The Good: Recognizably Scotty (by default)
The Bad: Ugly, Proportions are off, Just ugly.
The Basics: A caricature of Scotty, the Toy Factory plush Scotty is one of several prizes one might win in the Claw machines at malls, but then be stuck with afterwards.
Here's a cautionary tale for those who like to wake up to something amusing and horrifying. Perhaps the greatest lesson one may take for waiting before getting married is that sometimes when one gets married quickly, they discover things about their spouse that are less charming and wonderful and they learn them at awkward moments. In my case, the lesson I learned about my wife rather abruptly was: Bored wife + extra cash = hideous toys. I have the Toy Factory plush Scotty toy at home on a shelf to prove it (and it's not going anywhere!).
Here's the story. A few months back, I was headed to a screening of The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3 and my wife did not want to see it . . . at all. However, she was going out drinking with some friends from work that night, so we had to share our car. She was not going out for quite some time, though and was not content to wander around our mall. So, while I was at my movie screening, I paid for her to see The Land Of The Lost. What I didn't count on was that the half hour early she would be out of her movie being a big issue. When I got out of my screening, there she was, standing with the Scotty plush toy. Tired of waiting after her movie ended, she hit the ATM up for cash and began playing the claw game (the machine with the claw and the stuffed animals where one tries to grab things). Apparently, she rather impressively pulled Scotty on the very first try and while I was suitably impressed at the skill involved in this, the toy I was left with was just terrible and I could not get rid of it because of how proud she was of nabbing it. Sigh.
Basics
Scotty, for those who are not in the know, is one of the essential characters of Star Trek (reviewed here!) as he is the miracle-working Chief Engineer. Played by James Doohan, Scotty is a fairly recognizable character and Toy Factory made a plush doll of Scotty to help milk Trekkers and Trekkies of their cash as part of the push for the new movie Star Trek. Scotty is the only recurring red-shirted officer from Star Trek (well, male officer anyway) so when my partner showed me the doll, I knew exactly who it was supposed to be.
Sadly, this is not the best rendition of Scotty at all. The 9" tall stuffed Scotty looks more like an Animated Series character than James Doohan's Scotty. The hideous stuffed toy has his arms and legs spread wide, so it is over seven and a half inches wife at the widest point and it is over two inches deep. Scotty is stitched up in three colors of fabric: black (shoes, pants, hair), red (shirt) and pink (face and hands). All other details that needed to be colored onto Scotty are silk-screened on. As a result, Scotty has an Engineering insignia badge silk-screened onto his chest. He also has his face silk-screened on!
This Scotty plush is clearly the James Doohan Scotty, not the new Simon Pegg one. Scotty's face is a pretty generic set of lines (actually, the face looks exactly like the animated style of Clerks: The Animated Series) and Scotty is grimacing (much as I did when I received the doll). His eyes are essentially black dots and the mouth is a white crescent-moon grimace that makes Scotty look like he is constipated and working on the problem.
The only stitching details for Scotty come in the fact that there are two flaps sewn into the head for ears (these look like Shrek's ears more than Scotty's) and on the hands. On the hands, there are three loops stitched perpendicular to the tips to provide the basic appearance of fingers. Four-fingered Scotty becomes a pretty bad joke when one knows that James Doohan actually was missing a piece of one of his fingers . . .
What truly kills the toy for fans of Star Trek is that in trying to make something cute, Toy Factory made something out of proportion that looks slightly demonic. Scotty's big round head is 3 1/2" in diameter. That is over a third of the toy's height taken up by the head! The torso and legs are an additional three inches, of which the feet are over an inch and a half tall! These insane proportions make Scotty look utterly ridiculous.
Accessories
Scotty comes with no accessories, nor are there any available. There is a tag on Scotty's left hand indicating exactly who and what this toy is (and alerting me that there are Kirk and Spock plush toys as well). Because the toy cannot hold anything, there is no practical element to accessories for it.
Playability
Scotty is the first plush toy I've ever reviewed and I suppose that he could be played with like other stuffed animals would be. Here, though, one has to wonder: does he join a tea party or break it up? Does Scotty become a plaything that goes on adventures or just some carelessly discarded Chinese toy (yes, it was made in China) that ends up in an American toddler's mouth? This toy is not exactly ideal for play - it does not stand up - or display - it is ghastly and embarrassing. As a result, it is hard to consider this aspect of the toy. I know mine remains in a prominent position in my workroom as a testament to my partner's skill at the claw game and a reminder to never let her get bored again!
Collectibility
Well, I'm a pretty avid Trekker and I sell a lot of collectibles in addition to reviewing them. I have no idea who would want to collect these plush toys and I'm almost afraid to find out. The value of them has to be pretty low because I've never seen them for sale, only available as giveaways in the claw machine. Moreover, given that Spock and Kirk are the other choices in the same games, I suspect Scotty is the least valuable and least desired one of the bunch.
Overview
There are plenty of great Star Trek collectibles for fans and collectors that are tasteful, fun and have some value. This Scotty plush toy is not one of them. It may be safely avoided.
For other Star Trek toys, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Playmates Dr. McCoy In Dress Uniform figure
Art Asylum Vina figure
Burger King Sulu Talking Toy
1.5/10
For other toy reviews, please be sure to visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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