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- 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.

Mego Spotlight- Klingon Cruiser (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Item Name: Klingon Cruiser
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released this ship to stores back in good ol' 1980. Take a closer look at that box art:



...and here's a look at the back of the box...



...and finally, a quick look at the snippet from the side...



Got all that? Good. Let's continue.



The Rundown: I have a few toy "holy grails" that I have been on the lookout for since I started my Trek collection. The wacky late 60's Remco stuff, prototypes of unproduced items, original Leaf trading cards... rare stuff that hardly ever shows up for sale. Pretty high on my list of wants have always been the 3 ships Mego made for their "Motion Picture" line: The Enterprise, the Vulcan Shuttle, and the Klingon Cruiser. Well, last week I finally crossed one of those off my list. Behold... The Mego TMP Klingon Cruiser!



Released toward the tail end of their "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" line, the Mego TMP ships were a departure from the company's norm. Mego usually stuck to action figures, playsets, and vehicles scaled to figures. Since it would have been impossible to do ships in scale with the figure line, Mego opted to replicate them as small-scale models. They chose the 3 most visible ships from the film to reproduce, which would of course include the Klingon Cruiser seen in the film's opening sequence.



Mego was pretty much the king of producing nice toys at a cheap price. The Mego TMP ships are a great example of their thrifty production methods. Each ship is molded entirely in one color (a greenish-blue in the case of the Klingon Cruiser), with all the color detailing supplied by an included decal sheet (which mine is unfortunately missing). They're basically pre-assembled model kits that you just put stickers on. No bells and whistles here... just enough to get the job done.



Now that's not to say that the ship is light on details. Quite the contrary actually! While the cruiser can't stand up to today's replicas, it's pretty impressive by late 70's standards. Each of the ship's main structures feature a pretty decent amount of sculpted detailing. From the "cooling unit"...



...to the bridge area....



...and all the way to the "propulsion units", this ship has a lot going for it!



Given the time period, that's pretty darned good. The ship isn't all that big either, coming in at only 8" from the tip of the bridge to the end of the propulsion units. Take a look at it next to some other Klingon ships to see what I mean-



The Hallmark and Johnny Lighning ships are both fairly small, so you can see that the Mego stuff isn't large by any means. While the 2 smaller guys have a lot more dteial going on, you have to remember that those are produced by today's manufacturing standards, with a keen eye towards authenticity. Mego's Klingon Cruiser was produced 30 years ago. For kids. By that token, it's great.



Included with each TMP ship is a "landing base". I believe the mold is the same for all three, with each one cast in the same color of plastic used on their respective ship. Even though it was probably a cheap addition for Mego to make, it's a very nice add-in for kids that wanted to display their ships when they weren't playing with them. Kids like me. Weird kids.



Okay, so I think I've made the point pretty clear that this was a nice toy for it's time and would have been a great item to pick up back then... but what about now? That's a really tough one, since the TMP ships are INCREDIBLY rare. At the point when these were shipping, the TMP figure line was winding down and stores were moving on to the next hot thing, leaving theses ships with only a VERY limited release here in the US. While all 3 did see a wider release overseas, it's still very uncommon to find them up for sale nowadays. When they do pop up, you can typically expect to pay anywhere from $200-$400 for each ship (depending on it's condition). Ouch. Yeah, at that price I can't recommend this guy to anyone but the most hardcore of Trek collectors. While the ship is cool and the nostalgia factor is there, you can buy much better version for a fraction of the price. Only a crazy person would plunk down the money for these Mego TMP versions...

So yeah... if you have a Vulcan Shuttle or an Enterprise for sale, let me know. Because I'm an idiot.

Mego Spotlight- Captain Kirk (3&3/4" 'The Motion Picture' Figure)

Figure Name: Capt. Kirk
Manufacturer: Mego toys Corp.



Mego released Captain Kirk as part of it's carded 3&3/4" Star Trek: The Motion Picture line.



The Rundown: Wow! If memory serves, I'm on the final 2 figures of the Mego TMP line! The very first Mego 3.75" figure spotlight was way back in May of 2009! If I keep my act together over the next few months, I should be able to spotlight the whole line within 2 years. I'll go ahead and make that a goal. Goals rule. With only Kirk and Ilia remaining, I can't really save the best of the line for last (since the aliens are EASILY the highlight of this line), so I guess I'm going to do the opposite- I'll save Ilia for the final spotlight, since she kinda stinks. But enough about ol' baldy... Let's look at Kirk! (And no, Shatner is not bald.)



Unlike some of the other crew figures in the line, this Kirk figure features a fairly accurate uniform. Sure, there's a couple of minor differences, but this one is a whole heckuva lot closer than the likes of Decker or McCoy. Oh, and Kirk had a couple of different looks from the film for Mego to choose from, but I for one am glad they went with this one. Kirk's admiral duds are AWESOME.



The head sculpt is pretty decent here, especially considering it's age. You know what's a little strange though? I only think it's a fair TMP Kirk... but I think it looks EXACTLY like TJ Hooker.



Kirk has the same 5 points of articulation featured across the line. Again, this was over 30 years ago, so you can't judge it by today's multi-jointed 3.75" fare. It got the job done back in the late 70's, and was pretty much the standard until the G.I.Joe 3.75" line of the early 80's.



I did want to address something on Kirk here that I don't think I've mentioned on this line up to this point. I have a couple of TMP Kirk figures in my collection, but I chose to picture this one in particular to highlight a small problem you have to watch out for on this line- the gold paint. Over time, the gold paint used to bring out some of the detailing on these figures can turn green. Kinda funky, so be sure to keep a close eye out for it. Of course, Mego wasn't thinking about how these figures would look 30 years later when they chose the materials for production, so I can overlook this little shortcoming.

Accessories: Nothing. That's really my only true gripe with the line. All it would have taken is one phaser sculpt that could have been dropped in with every figure in the line. Ah well.



If you're collecting this line, OF COURSE you will need a Kirk. All of the crew can be had dirt cheap, so I really shouldn't have to sell you on this one if you decide to buy into the line. So yeah. Go buy him. Spock would say that it is the logical thing to do.



Wait... What's that you have their Kirk? A TRU DST Kang figure?!? Why do you have that? Oh... you inexplicably found a couple sitting on the shelves this past weekend at your local Toys R Us? Weird. And it was on clearance!?! Even weirder. Well, why are you bringing it out here? Oh... you want me to give it away since you hate those Klingon bastards? Yeah, I don't blame you. They did kill your kid afterall. I'm down.

That's right folks! It's time for another giveaway! You want a free DST Kang figure? Well shoot an e-mail to apieceoftheaction@live.com with your name and zip code, throw "Kang giveaway" in the subject line, and help me get this Klingon out of Kirk's face. I'll accept entries for about a week and then announce a winner! Good luck!