1996 Playmates 9″ Sulu Action Figure

/ Zach

Today we welcome Hikaru Sulu to Zach Trek II, with a whole string of firsts:

This is the first Sulu collectible on Zach Trek II, the first 9″ Playmates figure, and it’s a figure of Sulu’s first appearance in the pilot episode of Star Trek (well, the second pilot episode. I guess that ends our streak of firsts). This was one of four figures produced with these uniforms (Kirk, Spock, and Scotty being the others).

Let’s take a closer look:

The back gives details on the figure and on the pilot episode. It shows the figure on a base…but not the base it comes with! It only shows him with one accessory, and whoever put the phaser in his hand put it at an awkward angle.
Nothing too special on the rest of the box.

Ordinarily, I’m not bold enough to rip open a figure’s packaging, but this box is pretty beat up (probably my fault for poor storage), so I don’t think I’m losing much value by opening it.

I don’t know what they were thinking with those lips, but other than that this is not a bad Sulu.
A distinctly non-regulation back on this uniform.
The accessories are pretty good. The top of the phaser could have a little more color, but that’s nitpicking.
Sulu’s hands can hold the accessories, if not very naturally.

This is a “Collector Edition”, and I think it is more of a collector’s piece than a toy. For a toy, it would be odd to have Sulu in a uniform he only wore for one episode and by the time this figure was produced, smaller action figures were the norm for kids to play with. So I don’t like this so much as a toy, but as a collector I do like the rare uniform and the size, which is reminiscent of early GI Joes and the early Mego Star Trek figures.

Next Week on Zach Trek: Next Tuesday we’ll introduce one more crew member from the Enterprise. If you’ve been following along from the start, you probably know who it is. In the meantime, look for a category page for Mr. Sulu.

2 thoughts on “1996 Playmates 9″ Sulu Action Figure”

    • Playmates had already made a lot of 9″ figures, so maybe this came with a new base that they didn’t have available yet when they took the photo or maybe they were just careless.

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