An update of one of the Star Trek: The Next Generation action figures from Galoob, Lieutenant J.G. Worf in First Season Uniform is basically a red Worf with a gold sash. In season one of the show, Worf was a little more slight with a more bulbous head and a more constructed hairdo. This figure is basically the same as the regular Worf figure, with a retooled torso and red replacing the silver. What's interesting is that they took the time to retool the collar for the season one spandex uniform, but decided to leave the sash the same - they painted it gold, but that's it.
This is one of the larger figures, towering over most other figures and he comes complete in an action pose. These were popular in the 1990s, although older fans bristled at them. As a figure you play with or display goes, it's great - but when they released the Bridge playset, getting Worf to sit or man a station was just kind of awkward. There's a tough sweet spot between "cool pose" and "functional toy," and this almost hits it. A little more articulation or different hip joints could have done wonders for Michael Dorn's Klingon.
The articulation is good, and at the time this was a spectacular value. Five bucks nets you a 5-inch scale figure, four weapons, a tricorder, a phaser, and a display base. And a trading card. Kenner figures at the time cost more and got you less, plus this figure is numbered to boot. It's for this reason I assume this figure took a few shortcuts - the Worf head matched his then-current appearance rather than season one's, and I assume the neck collar was the only part they retooled to keep mold costs down on a pretty fancy line. 12 points of articulation was pretty exceptional in 1993, as Kenner was still flirting with counting to a number larger than five. Even Playmates' best lines typically topped out at around 7 points of articulation.
The figure's accessory chunk is good, mostly because the colors are so much better than the brown plastic used for the Seasons 3-5 look we got in 1992. Now cast in silver, the Bat'telh looks great in his right hand and the knife fits perfectly well in his fist. Well, that's a half-truth - it's a tight fit, as it was when the figure came out 25 years ago, The figure can hold his phaser and tricorder fairly well, with hands that don't have a heck of a lot of flexibility in them.
The head sculpt and deco are a great recreation of the character's distinctive make-up, even if it is off-model for the uniform. I wish the left hand wasn't a fist, but I guess it's good for punching even if it isn't ideal for holding accessories. Today the figure is surprisingly cheap, which says a lot about the 1990s action figure market. These figures were numbered so tons were made, many of which were bought by adult collectors and never opened. There's a significant supply of perfectly preserved plastic players, which means a lot of the common ones are virtually worthless. That may be good news for you - you can afford to start a collection for the original retail price, plus or minus tax and shipping.
I'd probably suggest you buy one of the other Worf figures first, but it's a good one. They did a nice job thinking about the character's personality when doing the first version of the figure, and even if it's not a perfect match for season one it's still a striking figure and different enough to be somewhat interesting for an - at the time - incredible disappointment. Hot on the heels of a well-saturated first wave, Playmates followed up with "season one" uniforms for the seven crew figures and a Borg redeco, meaning those of us wanting Dr. Crusher would probably have to wade through pegs of figures at Best, Toys R Us, or Target in hopes of finding something - anything - resembling a new character.
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