More Inevitable Than Extraordinary: The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Trading Cards!

The Good: Good text, Some wonderful autograph signers, Some neat sketches, Archive Cuts cards
The Bad: Insanely expensive to assemble, Ridiculous look for collated set, Some ridiculous sketch cards and autograph cards, Requires the prior set
The Basics: Star Trek The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards concludes Juan Ortiz's artwork odyssey and makes for an inherently awkward set.


I love Star Trek trading cards. There is a reason I started collecting trading cards with Star Trek cards and built my collection outward from there. But, as the years have gone by and trading cards have evolved from a pleasant diversion to a big business, even my Star Trek trading card collection has diminished some. My love for Star Trek cards fell into conflict with the trading cards sets becoming virtually impossible to collect. A great example of how the trading cards have become insanely difficult to collect is the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards should have been a massive, ambitious set. Instead, it was very inorganically broken into two sets. 2015 saw the release of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 1 (reviewed here!). Now, Rittenhouse Archives has completed the set with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set.

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards are a necessary evil. They are designed to complete the massive set, but they do so without much in the way of flair and with a shocking lack of enthusiasm for the biggest premium of the set. While there are some neat autograph signers in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards, the sketch cards are what truly carries the collecting weight these days. And while there are thirty-seven artists who participated in the Series 2 set, that is down from 48 artists who produced for Series 1 and all but 2 are duplicates - artists who drew sketch cards in Series 1. Between that and some autograph signers who were for exceptionally background or minor characters, there was a feeling that much of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards was phoning it in.

Basics/Set Composition

Properly assembled, the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set consists of four hundred fifty-eight trading cards: four hundred forty-eight available in the boxes and packs of cards and only eight found elsewhere. For a current series of cards, that there are only ten cards that cannot be found in the boxes is actually wonderful. Unfortunately, like many of the sets released for other properties, the most coveted cards in this set - the color sketch cards - are produced and distributed with such rarity that only a handful of collectors will be able to assemble a true master set and given how there are fewer sketch artists and autograph cards signers in this set, it is hard for collectors to not feel a bit cheated.

Unlike the Star Trek Portfolio Prints, which were based on previously-released artwork produced by Juan Ortiz for startrek.com, the artwork in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards is unique to this set! Juan Ortiz was commissioned to continue the concept of the retro posters into the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode line.

The hook for collectors with this set is that Series 2 is only all the even numbers. Unlike the "Complete" Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 and Series 2 trading card sets, which split the episodes at the mid-point of the series (the middle of the fourth season), Rittenhouse Archives released what amounts to an incomplete set with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards.

Common Cards

With only eighty-eight of the cards in the set being common cards, there are quite a few chase cards to hunt down. The eighty-eight cards in the common set of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set are half of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes - the even ones. The set is comprised of a single card per episode for the even numbered episodes from "Encounter At Farpoint, Part Two" (an oddity considering it aired originally as a single, double-long episode) through "Preemptive Strike." There are no checklist cards with this trading card set. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation are treated to a plot blurb on the back of each common card. The plot synopsis’s are well-written. All of the cards in this set were oriented the same way, a portrait orientation that made it very easy to look through the cards when in one's binder. . . at least until the bonus cards.

This common set for Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 is problematic in both concept and execution. The concept is an essentially flawed one: retro posters reminiscent of the Star Trek Portfolio Prints for a show that aired in the 1980s/1990s. The Star Trek Portfolio Prints worked because they mimicked the style of the art deco posters of the 1960s - when the episodes were produced and aired - exceptionally well. There was a sense of kitsch to them that played perfectly for a show that is very dated in a lot of ways. Star Trek: The Next Generation does not have that age to it, so the concept would have held if Juan Ortiz had made the episode posters look like movie posters from the 1980s. That would have, undoubtedly, required a lot more in the way of likeness rights clearances and would have been vastly more time consuming to pull off. It is a shame Rittenhouse Archives did not push Juan Ortiz (or other artists) to so try!

The concept might be flawed, but the execution has the potential to save it. Unfortunately, while the artwork is generally all right, the "every other one" concept guts the common set. For those who do read the cards, there is something surreal about encountering the cards for episodes that were part of two-parters - "The Best Of Both Worlds, Part I," for example, is in this set, but "The Best Of Both Worlds, Part II" is not. Similarly, "Redemption 1" and "Unification 2" are in this set without their completing episodes.

Most of the cards in the eighty-eight card set is a clear execution of the concept rendered in vivid colors. "Suddenly Human" might well be the least-evocative of the set and "Clues" is a tough one to pull off. Most of the rest at least make the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading card set look good.

Chase Cards

The bonus sets for the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards are a mix of mundane and wonderful, with a continued thorn being that the bonus sets, like the common set, are all the even-numbered cards, making for incomplete bonus sets. While this is generally bearable, the Ships Of The Line set - which is intended to form two nine-card murals looks absolutely ridiculous without the cards that preceded them from the Series 1 set. With two parallel sets, card collectors who love the common set have a lot to be excited about. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation in general are likely to be much more excited by the other bonus sets which focus on the characters and the comic books, as opposed to replicating the common set in new and imaginative ways. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set has three hundred seventy bonus (insert) cards in the set, of which all but ten are found in the boxes and packs of cards. The bonus cards found in packs are broken down into the following sets: gold signature parallel cards (88 cards), Juan Ortiz autographed parallel cards (88 cards), Ships Of The Line cards (9 cards), TNG Universe Gallery (9), Comic Book cards (40), Comic Book Archive Cuts (40), TNG Silhouette Gallery Metal (5), TNG Rendered Art Metal (5), SketchaFex (37), and Autographed cards (39).

The two parallel card sets replicate the common card set and were very much designed for trading card collectors. The first eighty-eight card set is printed on thicker cardstock and features embossed gold signatures by Juan Ortiz printed on each card. The glossy backs are foil-stamped with an individual collector’s number. Each card is given a number from one to one hundred twenty-five, so there are only one hundred twenty-five complete gold signature parallel sets. The faux-signature set cards were found one per box. This is a really cool parallel set because the gold signatures beautifully offset most of the artwork and the contrast is distinctive and cool.

As with the prior sets, there was a parallel set of Juan Ortiz autograph parallel cards (numbered JOA with the common card numbers). These cards were found one in every other box. Each of the poster cards were replicated and then signed by Juan Ortiz in blue ink. The Juan Ortiz autograph cards were re-numbered and the backs have Juan Ortiz’s statement on what watching Star Trek: The Next Generation was like him, back in the day. This parallel set is an interesting one and, like the gold faux-signatures, the blue autographs have good contrast with most of the cream-colored artwork on the poster cards. This bonus set might have been a little more interesting if Juan Ortiz had commented on each episode and/or his process with making the posters, but the autograph size is much bigger than on the Star Trek The Original Series Juan Ortiz autograph parallel cards, so there's no mistaking them for the common cards this time around, even just looking at their fronts. The blue ink pops noticeably on almost all of the cards and they look great for it!

One per box are Star Trek: The Next Generation Comic Book cards. These cards replicate 40 of the covers from first major DC Comics Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book series (there was a six-issue mini-series that was the subject of bonus cards in earlier sets). This set is cool because the backs feature plot descriptions of each comic book and the fronts have some of the best, most memorable Star Trek: The Next Generation comic book covers. The plot descriptions are strange for some of the arcs that encompassed several books, but these cards are some of the best in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards!

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 cards mimicked their Original Series counterparts with the TNG Universe Gallery cards. The nine TNG Universe Gallery cards were featured one per box and are art deco versions of some of the most popular main cast (Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher) and significant recurring guest character - Dr. Pulaski, Ensign Ro, etc. - as if they were Animated characters. This is a neat idea and certainly a good one for people looking for something different for their beloved characters. Sadly, Rittenhouse Archives stepped into a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation by breaking up some related characters if one were to put the even and odd numbers together to actually create the TNG Universe Set in full.

Every other box of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards features one of nine Ships Of The Line trading cards. The front of these landscape-oriented trading cards feature brand new digital imagery of ships from the Star Trek: The Next Generation era. Some of these ships are concept ships that were never seen in any of the episodes and are somewhat incongruent with what one remembers from the show, like a Borg ship taking on an Ambassador-Class vessel. Similarly, one card has the Enterprise, Defiant, and Voyager - three ships that were never together. Unfortunately, the backs are an absolute mess. The backs reveal that the cards are intended to go to two different nine-card murals from the Series 1 set. This set, sadly, looks sloppy when placed in pages as a result of the backs not coming together to form a single picture.

In most modern trading card sets, the autograph cards are a big deal, but for me the impressive aspect of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 trading cards were the TNG Comics Archive Cuts cards. The Archive Cuts are a simple concept: they are like costume cards - double-thick trading cards with material embedded and sealed within them with a "picture window" for fans to look at and feel the fabric - but the fabric is replaced with panels from Star Trek: The Next Generation comic books! These panels make each card in the set unique and the 40 cards in the Series 2 Archive Cuts set have rarities that vary, but all seem to be in the 100 - 160 range. The back of each Archive Cuts card bears an individual collector's number, further emphasizing how no two cards are the same! The panels from the Star Trek: The Next Generation have wonderful color contrast and I've not come across a single one that didn't "pop." (On some of the comic book-based trading sets Rittenhouse Archives has produced, sometimes their materials come from VERY old comic books and the panels are faded. Such is not the case with the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Archive Cuts cards).

With the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2, Rittenhouse Archives assembled a wildly inconsistent autograph card set. While this set provided Star Trek: The Next Generation fans four new Silver Series style autographs of Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden and Denise Crosby, it also has autograph cards of Peter Parros, (another!) Lycia Naff, and Tracee Cocco. Autograph cards of characters who recurred but did not even have lines are hard to get excited about. The set has thirty-nine autograph cards and outside the four silver series cards, they are portrait-oriented autographs in the style that was begun with the Complete Star Trek: The Next Generation Series 1 set. The smaller picture on the front of the card allows for a decent amount of space for the signer to sign and this set includes some truly awesome signers, most notably Mick Fleetwood, Madchen Amick, and Diedrich Bader. But having one of the rarest autographs of the set being from Robert Schenkkan (Remmick) is troubling; he had a memorable role on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he is hardly on par with performers like David Ogden Stiers or Whoopi Goldberg who were in the same signing class of rarity in prior sets!

Like most recent releases, the real grail for collectors are the hand drawn color sketch cards. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series Two set feature thirty-seven artists' works. These cards are found one in every case, so that means to assemble a true master set, one would have to buy 37 CASES of these cards, which is pretty cost-prohibitive for most fans! Still, it is hard to argue with results! Warren Martinek did some amazing color sketches of starships, while most of the other artists focused on characters. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 cards have artwork that varies for the sketch cards (as one might expect from so many different sketch artists producing unique works of art on each cards), but most of them are astonishingly good renditions of characters and spacescapes.

Also one per case are metal insert cards from one of two five-card, character centered sets. Metal cards are becoming a real coveted chase card and the ones in the TNG Portfolio Prints Series 2 set are notable in that they are not simply parallels of other chase cards in the set! One of the two five-card sets focuses on the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and they are similar to the Crew cards from TOS Portfolio Prints, save that they are metal and artwork, as opposed to photo images. The other five-card metal set replicates and expands the artwork from the Star Trek The Next Generation Blu-Ray seasons boxes and they look absolutely amazing, especially in metal! All ten of the metal cards from the cases of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints are each individually stamped with a collector's number out of 100.

Non-Box/Pack Cards

As is customary from Rittenhouse Archives, there are a few cards not available in the boxes, no matter how many one buys. These range from the ultra-common P1 promotional card (easily available in the secondary market) to the two nine-case incentive cards that dealers were given for buying in volume. There are two other promotional cards in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 set: the P3 album exclusive promotional card and the P2 Non-Sport Update promo. The P2 Non-Sport Update promotional card is harder to track down than the other two and it is the least impressive of the bunch, featuring comic book style artwork of Captain Picard. The P3 is a landscape-oriented and features the U.S.S. Enterprise, while the P1 is an art card featuring Troi and Riker embracing with Picard's head in the background. None of these promotional cards are yet impossible to find in the secondary market.

This set also had one of two casetoppers. The two casetoppers were very basic Juan Ortiz art cards Q and Locutus Of Borg. There is nothing remarkable about either of these casetoppers, save that they are rare, though they are not even individually numbered.

For every six cases of Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints trading cards a dealer ordered, they were granted a Dual autograph, in the familiar style from Rittenhouse Archives's old "Quotable" Star Trek: The Next Generation set. The 6-case incentive autograph features Brent Spiner and Denise Crosby from their iconic precoital embrace in "The Naked Now." Given how Picard and Crusher never worked out, this is a sensible pairing, though a Partick Stewart dual-autograph with Whoopi Goldberg or Jonathan Frakes would have been a far bigger coup than a Spiner/Crosby dual-autograph.

The real grail of the bonus cards was the incentive card for buying nine cases of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 1 trading cards. For that, every dealer was given a hand drawn, painted sketch card by either Charles Hall or the Glebe Brothers. Charles Hall painted characters with extensive and detailed backgrounds, while the brothers Mick and Matt Glebe seemed to focus on character portraits. Either way, the artists did immaculate work that was absolutely incredible for their incentive cards.

Exclusive to the Archive Boxes was a portrait-oriented metal card of Q. Individually numbered on the back up to 100, the metal card gives fans a reason to chase down the archive boxes which were given as an incentive to dealers who purchased 18 cases.

As well, for the fans who collected enough wrapper points, there was a Rittenhouse Rewards exclusive autograph card. The exceptionally rare autograph card is of Pamela Adlon and its rarity has not been confirmed, though given its wrapper cost, it is rarer than most Rittenhouse Rewards cards.

Overall

The Star Trek: The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 is the logical end to an awkward idea that was executed in a problematic way. Only the most determined, die-hard collectors will care about completing the set. It is too tough a sell for anyone but the most wealthy, eager collectors who demand completion without a care for genuine quality.

This set culled images from Star Trek The Next Generation, which is reviewed here!

This is a set of cards which I sell in my online store.  Be sure to visit and shop from our extensive inventory of them at the Star Trek The Next Generation Portfolio Prints Series 2 Trading Card Inventory!

For other Star Trek The Next Generation trading cards, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Star Trek 25th Anniversary Series 1
Star Trek 25th Anniversary Series 2
Star Trek The Next Generation Inaugural Edition
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Season 7
Profiles
"Quotable" Star Trek: The Next Generation

3.5/10

For other card reviews, please visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Collectible And Cool, The “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies Trading Cards Retain Value!

The Good: Cool (if repetitive) chase cards, Some awesome signers, Patch cards are neat
The Bad: Lack of continuity with prior sets, Autograph numbering issue, Later movie quotes
The Basics: Still worth hunting down, The "Quotable" Star Trek: The Movies cards are a confounding mix of wonderful and troublesome for collectors and fans.


As a Star Trek fan and a trading card collector, I have become quite the fan of Rittenhouse Archives. Rittenhouse Archives is the manufacturer of Star Trek trading cards and they have served the license fairly well throughout their fifteen years of producing Star Trek trading cards. The company has weathered the recession well and the staff continues to be collector-friendly, even if some of their products have made it very hard for a decent number of collectors to continue collecting (at this point in Star Trek trading card collecting, there are only five possible master sets for Star Trek card collectors!). For as wonderful as the company is, sometimes the execution of their ideas results in a more mixed result than they might have intended. Perhaps one of the best examples of that is the "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies set.

The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies follows in the tradition and concept of Rittenhouse Archives' previous "Quotable" Star Trek sets, but as the fourth “Quotable” Star Trek set is hampered by weird problems that make it a harder sell than it should have been. In fact, the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies does a better job of continuing the movie-themed sets begun with the Complete Star Trek: The Movies (reviewed here!) and continued with the Star Trek Movies In Motion (reviewed here!) than it does creating a compelling “Quotable” set. Even so, many of the bonus sets are cool enough to make the “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies set well worth hunting down and the bulk of the cards make it an enjoyable set.

Basics/Set Composition

The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies was the fifth set of cards that focused on the cinematic Star Trek produced by Rittenhouse Archives. Properly assembled, the set is a collection of 171 trading cards and there is an official The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies binder from Rittenhouse. All but eight of the cards are available in boxes of The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies cards, making it one of the sets that is a bit easier to collect (and have fun doing so). Produced before one had to buy dozens of cases to make a master set, fans, collectors and dealers were generally able to succeed at assembling the set with six cases, a binder and hunting down a few promotional cards. The cards were originally released in boxes that contained twenty-four packs of five cards each. Boxes tended to run in the $60 - $75 range and guaranteed one common set and three autograph cards per box.

Collation in the The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies set was remarkably good. To complete a true master set of The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies cards, collectors had to purchase at least six cases of the cards, as there were two multi-case incentive cards. As well, there were promotional cards that were not available in boxes or cases and there was one card that was only available through Rittenhouse Archives' Rittenhouse Rewards program (though it was inexpensive in its wrapper cost). In other words, there was quite a lot packed into these boxes of trading cards, which has helped the boxes to retain their value over the years.

Common Cards

The common card set consists of 90 trading cards, which are printed on standard cardstock and have a glossy UV resistant coating. The ninety card reduced set actually works well for the film set as there were ten films and the nine cards per movie makes it easy to place the set in a sensible way within the binder of cards. With 90 cards, Rittenhouse Archives caters to putting the cards in binders as the binders have standard nine-card pages.

The ninety card common set focuses on the memorable quotes from the Star Trek movies (the first ten before the reboot). The big reason for the issues with the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies set is that Rittenhouse Archives had already mined the films for some of the key materials used here. The SkyBox Star Trek: Insurrection set (reviewed here!) included quotable cards in its common set, as did the Rittenhouse Archives Star Trek: Nemesis set (reviewed here!). Teased in the Star Trek Movies In Motion set as a bonus card set, the “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies set misses out on a number of good quotes simply because they have already been done before. Star Trek: Insurrection might suffer the most in this set as Rittenhouse was forced to use a few lame quips from Riker from the battle sequence (card 80, for example, is hardly memorable, quotable Star Trek lines!). That Rittenhouse Archives had already mined some of the most interesting quotes before committing to produce this set undermined it a little bit.

Also undermining the set is the orientation. I get what Rittenhouse Archives was trying to do by changing the orientation of the “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies cards from a portrait to a landscape orientation; they wanted to make the images more of a “widescreen” format and spread the text out. Unfortunately, though, that does not fit with any of the other four “Quotable” sets (there was a “Quotable” Star Trek: Voyager set that followed this set). The common cards look decent, but not consistent with the rest of the “Quotable” Star Trek cards. The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies set utilizes many images that are not the typical ones seen over and over again, making for a visually interesting set that features both the main cast and some of the significant supporting characters/villains from the films. With different quotes on the front than on the back, collectors and fans are treated to two different quotes per card, netting 180 quotes for the 90 card set!

Collation on this set was excellent, so the common sets averaged one and a half per box, which was good for collectors. With only 6000 boxes of “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies cards, this might be the least-common “Quotable” Star Trek common set!

Chase Cards

There are eighty-one chase cards in The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies set, with seventy-three found in the boxes of cards and the remaining eight available outside the boxes and packs. The bonus cards that can be found within the boxes were the Women Of Star Trek Movies Expansion, Star Trek Bridge Crew: Transitions, Star Trek Movie Poster cards, Star Trek: The Motion Picture Bridge Crew patch cards and autographs. For some baffling reason, there was no checklist for this set within the packs. This is awkward mostly because several of the autographs are not consecutively numbered (see below), so those picking these cards up and not utilizing an online checklist might be left baffled or hunting cards that do not go to this set. Noticeably lacking from the “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies set are TV Guide Cover Cards (believe it or not, many of the Star Trek movies have made the cover of TV Guide, so it’s not a ridiculous assertion that there should have been a TV Guide Cover card set to maintain continuity in this set!) and StarFleet’s Finest cards (which could have featured the cinematic renditions of the characters from Star Trek and/or Star Trek: The Next Generation). For those not concerned with conceptual continuity, this is not a big deal. There are also no “Quotable” style movie autograph cards, which is fine considering how all of the main cast has done autograph cards before (or since) in that style.

The most common bonus cards in this set were the Women Of Star Trek Movies Expansion cards. These were nine cards that continued the common card set of the Women Of Star Trek cards with the missing significant women from the films. Found one in every six packs, these cards have remained ridiculously inexpensive, despite taking three boxes to complete a set (largely because they are essentially bonus common cards for a different set).

At two per box were the Star Trek Bridge Crew: Transitions set. On the front of each card is a main cast member from the original Star Trek and a central picture of them as they appeared in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Rather than rehashing how their character changed between the television show and the movies, the backs come together to form a nine-card mural of the cast of Star Trek: The Motion Picture on the bridge of the Enterprise. These cards are, unfortunately, more rare than they are valuable, given that they are fairly simple and it does take five boxes to complete a set.

Also two per box were the Star Trek Movies Poster Cards. Given that the Cinema 2000 set (reviewed here!) had already done nine of the ten movie posters, Rittenhouse Archives could have made a terrible mistake with this bonus set (which, frankly, is one of the most sensible bonus sets for a movie-based trading card set!). Instead of doing a carbon copy of the Cinema 2000’s movie poster set, the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies cards feature movie poster cards that are acetate cards! These translucent cards have the movie posters silk-screened onto them and they look awesome and distinctive as a result. While I, personally, would have loved some variants with these cards in the form of the promo posters released for the Star Trek movies (it’s hard not to laugh today seeing the promo poster for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier with its chair and tagline “Why are they putting seatbelts in theaters this summer?” [to which those who hated the film laughingly respond now “to keep people from walking out of the movie!”]) or some of the international movie posters (Star Trek: Insurrection, for example, had a far more distinctive and original international poster than the U.S. release) for the bonus set, Rittenhouse Archives made a solid chase set with the standard movie posters as the subjects of this card set.

One of the most valuable bonus sets in the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies cards were the Star Trek: The Motion Picture Bridge Crew Patch Cards. Individually numbered to 250, the nine badge cards feature insignia patches made for Rittenhouse Archives for the set for all nine of the main Star Trek characters (including Rand and Chapel) for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Star Trek: The Motion Picture might not be the most popular or incredible film, but this chase set is incredibly well-rendered with nice images and very cool patches. This is a nice variant of the costume card concept.

Then there are the autograph cards. The “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies autographs continue the form and numbering for the autographs begun with the Complete Star Trek Movies cards and continued in the Star Trek Movies In Motion. These full-bleed autograph cards with the purple line at the bottom and the backs that have blue and purple frame are consistent with the past releases. As well, the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies cards continue the Star Trek: Generations character autographs as they appeared in the film’s first scene on the sailing ship with Gates McFadden and LeVar Burton. If the other bonus sets are biased toward the original Star Trek’s cast (two of the four bonus sets focus on Star Trek: The Motion Picture), the valuable autographs are exclusively focused on the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast. In addition to McFadden and Burton, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Michael Dorn signed for the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies set, though the other three do not feature the characters in their Star Trek: Generations naval outfits which is somewhat unfortunate, as it would have been cool to get the entire cast as they appeared that way. Perhaps the most significant Star Trek actor to sign was John Winston, who was actually Lt. Kyle in eleven episodes of Star Trek. While exceptionally popular actors John Larroquette (who I was most psyched to see signing for this set!), Kim Cattrall and Kurtwood Smith signed for this set, arguably the most valuable autograph is the very limited Rex Holman autograph. Holman played J’Onn in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and that he signed between two and three hundred cards makes it valuable by default. The autograph collection in this set fills in prior gaps – A56 and A59 were missing from the Star Trek Movies In Motion set – but also somewhat ridiculously makes new gaps (A107 and A111 are missing from this set, but are included in the subsequent Premium Pack set!). Even so, this set has a decent collection of signers from the famous to the obscure (only the die-hard fans will feel the need to hunt down Jon Kamal Rashad or Jeff Lester’s autographs if they do not pull them in their boxes!) that maintains the continuity of the movie sets well.

Non-Box/Pack Cards

As with most "modern" trading card releases - certainly the ones from Rittenhouse Archives - not all of the cards needed to make a true master set are available in the boxes of these trading cards. In this set, there are only eight cards that cannot be found in the boxes. There is the usual promo card which foreshadowed the series release which is common enough to find (P1). There is also a promo card exclusive to the The "Quotable" Star Trek The Movies trading card binder (P3). The P2 card is a promotional card available only through Non-Sports Update Magazine and it might take a little work to track down (though the magazine offers back issues pretty readily).

There was one other promotional card, which was exclusive to Facebook. Having worked to track this particular card down for the past few weeks, I can attest that it is annoyingly hard to find now in the secondary market (if not damn near impossible!). It is a simple-enough promotional card that features the Borg Queen and the usual catch phrase from the Borg. Ironically, all four promotional cards feature the traditional “Quotable” portrait orientation for the pictures and quotes.

The remaining cards are the casetopper, two multicase incentive cards, and the Rittenhouse Rewards cards. The casetopper is a simple costume card of Data’s invisibility suit from Star Trek: Insurrection and this follows the format of the costume cards from the Complete Star Trek Movies set. It might seem odd that there is a gap between the sets for this style of bonus card (Star Trek Movies In Motion did not have any costume cards), but the card looks good and is consistent. The only inconsistency is the numbering on the back. As opposed to the prior costume cards in this style which featured a foil-stamped collector’s number, the MC17 is hand-numbered out of 775.

The grails of the set are the multicase incentive cards. For every three cases of “Quotable” Star Trek The Movies cards a dealer bought, Rittenhouse Archives provided an A96 Michael Dorn as Colonel Worf autographed trading card. Like most of Rittenhouse’s incentive cards, this autograph card is found sealed in a hard plastic toploader with a gold Rittenhouse Archives seal keeping it inside.

The six-case incentive card was an autographed Brent Spiner costume card. This is a very neat concept and it is well executed here, with Brent Spiner’s autograph on a card very similar to the casetopper card – the costume swatch is the Invisibility Suit again. The 6-case incentive card is hand-numbered out of 200, so this is the most enduringly valuable card in the set.
The final card in the “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies set is the Rittenhouse Rewards card. Rittenhouse Rewards cards are exclusive cards that fans can get by sending wrappers from any sets in to Rittenhouse to redeem for cards not otherwise available. For this set, Rittenhouse produced a tenth Star Trek: The Motion Picture Transitions card. The final Transitions card is the U.S.S. Enterprise. The cinematic Enterprise is an interesting, if obscure, subject for the Transitions cards, but it has become sought-after by those wanting a true, complete set and it looks good (though the back, obviously, cannot, fit into the mural that the other cards formed).

Overall

The “Quotable” Star Trek Movies cards are a worthwhile investment and a neat set for those who love the Star Trek feature films and trading card collecting. Rittenhouse Archives made a solid set with this one and it’s not so pricy as to be stifling to collect even now. The cards look good, the autographs have decent value and the other bonus cards are neat . . . even if they do not completely fit the other “Quotable” sets.

This set culls images from all ten of the Star Trek Movies, reviewed here!

This set of trading cards is available in my online store! Please check out my current inventory at The “Quotable” Star Trek: The Movies Trading Card Inventory!

For other “Quotable” Star Trek trading cards, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
The “Quotable” Star Trek
The “Quotable” Star Trek: The Next Generation
The “Quotable” Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

6.5/10

For other card reviews, please visit my Card Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Poor Balance Seriously Undermines The 1999 Worf Ornament!

The Good: Imaginative casting, Generally good coloring
The Bad: No special features, Overproduced, Underdetailed, Comparatively expensive.
The Basics: The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine character ornament of Lieutenant Commander Worf is robbed of potential greatness by a pretty severe balance issue!


As I eagerly await the new crop of Hallmark Ornaments around this time next month, I am finishing going through the last remnants of my personal collection and reviewing the ornaments there. One of the ones that I was very much on the fence about keeping was the Lieutenant Commander Worf Hallmark ornament. I love Worf. Who doesn’t?! He is the character who has appeared in the most hours of Star Trek in the entire franchise! And the 1999 Hallmark ornament of Worf is good, but it could be a lot better, making it a much tougher sell than it ought to have been

The Lieutenant Commander Worf is a Hallmark ornament released in 1999 as part of the finale celebration for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. To date, it is pretty easy to find in the secondary market because of how unenthusiastic the response was to the ornament's release, despite the character being essential to the franchise.

Hallmark Keepsake has a line of collectible ornaments from major franchises, like Star Trek. From the Star Trek line comes the Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament. Fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine will easily recall Lieutenant Commander Worf as he is only full Klingon in StarFleet. This sculpt of Worf is from Season 4 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (reviewed here!), after he has joined space station Deep Space Nine as the Strategic Operations Officer. This version of Worf has the Klingon officer holding up his Batleth sword menacingly.

Basics

The Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament recreates the Klingon officer in solid plastic. The ornament, released in 1999, is a completely recognizable alien character, with his Batleth sword drawn. He has somewhat tanned skin, not nearly as dark as Michael Dorn’s distinctive character had. Similarly, the surface details are molded and painted on. His body is cast in an action position, with both his hands on his Batleth and his expression is a fairly angry one. Given that the ornament was designed for fans, this is an ornament that appeals to collectors and the Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament is instantly recognizable to them.

The Hallmark Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament is made of a durable plastic and he has his hands on his curved Batleth sword and legs spread as if he is leaping angrily. He has his distinctive forehead ridges, but not detailing fine enough to capture his fingernails. Still, Hallmark did a decent job of giving his sash texture and molding details like the communicator on his chest and leather wraps on the Batleth handles. The ornament's eyes are brown with black pupils and they lack a realistic sheen to them. Lieutenant Commander Worf's feet are spread apart with his knees bent, so he does look very active.

The Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament is detailed fairly in the coloring department. Lieutenant Commander Worf's outfit is predominately black, with the red shoulders of Command. But more than most Hallmark ornaments, this one seems to be painted in a rushed fashion. The paint around the communicator is chipped and there was considerable paint bleed between the character’s hands and the leather wraps on the Batleth sword. This undermines the overall value of the ornament and detailing on the sash was inconsistent between the several Worf ornaments I inspected.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, the Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament could have a function like a sound chip or light effect, but does not. This is just an ornament, a low-cost (comparatively) option for those who might not want to shell out for the starship or mural series of Star Trek ornaments. This Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament simply hangs and there are no additional accessories for the ornament.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate Star Trek Christmas Tree, Lieutenant Commander Worf is very much necessary, though this might not be the best possible execution of the character. The ornament has a steel hook loop embedded into the top of the Batleth. From that hook, the Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament hangs entirely lopsided. At best, he looks like he is falling on his ass, at worst, he looks like he is sliding and trying to use the Batleth to slow himself down.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for my review!). The Lieutenant Commander Worf ornament is a ridiculously common ornament that may often be found for less than its original issue price in the secondary market. At this point in the Star Trek ornament collections, most of the primary and most popular characters have all been done and the popular secondary characters are being explored. Lieutenant Commander Worf was overproduced and it easily available inexpensively in the secondary market.

This is a poor investment piece and it is unlikely it will appreciate in value.

Overview

The Lieutenant Commander Worf Christmas ornament should have been an essential Star Trek ornament, but the physics of this ornament rob it of its proper place in one’s collection. If one can find it inexpensively enough and has room on their tree for a clunky, unbalanced ornament, by all means, pick it up. Otherwise, we might as well hold out for a better one from Hallmark!

For other Star Trek ornaments of characters, please check out my reviews of:
2011 Legends Of Star Trek Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy
2011 Legends Of Star Trek Spock
2010 Legends Of Star Trek Captain James T. Kirk
2009 Limited Edition Ilia Probe
2005 Khan
2004 Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker
1997 Dr. McCoy
1996 Mr. Spock

4.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please check out my Ornament Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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One Cool Moment Does Not A Worthwhile Documentary Make: Trek Nation Disappoints.

The Good: Moments of exceptionally rare footage
The Bad: Mislabeled actor/role notations, Poor interviews, No real purpose.
The Basics: Trek Nation is a surprisingly lame documentary that has Eugene Roddenberry Jr. listlessly learning very little about his father about Star Trek.


Lately, I’ve seen quite a few documentaries and many of them have been about Star Trek. I’ve actually enjoyed some of them quite a bit, most notably The Captains (reviewed here!). So, when my wife wanted to sit down to watch Trek Nation, I was actually excited about it. Unfortunately, the execution of this particular documentary was particularly lackluster.

Trek Nation has a loose point; it is Eugene Roddenberry Jr.’s attempt to learn about his father, Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek and the whole Star Trek phenomenon. Eugene Roddenberry Jr. was a teenager when Star Trek: The Next Generation was on the air and he was off doing his own thing. So, decades after Gene Roddenberry’s death, Roddenberry Jr. has gotten around to learning about the phenomenon his father created. Trek Nation is the result of that search.

And it is surprisingly bad.

The set-up is, unfortunately, almost the entire movie. Eugene Roddenberry Jr. reiterates many times that he had no prior knowledge of what the Star Trek phenomenon was all about and that he was off doing his own thing around the time Gene Roddenberry died. So, the movie has Eugene Roddenberry Junior wandering around asking writers, producers, obscure Star Trek guest stars (remarkably few major castmembers from the Star Trek franchise participate in Trek Nation) about their Star Trek memories before concluding that maybe Star Trek is all right.

Trek Nation has a wealth of footage that is more confusing and pointless than it is enlightening. So, for example, the film includes reaction shots where Roddenberry Jr. clearly upsets Majel Barrett-Roddenberry with is questions . . . but the movie includes only the reaction shots, not the questions he was asking and the answers she gave. Interestingly, there are outtakes of Gene Roddenberry getting frazzled during his famous 1991 interview for the 25th Anniversary documentary.

Eugene Roddenberry Jr., director Scott Colthrope, and writer Jessica Brunetto repeat a great deal of information that those who are likely to watch this documentary – namely, Trekkers – already know. In fact, outside Trekkers and those who already “get” Star Trek, it is hard to guess who Trek Nation was actually made for. The fans are likely to be bored with it because there is so little that is actually new – in fact, outside Roddenberry Jr. visiting J.J. Abrams to present him with a video that seems to endorse the concept of the 2009 Star Trek, there is little fans will not have already seen or know -, those who are not part of the culture are not likely to be intrigued given that no one makes a fully compelling argument as to why Star Trek was so incredible and remains relevant today (though Nichelle Nichols comes close with her story about her and Martin Luther King Jr.) and those who like great documentaries are likely to be irked by the lack of real resolution to this piece.

While Eugene Roddenberry Jr. gets interviews with D.C. Fontana, Michael Dorn, and Jonathan Frakes, most of the major Star Trek players are notably absent from the documentary, leaving guest stars like Victor Brandt and Patrick Kilpatrick to make statements on the franchise. Ultimately, Trek Nation is not a particularly thorough exploration of the life of Gene Roddenberry, the genesis of Star Trek or the phenomenon of Trek fandom.

For other documentaries, please check out my reviews of:
Great White Odyssey
After Porn Ends
Nantucket Film Festival’s Comedy Roundtable

2/10

For other movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing.

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Everybody Mates The Same Way In Star Trek With “Two Days And Two Nights.”

The Good: The acting is all right, The Phlox subplot is funny and well-executed
The Bad: Riddled with nitpick errors, No real character development, Seems largely inconsequential all the way around.
The Basics: “Two Days And Two Nights” has the Enterprise visiting Risa for a somewhat pointless series of complications that do not truly advance any of the characters involved.


Following the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Chase” (reviewed here!), Trekkers lost much of their ability to complain about how most of the aliens in the Star Trek universe looked so similar. “The Chase” let it be known that the fundamental aliens in the Star Trek universe – at least in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants – were seeded there by an ancient race that used their own DNA as a template for the younger races. I get that, so my complaints about Enterprise seldom deal with the look of aliens (though in “Two Days And Two Nights” the alien make-up for the main female is a lazy re-imagining of the Trill), but this early in the journey of humans out into the universe, I find myself having a different complaint.

Everyone in the Star Trek universe both mates the same way and assumes that everyone else mates in a similar fashion. It’s actually a legitimate gripe. In “Two Days And Two Nights,” women that approach Trip and Reed admit they have never met humans before, yet they continue to pursue them in a way that indicates that they are confident that they men will continue to find them attractive and they lure them using a very human sense of sex appeal. Reed and Trip go in with the ridiculous notion that the women they meet on Risa might have all the same parts underneath their swimsuits and the aliens they meet there seem to have the same ridiculous prejudice. It’s unimaginative and given how this episode vastly predates “The Chase” the alien races have no reasonable way to make that assumption.

That said, “Two Days And Two Nights” is an episode riddled with problems on almost all fronts, except internal continuity. The main character problem I had was the above one, though the fact that Archer is not suspicious of the woman he ends up with and Hoshi’s character is severely weakened by her intimate rendezvous (I am not at all a prude, but Hoshi has been characterized as a bit of one and her love of learning languages would put her in very close contact with multiple teachers over the course of her career, which should demystify the pseudo-attraction someone like her has with a teacher. In other words, Hoshi’s character is much more interesting and consistent if she has a low libido that is satisfied through educational exploration, as opposed to basic physical sexual chemistry.). As it stands, “Two Days And Two Nights” does nothing to fundamentally alter or grow any of the characters.

After two attempts to get to Risa, the Enterprise finally arrives there. Archer, Sato, Trip, Mayweather, and Reed all draw lots that put them in the first rotation of visitors to go down to the pleasure planet. Aboard Enterprise, Phlox goes into a hibernation trance and leaves Ensign Cutler to look after the crew’s medical needs. With T’Pol in command, Sato goes to Risa to learn new languages, Mayweather goes to do some spelunking, Archer goes to relax (with a book of Surak’s philosophies sent as a gift by T’Pol) and Trip and Mayweather go to cruise for women. In his villa, Archer finds time to relax, though Porthos is bothered by a dog at a neighboring villa and its owner, Keyla, quickly strikes up a conversation with Archer.

Soon, though, complications abound. Sato’s quest to learn new languages puts her in touch (very literally) with a man with a fascinatingly complex language that challenges and stimulates her and Mayweather has a climbing accident that causes him to break his leg. In getting treated for the broken leg, Mayweather is given an injection that he has a reaction to. When Mayweather is returned to Enterprise, Cutler and T’Pol must decide whether or not to awaken Phlox, while on the surface Reed and Tucker get into trouble when pursuing two alien women who are not all they appear to be. And Archer, begins to suspect that Keyla is not all she appears as she tells the story of how her family was killed by the Suliban and begins interrogating Archer about what he knows about the enemy!

“Two Days And Two Nights” is riddled with continuity problems and some of the stupidest writing errors to come out of the series yet. While the idea of Phlox going into hibernation during a shore leave is not an inherently bad one, the writers seem to neglect the idea that space travel at this point in time is much slower than viewers are used to. As a result, it seems like there would be other times between planetary systems when the ship is going through a routine phase when it would be more ideal for Phlox to take his annual hibernation. In other words, this subplot with Phlox is just tempting fate in the worst possible way.

The show has a very Victorian sense of nudity as well. When Trip and Reed are robbed at gunpoint, the aliens take their clothes . . . but leave them in their underwear. Television standards and practices aside, this makes little sense. What makes even less sense is that they get a catcall as they walk through the resort in their underwear afterwards. Of any planet in the Star Trek universe for people not to notice or care about people walking around in their underwear or naked, Risa is at the top of the list. At least as important, the guys keep complaining about the alcohol smell on them after their escape . . . when they’re at a beachfront resort. Instead of ambling through the resort, why they didn’t just go for a quick swim makes both Reed and Trip seem like utter imbiciles.

That said, “Two Days And Two Nights” has decent internal continuity. Reed and Tucker reference “Shuttlepod One” (reviewed here!) and Archer finds himself dealing with unexpected consequences from “Detained” (reviewed here!) in the episode. The scenes with Phlox are entertaining at the very least and the acting is all right. Jolene Blalock gets through her minimal part as T’Pol with fewer smirks and emotive inflections than usual, making for what is to be considered a fair performance for her.

Guest Star Dey Young returns to the franchise, which is a nice addition. Here she plays Keyla, an age appropriate partner for Bakula’s Archer. Previously, Young played Arissa in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “A Simple Investigation” (reviewed here!) and the two roles are remarkably similar, giving Young little to show off in the way of range. She and Bakula, though, have decent on-screen chemistry.

It’s not enough to make “Two Days And Two Nights” enduringly worthwhile, though. This is a “watch once” episode that hardly thrills and does little to advance the plot or characters of Enterprise.

The three biggest gaffes in “Two Days And Two Nights:”
3. Hoshi references Klingon as a difficult language to learn for the conjugations. Klingon actually has fewer conjugations than most romance languages and Japanese.
2. Okay, it’s not a Star Trek gaffe, but I can’t let this go. When Mayweather returns to the Enterprise, he is carried awkwardly out of the shuttlepod by Cutler and another ensign. Seriously?! In the future of the Star Trek universe, we have phase pistols, photon torpedoes, artificial gravity and (eventually) food replicators . . . but we’ve lost the basic technology of crutches. What kind of medical training has Cutler gotten where she has a guy walking on his broken leg as opposed to giving him crutches or a wheelchair?!
1. Once again, I renew my gripe about the use of Risa. In “Captain’s Holiday” (reviewed here!), where Risa is first mentioned, Picard has never heard of the planet and the Enterprise (1701-D) was out exploring new territory. In “Two Days And Two Nights,” Risa is 90 light years from Earth and thus relatively close. Picard, great explorer that he is, apparently doesn’t know the core worlds of the Federation, which is an utterly ridiculous idea. The writers should have used Wrigley’s Pleasure Planet for this episode.

[Knowing that single episodes are an inefficient way to get episodes, it's worth looking into Star Trek: Enterprise - The Complete First Season on DVD or Blu-Ray, which is also a better economical choice than buying individual episodes. Read my review of the premiere season here!
Thanks!]

3.5/10

For other Star Trek episode and movie reviews, please visit my Star Trek Review Index Page!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Top Ten Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Episodes

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The Basics: Neglected by mass culture, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a classic in its own right and possibly the best of the Trek pantheon. These are the indispensable episodes...


So, now that I've begun writing up some of my lists for my readers, I find myself in the pleasant and horrible position of sometimes having to truly be concise and nail down some of my opinions. After all, when I'm simply reviewing a film, book, or c.d., where it falls in my larger pantheon can often be overlooked. I can go back and see trends in my reviewing and justify higher or lower ratings based on what I was experiencing at the time.

This became a real issue when coming up with my list of the ten best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes of all time. There are a number of perfect hours of this much-neglected show and in cutting down the list, I was forced to leave off several worthy episodes, like "Sacrifice Of Angels," "Looking For Par'Mach In All The Wrong Places . ..," and "To The Death" (when I originally posted this, I took a lot of crap for not including “In The Pale Moonlight!”). Paring down the best episodes into a list of ten is a kind of "put up or shut up" for the best series in the Star Trek franchise. If you've never seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, weren't able to get into it, or loved it and want to see the cream of the crop, these are the episodes that represent the best the series produced and perfect hours of television that may be returned to again and again and again.

10. "Hard Time" (reviewed here!) - Every season, poor Chief O'Brien got tortured by someone, usually for doing nothing but being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the fourth season, the show did an episode that smartly dealt with the repercussions of O'Brien being imprisoned by a race that time compresses jail sentences. So while he was unconscious for only a few hours, he had memories implanted in his mind of being imprisoned for decades. The powerful toll that takes on O'Brien makes for one of the most enduring character studies of the series,

9. "Tacking Into The Wind" (reviewed here!) - At one of the last Star Trek conventions I attended while the series was still running, Alexander Siddig (Siddig El Fadil, "Dr. Bashir") was asked the pretty standard question about what season was his favorite and he answered the current (7th) season because the show just keeps getting better and better (in his words). Perhaps there's no better proof of that than in the last few episodes, the series would create one of the top ten episodes of the series. While Damar, Kira and Odo work to free Cardassia from the clutches of the Dominion, Odo begins to succumb to the disease ravaging his people. At the same time, the Klingon Empire stands on the brink of ruin as Gowron's jealousy of Martok overcomes his judgment. A clever episode with a tension that ratchets up until the last moments of the episode, this is one of the last gems the series would produce without feeling like it was going to end (i.e. the events in this episode inspire events that could have inspired a whole additional season!),

8. "Rocks And Shoals" (reviewed here!) - Wow. War sucks, but watching the ethical dilemmas laid out so succinctly when Sisko and his crew crash land on a planet occupied by a lone garrison of Jem'Hadar who are running out of the drug they need to sustain them is intense. Combined with a powerful b-plot aboard the station of a Bajoran's willingness to protest the war at any cost, this is easily the most neglected episode of the top ten. Performances by Nana Visitor on down to the Lieutenant who has to bury the bodies at the end make this an astonishingly great episode,

7. "Return To Grace" (reviewed here!) - One of the nice things about writing a list like this is that it's okay to be biased. Objectively, this spot should probably be saved for “Sacrifice Of Angels;” too bad. I love the character of Gul Dukat. He's Star Trek's" greatest villain and the most consistently, best written adversary for any of the crews. So when Major Kira is transported by Dukat to a conference where the Klingons intervene and she must teach Dukat how to be a terrorist, it's a pretty great hour of television. Smart and managing to make Dukat out of his element without being a buffoon, this episode smartly does what most of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine does best; it forces characters to deal with the consequences of their prior actions and this one knocks it out of the park with that,

6. "Necessary Evil" (reviewed here!) - No episode more poignantly and profoundly changed the direction of the characters without saying anything than this episode. The last shot of the episode knocked my socks off when I first saw it and tugged my heartstrings every time thereafter. A murder investigation makes for a great excuse to look back to how Odo met Kira, Quark and Dukat and it's a smart episode that is a great character study,

5. "What You Leave Behind" (reviewed here!) - The series finale of Star Trek Deep Space Nine did what no other Trek series has been ballsy enough to do, it ended the series with a sense of finality and futility that perfectly fit the show's overriding motif of "Dreams die." The Cardassian War ends, with significant casualties both in literal terms (characters are killed off) and metaphorical (one character leaves with a sense of permanence that destroys all of his individuality). Sisko's role as the Emissary comes to a head when he must take on the Pah Wraiths and ultimately, everything ends. The last shot of the series still brings a tear to my eye. Every time,

4. "In Purgatory's Shadow" / "By Inferno's Light" (reviewed here! and here!) - The first of my two cheats on this list is this two-part episode that marks the turning point that leads directly to the Dominion War. Dukat returns from his private war with the Klingons to stand beside Sisko and his team as they prepare for a Dominion assault. Only, there's intrigue afoot and one of Sisko's people is not himself and Dukat's made an alliance with the Dominion that changes everything. This is quite possibly the best, most plot-driven episode that keeps the suspense building until the last moment of the episode and truly juggles every character involved effectively,

3. "Improbable Cause" / "The Die Is Cast" (reviewed here! and here!) - And then there's this two-parter that for the first time gives Garak a real juicy story. When the tailor is almost killed, Odo begins an investigation and what starts as a simple investigation leads to a convoluted scheme. But the brilliance of the two-parter is that the convoluted scheme serves mostly for Garak and Odo to share some deliciously character-building scenes, including the revelation of Odo's true feelings and a quiet, poignant denouement that wraps up an episode with amazing special effects with a genuine character moment,

2. "The Visitor" (reviewed here!) - Anyone who has seen this episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine knows why it's considered almost universally one of the top five episodes of the series and one of the top ten episodes in the franchise. And who would have guessed; it's a story of Jake Sisko! Set in the distant future, author Jake Sisko spends a night with a young author reminiscing about the death of his father and the effect that had on him. Spanning fifty years, the episode is a tear-jerker and the ultimate tale of loneliness and loss. Well written, amazingly acted and all around great, this episode manages to have an effect on viewers every time they watch, even if it's the only episode of the series they ever see,

1. "Duet" (reviewed here!) - What "The Visitor" does on a personal and character level, "Duet" does on a social and historical level. Subtle in its perfection, for an hour, Kira is able to interrogate a Cardassian whose identity oscillates between filing clerk and war criminal. The mystery of one man's identity sparks a character struggle that asks what the true price of vengeance is, and what it ought to be. This is easily the smartest hour of television yet written and it becomes worthwhile for anyone to see. There is no finer reason to own a television than to see this hour of programming.


For other best and worst of Star Trek, check out:
The Worst 10 Episodes Of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
The Best 10 Episodes Of Star Trek
The Worst 10 Episodes Of Star Trek
The Best 10 Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation
The Worst 10 Episodes Of Star Trek: The Next Generation

For other television and movie reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Trekkies Documents The Fringe Aspect Of An Interesting Subculture In The U.S.

The Good: Decent interviews
The Bad: Focuses on the fringe of the subculture
The Basics: Trekkies could have been a groundbreaking documentary, save that the director and host/documentarian focuses on the fringe of the subculture.


I am a fan of the Star Trek franchise. In fact, I eagerly identify as a Trekker. I had started my small business geared around Star Trek collectibles when the documentary Trekkers was being filmed and it was around that time that I started to truly identify with the culture.

Ironically, last night was the first time I sat down and watched the documentary Trekkies. It is worth noting that there is a difference between Trekker and Trekkies. Trekkers are the folks who know the show is a television show; we enjoy the franchise, we collect the collectibles, but we know it is not real and we have a life outside our favorite hobbies. “Trekkies” are the stereotypical unhygienic, obsessed fanatics who give Trekkers a bad name. “Trekkie” is, in fan culture, the derogatory – the “N word” – for the fans, relative to Trekker. So, I did not have high hopes for Trekkies.

Trekkies documents well; it is a true documentary, with no judgment made (explicitly) on the subjects. However, the subjects of the documentary exhibit a bias. Trekkies includes interviews with a Star Trek talk radio show, a transvestite male fan, a fourteen year-old fan who yells at a friend who calls during his interview (and once got in trouble at his Catholic school for wearing his costume), a dentist’s office designed to mimic a Federation ship, and others (like people who go out in daily life wearing their Star Trek uniforms).

These interviews are mixed in with Denise Crosby’s interviews with cast members and convention promoters/dealers. The cast members that Crosby interviews are remarkably gracious and they tell stories that are not available in other movies, shows or DVD bonus features.

Trekkies is interesting when Crosby and director Roger Nygard focus on the interviews from the celebrities and people behind the scenes of the conventions. The documentary exhibits a strong bias against fandom by focusing early on people like the juror in the Clinton trials who appeared for jury selection wearing her StarFleet uniform. By the time the film gets to interviewing a person who dresses their cat up in a StarFleet uniform, the movie has lost most of its cohesion.

Outside the bias, Trekkies suffers most from lacking a specific and careful focus. The movie meanders from interviews of celebrities to fans to writers of Kirk/Spock fanfiction without any real focus or finesse. The documentary is not horrible, but it is not going to attract legions of new fans or make Trekkers admit they would be associated with the Trekkies shown in this film.

For other documentary reviews, please visit my reviews of:
The Furious Gods: Making “Prometheus”
The Cream Will Rise
The Big One

4/10

For other film reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Growling Through His Mediocrity, Klingon Warrior Worf Is A Good Figure.

The Good: Good balance, Generally decent accessory design, Cool sculpt
The Bad: There's a better version on the market now, Accessory coloring
The Basics: A decent Klingon action figure, Klingon Warrior Worf is light on surface and accessory details, but still holds up as a decent toy.


Worf is one of the most recast and redistributed action figures Playmates Toys ever sought to exploit and one only hopes that Michael Dorn received the royalties he was do. Of course, fans know from his resistance to signing autographed, licensed products (like the Lightspeed Fine Art prints and trading cards) that his was not the case. Much of Dorn's grudge against the gravy boat that made him a household name came from products where he did not received the royalties he was due from things like the action figures. Playmates Toys, which licensed the likeness to Worf from Paramount Pictures, continued to make toy after toy of Worf without making sure the actor received his due. The second line-up of Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures was released with two different Worf figures, though it does not take a detective to notice both use the same head. The superior Worf to collect in the 1993 toy run was the Klingon Warrior Worf action figure.

Klingon Warrior Worf figure could be worse, the other one was an uninspired recast. This Worf was released twice, at least in Canada in order to promote both the second line of figures (Playmates's second wave of Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures was released in 1993 and included twenty-three figures, several of which were re-released in a later line in Canada where the only difference was that the trading card that came with the twenty-three line was replaced with a SkyCap (a pog). The figures inside were identical. For fans of the Playmates Star Trek line, despite its flaws, this version of Worf is a great addition to the collection and a must for fans of Worf, Klingons or Michael Dorn!

Basics

The Star Trek: The Next Generation 1993 Collection of action figures contained twenty-three figures and it broadened the line away from the main cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and supplemented the characters with memorable guest stars and aliens. The second series of figures contained a Klingon Warrior Worf "In Traditional Klingon Battle Attire With Ceremonial Robe" figure which sold quickly. Fans were hot for this figure despite first Worf figure being so good, because this offered a legitimate variation on Worf. This figure seemed to be mixed into the cases less, as well.

The Commander Worf figure is the Klingon Security officer as he appeared whenever he worked among Klingons, but most notably when he left the Enterprise to work aboard his brother's ship in "Redemption, Part II" (reviewed here!). This is the same Worf head that was originally made and distributed, but popped onto a new body.

Standing four and three-quarters inches tall, this is a decent likeness of Worf in his full-Klingon outfit immortalized in plastic. There is a decent level of uniform detailing. Worf's face is molded in a determined expression and it lacks much in the way of detail, though the lips are downturned in an appropriate scowl. His dark skin lacks any realistic shading, save in the head ridges. The uniform is appropriately armored, making Worf look quite durable. His armor is covered in the Klingon robe he wore in "The Emissary" (reviewed here!). His eyes are appropriately brown, but the pupils are white instead of black! The uniform incudes such details as the horns on the toes of the boots and the brass accents on the bandoleer and belt buckle.

The paint job is mediocre at best. The skin tones are monolithic brown and lack any shading or subtlety. The uniform is appropriately colored and the figure looks good in that respect. This includes the thin gun harness, which was a nice touch of realism. The uniform looks good and the soft-plastic (almost rubbery) robes do not inhibit the figure's movement at all.

Accessories

Commander Worf comes with four accessories, plus a trading card: A Klingon pain stick, a Klingon spiked club, a Klingon disruptor, and an action base shaped like a Klingon symbol. That Klingon Warrior Worf comes with only weapons makes a great deal of sense, as his role on Star Trek: The Next Generation while aboard Klingon ships often was perilous and required him to use weapons. The Action base is just enough to support Worf and is a three-pointed Klingon Symbol cast in appropriate red and yellow plastic. The center of the top spike on the symbol has a peg which fits into the hole in either of Worf's feet!

The Klingon painstick is a great accessory as it is one that was used on Worf during Klingon rituals on the holodeck. The 3 5/8" long staff has the appropriate shocking end molded on so it looks appropriately wicked. Unfortunately, there is no distinction as far as coloring details between the wood part and the metal business end. This is the same accessory used originally for the Gowron action figure.

Also simply reused from the Gowron figure (come to think of it, the body of this Worf might well be a Gowron body, were it not for the bandoleer across his chest) is the Klingon disruptor pistol. This wicked looking gun fits in either of Klingon Warrior Worf's hands and has the surface, but not coloring, details of a Klingon firearm.

The final accessory, the Klingon Spiked Club bears no resemblance to anything ever seen in Worf's hands on the program. This is a little 2 3/4" mace with a heavy, spiked end and a ball on the opposite end. It looks like a meat tenderizer and its ridiculousness is increased by the fact that they often come in the package bent. Unfortunately, all three of these accessories are molded in an inaccurate navy blue or puke brown plastic that is utterly lacking in realistic coloring detail. Worf is over-accessorized and with the lame coloring of the accessories, it is less exciting than it otherwise could be. Depending on when the figure was made, the accessory coloring seems to vary between the hideous brown and the inaccurate blue.

The 1993 line of Playmates action figures also comes with a very cool SkyBox trading card unique to the action figures. The Klingon Warrior Worf card features a big shot of Worf's head and upper body with a warp field background that is quite striking. The back of the card has all sorts of vital information on Worf and the figure is highly sought by card collectors who collected the cards and disposed of the figures. Interestingly, the repackage that used the SkyCap often had multiple cards in the bag behind the SkyCap, so it can often save collectors money to pick up the figures that way for the multiple cards!

Playability

The Klingon Warrior Worf, despite having miscolored and obviously recycled accessories, helped continue a high level of quality from Playmates and he was quite good at the time, pleasing collectors and fans alike. This is not a bad sculpt of Worf. The Klingon Warrior Worf is endowed with twelve points of articulation: knees, groin socket, biceps, elbows, shoulders, neck, and waist. All of the joints, save the elbows and knees, are simple swivel joints. As a result, the neck turns left to right, for example, but the head cannot nod. Similarly, the shoulders are not ball and socket joints and only rotate. Still, Playmates dealt with this limitation by having a swivel joint in the bicep, that allows everything below to turn and offers real decent posability!

Moreover, for use with actual play, Captain Worf may bend or extend at the elbows, which offers a greater amount of movement potential making him one of the more realistic Star Trek action figures to play with (for those who actually play with these toys!). As well, this Worf may bend at the knees so it may sit in the Captain's chair on the bridge playset!

On his base, Worf is quite stable, even in fairly ridiculous poses, making him a great figure for display as well as play. Even off his base, this is one of the most stable action figures Playmates Toys released!

Collectibility

Playmates mass produced the first few waves of Star Trek: The Next Generation figures, so this Worf is virtually worthless. Found loose for less than a three dollars these days, this Worf is one of the few to appreciate on its card. It can seldom be found for less than its original issue price in the $5.00 range. Playmates flooded the market with these figures and they are almost impossible to use as investment pieces, though the Klingon Warrior Worf has held up over the years, possibly because it was less mass-produced than the others in this series.

Playmates tried to make the figures collectible. Each figure has an individual number on the bottom of his right foot. In the attempt to make them appear limited, they had numbers stamped on them, and it might be considered pretty limited when there are at least 4,000 figures out there (my Klingon Warrior Worf is #003601!).

Overview

This Worf is not bad, but it is easily trumped on accessory quality and sculpt by the new Art Asylum Worf figure in Klingon armor. But for those collecting the 4 1/2" Playmates toys, this is quite good and more than enough to be worth keeping or hunting down now.

For other Playmates Star Trek: The Next Generation figures from the 1993 line, please check out my reviews of:
The Borg
Captain Jean-Luc Picard In StarFleet Duty Uniform
Commander Riker In Second Season Uniform
Geordi In Dress Uniform
Locutus
Ambassador K'Ehleyr

5.5/10

For other toy reviews, be sure to visit my Toy Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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