Nacelle’s second wave of Star Trek action figures has been announced, and it’s exciting! After a rather controversial first wave being announced toward the end of 2024, Nacelle revealed their second wave’s slate of characters at WonderCon 2025, and it feels much more balanced.
To start with, this wave includes two lead captains (and two of my favorites) in the form of Captain Kirk, as he appeared in Star Trek: Generations, and Captain Janeway, from the Voyager episode “Year of Hell.” Those figures alone would have me sold, but the entire wave is filled with all-stars:
- Captain Kirk (Star Trek: Generations)
- Captain Janeway (Star Trek: Voyager, “Year of Hell”)
- Worf (Sailor Uniform; Star Trek: Generations)
- T’Pol (Star Trek: Enterprise, Seasons 3 & 4)
- Geordi La Forge (Sailor Uniform; Star Trek: Generations)
- Valeris (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
- Romulan Commander (Star Trek: The Original Series, “Balance of Terror”)
- Carol Marcus (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)
- Nog (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Favor the Bold”)
- Bem (Star Trek: The Animated Series)
What works well for this wave is that some of the major characters are in variant uniforms—such as Janeway, Worf, and La Forge—while others in more classic outfits. This offers a balance for both newer fans, who might like to have a Kirk, T’Pol, or Nog in “normal” uniforms, and older fans who want variants, because they got the Playmates figures in standard uniforms back in the ’90s.
Another boon for this wave is that they have a few figures that could conceivably go together. Worf and La Forge are obvious, but the Carol Marcus and Captain Kirk figures also complement each other. Kirk’s rank is different, of course, but he is wearing a similar uniform to one he wore in the Genesis Cave in Wrath of Khan, making the figure more versatile. He even comes with a horse.
The deep cuts of Nacelle’s first wave were disconcerting, because only 2 of its featured characters—Sulu and Archer—were main cast members of a Star Trek series. With Wave 2, there are 5 main cast members, plus major guest and recurring characters, like Nog or Valeris. With these, the inclusion of Bem from the animated series is a welcome splash of obscurity in a more balanced overall set.
Balance is really the key to this. If we consider Pokémon, you want to offer something for Klefki fans, but there needs to be more Pikachu merchandise, because people don’t need to do a Google search to find out who Pikachu is. Star Trek is the same. There are certainly fans of Weyoun, and even Peter Preston and Tuvix, but you need the likes of Kirk, Janeway, and Worf too.
Personally, I was a bit disappointed by the first wave’s slate, as I’m not a die-hard fan of any of its characters. This wave is different, and I’m trying really hard to figure out which characters I want most, and what I could afford. (My own balancing act.) There are still many more characters for Nacelle to do, but this wave announcement has allayed many of my concerns about the overall vision.