Who’s better–James Tiberius Kirk, or Jean-Luc Picard?
It depends upon who you ask. Kirk would probably win in a fight, or a bad karaoke contest. Picard is the guy you’d rather have conducting a diplomatic negotiation, or tending your vineyard. But you don’t really have to choose, and McFarlane Toys certainly aren’t. In their very first reveals since obtaining the Star Trek license, the company is now showing off the first prototypes of both Captains, kicking off a larger Trek line that will also encompass the new Star Trek: Discovery.
That’s not a photo, or a digital mockup. That is an actual Patrick Stewart toy, ready to tell you to make it so. (Your purchase, that is). As you can see from the now-standard McFarlane figure stand, Kirk and Picard will be part of the Color Tops cross-property line. It remains to be seen if Stranger Things, revealed to be on unique carding and having more articulation, will be the anomalous Color Tops series or the future norm, as Star Trek was in development first.
Despite his larger-than-life theatricality, William Shatner is one of those actors whose likeness is, half-famously, deemed one of the most difficult to get right. The trick, as the McFarlane folks seem to have understood, is to do a specific expression and not try to sculpt a neutral face. Here, it’s that quizzical look from times where the Captain needs more information. Look at that face, and you can just imagine him saying, “Klingons, Mr. Spock?”
While the company promises “multiple points of articulation,” it seems a safe bet that, like most of the other Color Tops, the poseability will mainly offer slight customization of the primary stance. Both figures come with phasers and communicators, and you can expect them to hit stores in spring.
Are you enterprising enough to pick them up? Engage our comments and have your say!
Images: McFarlane Toys
