the jam over multiple buttons. Choice over sequential is my preference.
'My Jam'
A sort of slang used to describe any specific thing that you feel you enjoy more than the majority of other options in the same category.

So when I said "MULTIPLE BUTTONS instead of just one? Aww shoot! That right there is my JAM!", I was trying to convey that I was excited over having the choice to pick which sound I want to play rather than a one-button cycle method the way Diamond Select did their ships. We both have the same preference on this.
 
For the figures... I don't know, it doesn't seem right to see Riker without his uniform all torn up.

Yes! I knew something looked wrong with him. :)

These look good. I feel like I'm buying Saru & Burnham at least. My only wish would have been another figure or three from the streaming era. There are so many great possibilities (Pike? Ethan Peck Spock? "Picard" era Picard? "Picard" era Seven?)
 
In general I think these look pretty good. Like the 90s figures, these are definitely more for playability than for the high-end collector market. These do benefit from improved figure design over the years. It looks like the legs have better poseability than the old figures as they use ball joints. So the legs should be able to move forwards and backwards and sideways. The same with the shoulders. And the articulated ankles will help them actually stay standing when putting them in an "action pose." It's hard to tell if the waists turn, though. and there is no "ab crunch." On modern figures there should be some kind of torso articulation.

The TNG uniforms look... well, uniform. I liked that there was some variety with the old line, like with Picard in his suede jacket over the gray shirt. With these, it looks like the torsos use the exact same sculpt, just with different rank pips. They also look a little too smooth. With the old ones there was a bit more of a wrinkle effect that made it look more like fabric draped on the person. And you can see that more on the monster maroons on the new Kirk and Spock in the first picture.

For comparison with other action figures, I think Marvel Legends strikes the right balance between "toy" and "collector" figure.

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Why the jam over multiple buttons. Choice over sequential is my preference.
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He means he likes the multiple buttons, presumably because it offers choice.
Somebody's "jam" is something that they are really, really into.

The headsculpts look a little less cartoony than the old figures, but the hands seem weirdly awkward. ...

The hands don't look like they would be able to hold accessories. Maybe these will have a couple sets of interchangeable hands. Though I doubt it if they are going for the lower-end toy market.

Kor
 
I think you could say they more or less dropped the ball when it came to the main crew in all of the movie lines not just TOS. Some was their fault like doing the original crew in the TMP uniforms not the Monster Maroons or the First Contact figures being the bigger scale. Others weren’t like the uniform switch for Generations.
IIRC Uhura and Sulu were supposed to be Ilia and Decker, but for whatever reason they got subbed.

They eventually did do Probe Ilia to make up for it. Scotty and Chekov were done in maroons from the Generation line. Maybe Playmates decided that was good enough!
 
Do you all think this new line will last very long?

I want to get these when the come out, start a new collection...but I don't know...the feeling that this won't last as long as the early Playmates line from the 90s, and that it won't be as extensive, makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't even bother.
 
The hands don't look like they would be able to hold accessories. Maybe these will have a couple sets of interchangeable hands. Though I doubt it if they are going for the lower-end toy market.
It isn't that cost prohibitive to have swappable parts. Even Star Wars 3.75 line at the $13 mark has some figures like that.
Do you all think this new line will last very long?

I want to get these when the come out, start a new collection...but I don't know...the feeling that this won't last as long as the early Playmates line from the 90s, and that it won't be as extensive, makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't even bother.
It probably won't last as long as the 90s, because the market is not the same. So, asking if it is worth it depends on what you want to get out of it.
 
The phaser looks like their 90s one, but without screw holes and with smaller and less obvious sound holes in the type 1.
 
I dunno where mine is but just judging from that picture it looks virtually identical to the first one they did. The button placement looks different on the Big E though. I wonder if the name/registry will be painted on or if they are going the sticker route again.

wish they would put out some hi res closeups of everything. Get a better idea of the face sculpts, etc…
 
Do you all think this new line will last very long?

I want to get these when the come out, start a new collection...but I don't know...the feeling that this won't last as long as the early Playmates line from the 90s, and that it won't be as extensive, makes me feel like maybe I shouldn't even bother.

It has a much better chance with TOS and TNG figures right out of the gate. When they first announced it, they mentioned starting out with STD and Prodigy figures, but made no mention of the first two series.

If that had been the case, the line would’ve died fairly quickly, in my opinion. TOS and TNG are more familiar, and appeal to a much broader consumer base. I think Playmates made the right call. No way they wanted a repeat of what happened with the NuTrek toys.
 
Series 2 in ‘23 will be the one to watch. It’s easy to start off with Kirk, Spock, Picard and Data. They are arguably the most well known characters, at least in the case of Kirk, Spock and Picard. Going with Sisko, Janeway, Archer and characters from say…SNW could be a tougher sell. Unless theses are only meant to be for the diehards and not a wider consumer base.

Price point will be another big factor. Anything more that 15 bucks or so will be a tough ask. I saw the reaction TNG figures at Target and for 18 bucks a pop it was a hard pass for something so simple.
 
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