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...

Mego Spotlight- Wrist Communicators ("Star Trek: The Motion Picture")

Item Name: Wrist Communicators
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released these Wrist Communicators way back around 1979-1980. Yep, that's over 30 years ago folks. Feel old? Me too. Well, here's the back of the box to make you feel better... or worse, considering it pictures the insanely rare Mego TMP ships that most of us will never own-



Yeah, that didn't help.



The Rundown: I really need to apologize to you guys for taking this long to do this spotlight. Had I known how important these Wrist Communicators were, I would have given them top priority. But how was I supposed to know that this was the most exciting toy in the Space Age? Nobody told me. Oh wait... you didn't know that either? Well read the box, ya dummy!



See? Now who has egg on their face? You do. So there.



As explained in that blurb, what you'll find in the box are 2 wrist communicators with power packs. The box illustration above shows that these are pretty accurate recreations of the film props. Let's get 'em out of there and take a look!



...ummmm, these aren't quite as nice as the box illustration. What's going on here? Maybe I missed something. Let me have another look at that box...



Oh. Well thanks for teasing me Mego.



Kidding aside, these things are freaking awesome. I've always been impressed by Mego's role play toys, but these Wrist Communicators may just be my favorite of the bunch. Unlike many of their other releases, Mego didn't take too many liberties with the design here. These are remarkably similar to their screen counterpart, especially given the time at which they were made.



Underneath the "instrumentation panel" of the communicator is an area housing the microphone. While not entirely screen accurate, I applaud Mego's decision to incorporate the mechanism this way. By hiding it under a panel, they were able to maintain the look of the prop without breaking it up to house the microphone. Plus, flip open panels make everything more awesome.



The top of the communicator is where you'll find the speaker area. Again, Mego tried to maintain the look of the prop by placing the speaker in an inconspicuous location. Since the prop has a large black area on top already, placing the speaker device up there makes perfect sense.



The communicator attaches to your wrist by means of a plastic band attached at its back. The band is flexible, but still rigid enough to maintain its shape. The best part is that it can expand enough...



...to fit an adult size wrist! Pretty sweet! And that brings me to another thing I love about these: Their size! One would think that fully-functional communicators from this time period would have to be big and bulky to accommodate their electronics. Not so with these! Since kids were going to have these things strapped to their wrists, keeping them at a manageable size was important to Mego. Which is why they housed most of the electronics inside attached power packs-



Connected to the communicators by a thin electrical wire are the power packs. The power pack handles the bulk of the work for the toy, with the flexible antenna, batteries, and control button all located here. You attach the power pack to your person by means of a belt clip on back. There's even a Star Trek logo emblazoned across the front... just in case you forgot what you were playing.



I'm too lazy to go back and look through my old spotlights and see if I ever dubbed a different Mego role play toy my favorite... so if I did, ignore that. This is now my favorite. The size and design coupled with their functionality make up for one awesome piece of vintage Trek toyness. They don't crop up very often, but when they do you can expect to pay a pretty penny for them in nice shape. Their value isn't really what makes them cool in my eyes though; It's the fact that they don't make toys nearly this cool anymore. Toys like this make me wish I could go back in time and give these to my 7-year-old self, because I know he would have had a blast with them...

Mego Spotlight- Command Communications Console

Item Name: Command Communications Console
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released this fine toy back in the mid-1970's! Take a closer look at that awesome box art:



The Rundown: Okay... let's say a couple of your buddies own the awesome Mego Communicators. They head over to your tree house and start pretending to be Captain Kirk and Spock. You feel left out. Then all of a sudden you remember that Command Communications Console that granny bought you for Christmas. You run inside, rip open the box, and slap a few batteries in it. Suddenly your tree house has become the Enterprise, with Kirk and Spock down in the yard on a mission to the planet's surface. It's up to you and your console to keep the landing party in constant contact with the ship, just in case something goes wrong... and you know it will.



Well, at least that's what I'm assuming Mego had in mind when they created this guy. It's basically just a big walkie-talkie with a lighted screen, but kids didn't need to know that. Bigger means better, so the Command Communications Console must have been at least 3 times cooler than the regular Mego communicators. Plus it uses alliteration in its name. Bonus points.



As stated, this console is basically the big brother of the standard walkie-talkie. To your right is a large speaker area and a dial that acts as both a power and volume switch...



...and to the left are a couple of nice decorative stickers. The top sticker features Spock peering in at you through a tiny viewscreen. Quit looking at me Spock. The lower sticker is actually pretty useful, as it provides Morse code translations for you to use on the console's buttons.



Behind the stickered area you'll find the console's antenna. The antenna is REALLY long. So long, in fact, that I couldn't fully extend it in this pic. So don't be a Herbert- leave plenty of head room when positioning your Command Communications Console.



At the console's center is the "multicolor phaser light screen". Translation- It's a screen with four little lights inside. While it may seem tame by today's toy standards, this screen probably upped the coolness factor of the piece by about tenfold back in the 70's.



Arrayed along the base of the console are four colored buttons labeled Transmit, Code Key, Red Alert, and Stand By Alert. The transmit button allows you to send your voice to a receiver (like the Mego Communicators, standard walkie-talkies, or the CB of an annoyed truck driver). Pressing the code key allows you to make use of your handy Morse code sticker. The last 2 buttons send out alert signals... which you can hear by checking out this nifty video:



So there ya go. Do you need it? Probably not. It's a cool toy for it's time, and definitely has a Star Trek Animated feel to it, but I just don't put this one on the same level as some of Mego's other roleplay toys (like their Tricorder or their Phaser). The original owner of this toy must have felt the same way, since they felt the need to spice this one up by adding a little something extra to the back of it...



The Bionic Woman makes everything better.

Mego Spotlight- Mr. Spock (12.5" 'The Motion Picture' Figure)

Figure Name: Mr. Spock
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mr. Spock was produced as part of Mego's 12.5" Star Trek: The Motion Picture line... way back around 1979!



The Rundown: You know, for uniforms that get routinely blasted by the fan community, there sure are a lot of figures based on the crew's look from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". They were released in 2 different scales by Mego, Playmates chose them for their "Classic Movie Series" over the more popular TWOK-style costumes, and even Diamond Select managed to put out a couple of releases featuring these uniforms. Not that I'm complaining; I personally LOVE the TMP uniforms. Today, we're taking a look at the one of the largest representations of that style- Mego's 12.5" Mr. Spock!



In case you're new to the blog, or if you just don't remember my previous spotlights on this line, I should probably tell you that I've always been a fan of this line. For Mego to produce figures of this quality over 30 years ago with a low retail price is pretty amazing.



Consider today's 1/6th scale market. Companies like Hot Toys and Sideshow produce fine replicas- but the cost usually reflects that. Most 12" figures from those companies will run you anywhere from $100-$200 routinely. Then there's the other side of the spectrum- where companies like Hasbro will put out very modestly priced 12" figures based on their properties, but with a quality to match the economic price. Mego managed to put out something that balanced the 2 quite well, producing a low-priced high quality figure, with a uniform that is STILL good even by today's high standards.



Just take a look at that uniform! All of the lines are actually stitched in, and each of the little accouterments (like the insignia and belt piece) are actually separately manufactured pieces that have been attached to the suit. Today's mass-market 1/6th scale figures would have treated these as decals in all likelihood. Not so with good ol' Mego! For a company that usually did things on the cheap, these uniforms are quite a treat.



Mego never seemed to have a major problem with capturing likenesses, even though they worked in the sometimes tricky medium of roto-cast plastic. The 12.5" Spock is no exception, with a head that nicely represents a slightly aging Leonard Nimoy. Sure, the eyes are maybe just a smidge off, but keep in mind that this sculpt is over 30 years old now!



Now as much as I like these guys, I'd be lying if I said they were completely free of issues. First, there's the hands. Mego used their standard 12.5" body for these, so Spock's hands weren't specifically made for gripping his phaser. The end result makes it seem as if he's pinching it. It's not a huge deal though, since the crew didn't go around blasting stuff in TMP anyways...



Then there's the boots. Yeah, I know. Spock looks like he's wearing little booties. Given the style of the TMP uniforms, there wasn't a lot Mego could do about this. If you're going to collect this line, the boots are just one of those things that you'll have to chalk up to being a product if it's time.



The next couple of issues have nothing to do with how Mego manufactured these back in 1979, but instead deal with how the figures hold up over time. If you do hunt these down, watch out for gray heads! The material Mego used to produce the heads for these guys has a habit of turning gray over the years. If you're feeling industrious, you can try this process detailed over at the Mego Museum to get the heads back to their original color. The other thing to watch out for is the knees, which can crack over time. Since the uniforms cover the knees, it's a good idea to inspect these in person before making a purchase if possible.



Accessories: I'm not counting the uniform as an accessory since he'd be nekkid without it, so Spock includes only 1 accessory- his hand phaser. It's nicely sculpted, with a decal on top representing the control panel.

Here's his little box blurb if you'd like to see it... which you do-



See, aren't you glad I included that? How else would you know that Spock was half vulcan.



So there ya go! Did I do a good job of convincing you that the Mego 12.5" line ROCKS, or did I scare you off with a couple of minor quibbles? I hope it's the former, as these figures really do make awesome display pieces. Prices can range pretty drastically on these, but if you're a smart shopper you should be able to get nice individual examples for around $30-$50. If that price seems acceptable, I'd suggest starting with maybe a Kirk and Spock here. That way, if you completely disagree with me and hate the line, you'll at least have a serviceable display of the 2 main dudes! But just a word of advice- I'm never wrong, so you will like them.