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Review: Vedek Bareil


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#1 Redshirt#7

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Posted 05 September 2014 - 03:07 PM

So, my third review! And another DS9 one at that, although I'm certainly not arguing, and I hope your not!  :D

 

Vedek Bareil was another of DS9 wave 2, and one of the new, unique characters available along with Tosk, Jake-O, Rom, and Nog.

 

The good Vedek was one of the recurring characters in the early seasons of DS9, making his first appearance in the season one episode "In The Hands Of The Prophets". He then became a familiar site in DS9, appearing in six episodes till he made the mistake of visiting Dr Bashir's chamber of horrors, as Ira Behr called it. Due to the nature of the wave, and his accessories, his appearance is based on his Season 2 look, though to be honest I don't believe he changed at all during his overall seven appearances (not counting his Mirror counterpart).

 

His Memory Alpha profile:

http://en.memory-alp...ki/Bareil_Antos

 

 

Enough of me blabbering on, to the pictures!

 

14963110529_6cb44890f6_z.jpg

 

A front view of him in his box. It seems odd the way the arms and the head are positioned, I would've thought that sort of thing would've been fixed before it had been sold. While saying that, the "shy Romulan" made it out...

 

15126809356_37942fa4f3_z.jpg

 

A back view. "Bareil is posed and ready to administer spiritual guidance!", after the way I've made some of my customs, I think his services will be in high demand. Note how Bareil is savagely snuffing out the candle in the prototype image. How can someone make such a stupid mistake when taking a photo for a mass marketed toy? 

 

15146857411_7bbd459547_z.jpg

 

A view of his bio. Some more strange stuff going on I believe, and from the sound of it more info from the writers bible ("He sometimes seeks solitude in the hydroponics terrarium...")

 

15149888525_68b74e1e66_z.jpg

 

A close up of his plastic bubble. 

 

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A front view. He has no articulation in his hips, but the standard range of movement in the arms and head.

 

15150038085_d72f757a72_z.jpg

 

A close up of his head. I really wasn't sold on his likeness till I unboxed him. I think, while there is room for improvement, I think he's still a pretty good likeness. Also, look at the detail on his hands! 

 

15147062631_8b620b8ba8_z.jpg

 

A back view. His earring is fantasticly detailed.

 

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Bareil's accessories, an Orb, a box, and a candle holder, plus his POG.

 

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A better view of Bareil's candle holder. At first I thought it was one seen in season 7's "Field Of Fire" (http://ds9.trekcore....eldfire_123.jpg), but it is different. I'm sure however it did turn up in one of the many Bajoran settings.

 

15150010455_5c4b1a9026_z.jpg

 

It's a snake!! (I've got to keep the Vreenak jokes coming somehow, haven't I?) . This is quite an accurate accessory, would you believe. It's from Bareil's orb experience in season 2's "The Collaborator". And some screenshots, courtesy of Trekcore:

 

http://ds9.trekcore....borator_075.jpg

http://ds9.trekcore....borator_074.jpg

 

 

Would I recommend him?

Certainly! He's a damn fine figure, with some good, yet strange accessories, however, I could see why someone may not want to get him. 

 

Price?

He's fairly obscure, overall however I paid £6 for him, though personally I would've considered £10 due to his rarity. For £6 though, he's fantastic!

 

Playability?

Erm, he's Vedek Bareil, and how well that's playable maybe up to interpretation. Target practise for Klingon's? Someone for Kira to have fun with? Relive Dr Bashir's chamber of horrors? He's useful to me, but he wouldn't be my first choice for a strike force, or for a brawl in Quark's. But beyond the conventional playability, he makes a great figure to accompany your Niners and to add to your DS9 collection.

 

As always, any requests for additional pics or other stuff, don't hesitate to ask!



#2 Daysleeper

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Posted 06 September 2014 - 11:19 AM

Note how Bareil is savagely snuffing out the candle in the prototype image. 

ROFL

 

Nice review! Actually I like the figure, but I don't think there's much of a resemblance to Philip Anglim...



#3 Jpatrik

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Posted 06 September 2014 - 09:47 PM

I'm actually a big fan of this figure, not only for its obscurity, but also for its crazy accessories.

 

The early seasons of DS9 werent well represented in action figure form, so I love that he is season 1 & 2 specific.  As you said mate, great detail on the earring and the hands.  I also think its a passable facial likeness.

 

The nitpick (if I only have one) is that he is one of the many star trek 'salt and pepper shaker' figures released, that due to long flowing robes or a coat, have no waist or leg articulation (Sarek, Data as a Romulan, etc) which makes this guy more of a statue than anything.

 

All up, a firm favourite that I still have proudly on display (errr...minus his crazy accessories)

 

Oh...and before you ask, I'll cast my vote for Kirk in Spacesuit next!   :-)

 

 - Jim



#4 Daysleeper

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Posted 09 September 2014 - 04:23 AM

I second that: Kirk in spacesuit! :D



#5 Redshirt#7

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Posted 09 September 2014 - 01:01 PM

Fine by me! Skydiving Kirk it is, Friday night hopefully!

 

Daysleeper

 

Thanks!

Personally, the face reminds me more of the Vedek who was Kira's friend, who turned out to be a pah-wraith cult member in DS9's "Covenant" for some reason.

 

Jpatrik

Though I hadn't noticed before, I looked at my DS9 figures and can see exactly what you mean! Beyond Tosk, Hunter Of Tosk, Vash, Kang and Q, there is nothing from the earlier seasons, particularly season 2.

 

Those dreaded salt and pepper bodies! If only they used some sort of rubber or material to maintain the articulation. Only problem though that I can see, is whether that kind of material could produce the same sort of detail on figures like Sarek.

 

I 100% agree! He's at the front of my DS9 display with his candle holder.

 

 

A quick couple of questions to everyone (I've got to find some sort of questions to ask everybody!):

 

Any suggestions on how to improve? Any specific photo angle you'd like me to take, or is it OK the way it is, review style?

 

Would everyone be OK with non sealed figures being reviewed at some point?

 

And finally, any figure after Kirk you'd like a specific review of? Boxed set? Playset? Shuttle? I'm nearing completion, so, quite literally, if your desperate to see some pictures of any particular character, just ask! 

 

Thanks for the replies as always!



#6 Jpatrik

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Posted 11 September 2014 - 06:58 AM

Dude, I think I speak for at least a couple of people here when I say that we are happy to have the Playmates conversation in the first place!

So no, no major feedback other than thank you!

I apose we all come at this hobby from a different angle.  One of mine is playability (yup, I still 'play' with them when the other half is asleep!) so I always tend to focus on the hands and whether the figures can hold stuff.

Just a suggestion I spose, but its one I'm really struggling to make.
Theres an awesome site out there called Dork Dimension who has done a heap of playmates reviews, though he tends to stay away from the obscure figures focusing on 'screen accurate' figures only.

http://www.dorkdimen...label/Star Trek

Maybe you could do the opposite and focus on the crazy ones instead?  Generations crew? Beverly in DS9 uniform?



#7 Redshirt#7

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Posted 11 September 2014 - 12:32 PM

Thanks!
 
I openly admit, I play with my "toys" all the time! Nothing better than a shuttle crash and a Klingon/Romulan brawl on the sofa (my other half sometimes joins in, the quote from O'Brien "It's not a toy! It's a model, built to scale" comes to mind somedays)
That's also a big thing for me as well. I love figures like Kira, Dax, Tasha and Riker who are designed with the ability to hold an accessory in a (usually) disguised manner. 
 
As you say, the Dork Dimension is a fantastic site with some fantastic reviews (in fact, part of the reason why I started doing these reviews was because of the Dork Dimension, A Piece Of The Action, and a couple of other places)
 
Sure! As you know, I've covered Tom Riker, but the Generations crew, DS9 Dr Crusher, the Borg with huge cannon arm, Skydiving Kirk, Calhoun perhaps, not a problem at all! Any other "crazy people" anybody wants to add, I'm up for it (if I have them though, the Cadet's are at the top of my buying list with the way the prices are)!

#8 Morgan

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Posted 17 January 2015 - 09:53 PM

I was collecting figures as this wave was coming out, and Bareil was nowhere to be found. Granted, there was a lot of scalping going on back in the day (Pacific Northwest, for reference) but it was one of those figures that just wasn't out in stores. And it's not like I wasnt looking. My collection was pushing 100 at the time and I was in about 5 stores per week looking for figures. The first time I saw Bareil was about 2 years after the figure itself came out in a collectibles store, priced around $20 which seemed like a bargain.

 

I like this figure despite the almost complete lack of resemblance to the actual actor. It was rare back in the day for reasons I still don't understand, and even though it's not rare now (as if anything is truly rare) it still seems special.

 

This figure fits into the weird alien segment -- a relatively minor if recurring character made into a figure for variety's sake. With these I always think: who could they have made instead.

 

Does anyone know how many were made?



#9 Redshirt#7

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Posted 22 January 2015 - 04:35 AM

Thanks Morgan for the info, and welcome to Trektoy. My guess is Playmates didn't distribute him as a much as the others, as a Bajoran vedek isn't as exciting to the average kid as say, Picard or Sisko. I believe something similar has happened to some of Marvel's Professor X figures over the years, for example. 

 

Indeed. As for how many where made, I have no idea, however, mine is 21,276. From what I gather, depending on character, around 30,000 or so on average was about "normal" after wave one for a regular, though I'm no expert.



#10 Morgan

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Posted 06 April 2018 - 07:58 PM

I think this one was underproduced a little compared to the others, along with Tosk and Rom in that lineup.

 

I've been rewatching the early seasons recently, back when he was a semi-regular character, and it seems really strange in retrospect that they killed him off so early and for relatively little storyline payoff. And the episode itself was centered quite a bit on Winn, Bashir and Kira -- it's easy to see that instead of Bareil it could have been another Vedek just made up on the spot.

 

But the fact that they killed him off and he could never return, I think, was a major loss for Kira and Winn characters. This was not a glorious way to go, with Bashir turning him into Robocop.
 



#11 Damon1984

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Posted 07 April 2018 - 04:50 PM

Yeah, they could have done more with that character. Maybe they thought he wasn't interesting enough, and that's why they introduced Shakaar. But that backfired as well because the actor wasn't available so often. Funnily, I think the portrait of the Bareil action figure resembles both, Bareil and Shakaar somehow. Change his haircolor and he could be Shakaar, square chin and all.



#12 Morgan

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Posted 08 April 2018 - 07:31 PM

I just watched one of the Shakaar episodes, the one about the soil reclamators, and it was just hilariously obvious how he was another soap opera-looking hunk for Kira.

 

And then with the whole Dominion war the character of Shakaar was sidelined and only mentioned in dialogue, like he wasn't interesting anymore.



#13 Damon1984

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Posted 09 April 2018 - 05:43 AM

Bajor itself got sidelined by the Dominion War. It's one of the few gripes I have with the show; the mission was never fulfilled. The Starfleet officers went to the Station to help Bajor become a part of the federation. But... that never happened. DS9 really could/should have gotten an eighth or even a ninth season. (Then again, the Treklit kinda filled that void. Any readers here?)






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