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Review: DS9 Thomas Riker


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#1 Redshirt#7

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Posted 29 August 2014 - 05:24 PM

So, after my success of my first review, what better way to follow it up with another one?

 

I held a little vote, and it was unanimously decided that DS9 Tom Riker would be my next review, so what am I waiting for?

 

A little story. According to various bits of info I've heard, mainly from a thread around here, Tom Riker was meant to be the DS9 version of Barclay or Ogawa, a background character you'd commonly see. Apparently this was to some degree confirmed by Mr Frakes at a convention some time ago, though don't quote me on that. Tom did make it to DS9, albeit in a TNG command uniform in "Defiant", as a Maquis terrorist .

 

Here's Tom's official bio courtesy of Memory Alpha :

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

 

To the pictures!

 

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A front view, boxed. Just like Jake-O, despite the fact he has a TNG badge and base, he has the Generations badge on the box

 

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You can see all of Tom's accessories, plus his POG, and of course, Tom himself.

 

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A back view. Strange, he has a different arrangement of characters compared to Jake, with people from both the second wave of DS9ers and some from the generic "Star Trek" wave.

 

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A close up of the bio. 

 

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Tom's accessories. From left to right: "Scanner" (in fact a TNG prop that's turned up about a 100 times as different things, thanks to Jpatrik for the help in locating what it was), a type 2 phaser experiencing some kind of, err, sub molecular inverted phase pulse or something looking at the stream, a DS9 monitor (actually a monitor Dr Crusher uses: http://tng.trekcore....nerlight249.jpg , and I believe a computer game console re-purposed in S1 of TNG. Also note the fantastic Wormhole graphic on the screen.), a standard issue tricorder, and his POG.

 

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It's a base! (Vreenak style voice)

 

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Tom, freed at last. It's basically an O'Brien body with a Riker head (to be honest he's painted better than my actual O'Brien!).

 

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A close up. Sorry about that white fleck of dust or something on his head, the badge is particularly painted nicely.

 

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And finally, Tom with his phaser and the not so DS9 monitor DS9 monitor

 

 

Would I recommend him?

I'm going against common opinion, and I'd say "hell yes". Sure, he never showed up in an episode, but it makes it more appealing for me. In my mind, he's "an alternative Tom Riker from a parallel universe", it's like the Generations TNG crew for me, I'm a sucker for alternative universe stuff and this exactly my sort of thing. Good sculpt, good accessories, good articulation, and very few problems.

 

Price?

I paid £7 for him, about on par with a regular MISB box figure in my country. Not to mention he was never officially released in my country, and he's one of the last I need to complete my collection, I'd say it was a very good deal!

 

Playability?

Well, the fact he isn't in an episode limits it, I suppose. But in my mind, adding the alternative universe spin gives him a range of possibilities.

 

If you'd like a particular picture, or a better view of one, don't hesitate to ask!



#2 Redshirt#7

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Posted 29 August 2014 - 05:26 PM

And two comparison pictures:

 

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#3 Loggy

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Posted 29 August 2014 - 07:18 PM

Another great review, Redshirt, and some witty humour in there. This certainly has prompted me to buy the figure! I entirely agree that for a reuse of parts, this is a pretty cool figure. The story on the cardback seemed somewhat contrived, but it did seem like a decent way to shoehorn him into DS9. Given the tidbit that Tom might've been introduced as a recurring character from Frakes, do you think that the 'top secret wormhole business' could've been an early plot idea?



#4 Jpatrik

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Posted 29 August 2014 - 08:13 PM

First up dude - Kudos for identifying the scanner from 'The Inner Light' - never knew that!!

 

I really love this figure.  I know its not well loved in fan circles because of its lack of on screen accuracy, but I love Tom Riker and I think the Riker head sits nicely on the O'Brien body (at least it looks nicer than the Picard/Bashir frankenstien that showed up in the same wave!)

 

By and large, my favourite part of this figure is the space cap - check out the badly photo shopped Tom Riker!  You can tell they made it outta this:

 

http://tng.trekcore....n7/riker_s7.jpg

 

Ahhh...the nineties :-)



#5 Redshirt#7

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 05:20 AM

Thanks both!

 

Loggy

Thanks about the review, and I'm glad I could help! There really is something "cool" about him. I wouldn't be surprised at all, my guess is that Playmates had notes from the writers Bible, early ideas on episodes perhaps, hence explaining the inaccuracy in Jake's bio and and the questionable bio for Picard.

 

Jpatrik

Thanks! I'll be adding that to the other topic soon hopefully. It does suit him, doesn't it? Haha, did they do the same sort of thing with the Picard POG? 

 

Talking of POGs, I seem to have three different variants of the DS9 one from the same wave! Is this normal?

 

 

My Bareil and Hugh came today, so I'm not running out of people to review yet!



#6 Section32

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 05:31 AM

I always wondered why the pupils in the eyes were white.

 

The second DS9 assortment was one of the waves that drove certain fans nuts, being mostly made up of variants while plenty of major characters were still waiting in the wings for the action figure treatment. OK, Bashir and Dax in TNG uniforms and a TNG O'Brien were nice to have, as was the DS9 Q, but the Picard and Tom Riker figures with their, ahem, creative card bios just seemed opportunistic and baffling.

Although, for some reason, nobody seemed to like Vash, either.

 

Looking forward to the Bareil review!



#7 Loggy

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 07:18 AM

I always wondered why the pupils in the eyes were white.

 

The second DS9 assortment was one of the waves that drove certain fans nuts, being mostly made up of variants while plenty of major characters were still waiting in the wings for the action figure treatment. OK, Bashir and Dax in TNG uniforms and a TNG O'Brien were nice to have, as was the DS9 Q, but the Picard and Tom Riker figures with their, ahem, creative card bios just seemed opportunistic and baffling.

Although, for some reason, nobody seemed to like Vash, either.

 

Looking forward to the Bareil review!

 

After reading your comment about the Picard figure's bio, I am intrigued. Do you have a photo of the cardback or remember what that fine prose was? This has prompted me to check my Aussie O'Brien in TNG uniform cardback to see what his bio contained, but it seemed not to vary from any other O'Brien bio. I was expecting the last line to be "and the Enterprise was visiting DS9 one day and O'Brien decided to go back and visit the transporter room. He was given an Enterprise uniform to avoid raising questions about his visit there."



#8 Section32

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 08:55 AM

As I recall, it claimed this Capt. Picard was from a sinister parallel universe. Or something.



#9 Redshirt#7

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 04:24 PM

Overall, I'd have done anything to get the crew in the First Contact uniforms, an S6 Kira and Odo, Vic, Martok, Damar, Wayoun, the Female Changeling, a season 7 Jake Sisko, Kai Winn and so many others, but given that the figures seem to have been designed at the end of season 2, theirs not that many I could add. Kai Opaka, Marritza, Jaro, Li Nalas, Kor, Koloth, and a couple of episode specific variants is what I would've liked.
 
But certainly, I'm all for official figures over creative ones. But given that, while I would like or love any of those above, Tom's a very good figure for who he is, one I really, really like as stated. But as a great man said, everyone's entitled to their own opinion! I quite like the Vash figure, though I would've preferred a TNG one.
 
I aim to please! The next choices are:
Bareil
Hugh
Klingon B'elanna
Skydiving Kirk 
All the two packs bar the Corbomite maneuver 
And maybe the S1/2 Data
That's from my MISB photo archive, while I have about 150 with the cardbacks/accessories to hand, so if you'd like a specific figure reviewed, just ask and I'll see what I can do!
 
Loggy
Haha! You never know, maybe our Riker's uniform got mixed up in the wash and this is the result.
Here's a link to a topic with a write up of the bio:
http://www.trektoy.c...?showtopic=4349

#10 Loggy

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Posted 30 August 2014 - 09:27 PM

Thanks Section32 and Redshirt, that info was greatly appreciated, and a great read!



#11 Loggy

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Posted 02 September 2014 - 08:13 PM

So is the next review going to be of Bariel, Redshirt? I'd be totally jazzed if you are, it seems such an obscure figure to make, I'd love to take a detailed look at him!



#12 Redshirt#7

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Posted 03 September 2014 - 12:03 PM

Of course! As I say, I don't mind who I do next, but I'm fine with Bareil! He should be up sometime Friday. I'll have to come up with a list of figures I can do reviews of, beyond my MISB pics.



#13 Morgan

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 07:37 PM

This figure, given the bio on the back of the card, always seemed like it was designed before the actual episode aired. As in, the product team was given a one sentence description: we're gonna have this episode where Tom Riker shows up..... And that's all they were told.

 

By the way, speaking of the later seasons: what was the latest chronological screen-accurate DS9 figure to get made, Sisko as a Klingon from "Apocalypse Rising" in season 5?

 

There were so many interesting characters in seasons 5 thru 7 that just never got made. The last four seasons of DS9 were a much different show than the first three, and all that was made was like one Jem'Hadar figure out of that whole plot arc of the last four seasons really.



#14 djc242

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Posted 29 January 2015 - 09:28 PM

If you count the slightly larger figures then they made Sisko, Dax, & O'Brien in their post First Contact uniforms, a Cardassian, and a Jem'Hadar.  It's too bad these weren't 5 inch figures since they came with some great consoles/chairs.



#15 Redshirt#7

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Posted 30 January 2015 - 04:09 PM

True Mr Bateson, I'm sure though I read somewhere that it was an idea in the writers bible. Perhaps Playmates got a look, for ideas to flesh out the line, but ended up being grossly inaccurate. After reading most of the DS9 companion, I know that many a classic DS9 episode started of completely different (In The Pale Moonlight was originally about Jake blowing the whistle on Sisko's and Garak's plan, however, for obvious reasons it was changed).

 

You've nailed it on the head, Sisko is the last one. Technically, Mirror Kira could pass as her in her season 6-7 appearances, but season 5 is essentially as far as they got.

 

As DS9 is my favourite series, and season 6 is (in my opinion) a tie for the best Star Trek season, I couldn't agree more. Vic Fontaine, Weyoun, the female changeling, Winn, Damar, Ziyal, Kasidy Yates, updated versions of all the crew, a season 7 Jake...so so many. I'm glad they made that Jem'Hadar, though, it makes getting a few extra easier! Maybe I should review him... ;)

 

djc242

I know exactly what you mean, why weren't they 4.5-ers? Such a big missed opportunity. 

 

I should have a new review up soon, around Sunday, so keep an eye out



#16 Morgan

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Posted 03 February 2015 - 08:26 PM

Ahh yes, I remember those large format figures, they had some cool accessories though the size format change was not the best idea ever. I wish they'd done that with the smaller format with various pieces of the Defiant bridge that you could then lock together

 

"In the Pale Moonlight" is in my top 3 fave DS9 eps, which I'm sure is true for almost everyone here as well.

 

The last four seasons were some of the best Trek, period. A shame we didn't get to have figures from them -- so many great characters could have been made.






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