[Morgan]

This is it; this is indeed one of those tremendously rare Canadian-market DS9 figures on TNG 7th season card. Only a few thousand, perhaps less than 5000, have been said to have received 7th season cards for some mysterious production reason, and few collectors have mentioned these figures' existence. The Sarek and Lwaxana duo received some publicity in the 1990s, and by that I mean they were offered at $200 a pop, but DS9 series two figures on DS9 series one or TNG Seventh Season cards have rarely been mentioned. Some series two DS9 figures like Dax in duty uniform and a few others appeared on DS9 series one and TNG Season Seven cards, for a grand total of three cards.

This figure has the wonderfully contradictory Riker DS9 sticker and the 7th season card with a bilingual 7th season sticker, while the back is a generic TNG series two and 7th season lineup.

I think a number of a these DS9 figures largely avoided being scalped in Canada when they were new, hence the low remaining numbers of these. One can find a dozen Yesterday's Tashas any day of the week, but these just aren't out there.

This figure of course the distinction of having nothing in common with Thomas Riker who appeared in the episode "Defiant." The manufacturer perhaps got a very general brief on this figure before the episode aired or before photos of the actor in the screen-worn uniform were distributed, so we got this O'Brien body reuse. In turns out, all they had to do was just issue the 1992 Riker with a DS9/Generations combadge, perhaps with an updated sculpt, and minus the bodybuilder physique.

The actual DS9 episode with Thomas Riker, which bears no relation to the figure here, is one of the fan favorites, and also one of the biggest unresolved plots of the series. I remember when this episode first aired, and at the end everyone's reaction was like "Oh cool, they'll get him out of that Cardassian prison next season or something" and then they just forgot about him. Thomas Riker would have made a great recurring character as long as the Maquis episodes lasted -- they kind of tapered off by the 3rd season until Kassidy Yates arrived. The failure to follow up on the Thomas Riker is kind of one of the biggest unfulfilled promises of the series, in my view, even though the writing staff reportedly received story pitches that brought him back. It is also said that Thomas Riker was suggested to be folded into the Damar's rebellion storyline, which would have been great if it had actually come to fruition.