Voyager Cast On The Joys Of Action Figures

With Voyager soon to be gone from our screens forever, what better way to remember the series than with action figures of the crew? The show's cast certainly found them memorable.

"The Neelix action figure is a wonderful figure because I can finally play with myself in public," said Ethan Phillips (Neelix), one of five Voyager cast-members interviewed about their action figures.

Like Phillips, Robert Picardo (The Doctor) liked to experiment with his figure. "My action figure also sleeps with Seven of Nine's action figure on a regular basis," he told StarTrek.com, "so that's been a source of vicarious pleasure for me."

The actor was less than impressed with some of the features of his plush doll, however. "When they put out the larger action figures - the plush dolls - that are designed for middle aged women to sleep with, my doll had a comb-over," Picardo said. "He had a big strip of hair across the middle of his head, which I objected to. Apparently, whoever makes them in China thought I would look better with what looks to be headphones on."

Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) was also keen to distance herself from some of her action figure's attributes. "Well, you know, it's so funny, people say 'Well, what does it feel like to have a doll that looks like you?' and I go 'Well, I hope she doesn't look like me because she's got ridges and I don't'," she said. "I don't see the association, it's not like we're really seeing me on there."

An identity crisis was part of the package for Garrett Wang (Harry Kim). "Licensing and merchandising knocked on my trailer door and said 'Here you are' and I touched that thing, and I swear to you, my entire body started shaking uncontrollably because it was so surreal to be looking at a little six inch plastic representation of myself," he said. "On this momentous occasion, Beltran walks out from his trailer and looks over and goes 'Hey man, you look Mexican.'"

With his distinctive ears, one actor who shouldn't have any trouble recognising his action figure is the show's resident Vulcan, Tim Russ. "I think it's kind of cool," he said. "They're pretty neat, actually, and come to think of it, I don't think I own either one right now, so I'm going to have to look around for one."

The full interviews, together with the cast's views on Voyager and the Star Trek legacy, can be found here at the official site.

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