Hollywood Collectibles 1/4 Captain Kirk

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Honestly the Mego 8 inch Captain Kirk was better than the Sideshow PF, and was a decent likeness for a toy.

https://www.megomuseum.com/startrek/captainkirk.html

So, this Mego is a better likeness of Kirk than the Hollywood Collectibles 1/4 Captain Kirk?

 

[Blackthornone]

So, this Mego is a better likeness of Kirk than the Hollywood Collectibles 1/4 Captain Kirk?

Its a better likeness for a childs toy than this is for a high end statue,though the Mego looks more youthful with more simplistic features. The statue certainly looks more like a real person. I would rather have the Mego than this, but is it a better likeness? Not sure. I just noticed that the ears on this are too small, too.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Its a better likeness for a childs toy than this is for a high end statue,though the Mego looks more youthful with more simplistic features. The statue certainly looks more like a real person. I would rather have the Mego than this, but is it a better likeness? Not sure. I just noticed that the ears on this are too small, too.

OK, obviously to each his own. But this thread is about the Captain Kirk statue, which is a statue and not a child's toy. So, I don't see much point in comparing an orange to an apple when we're talking about types of apples—especially in reference to likenesses, where to me the Mego looks absolutely nothing like Kirk. But bottom line, I would rather have the statue than the child's toy. Call me crazy...

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Its a better likeness for a childs toy than this is for a high end statue,though the Mego looks more youthful with more simplistic features. The statue certainly looks more like a real person. I would rather have the Mego than this, but is it a better likeness? Not sure. I just noticed that the ears on this are too small, too.

OK, obviously to each his own. But this thread is about the Captain Kirk statue, which is a statue and not a child's toy. So, really, I don't see much point in comparing an orange to an apple when we're talking about types of apples—especially in reference to likenesses, where to me the Mego looks absolutely nothing like Kirk: take off the uniform and you have an unidentified Ken-type-doll. But since we're choosing, I would rather have the statue than the child's toy.

 

[Blackthornone]

OK, obviously to each his own. But this thread is about the Captain Kirk statue, which is a statue and not a child's toy. So, really, I don't see much point in comparing an orange to an apple when we're talking about types of apples—especially in reference to likenesses, where to me the Mego looks absolutely nothing like Kirk: take off the uniform and you have an unidentified Ken-type-doll. But since we're choosing, I would rather have the statue than the child's toy.

Well, the Mego figure wowed me as a child, but this statue does not wow me as an adult. The Mego Spiderman wowed me as a child, and the SS Spiderman Comiquette and the Hot Toys Spiderman wows me as an adult. The child's toy priced item satisfied me as a child, but this adult collectible priced item does not wow me as an adult. I expect a lot more now.

By the way, the Mego Kirk is more like a smaller scale 12 inch GI JOE than it is like a Ken Doll. Ken Dolls have fixed elbow, fixed hands with arms that only swivel one way, and straight legs and fixed feet that only go up 90 degrees. I do not recall Ken dolls having bendable knees, but I could be wrong. The Mego Kirk has all of the articulation of the GI JOEs except the feet were fixed, because the Star Trek figures all had special lower legs that were molded in black to be the boots. The figure basically had full human articulation except for the feet as mentioned, the fingers, and the neck only swiveled. Ken=5 points of articulation. Kirk= 12 points. Kirk's torso, hips, wrists,and shoulders were ball jointed, all secured on the inside of the hollow torso and hip piece via an elastic band.

At any rate, this sculpt could be a lot better than it is.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Well, the Mego figure wowed me as a child, but this statue does not wow me as an adult. The Mego Spiderman wowed me as a child, and the SS Spiderman Comiquette and the Hot Toys Spiderman wows me as an adult. The child's toy priced item satisfied me as a child, but this adult collectible priced item does not wow me as an adult. I expect a lot more now.

By the way, the Mego Kirk is more like a smaller scale 12 inch GI JOE than it is like a Ken Doll. Ken Dolls have fixed elbow, fixed hands with arms that only swivel one way, and straight legs and fixed feet that only go up 90 degrees. I do not recall Ken dolls having bendable knees, but I could be wrong. The Mego Kirk has all of the articulation of the GI JOEs except the feet were fixed, because the Star Trek figures all had special lower legs that were molded in black to be the boots. The figure basically had full human articulation except for the feet as mentioned, the fingers, and the neck only swiveled. Ken=5 points of articulation. Kirk= 12 points. Kirk's torso, hips, wrists,and shoulders were ball jointed, all secured on the inside of the hollow torso and hip piece via an elastic band.

At any rate, this sculpt could be a lot better than it is.

This HCG statue wowes me as an adult. No other statue or figure of any Star Trek character to date wowes me as an adult, except the HCG seated 1/6 Kirk. (Some TOS polystone 8" mini busts that are available for pre-order now are excellent sculpts, and although I pre-ordered Kirk, Spock and Khan, I don't much care for busts.)

I never had any Trek figures as a child so I don't have any nostalgia-thing for any figure from my past. I expect a lot more now.

Points of articulation to me are completely a non-issue. In fact, incorporating articulation causes the sculpt to be stiff and unrealistic-looking. I care about an authentic looking quality sculpture. In particular a polystone statue is preferable to a plastic figure.

Can this sculpt be better? Of course. Mostly the upper body mass and the likeness. But I know of few sculpts that cannot be improved.

Is the price comparable to other similar adult collectibles? Yes.

Have I pre-ordered the statue? Yes.

 

[Ironman1188]

Well, enjoy the statue, though you do appear to be in the minority on its likeness.
While the Mego is a toy, its likeness is thought by many as being a decent Kirk likeness even today. I don't see this statue having the same said of it 40 years from now.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Well, enjoy the statue, though you do appear to be in the minority on its likeness.
While the Mego is a toy, its likeness is thought by many as being a decent Kirk likeness even today. I don't see this statue having the same said of it 40 years from now.

Welcome to the world of religion and politics—and collectible figures.

The Mego Kirk has, I believe, only one thing going for it: it was made in the 70s and has “vintage appeal,” a la a lunchbox. If that’s your thing, fine and dandy. But please, I cannot seriously compare the Mego to the statue by HCG—it would be like comparing the Dinky Enterprise to the one from Master Replicas. To rate the Mego Kirk likeness as “decent... even today” is astonishing to me as I would never recognize it as Kirk without its uniform and packaging. In fact, I would like to put the toy up against the statue in a test among unbiased, non-collectors and then see how many likeness-votes the Mego would get over the statue. But the Mego does have those appealing big puppy-eyes and a set of pecs that would make the Austrian Oak himself green with envy.

I’m sure that in 40 years, as technology evolves there will be some amazing sculpts out there. As of today, here is my list of best Kirk LIKENESS sculpts, number 1 being the best. (#2 is the new Titan Merchandise mini-bust from the UK.) The stars grade (out of 5 stars) is for the OVERALL grade of the piece, which includes many other factors other than facial likeness alone. Anything beyond this group of four just doesn’t look like Kirk at all to me, and in fact # 4 is a distant 4th. Feel free to let me know if I left anything out (not the Mego one, please!). The WGP prototype head may be the best I’ve seen, but it’s hard to judge without eyes. I did not include it mainly because: it’s just a head, it’s not painted, and the production version really looks much inferior to the prototype.

 

[Blackthornone]

Welcome to the world of religion and politics—and collectible figures.

The Mego Kirk has, I believe, only one thing going for it: it was made in the 70s and has “vintage appeal,” a la a lunchbox. If that’s your thing, fine and dandy. But please, I cannot seriously compare the Mego to the statue by HCG—it would be like comparing the Dinky Enterprise to the one from Master Replicas. To rate the Mego Kirk likeness as “decent... even today” is astonishing to me as I would never recognize it as Kirk without its uniform and packaging. In fact, I would like to put the toy up against the statue in a test among unbiased, non-collectors and then see how many likeness-votes the Mego would get over the statue. But the Mego does have those appealing big puppy-eyes and a set of pecs that would make the Austrian Oak himself green with envy.

I’m sure that in 40 years, as technology evolves there will be some amazing sculpts out there. As of today, here is my list of best Kirk LIKENESS sculpts, number 1 being the best. (#2 is the new Titan Merchandise mini-bust from the UK.) The stars grade (out of 5 stars) is for the OVERALL grade of the piece, which includes many other factors other than facial likeness alone. Anything beyond this group of four just doesn’t look like Kirk at all to me, and in fact # 4 is a distant 4th. Feel free to let me know if I left anything out (not the Mego one, please!). The WGP prototype head may be the best I’ve seen, but it’s hard to judge without eyes. I did not include it mainly because: it’s just a head, it’s not painted, and the production version really looks much inferior to the prototype.

#2 looks the most like Kirk by far. It actually looks like William Shatner, and really is the only one that does out of those you show here.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

#2 looks the most like Kirk by far. It actually looks like William Shatner, and really is the only one that does out of those you show here.

How about the 5th one?

Yeah #2 is a very close second, but from another angle I'm not so sure:

 

[Blackthornone]

How about the 5th one?

Yeah #2 is a very close second, but from another angle I'm not so sure:

I think from this angle it still looks like him, and is the best likeness I've seen. It could be better however.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

I think from this angle it still looks like him, and is the best likeness I've seen. It could be better however.

Check this one out:

About as good as it can get! Too bad no legs.

 

[Blackthornone]

Check this one out:

About as good as it can get! Too bad no legs.

That's very good, but the eyes are too close together and the bridge of the nose is too narrow. The eyes are supposed to be one eye apart, and those eyes are noticeably closer than that. The bottom of the nose between the nostrils is also too narrow. The cheekbones aren't quite full enough. Lastly, the eyebrows aren't quite thick enough.

Overall, it's a great sculpt, but could be better.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

That's very good, but the eyes are too close together and the bridge of the nose is too narrow. The eyes are supposed to be one eye apart, and those eyes are noticeably closer than that. The bottom of the nose between the nostrils is also too narrow. The cheekbones aren't quite full enough. Lastly, the eyebrows aren't quite thick enough.

Overall, it's a great sculpt, but could be better.

I agree about the eyes being a too close together. That's the only issue worth mention that I see. The eyebrows, maybe could be thicker but they're furrowed so I dunno, hard to say. The cheekbones, I think this is a matter of lighting; they look good to me. And the nose issues that you mention I just can't see at all; looks perfect to me.

 

[galactiboy]

Where are the busts from? That Khan is great, and the Kirk seems the strongest of the bunch

I am going to have to disagree with your star ratings though... that Kirk seated (at least from the image) looks terrible. This current statue is a bit better, but mostly in he does not look as constipated The last pic definitely looks like Kirk

I certainly don't think Sideshow's is anything to write home about, but for the time its a pretty decent piece. But I would not choose to own it. Their 1/6 bust is a bit better... but too generic looking.

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Where are the busts from? That Khan is great, and the Kirk seems the strongest of the bunch

I am going to have to disagree with your star ratings though... that Kirk seated (at least from the image) looks terrible. This current statue is a bit better, but mostly in he does not look as constipated The last pic definitely looks like Kirk

That star rating is for the overall strength of the piece not just the likeness. That piece has magnificent paint and detail of the chair itself, down to the buttons, Captain’s log book and tiny little data cards, and the sculpt of kirk's body and the posture in my opinion is spot on. It's just that the face likeness is far from perfect—it's a dang shame!

Those mini-busts (there are currently 5) are from the UK, a company called Titan Merchandise. Too bad they left out the bottom halves! They're called the "Masterpiece Collection." And yes, Khan is pretty fantastic. The Data one is excellent, too, but I only collect TOS related stuff. They're all pre-order: https://www.entertainmentearth.com/...=0&pg=0&orsearch=0&wrid=0&tree=0&sort=0&new=0

I certainly don't think Sideshow's is anything to write home about, but for the time its a pretty decent piece. But I would not choose to own it. Their 1/6 bust is a bit better... but too generic looking.

None of the Sideshow Kirks are any good, in my opinion.

 

[galactiboy]

Ah, gotcha... yeah from the head down the Kirk in the chair looks great, but that face is a deal breaker.

Thanks for the info on the busts, I'm wondering if there is a way to steal the heads for 1/6 figures

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

Ah, gotcha... yeah from the head down the Kirk in the chair looks great, but that face is a deal breaker.

Yeah, I hear ya. It does look better in person than in pics, though, the pics tend to flatten out the head. I just couldn't resist it. I've been told by someone at HCG that they have planned for 1/6 scale polystones of the "entire bridge crew" [Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Scotty, Rand?] with bases that butt together around Kirk to form the bridge floor. Yeah, know, I'll believe it when I see it, too, but I'm just telling ya what I heard...

Thanks for the info on the busts, I'm wondering if there is a way to steal the heads for 1/6 figures

That would not be easy since they're polystone. At 8" tall they look like they might be at 1/6 scale, but not sure.

 

[galactiboy]

It would probably require hacking off the head, resculpting anything lost or missing and then making casts. A lot of work especially when the bust already runs $80.

I'd buy a Gorn if it was released though

 

[NCC-1701 no bloody ABCorD]

I'd buy a Gorn if it was released though

Have you seen the HCG Gorn? It's pretty nice! I'm still debating getting that one. The likeness sure is good.

https://www.hollywood-collectibles.com/gorn_exc_gallery.html