Last week, Star Trek, probably the one movie this year I was most looking forward to, came out in theaters. I've been a Star Trek
fan for as long as I can remember and have always been especially fond
of logical, selfless Spock. I made the trip to Burger King last week
hoping to nab a Spock glass and kids' meal toy; neither was available at
the time, so my quest continues. But on Friday, I stumbled upon a Star Trek display in Hollywood Video and discovered an even cooler trinket: a talking Spock bobblehead.
We have a couple of bobbleheads scattered across various shelves in our
house. Former Governor Tom Ridge sits cheerfully near the computer, the
result of a peculiar baseball game giveaway. Davy Jones, rescued from
the Spencer's bargain bin, grins over my desk, tambourine in hand. It's
probably no big loss that Ridge comes unequipped with a sound chip,
though I'd love to hear Davy burst randomly into Daydream Believer. Alas, he's perfectly silent, but not chatty Spock. This half-Vulcan Starfleet officer has plenty to say.
Spock comes in an attractive cardboard box that discusses his character
traits. The bobblehead itself is mounted on a light brown plastic
platform on the front of which "SPOCK" written on a small plaque, next
to a Starfleet insignia. Spock is made of sturdy plastic, with black
shoes and pants and his blue uniform shirt. His right hand is molded
into the "Live Long and Prosper" gesture, while his left is balled into a
fist. Both of his hands are articulated at the shoulders. The serene
face with the jet-black hair and arched eyebrows bears more than a
passing resemblance to Leonard Nimoy, whose voice emanates from the
figure, and the ears are appropriately pointed.
Spock has
three phrases in rotation: "Fascinating," "Live long and prosper" and
"You are, after all, essentially irrational." Three seems like a good
number; it's also how many phrases most of McFarlane's LOST figures have. (I can't understand why they waited until after the line was cancelled to heavily promote the figures via the oddball LOST Untangled mini-films in season five...) As with most of the LOST
figures, I think one of the quotes is less iconic than others. The
"irrational" quote is the longest, and it sums up Spock's attitude well,
but as a catch-phrase I would be more inclined to expect "illogical".
Still, minor quibble.
The idea with this bobblehead is that
you set him down and give him a few taps on the head to set him
bobbling, which triggers the sound chip. There's no set-up involved,
which is a relief after all the annoyances I went through with the LOST
figures. But you also can't just press a button to get Spock going, and
just because his head is bobbing, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll
talk. More notably, he has a habit of piping up at the most unexpected
of times. For a couple of days, we had him sitting on the microwave, and
almost every time we closed the door, we could count on commentary from
him. Now, he's migrated to a less sensitive location, but every once in
a while, completely out of the blue, we'll hear "Fascinating" or "Live
long and prosper". I find the randomness hilarious, but if you like
absolute control over your talking toys, you may not be so amused.
Online, seven-inch-tall Spock, weighing in at about a pound, goes for
twelve dollars; I bought him for ten. As far as I can tell, there are
four Wacky Wobblers in this series: Captain Kirk, which is certainly
expected, but also, as another testament to these toys' randomness, the
reptilian Gorn and blue-faced Andorian. Both are among the most
identifiable aliens in the original series, but they're not exactly
significant characters, and they don't have anything to say either.
Perhaps this is an ongoing line, and there will be more; otherwise, I
can't understand why Funko didn't make Scotty and Bones instead. And if
they're going to have those four, why not go all the way and include
Uhura, Sulu and Chekov? It's probably just as well for me, though, if
they stop the line where it is; I can resist Kirk, the Gorn and the
Andorian, but I don't know if I could say no to the rest of the crew.
I'm already in trouble since my trip to Amazon revealed that this
summer, a deluxe electronic
Kirk-in-the-command-chair-surrounded-by-tribbles action set will be
released. Curse you, Amazon, and your dangerous suggestions! Must...
not... buy.
But I did spring for Spock, who is both much
cheaper and much more compact. And given the laughs he's provided in
just a week, I'd say it was well worth it. This bobblehead might not be
logical... but it certainly is fascinating.
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