Got the Star Trek Select Kirk and Spock today.
Oh man, I am going to have to eat some crow on these guys. When they first showed the concept of these, I was very skeptical. Why forgo articulation in the legs? The dioramas looked cool, but why cut articulation? The more pictures I saw the more I warmed to them, but was far from convinced. Did I want to buy these? The truth is, I grew up with TNG, and though I enjoy the original series I have never bought a ton of the merch with them. I passed on most of the Playmates of the original crew. Same with DST/Art Asylum's offerings. But I decided to give these a go.
I'm so glad I did. I've had a total blast with these figures. I really think everyone is going to get one hell of a kick out of these.
All the pictures here are just the two Select sets. I didn't buy the TRU ones. But just in these two sets you have an AMAZING amount of options.
I'm only posting some pics here. If you want to see the full set you can go here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/31045631@N00/sets/72157634398796061/
Spock is the crowning achievement here. The only thing he's missing is the Vulcan Salute hand, and I imagine if Selects take off we'll get another Spock one day that can include that. I'm not sure if one of the hands from past DST figures would work? I'll check that out.
The Horta base is incredibly well realized. I do miss the eggs. But it's a small thing to lose. He looks great interacting with it in a variety of ways.
The alternate head sculpt is awesome for all kinds of poses and scenes. It makes me wish Kirk had another head even more. But what we are getting here is so phenomenal that softens the blow.
Nothing prepares you for how HUGE the diorama with Kirk is. It's incredibly well detailed and painted. I love the swappable cardboard backdrop. A really clever way to approach this.
Can I just say, I think this might be the best Kirk head sculpt ever? I know not everyone has loved it, but I really see Shatner in there. More than any other action figure I can think of.
I'm officially sold on the solid legs, btw. These figures are just so much more dynamic and exciting than even the past DST figures I've bought. I compare the energy with these to the TNG and Wrath figures I just got. There's just no comparison. It's like the best of action figures and statues combined. I'm blown away by how much I like this.
Just a comparison (I have no TOS figures from AA/DST) to show you how much more natural and dynamic you can get these figures compared to past figures.
I don't want to overload this with pics, but I had to show more. Again, if you want to see a few more (or see these much larger, I uploaded them at almost full res) click the link above.
Final thoughts? Part of me thinks these are almost TOO good. What do I mean? Well, I am hoping Picard comes with some extra hands ands stuff. Or at least that his torso is made like these so future TNG figures can swap parts with him. The dioramas, the extra parts and the sheer scale of the HUGE amount of awesome that comes with these is so incredibly impressive. I hope they keep it up with Picard. I'm already loving the Borg Base and half Borg after being a bit skeptical of them. But if the final figure likeness turns out like these, then he'll be a must-have. I just hope they are being conservative with what they are showing of him so they can show us more, not less, and avoid the disappointment some have felt when certain pieces were cut from these. But let me tell you, there's no reason to be disappointed by these at all. To offer these with all these parts for $25 (I got mine for $20 and they are pretty readily available at this price) is pretty amazing.
