Playmate's 4.5" Figures

Playmate's release of the 4.5" format figures was an immediate success world-wide.  The continued success of new TV Series of Star Trek adventures - The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager - made these action figures the flagship of the Playmates collectables.  Collectors remained loyal to this format of figures throughout the Playmates production era.  Series after series was released, with outstanding image likenesses.  Often, simple headswaps to new uniforms were released which irritated many collectors, and many highly requested characters were never produced, and the "1701 fiasco" in 1996 alienated many collectors, but overall, appreciation and pleasure with this set of figures was very high.  As the years progressed and the number of collectors declined, so also did the production levels of the newer releases.  Production levels dropped from the 1992 release with figures numbered greater than 300,000 to the final exclusive releases in 1999 with production levels well below 10,000.

The 4.5" figures all came with an action base which either depicted their race or Starfleet Series.  Figures also came with a variety of accessories which again related somehow to the Character's role or the Series Theme.