When it comes to picking a favorite character from Star Trek, I am definitely a Spock
gal. This surprises me sometimes, since I am also a very emotional
creature. But something about Spock’s serene, logical presence is
extremely soothing, and while I often find myself frustrated with
Captain Kirk when I watch the series, I seldom get aggravated with
Spock. Nonetheless, a First Officer needs a good Captain, so every year,
when I pull out the shuttlecraft ornament containing the voice chip of
Spock addressing the Enterprise, I make sure his addressee is somewhere
on the tree.
The 1995 Captain James T. Kirk ornament stands
about four inches tall and two and three quarters inches wide. Kirk sits
in his iconic chair, the cushion of which is black against a light gray
setting. His left hand rests near a colorful controller, while his
right hand is in a pensive, chin-scratching position. Captain Kirk wears
black pants and shiny black boots. His uniform shirt is gold, with
shiny accents on the rings around the arms and the insignia. He also has
a black collar. The color on the figure is striking, and he looks quite
realistic, though the lines between his shoulders and torso are so
well-defined that it looks like his arms ought to move, and they don’t.
His hands and smirky face are flesh-toned, and he has a thick head of
brown hair. Attached to the top of the chair is a golden wire that ends
in an ornament loop above Kirk's head through which to place the hook.
Captain Kirk sits nicely on a flat surface thanks to the one-inch
circular base supporting the chair. If I weren’t so determined to have
as much Star Trek as possible on our tree, I’d consider just
sticking him on the piano instead, because the ornament is a little on
the clunky side, and it can be tricky to find a branch that is large
enough to support such a heavy ornament. Kirk has fallen off the tree on
more than one occasion, though on the plus side, this hasn’t damaged
him at all. The ornament may be slightly awkward, but it’s resilient.
And unlike the shuttlecraft ornament, none of the paint has peeled at
all.
Last year Hallmark came out with an ornament featuring
Captain Kirk drowning in Tribbles. One of these days, I’d love to snag
that one, which not only salutes one of my favorite episodes but also
features nifty sound and motion. Mine is much more general and could
apply to pretty much any episode. Sadly, there is no sound, motion or
light embedded in this ornament, and there’s nothing Christmassy about
it either, though making Star Trek Christmassy is a rather tricky
thing to pull off without coming across as totally corny. So I don’t
require a holiday message, but I do wish that Kirk said something.
I also found it a little odd that on the back, the chosen “famous
words” are “All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by,” which
is from the John Masefield poem Sea Fever. Yes, Kirk quoted
that, but it seems like it would have made more sense to include
something he said more frequently, and that was more unique to him.
Despite a few quibbles, I love my Captain Kirk ornament, and I think most Trekkies would be glad to have it as well.
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