Nacelle Wave 1 - Valkris
It's fair to say that when Nacelle announced the line-up of deep cuts for their inaugural wave, few figures caused more eyebrows to rise than Valkris. After all, she was an extremely minor character in just one scene of a film that is somewhere in the middle of the pack according to most fans.
And yet, she was only the second ever female Klingon character seen in Star Trek. She played a crucial role in the movie, establishing Kruge's ruthlessness by executing his own lover, And she's got a great look.
To sweeten the deal still further, Nacelle shrewdly packed in the Genesis Device. Not just the data tapes, not just the control console, but the whole kit and caboodle. The result is, according to Brian Volk-Weiss, the first wave's biggest seller.
But enough preamble, how is the figure?
The packaging continues the standard theme, but it's double the size of the others. The Genesis Device is very nicely displayed alongside the figure.
Breaking her out of her plastic prison, this is another excellent figure. The face sculpt is very good, capturing her subtle cranial ridges, as well as her rather arch eyebrows and ornate headgear. I would maybe have liked to see her glammed up with more eyeshadow, but she would already not look out of place at Studio 54, so perhaps less is more. Her cleavage would send even Ricardo Montalbán back to the gym.
The rest of the costume looks great, with the long, soft plastic silver coat and the chainmail-effect outfit replete with large jewellery. No wonder she always stands in the film, there is no way she could sit down in all that.
Articulation is typical for Nacelle. Her stilettos make her a little tricky to stand up, but the long cloak does help add extra stability. I've found adopting a split stance with one leg forward is best, and gives her a more animated look. She's got the usual eight hands - fist, closed grip, open grip and trigger finger.
Accessories include a disruptor, tricorder, bat'leth and Genesis data tape. The tricorder is better than Archer's as the strap is somewhat flexible, but it still looks best hanging on her shoulder. The data tape is simply a tiny black rectangle, but it does the job. To be very pedantic, the disruptor is the TNG version rather than the Search For Spock edition - the emitter should be different. And of course, the bat'leth sword wouldn't appear until TNG's 'Reunion', six years after the film. But it's an essential Klingon weapon, so I won't complain.
So finally, onto the Genesis Device itself. The control console is a chunky piece of equipment, with the red "COMMIT" label at the top, the iconic aluminium rings below, and the eighties Modern Props-style blinky lights around it. Incredibly, and I wasn't aware of this until I opened it, the console has an action feature! A quarter turn of the control knob pushes the spring-loaded central column in and out. It's a lot of fun.
The Genesis Torpedo is huge! It looks a little like a novelty sex toy, but if you look past that it's a pretty great replica. The case closes around the torpedo, and whether it's by accident or design, the innards can be removed from the clear plexi sheath to allow further examination of the details.
With Carol and David Marcus coming up in future waves, fans and collectors will be sure to want to add this to their shelves. And it helps that Valkris is a very nice figure in her own right. As a fan for whom the TOS movies were really their introduction to the franchise, I am a huge fan of these characters being immortalised in plastic.
Next up... skipping forward about eighty years to the Next Generation.
