Star Trek – Captain Kirk and Captain Picard by McFarlane Toys – Toyark Photo Shoot

Over the years, Star Trek collectible licenses has been tackled by numerous companies for a number of different products. More recently, we’ve seen companies such as Mezco, QMX, Gentle Giant, Icon Heroes, Mego and Diamond Select Toys bring a wide array of figures, vehicles, statues and busts to market. For the most part, fans of almost any size class (sadly 3.75″ collectors are left wanting) can find a collectible that works for them. With their latest action figure releases, you can add McFarlane Toys to that growing list with their Star Trek Series 1 Action Figures. The first assortment gives fans two of the most iconic characters in the entire history of the franchise; Captain Jame T. Kirk from Star Trek: The Original Series, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

With these releases, McFarlane Toys is looking to kick off a long running series of 7″ scale action figures from across the franchise. The packaging for these even announces the next two figures in Spock from The Original Series and Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery. McFarlane Toys provided Toyark with both Kirk and Picard, and we have a photo gallery and review of the figures. Read on to check them out.

Star Trek Series 1 – Captain Kirk and Captain Picard 7″ Scale Figures by McFarlnae Toys

Pros

• Solid overall sculpts
• Above average articulation for a McFarlane release
• Decent paint application
• Solid joints
• Good likeness on Captain Kirk
• Easy to swap out hands
• Figure stands included
• Nicely detailed accessories

Cons

• Picard’s likeness isn’t quite there
• Kirk’s head sculpt feels a tad small
• Picard needs a cup of Earl Grey tea

Overall
McFarlane’s Star Trek figures come packaged on blister style card backs. The card back design features a modern take on the classic Star Trek aesthetic, with each backer having a color theme that corespends to their series. For Kirk, it’s yellow for The Original Series, and with Picard it’s red for The Next Generation. The back of the cards are the same for both figures, showing both Series 1 figures, and announcing the characters for Series 2. Also shown on the back in the life size role play Phaser from Discovery. Captain Kirk includes an alternate hand, a phaser, a phaser rifle, a communicator, and a figure stand. Captain Picard includes an interchangeable hand, a phaser, a flute, and a figure stand.

As with any McFarlane release, the conversation immediately comes down to two things; the sculpt and the level of articulation. With these, much like the latest Stranger Things figures, you get solid sculpt work and above average (for McFarlane) articulation. Each of the Captain’s stand roughly 7″ tall and have about 16 points of articulation. Articulation here is similar to the style of the “Select” releases by Diamond Select Toys. You get an articulated neck, single jointed elbows and knees, a waist swivel, and fully articulated (though not very aesthetically pleasing) hips. Hips, in general, have been one of the biggest issues fans have had with things like McFarlane’s Color Tops, where there was little to no movement. Here, these are directly comparable to DST’s offerings. You get full range of motion, including the ability to pose in a seated position (useful if they release Captains’ chairs). It’s when you pose the legs outward a bit that you see the flat cut between the hips connection and the pelvis. I’m personally use to it with older McFarlane 5″ figures, as well as years of DST Select figures, so it’s not a major issue for me, but worth noting for those curious how the new articulation is fairing. The remaining articulation is standard fare, with a solid range of motion and surprisingly tight joints, especially on the knees.

I’m pretty happy with the overall sculpt on these. The detail work on the outfits is excellent, with great texturing throughout. Fold lines look realistic and you can even see small sculpted hem lines in the fabric. The portraits, though, are a bit hit and miss here. To me, Kirk’s likeness is spot on, but the overall head size seems just a bit on the small side. Picard’s face sculpt is actually really solid in person, but the shape of his jaw and chin seem to skew away from the prototype sculpt. For what they are, I think they’re fine though. They’re not going to be in the same league as a One:12 Collective from Mezco, but then the production costs on those is going to be much higher. Paint work, however, is strong, with only a couple slight miscues. McFarlane is employing digital printing on the face, so there’s nice transitional colors throughout both portraits that help to sell the likenesses. There’s a tiny bit of paint bleed in one of Kirk’s eyes, and Picard’s badge could use cleaner application of the gold trim. Neither are deal breakers and were really only noticeable to me once I pulled up the close ups while editing the photos.

The included accessories are great. Sculpts are sharp, with excellent sculpted details. The phaser rifle with Kirk is especially well done. There’s nice attention to small details on the smaller phasers for both figures. Paint application is crisp and clean on those. I do with they included some more overall accessories for each figure though. Something like an Electronic Clipboard for Kirk, and definitely a cup of Earl Grey for Picard.

When the initial prototypes were shown, I was immediately impressed by what McFarlane was attempting with these figures. Those sculpts and likenesses, for the most part, were spot on. As with most releases, the transition to mass produced figure loses a bit in comparison to the hand painted prototypes. However, for the price (about $17.99 at retail), these are worth a purchase if you are into McFarlane releases, or are a general 7″ scale collector. They have, probably, the best articulation you’re likely to get out of McFarlane, solid sculpts and a price that’s easy on the wallet.