Cool Stuff: By Grabthar's Hammer, Galaxy Quest Funko POPs Have Arrived!
"Galaxy Quest" isn't just a hilarious sci-fi riff on "Three Amigos," it's also respected by longtime fans of "Star Trek" as a loving parody of the original series created by Gene Roddenberry, not to mention a positive portrayal of passionate fandom. In the movie, Tim Allen, Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, and Daryl Mitchell play the cast members of a cheesy sci-fi series called "Galaxy Quest" that looks eerily like the original iteration of "Star Trek" on the small screen. At this point in their careers, all the actors are washed up, relegated to appearing at sci-fi conventions and answering nerdy questions about the show from their most passionate fans. But they're about to get a chance to become real heroes.
When a race of aliens appear in Los Angeles and ask the "Galaxy Quest" crew to help them defeat a tyrannical threat to their civilization, the TV stars find themselves playing their sci-fi counterparts in real life. The result is a classic imposter story where no one on the crew is equipped to fight an alien menace, let alone travel in space, but they miraculously and hilariously figure it out along the way.
Though "Galaxy Quest" performed decently at the box office, earning over $90 million at the worldwide box office, it barely broke even against the film's budget. In the time since, it's become sort of a cult classic, so it's finally time to make good on the lack of official "Galaxy Quest" merchandise. With no official action figures released, a collection of Funko POPs will help fill the void, but you might be a little disappointed in the lack of the complete line-up.
Where's the rest of the crew?
Funko has revealed three new POP vinyl figures of Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) as Commander Peter Quincy Taggart, Sir Alexander (Alan Rickman) as Dr. Lazarus, and Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) as Tech Sergeant Chen. They're all given the classic look from the original "Galaxy Quest" TV series, though they're not intended to be the classic versions of their characters. If they were, Tim Allen's hair mold would probably look more retro. However, they did depict Fred Kwan with that semi-squinted expression in his eyes, which only really happened when he was fully in character on the show. Personally, I'd like to have a series of "Galaxy Quest" Funko POPs with them looking disheveled, such as Sir Alexander with hair poking out of his torn alien headpiece.
What's a little disappointing is the lack of the rest of the original crew, with no figures for Gwen DiMarco (Sigourney Weaver) as Lt. Tawny Madison and Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell) as Laredo in sight. Seems like quite an oversight to exclude both the woman and the Black cast members from the movie/series, especially since the packaging for the other figures indicates that there are two other "Galaxy Quest" Funko POPs on the way.
Funko
Other "Galaxy Quest" Funko POPs include Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), aka Crewman #6, who eventually becomes Security Chief "Roc" Ingersol on a new iteration of the classic "Galaxy Quest" series. Along with Guy, there's also a figure for the alien warlord known as Sarris (portrayed by the late Robin Sachs). Both of them are Funko Shop exclusives, though only Guy appears to be listed on their website right now, and it hasn't yet popped up for sale. However, you can get a glimpse of Sarris on the back of the boxes, as illustrated above. But if we get a figure of Sarris and neither Gwen nor Tommy end up completing the crew, there will be hell to pay. Never give up, never surrender!
The "Galaxy Quest" Funko POPs are available to pre-order on Amazon for $12.99 at the respective links above.