Lieutenant Commander Data is the final member of The Next Generation trio of Officers that are included in Series 1 of the Playmates Star Trek Universe relaunched line. He is packed on the same card bearing his image to the top left and name and rank to the bottom left next to the blister. The card back remains standard throughout the line with a checklist of releases for Series 1 and nothing else. As with the other TNG figures, a variant card back exists which pays homage to the original Playmates packaging. This is predominantly available in the US.
Considering Data’s fairly nondescript likeness as an Android the Playmates team have done a good job of capturing him in the 5-inch scale and the head sculpt is on par with Captain Picard and not the poor showing we saw with Riker. Like Picard it is a little bit big but is coloured well with Data’s pale skin tone, green eye details and thin lips.
Data uses the same Starfleet uniform body as Picard and Riker, so is also the exact same height as the two of them - in a perfect world, Data would be slightly taller than Picard but smaller than Riker. For Data’s uniform, the same principle is used where the arms are cast in the yellow colouring with the black detail painted, while the torso is cast in black with the yellow detail painted. This yellow detail is quite rough on the lower part of Data’s torso and it doesn’t cover all the defined inverted v-shape panel of the Starfleet uniform, This is to be fair the first piece of really bad quality control I’ve seen in the line to date. Data’s Starfleet badge and rank pips are painted pretty well with Data getting two full painted pips and the third just about has a gap in the middle to depict the Lieutenant Commander rank.As we’ve seen on all the releases, the back of Data’s torso has the copyright stamping.
Articulation has been consistent across Series 1 and Data comes in with the 13 points of articulation across single-joined elbows, knees, and shoulders as well as a ball joint head and ankle rockers. The waist articulation is perhaps the key missing element which does keep the posing of the figure quite rigid when your only options of movement are the legs, arms and head.
Data has been given new hands vs those included with Picard & Riker. These are painted using the same skin tone as the face and may be designed specifically for the included accessories. Data is given the third type of TNG phaser that I have seen - this one being the larger format and with the very old school hand grip piece underneath that was used on the 90’s figures when the hands couldn't hold an accessory piece. Again, this phaser is cast with a painted orange phaser beam coming out of it. A tricorder device is also included, again using the large handhold grip. Data also gets some kind of analytical device (help me out if you know what it is specifically) and this consists of a scanner at one end and an emitter or nozzle at the other - the two connected by a flexible wire. Both halves of this device also include the hand grips. None of these devices have any real detail in the sculpt and come unpainted apart from the phaser beam. Data also features the peg stand in the shape of the Starfleet logo.
Data concludes The Next Generation lineup for Series 1 and he is on par with the Captain Picard figure and superior to the execution of Commander Riker. The three of them look OK together although without knowing anything about the line you may assume Riker is an earlier figure or from a different line as the difference is so stark. For £13 we get what we pay for and Data (and Picard) are good examples of what we can expect within that price point. The accessories remain controversial and for many will never be used on display - but all in all my feelings on Data are positive and I look forward to adding more TNG figures to the collection from future waves.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...