Welcome to the first of ten Star Trek reviews I will be doing in anticipation of the May 17th release of Star Trek: Into Darkness. I swear I'm not a Trekkie though. I grew up watching syndicated episodes of the original series on PBS in the early 80s (Saturdays @ 11pm.. then SNL afterwards!) Flash forward to being a teenager in the 90's. Whenever the Nintendo was turned off, it was pretty much guaranteed that there would be a TNG marathon on at least a few different stations. Star Trek was kind of unavoidable, but in a good way. It didn't hurt that I had couple friends who were full-fledged Vulcans either. All-in-all, I really only know the main characters... and I have vivid memories of only a handful of different episodes. But even with my limited expertise and exposure, I still know that Deanna Troi is one of my favorite Star Trek characters ever. I think having a counselor on board was a fantastic element to introduce to a sci-fi series like this. Her role makes total sense and by way of her therapy, we were able to delve deeper into all the other characters. Plus Marina Sirtis is amazing. Let's check out these figures below!
I'll start this review with what I consider to be her "classic" look. This is a Lilac jumpsuit with a purple hem around the neckline. This was her civilian uniform as Counselor Deanna Troi.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Wave 2 - Counselor Deanna Troi
(Entertainment Earth Exclusive) - 2006
I think the sculpt of this figure is stunning. I probably should have saved her till my last review next week since she's my favorite, but I just wanted to dive right in.
My only issue with the sculpt is that her hair sticks out at an odd angle. It's only noticeable from the sides. Actually, this may be easily fixable with a little bit of applied heat, because two of my three Deannas have this issue, but the third has hair that lays much more flatly to her back... comparison pics at the bottom.
Next up is Deanna in her Starfleet Uniform from Season 7.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Wave 2 - Commander Deanna Troi
(Season 7) - 2006
Finally we have Deanna in her Maroon civilian jumpsuit as seen in Season 3.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Wave 2 - Season 3 Troi
(Retailer Summit Exclusive) - 2006
This is a great figure, but for some reason she has bright red lips which seem a little out of place.
My organization of Deanna's accessories is a total mess. Most of the accessories these Art Asylum figures come with can't be held or used by the figures, so mine are kind of all over the place. Here is a listing of what accessories came with each of these three Deannas:
Lilac Civilian Jumpsuit
Phaser
PADD
Desktop Computer
Phaser carving of Janaran Falls from "Second Chances"
Display base
Starfleet uniform
Phaser
Tricorder
PADD
Chocolate sundae
Display base
Maroon Civilian Jumpsuit
Phaser
PADD
Desktop computer
Phaser carving of Janaran Falls from "Second Chances"
(I got these lists from a Star Trek Wiki)
Ignore the chalice (or pretend it's an ice cream sundae). I don't know who or what that belongs to.
Time for some Comparison Pics!
See how the Commander Deanna version has hair that lays more flatly from the side perspective? I'll bet they all could to that with a little help from a heat gun.
This is hard to see in the photo, but the hairband on the Maroon version has added paint details. On that figure her hair band is kind of coppery with black studs and borders, the other two have solid black headbands.
Cheers!
Ah, Deanna Troi.
ReplyDeleteIn a way she started it all for me.
Back in 1993 when I was 12, I was looking through a store here in Australia called Big W (much like Target). I always kept my eye out for female figures (though I had very few action figures in general...I think the only female was Mysertia from Ghostbusters).
That's when I saw her...Playmates Deanna Troi in her maroon uniform. And near her was a Whoopi Goldberg figure! Regular & quite attractive looking female figures!!
The back of the figures packaging showed me a character named Beverly Crusher. A beautiful looking redhead....& the only figure that was not on shelves.
I grabbed Deanna & Guinan. Started watching Trek & never looked back. I have about 90% of Playmates Trek figures.
My inability to find a Beverly figure created a long lasting obsession with the character. The mystique of that figure you can't find...it drives a kid nuts! lol
About a year after I bought the others, my dad went on a business trip to Sydney & managed to find a Beverly figure for me. His walking through the front door & showing me the figure was the most awesome moment of my early collecting years.
**End of 'storytime with grandpa Artistix'** :D
I was very glad when Diamond Select took over making Trek toys from Art Asylum. Some of the DST figures didn't come out as nice as the prototypes (Season 7 & Nemesis Beverly for example), but we got a lot of amazing figures. The bodies created for Uhura, Deanna & Beverly are beautiful & feminine.
Can't wait to see more of your Trek reviews!
I love my early memories of hunting down rare female figures. I actually went on a long depressing toy hiatus from about the age of 11 to 19, so most of those memories are from the 80s when I wasn't really able to buy any figures on my own, but rather I would just stare at them wistfully in the toy aisles. Some key highlights were ThunderCats Cheetara, MOTU Sorceress, Some random Ninja line that had one female (Remco maybe?), and the early Galoob Tasha Yar. I think I'll review her for tomorrow.
DeleteI bought all my DST/ArtAsylum figures out of order on the secondary market, so I'm actually just learning about their evolution now. I was surprized to see that Beverly body re-used so many times. It's kind of funny how tall it is, but it looks good so I'm not complaining. My collection also hasn't reached into the Nemesis uniforms yet, whcih is a shame because that Deanna looks beautiful.
It's going to be fun doing all these reviews. I'm a sucker for a theme with a deadline :)