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...

Remco Spotlight- Astro Buzz Ray Gun

Item Name: Astro Buzz Ray Gun
Manufacturer: Remco Toys



Remco released this colorful sidearm way back in the late 1960's. I don't own a boxed version, so you'll just have to make due with that catalog shot up there.



The Rundown: Ah, 60's Remco product... Why do you have to be so cheesy-cool? The Astro Buzz Ray Gun is definitely far from being accurate to anything ever seen in Star Trek, but that doesn't stop it from being the bee's knees. Don't believe me? Well, let's take a closer look so I can prove it to you...



Let's start with that name: Astro Buzz Ray Gun. It wasn't enough to call it a Star Trek Gun, nor was it enough to call it just a Ray Gun. Remco felt the need to throw a "Buzz" in there, and then like a kid who puts too many toppings on his ice cream, they just went nuts and put "Astro" on top of that. Boy is that name a mouthful. By the time you'd yelled out "Stop Klingon, or I will fire my Star Trek Astro Buzz Ray Gun at you!", it would be way too late.



So why does it look so crazy? Well, as I explained in my second article for StarTrek.com, most of the late 60's Remco Trek product began life as toys from the Hamilton's Invaders line. Hamilton's Invaders was your standard fare for the time- Military guys fight giant insects. The Buzz Ray gun was first released as a role play item for the Hamilton line, but was later recolored and tweaked a bit for use in some of Remco's various licensed toy lines... like Star Trek.



Remco did take the time to make this version at least a little different than the other Buzz Ray Guns though. The side features a Star Trek logo sticker, and a small clear plastic area in the back houses a slightly stylized delta shield. You know- just like Kirk's Ray Gun looked in that one episode...



Now what would a good ray gun be without some special effects? It would be crap, that's what. The Astro Buzz Ray Gun has not one, but 2 electronic features... easily elevating it past the crap stage. Pull the trigger and you'll quickly understand the "buzz" part of the name (here's a hint- it's due to the annoying sound it emits). The gun also features a lighted area up front. Twist a dial along the side of the barrel and a multi-colored disk will turn, allowing you to alter the color of the light beam emitted. Check it out-



As a kid, I'd have loved it. As a parent, I'd have hated it. It's amazing how your perspective can shift over the years...



The Astro Buzz Ray Gun is a neat peek at what Star Trek toys were like during the show's original run. While it's vintage charm an quirky coolness make it neat to own, it doesn't exactly scream "Star Trek" while sitting on your shelf. Unless you are building a staple of 60's Star Trek toys, you definitely don't need one of these for your collection. Even if you did decide to go after one, you'd have to consider the price; Nice loose samples like the one above can routinely bring $100-$150, with boxed versions doubling or tripling that. Yikes! So yeah, definitely skippable for all those but the most hardcore of vintage Trek toy fans...

South Bend Spotlight- Official Starfleet Belt, Buckle, & Insignia

Item Name: Official Starfleet Belt, Buckle, And Insignia
Manufacturer: South Bend



This puppy was released to stores way back when "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was still showing at your local theater...




The Rundown: Ah, South Bend... Why couldn't you do just a few more Trek products? Your Electronic Phaser Guns are some of the coolest phaser toys ever made, and your Electronic U.S.S. Enterprise was WAY ahead of its time. Oh how I wish you had released just a few more things... Wait- What? They did do something else!? A belt buckle and insignia pack!?! You don't say! Well, we have to to take a look at that ASAP! Like now!



While it still carries the South Bend logo, these goodies from Milton Bradley's sub-division lack the electronic features that usually accompany that brand name. Who cares though... look how much fun those kids on the packaging are having! No way did they get made fun of at school.



The set includes all the stuff you need to turn an ordinary shirt into a screen-accurate TMP uniform. Let's start with the insignia; It basically a white plastic delta shield with painted lines that you stick to your shirt. I know exactly what you're thinking- "But James, I don't want to ruin my nice blue turtleneck by putting pin holes in it!" Well, South Bend has your back.



Instead of pointy pins protruding precariously from the back of the insignia, South Bend went a much safer route. Included with the set is this nifty white plastic bar...



...which fits neatly into a recess in the insignia's back. Place your delta shield on the proper spot, reach under your shirt, press the plastic bar into the recess, and you're good to go! No messy pin holes, and no danger to your tiny digits!



Next we have the belt. Ummmm, yeah. It's clear plastic belt with a bunch of holes in it. You know... just like the movie. Moving on.



Lastly, we have the coolest item of the trio- The belt buckle! When you open up the box, this is how you'll find your belt buckle. Looks pretty plain without that sticker on it, doesn't it? I wonder how I'm supposed to get that on there...



Oh! So that's how you do it... thanks South Bend! You're a life-saver!



So I just peel the label off of here...



... and stick it right on here.



Now THAT is a belt buckle! But the buckle isn't there just to look good. Quite the opposite. This thing was multi-tasking before we even knew what multi-tasking was. Check the box-



Yeah, that's right. It has a freaking thermal sensor to detect alien presences. Or warm fingers. One of the two.



How's it work? Glad you asked. Place a finger (hot or cold) along the sensor strip for a few seconds, just like I am in the picture above.



Now move your finger away and use the chart from the box to determine whether you are hot or cold. I am apparently hot. Well, I can't argue you with that South Bend... but when does the whole "detecting alien presences" thing start?.... Hello? South Bend? Hello? *Crickets Chirping*



Okay, so let's forget about the alien presence detecting- The buckle still has something else to offer! You might notice a little tab at the top of the buckle. Snap it open and you'll find an "Official Starfleet Identification Card".



To be filled out in the presence of a senior official I'm sure, the card lists important things like your name, rank, and the designation of the ship you are serving on. Since the TMP uniforms didn't look like they had much in the way of pockets, I bet being able to store your ID in your buckle came in pretty handy at the Starfleet bars.



And that's about it. While the set lacks the electronic extras of their South Bend brethren, this is still a pretty cool pack. While I don't think there's any need to rush over to eBay and snag one (they typically run around $40-$60 in box), it might be nice to have if you already own the other South Bend items. Since only a few Star Trek items were released under this brand, putting together the entire range could make for an interesting display....

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.