ARCHIVE: DST's Stargate SG-1 Series 3

Article originally published 07/06/2007 at figures.com

Last summer I got my first look at Diamond Select’s inaugural offering of Stargate SG-1 action figures. This highly-anticipated line was released to a group of fans who had been clamoring for almost a decade for figures featuring their favorite interstellar special-ops team. I had mainly positive things to say about SG-1 Series 1. I found a few paint and articulation issues (specifically with Daniel Jackson) but it also featured the stunning Serpent Guard, which I still believe is one of the finest 7” scale figures I have seen.

With the release of SG-1 Series 2 last winter, Diamond now has two full series of these figures (and the wildly-popular ‘Build-A-Stargate’) under their belt. Now, we get a chance to take a look at DST’s take on SG-1’s final two seasons. In this review, I will be looking at Series 3’s main four figures: Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell, Vala Mal Doran, Ori Prior and ‘Black Ops’ Daniel Jackson. Also available in Series 3 are the variant ‘Avalon’ Vala and an ‘Ascension 2-Pack’ featuring Anubus and an Ascended Daniel Jackson.

PACKAGING: Good news for you ‘mint-on-card’ collectors - the packaging this time around is actually an improvement! In my Series 1 review, I noted that the cardboard backing was so flimsy that I had a difficult time finding a single undamaged package in a full case of figures. Not so with Series 3. The cardboard appears thicker and all of my figures arrived unscathed. Even a trip to a few nearby comic shops yielded nothing but clean, sturdy cards on all their SG-1 Series 3 figures. The remainder of the blister packaging is fairly standard. The back of each card features pictures of each figure in the series as well as a brief description of the characters.

SCULPT AND CHARACTER LIKENESS: Jean St. Jean Studios again undertook the responsibility of sculpting this latest series of SG-1 figures. I love Jean St. Jean’s work, but when it comes to the character likeness in this series, it is a tale of two sculpts.

The Ori Prior and ‘Black Ops’ Daniel Jackson are stunning, almost the perfect duplicate of their television counterparts. Unfortunately (and with apologies to ‘Farscape’ fans), Vala and Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell represent the newest members of SG-1 in name only. Outside of the head sculpts, these figures are great. Their Air Force uniforms are a perfect match to the SG-1 members from Series 1 and 2. However, they look nothing like ‘Farscape’ alums Ben Browder and Claudia Black.

The standout figure of this series is the Ori Prior. The last season of Stargate SG-1 featured a number of these unnamed fanatical religious zealots. Among these, the Prior portrayed by William Davis (The X-Files’ ‘Cigarette-Smoking Man’) was perhaps the most unique. Jean St. Jean Studios have created a perfect replica of Davis’ Prior, including detailed robes and staff.

PAINT AND COLOR: Despite a few sculpt issues, these figures still look amazing. The detail included in the paint applications is clean and vibrant. Even with the ‘Black Ops’ Daniel Jackson, which includes the character in an all-black uniform, there is enough subtle detail to allow both the clothing and facial features stand out. The Ori Prior, despite being colored in a series of grey-tones, is a perfect representation of the Season 10 character. Vala and Mitchell’s standard Air Force uniforms are the same that were featured on the rest of SG-1 in Series 1 and 2, and include full-color detailed insignia.

ARTICULATION: After I reviewed Series 1, I regulated my understanding of this line to the fact that it was going to be tough to display the figures in ‘action’ poses. With cut joints in the legs, feet, arms, wrists and waist there isn’t much room left for dynamic articulation. Despite this, shoulder ball joints and articulated elbows allow for each figure to be posed holding the weapon of their choice.

ACCESSORIES: This is where Series 3 shines. In the first two assortments, DST answered hardcore SG-1 fans’ call by providing the pieces to construct a scaled Stargate. Series 3 offers up the ability to complete the gate diorama by adding a Dial-Home-Device (DHD). However, despite the insistence on the series packaging that states you must ‘collect one of each character’ to complete the DHD, only Cameron Mitchell and the Ori Prior are packaged with pieces to the device. Once completed, the DHD is in-scale with the Series 1-2 Stargate and looks amazing.

Vala (both versions) includes an Ancient Long-Range Communicator, which is second only to the DHD in its amazing detail. ‘Black-Ops’ Daniel is packaged with the same gate piece as the original Series 1 but also includes a new accessory, the Crystal Skull (from the Season 3 episode of the same name). Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell is packaged with the only weapon that I found to be disappointing. The sword Excalibur had some significant QA issues and snapped in half as I was trying to remove it from the packaging. Aside from the sword, the remainder of the accessories (P-90, Zat gun, radio) that were included with Mitchell and Vala can be held and displayed by the figures with ease.

VALUE AND OVERALL IMPRESSION: These figures are on shelves now for around $15 each, which isn’t a bad deal considering the amount of accessories included with each character. The DHD alone is worth picking up Mitchell and the Ori Prior. Hard-core SG-1 collectors will want to track down both the standard-issue Vala and the Previews Exclusive ‘Avalon’ version. ‘Black-Ops’ Daniel Jackson may be a bit of a letdown for those who already have the Series-1 version, especially considering he is packaged with the same gate piece.

I will be displaying these figures proudly along side the rest of my Series 1 and 2 collections. The minor issues I have with the head sculpt on Vala and Mitchell do not diminish the excitement that SG-1 fans finally get the chance to own figures based on the extended mythos of this long-running series.