Mego Spotlight- Telescreen Console

Item Name: Telescreen Console
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released this puppy back in the mid-1970's. Look at that beautiful box art! Here's the other side featuring Kirk...



Not quite as nice as the Spock image, but still better than most of today's toy packaging.



The Rundown: Combining the coolness of a playset with the enduring fun of tabletop arcade games, the Telescreen Console is one of the niftiest toys of Mego's entire Star Trek stable. Sure it lacks screen accuracy, but just like all their other releases, it makes up for that with a surplus of fun. Let's have a look at this truly one-of-a-kind release!



Since the Telescreen Console combines two types of toys into one, we'll look at each function of the piece separately. First, let's focus on its merits as a playset. Since this is called the "Telescreen Console", it doesn't take a Vulcan to figure out the driving force of the toy- A large viewscreen area. While it doesn't really match anything seen in the show, the look is somewhat reminiscent of the animated series. The color pallet and design used here is also consistent with the other Mego Trek toys of the time.



Situated in front of the screen is a command chair, perfectly scaled for all your 8" Mego Star Trek action figures! Go ahead and have a seat Kirk...



With Kirk seated at the helm, the toys now "feels" like a playset. Had I owned this thing as a kid, I probably would have envisioned this as an auxiliary control station of some sort. Those dirty Klingons damaged the bridge, and now Kirk is left to defend the ship on his own from a different location. Oh... or you could imagine this is Kirk on board the disabled U.S.S. Constellation, just like in "The Doomsday Machine". Or you could even ignore that fact that this is supposed to be a ship's viewscreen and just pretend it's one of the various god-like computers that Kirk destroyed in the series, ignoring the prime directive and forcing the planet's inhabitants to start fending for themselves. Hours of fun!



Ah... but Kirk isn't the only one who gets to play around on this guy! Remember earlier when I said this toy rolled two types of playtime into one? You don't? Oh. Well, then take a look at the back of the box up there and you'll see that the Telescreen Console isn't just a place to plop your figures... It's also an arcade game! How cool is that!?



The Console is activated through 2 dials located below the viewscreen. The top switch turns the device off and on, while the bottom switch actually starts the telescreen's cycle. 4 "D" size batteries are needed to make everything function. As a side note- Do you realize how tough it is to find "D" size batteries nowadays? I went to three stores before finding them. I felt like Doc Brown making a deal with the Libyans just getting this thing to run.



Once you have it fired up, the middle screen will light up to show you this: A scrolling space scene with enemy ships rotating by. The objective of the game is to move the black sighting stick over an enemy vessel, "firing" the phasers and destroying their ship. And as you can see in the picture, the game features both Klingon and Romulan ship designs!



Movement of the sighting stick is controlled through a lever hidden behind Kirk's chair. Move the lever to the right, and the sighting stick moves with it. Move it to the left, and... well, you get the idea. I appreciate the fact that Mego kept the controls at a minimum; Having a giant, obtrusive joystick built into this would have severely limited its playset capabilities.



When you are lucky enough to zap one of the enemy ships, an ominous buzz will sound and the red screen to the right of the viewer will light up. We'll get to the lights and sounds in a second, but I wanted to point out a neat bit of design on Mego's part first...



Instead of making the owner take apart their console to switch out faulty bulbs, Mego built the lights into an easily removed panel. Slide it out, pop out and replace the offending bulb, then slide it back in. You're done! As an adult, I really appreciate the ease of maintenance... and as a kid, this would have totally been incorporated into playtime as an "access panel" to get into the viewer's innards.

But enough about that... Let's check out the Telescreen Console in action!



Man, I was on fire for a second there! Take that ya dirty Federation enemies!



Now had this been a high stakes game with money on the line, I would have kept score of my insane amount of hits using the small scoring dial located below the red lighted panel. This is actually my biggest gripe about this toy... I have no idea how one is supposed to battle the enemy ships whilst keeping their own score on the dial. I sucked at trying to do that.

And just in case you have one of these at home and don't have any idea how to make it work... Here are the instructions-





Got all that? Good.



Overall, the Telescreen Console is one damn cool item. I don't recall many other toys that combined action figure play with video games (outside of the 1980's Captain Power line), so this is truly a unique piece of Trek toy history. If this were on the shelves right now, I'd buy one for each of my kids and let them go nuts... but alas, the Console is one of the rarer Mego Trek pieces. Prices can climb into the hundreds for nice examples in working condition. If you do want one to simply display with your 8" Megos, it might be best to go after a non-functioning piece and save yourself a few bucks. Of course then you'd never know if you could beat my score...

Game Spotlight- Star Trek Special Edition UNO Card Game

Item Name: Star Trek Special Edition UNO Card Game
Manufacturer: Mattel



Mattel released this Star Trek version of the popular UNO game back in 1999.



The Rundown: Awhile back, I spotlighted the 2009 release of the Star Trek UNO card game from Fundex. I felt is was a pretty solid spin on the standard UNO game, and well worth picking up. BUT... my buddy Frederick from "My Star Trek Scrapbook" reminded me of something that I had completely overlooked when writing that spotlight- There had already been a Star Trek version of UNO released years prior! How does this early version stack up to the 2009 release? Let's find out!



Just like the 2009 version, the game comes in an attractive tin display case. The graphic is pretty nice, and I like that this one is a bit more "subdued" than the later release. The inner tray seems to fit the cards better than the later release, with very little card slippage going on.



Each of the cards feature the Enterprise on the back and various individual images on the front. Since this set was made before TOS was remastered with new effects, the shots of the ships used here are from the original versions (effects purists rejoice!). The characters used for the cards are mostly obvious choices, but there are a couple of oddities thrown in. We get Kor thrown in the middle as card number 4, and inexplicably a Talosian Keeper as the 0 card. How did the Gorn not make it in here? Or a Mugatu? Heck, I'd have chosen Trelane or Harry Mudd before a Talosian. By far though, the oddest pick of the bunch has to be the "Wild Draw 4" card-



A Klingon Bird-Of-Prey from the movies!?! How'd that get in here? Weird. I'm going to let it go though, just for the fact that the "Reverse" card features Spock/ Mirror Spock. That alone is cool enough to excuse a couple of mistakes.



The game plays just like your standard UNO deck, with the exception of four new "Star Fleet Command" cards unique to the set. Each of these cards act as not only wild cards, but also feature new abilities that really enhance the game. The four new cards are:

Live Long and Prosper Card- This card allows you to discard your old hand and draw an entire new one. Y'know, in case your hand stinks.

Mind Meld Card- After playing this card, you get to command another player to show his or hand to you. I REALLY like this one. We played a few hands of this the other night, and this card really turned the tide for me a couple of times.

Beam Me Up, Scotty- This card allows you to stop any of these new "command" cards directed at you. Blaze got this one, and was able to deflect my use of the...

Double Tribble Card- If you play this one, the next player has to DOUBLE the amount of cards in there hand! Take that sucker! Eat them cards!

Oh... and I almost forgot- Instead of just yelling "UNO!" when you have one card left, you must now say "Space, the final UNO frontier!". If you don't, you have to pick up five more cards just like in regular UNO. So remember to do that.



As much as I like the 2009 version, I gotta say that this version is a little better in my opinion. The 4 new cards really add to the fun of the game, which is something that the 2009 version didn't do as well (since it only featured one new ability card). It's not that I don't like the new one, I'm just saying that if you only get one, I'd go with this 1999 version. If you look around enough, you can usually snag this one for about $10-$20, which is about the same rate as its 2009 counterpart. So do some hunting around and try for this one if you can. Now you'll have to excuse me, I'm off to play another hand... Blaze owes me a rematch.

Game Spotlight- Star Trek Scrabble Game

Item Name: Star Trek Scrabble
Manufacturer: Fundex



Fundex released this Star Trek version of the classic Scrabble game to stores back in 2009.

The Rundown: The release of the new Star Trek film in 2009 ushered in a plethora of classic Trek related merchandise... including a wide range of TOS-themed games. Now that my oldest son is approaching his 9th birthday and can better understand the rules involved, we've been having a lot more game nights at my house. Last night, we cracked open our copy of Star Trek Scrabble for the first time. How did it turn out? Glad you asked...



In case you were raised by Thasians and have no prior knowledge of the Scrabble game, here's a brief synopsis: Players are each given seven random letter tiles (which are cast in black plastic in this Trek version) to work with at the start of the game. Each letter has a specific point value marked at the bottom of it's tile.



Players arrange their tiles on the included tile racks (the Trek version includes 2 gray and 2 black). The objective of the game is to use your tiles to spell out words... the longer the word, the more points you get.



Words are arranged on the game board, each one building upon the other. The Star Trek version of Scrabble follows this standard method of play, but with a couple of "Trek-centric" extras thrown in.



Just like in regular Scrabble, random squares on the board add bonuses to your word score. One difference here is the change from a "triple word score" into the much cooler "tribble word score". Very clever.



The board itself showcases a bunch of Star Trek mainstays. There's the crew of the Enterprise pictured in the middle, and 4 different ferocious foes featured on each each corner. If you manage to spell out the names of any character featured on the board, you get an automatic 20 point bonus added to your score. Nice! One odd thing here though- Since you only have seven letters to work with, Fundex shortened "Andorian" to just "Andoria". I'm a little baffled by that. Why bother including the Andorian if you wanted it to be something that has a maximum of 7 letters in it's name? Why not stick a Gorn on there, or maybe a Mugato or something?



A look inside the instruction book reveals that bonus points for Trek words aren't limited to the just the characters pictured on the board. The book includes a long list of Trek-inspired words which also offer bonus points too. Sadly, none of us were able to spell out any of the words when playing last night. I failed miserably... but I took comfort in the fact that had I been able to spell out "PONFARR", I woulda got 10 more points.



One last thing I want to mention before I wrap this up- The game also includes these 4 thick Scrabble score card things. I have no idea what they are meant to do, and they don't seem to be mentioned in the instructions. If you happen to know what they are supposed to do, please let me know! Otherwise, I will assume they are meant to be coasters.



Do I recommend this one? Sure, why not. Scrabble is fun. Star Trek is nifty. If you are a fan of both things, how could you not like a Star Trek Scrabble game? That would be like being a fan of peanut butter and chocolate, but hating Reese's peanut butter cups... and that's just foolish. I guess the only thing that might hold you back is the price. A standard Scrabble game runs about $20, while the Trek version will cost you around $30. But if you are buying Scrabble anyway, I'd say go ahead and plunk down the extra $10 for this one. The sheer coolness of the board is worth that...

Game Spotlight- Waddingtons Star Trek Playing Cards

Item Name: Star Trek Playing Cards
Manufacturer: Waddingtons



Wadingtons released these Trek-themed playing cards in 2010 at a retail price of $4.99.



The Rundown: Remember my review of the Vandor Gifts Star Trek Playing Card Giftset from July of 2009? Well if you don't, click that link and then come back here. I'll wait.

Finished? Okay good. I wasn't really pleased with that set, as it was simply a standard deck of cards with Kirk and Spock pictures slapped onto the card backs. I had been hoping for set that featured things like Kirk on the King card, Spock on the Jack, Uhura on the Queen, etc... but alas Vandor cheaped out and it seemed my dreams of a card deck worthy of the Trek name would never come true. All hope was lost...until I saw the solicitation for a new Star Trek playing card set in Previews magazine. So I took the gamble once again... Did it pay off? Well, sort of-



The picture that Previews magazine used to solicit the deck featured the front of the card box, with the classic Enterprise firing it's phasers above the Star Trek logo. I naturally assumed that meant the cards would all be TOS-centric. Wrong. Sliding the deck out of the box reveals the card back, which features not only TOS mainstays Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, but also characters from the other 4 television series as well. I could hear the "waaah-wah" sound effect of defeat playing in my head.



Waddingtons divided the 5 series into the different playing card suits. Diamonds for TOS, spades for TNG, hearts for Enterprise, and clubs being split between DS9 and Voyager. I was a bit disappointed to see this set as being "all-inclusive", but I do like the fact that each and every card features a different picture.



Since I'm a TOS fan first and foremost, my focus is mainly on all the diamond cards. It's like Waddingtons read my mind on these, with Kirk as king, Uhura as queen, etc. There's even a Nurse Chapel (!), a Tribbles card (Double !!), and a couple of adversaries thrown in (though why they chose the Mugato over the Gorn is beyond me). Another nice treat is having the various ships from each show featured on each suit's Ace card. Very cool. I do have one complaint though...



Q on the Joker card. This may not be the most popular thing to say amongst my fellow Trek fans... but I've never been much of a Q fan. I know he has his place in Trek lore, and he's a mainstay villain across multiple series, but I could never get into him that much. I understand why he was chosen for the Joker card... I just wish he wasn't on BOTH Joker cards. Would it have been too much to ask to have Trelane on at least one of them?

Still, even with the inclusion of the other shows, this deck is VASTLY superior to the Vandor set. The design on the cards is cool, the pictures are great, and the price is just right at $4.99. So whether you want to play a game of poker with Data, or a hand of Fizzbin with Captain Kirk, this is definitely the deck to buy!

UPDATE- I had a bunch of folks ask me for pics of the other, "non-TOS" cards in the set... so here ya go!

Remco Spotlight- Azrak Hamway Goodies!

Item Name: Various AHI "Rack Toys"
Manufacturer: Azrak Hamway Incorporated

The Rundown: Back in the 1970's, Azrak Hamway Incorporated reigned supreme as one of the "big dogs" in rack toy manufacturing. If you were in line at the grocery store with mom, and you spied a neat ray gun or ball game for sale, odds are it was a Azrak Hamway product. AHI produced a bunch of Trek-related items during the show's popularity explosion in the 70's... Today we'll take a peek at 3 of 'em!



First up is the "Phaser Water Gun". What kid could have resisted that packaging!?! It looks like a Gold Key comic, and as we all know those rule.



Marrying the phaser design with a squirt gun seems like a no-brainer to me. Forget super soakers; This would easily be my H20 weapon of choice.



Next up is the "Phaser Ray Gun". This guy is basically a flashlight shaped like a phaser. The packaging even calls it a "Space Flashlight". You also get a CLICK ACTION NOISE, but since I don't really want to open this, you're just going to have to use your imagination on that one.



Both the water gun and flashlight share the same basic body design. Look familiar? Well, it should. The design is very similar to Remco's phaser. That's because AHI acquired Remco back in 1974, offering these smaller, cheaper toys under the AHI brand and the nicer, more durable stuff under the Remco name.



The size on this is pretty small, especially the flashlight. I threw a DST phaser toy in a pic to give you a sense of scale. They are made for little hands though so that's totally fine in my eyes.



Lastly for today, there's this odd activity game. I want to call it a pinball game, but it's not. You pull back the little spring and try and shoot the white marbles into the point recesses. It's a game of skill and concentration that takes a Vulcan mind to master. Hours of fun!



This version sports a beautiful rendering of Spock slapped right in the middle of the game. I also have a Kirk version buried in a bin somewhere at the house, but that will have to wait for a future spotlight...

AHI produced some pretty goofy stuff over the years, from the super-neat water gun to parachuting action figures (a future spotlight candidate). Most of these items can be had on the cheap, and make for pretty cool display pieces. I'm always on the hunt for more AHI goodies, so I hope you enjoyed this AHI combo spotlight... because there's definitely more coming!

OH! Almost forgot! Congrats to Miles for winning the AA/ DST Tribble giveaway! Thanks to everyone who entered! Keep an eye out for more giveaways as I always have extra Trek stuff looking for good homes!

-James