Following much later in 1999 than Exclusive Premiere’s third series of Babylon 5 action figures, the fourth wave was no longer standard toy store fare, or even standard comics chain fare. The fourth wave was into serious collectors’ territory – distributed primarily in England.
Reflecting the recent fifth season, the fourth wave puts Captain Lochley in plastic, as well as year five frequent flier Bester (though it’s not as good a likeness of Walter Koenig as, say, the Chekov figure from the Playmates Classic Star Trek collector’s set) and the previously unnamed Drazi and Gaim ambassadors. The Gaim character in particular stands out as an example of some incredibly intricate detail work – it’s a pity that further Babylon 5 characters, to say nothing of their successors from Crusade – weren’t released.
Lochley’s outfit may seem new, but it actually wasn’t – it was the same body mold as a rare “Earthforce Uniform” variant of Susan Ivanova, which had already been released on a very limited basis.
Lochley is the only figure in this wave with jointed legs; Bester has a jointed head and jointed shoulders, while the ambassadors only have jointed shoulders.
The fourth wave got rid of the increasingly clunky miniature spacecraft, opting instead to include a patch with each figure. Lochley’s patch was by far the best one to get – the flying wings of an Earthforce pilot – with Bester’s Psi Cop patch running a close second. The Gaim and Drazi patches, by comparison, bore no resemblance to anything seen in the series, and look a little bit goofy.
In terms of rarity, Lochley and Bester are the easiest to find, while the two alien ambassadors can be very difficult to find.
Though a Pak’ma’ra character was initially announced as being part of the fourth wave, its absence from the cardback would seem to indicate that it never made it past the prototype stage. So much for the Pak’ma’ra being everywhere.
