Remco Spotlight- Phaser Gun (1975)

Item Name: Official Star Trek Phaser Gun
Manufactured By: Remco



Remco released this puppy way back in 1975! I absolutely love the box art on this. It reminds me of the fantastic Gold Key comic covers.



The Rundown: There's been plenty of phaser replicas made over the years, ranging from something as silly as a water pistol to the high-end stuff from Master Replicas. This "Phaser Gun" made by Remco back in '75 is one of the earlier efforts and is loaded with tons of cool play features. (I would have killed to have one of these when I was a kid.)



When you first glance at the phaser, sure, it looks a bit clunky and not exactly what you'd call "screen-accurate". The body's a bit large, the handle's off, the emitter is different, there's a Star Trek logo on the side, etc. etc... But none of that mattered back then. This was a phaser that was made for play, not to sit on a shelf and be admired for it's reproduction quality.



Remco did at least make some effort to have certain elements incorporated into the sculpt to mirror the screen prop. There's a type 1 phaser sculpted into the top! While not removable, the phaser does house a secret compartment!-



Flip up the type 1 phaser, and there's a little hidden compartment for you to store stuff in! What stuff you might ask? Oh, well these 3 discs of course-



Each disk has a little cut-out depicting a different ship. There's the Enterprise, a Klingon Battle Cruiser, and a goofy little generic flying saucer.



These disks attach to the front of the phaser. Once you install the batteries (1 9 volt and 2 AA's) and press the trigger, the phaser emits a "Realistic Phaser Sound" and a light emits from the front. Depending on which disk you put on, an image of one of the ships will shine onto your wall, allowing you to blast it with your phaser! Here's a quick video to show you how it looks and sounds (sure, the image is a bit blurry, but I'll bet it looks great in a fully darkened room) :



Way back when this thing was released, it retailed for about $6. That's crazy! I can't imaging the fun I would have had with this thing as a kid (heck, I'm having fun with it right now at 31)! Remco really put forth a quality, fun product here. Makes me wish they were a bit cheaper on the secondary market so I could get a couple for my boys to play with...

-James

Playmates Spotlight- Ensign Chekov (Transporter Series)

Figure Name: Ensign Chekov
Manufacturer: Playmate Toys



Ensign Chekov was released boxed as part of the Target Exclusive Transporter Series.



The Rundown: Playmates only did 2 TOS Chekov figures (plus 1 movie style figure); the Classic Crew Set figure, and this Transporter Series figure. The first wave of Transporter Series figures was available everywhere, but many of the crew (like Chekov here) didn't make it into that batch and were released through Target as exclusives.



You probably already know the gimmick with these, but just in case you don't- The Transporter Series figures each come with a base that has lights and sounds. Place your figure on the base and press the button- Wowzers! A TOS Transporter sound effect plays and a light shines up from the base illuminating the translucent portion of the figure:



Chekov (like all the Transporter Series figures) is mostly molded in a translucent plastic with bits of glitter mixed to facilitate the Transporter Series effect. I think the yellow plastic used on Chekov here (plus Kirk and Sulu) works best with this feature.



So there's not much you can do with the figure when he's off the base. He looks a little strange just standing there in a beaming state... but he does look great on the base!



The head sculpt is just as good here as it was on the Classic Crew Set figure. Playmates did a great job on this one, especially the Monkees-inspired hair.



Accessories: Chekov, like all the Transporter Series figures, doesn't come with any accessories except the Transporter base (which has his name printed on it).

His box bio:

Star Trek 'Potpourri' Spotlight- Taco Bell "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" Drinking Glass Set

Item Name: "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" Drinking Glass Set
Available From: Taco Bell

The Rundown: I've been on a streak of figure spotlights lately, so I thought it was time to mix it up a bit and spotlight something a little different. Looking around the basement the other day, my collection of Star Trek glasses caught my eye, so I figured "why not?".

The Star Trek III glass set was available through Taco Bell, and is probably the easiest-to-acquire and least expensive of the glass sets (well, okay the 2009 BK movie set is easier and cheaper, but that's a different ball of wax). It's a well done set, and the glasses all feature really nice crisp images on them. There are four different glasses:



"Spock Lives", which features a depiction of Spock at 3 different ages on the front and...



...his open torpedo casket on the back. The text reads: "Through the wonders of the Genesis Effect, the lifeless body of Captain Spock evolves from an infant to a grown man in a matter of days."



"Enterprise Destroyed" ,(my fav of the 4) which features a great image of the Enterprise self-destructing on the front and...



...a shot of Kirk, Scott, and McCoy witnessing the destruction on the back. The text reads: "Scotty, Kirk and McCoy of the U.S.S. Enterprise watch in safety as the great starship, their home for the last 20 years, self-destructs in the skies above them."



"Lord-Kruge", which has a moody image of Kruge on the front and...



...a shot of the final battle between Kirk and Kruge on the back. The text reads: "On a high peak of the artificially-created Genesis Planet, Admiral James T. Kirk and Klingon battle in a life and death struggle."



"Fal-Tor-Pan", which has an image of the Vulcan priestess performing the ritual on McCoy and Spock on the front and...



...an image of a happy Spock and Kirk on the back. The text reads: "In a mystical ceremony on the planet Vulcan, the priestess rejoins Spock's essence with his body. Restored to his former state, Spock is reunited with his friend Kirk."

The set is really sharp, and since it's relatively inexpensive, you can actually use them without fear of breaking a pricey collectible. Perfect for entertaining a group of your Trek friends! Just don't fill them up with Romulan Ale...

Oh, and here's the original commercial (care of fuzzymemories.tv) for your viewing pleasure!



-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Klingon Warrior Kor

Figure Name: Klingon Warrior Kor
Manufacturer: Art Asylum Toys



Kor was released carded as part of the third wave of Art Asylum's Classic Star Trek figures.



The Rundown: Man, the 3rd wave of Classic Trek figures sure did rock. We got a battle ravaged Kirk, an awesome Vina as an Orion, the insanely great Gorn, and this Kor! I'm really glad AA chose Kor as the Classic Trek Klingon to get the figure treatment; he's easily my favorite of the Classic Klingons.



The sculpt is some of AA's finest work in the line. It may not have all the articulation of the crew figures, but it makes up for this in the sculpting department. The sculpt is a fantastic representation of the classic Klingon uniform.



I'm a huge fan of working holsters on figures, so I was very pleasantly surprised to see one on Kor. The Klingon disruptor fits in their snugly and doesn't fall out. Its a great little feature that adds to the look of the figure. Oh, and as a little side note- see that buckle on Kang's belt? Well, I recently visited the Star Trek Exhibition in Detroit where one of the Klingon uniforms from TOS was on display. I spent a lot of time staring at that uniform, and that belt buckle appeared to be just a bit of bubble wrap painted gold (which had turned green with age). Man, those guys working on the original series saw something in everything, didn't they?



There is one slight oddity on the figure. For some reason, the shirt is made of the same rubbery substance used on many of the other figures. What's strange is that Kor doesn't have any kind of mid-torso joint so having the rubbery shirt is pretty pointless. It does look really good though, and you can't even tell it's rubber until you touch it.



The head sculpt is just fantastic. AA did amazing work on this one. There's no doubt that this is Kor. All the details are there, from the scowl on his face to the points of his eyebrows.



Accessories: Kor comes with a Klingon disruptor and dagger. His baldric is also removable, so I threw it in with the accessories.



Kor is a great example of just how good a job AA did with this license. Really makes me wish they could have kept doing these on their own without Diamond Select handling distribution. Oh well...at least DST is finally getting around to using the great Klingon 'buck' body that Kor has for another Classic Klingon- the upcoming Toys R Us Exclusive Kang. I just hope they eventually get out a Koloth too...

Playmates Spotlight- Captain James Kirk In Environmental Suit (9" Figure From "The Tholian Web")

Figure Name: Captain James Kirk In Environmental Suit
Manufacturer: Playmates Toys



Environmental Kirk was released as a Target Exclusive in the "Warp Factor"-style 9" series box. (Sorry, no boxed pic)



The Rundown: Finishing off the subset, Captain Kirk is the third character to get the 9" Environmental Suit treatment. It's pretty much 'more of the same' here, so Kirk is just as good as the other 2.



I've already gushed about them twice this week, so there's not much more to add here on the suits. I feel like they are some of Playmates finest work in this scale. Sure, the gloves are a little off, but the detail and accuracy of the rest of the outfit more than make up for it.



The Kirk head is my favorite of the 3 Environmental Suit figures. It's a very strong Shatner likeness, and in my opinion captures the character much better than the Spock and Chekov (although those 2 are by no means bad).



Accessories: Kirk includes a display stand (not pictured), his helmet, a phaser, and a communicator.

His box bio:



The Environmental Suit 9" figures are probably my favorite figures in that scale. The outfits are top notch, the head sculpts are all pretty solid, and they are all based on a pretty darned good episode. I highly recommend these as a highlight of the 9" line.



-James

Blaze's Star Trek Drawing...

I love my sons. I've got 2 boys, Blaze (who just turned 7) and Keaton (2), and they are just plain awesome. The 2 of them love Star Trek just as much as I do. Keaton will sometimes only go to sleep if he's watching "Dirk and Pock" and Blaze is known throughout the school as "the kid who loves Star Trek". He's even got all of his friends at school into the adventures of Kirk & Spock. Every day when I pick him up, he tells me about playing Star Trek at recess. A bunch of the other boys in his class get in on it, playing different characters that Blaze tells them about. His best school buddy Matt(I say that because as Blaze says "Dad, you're my best buddy...Matt's just my best buddy at school") is always in on the action, playing Spock to Blaze's Kirk. It's really awesome to see how much Blaze loves the show and the characters.

Well, today when I picked him up, he told me he had done a drawing of the scenario that he and Matt would be acting out tomorrow at recess. Blaze does Star Trek drawings for me all the time, but I really loved this one and the story behind it, so I thought I'd share it with everybody:



Blazes explanation: "An alien with 6 arms is destroying the planet and Kirk and Spock have to stop him. Spock's phaser messes up right when the alien goes to attack him, so Kirk tries to help him. Kirk's phaser messes up too though, and starts shooting everywhere, so the Enterprise beams down some extra phasers to help them.... but the six armed alien grabs them all and starts shooting at Spock and Kirk! Kirk calls the Enterprise and has them shoot phasers from the ship at the alien. Oh, and there was some lightning too like in 'Mirror, Mirror'."

Awesome. I especially love the surprised look on Spock's face as he's being shot in the face by the alien, Kirk's sweet hairdo, and the totally in-character cocky grin on Kirk's face. That's my boy!


UPDATE- So I showed the drawing to my friend Matt at work last night, and explained the scenario that Blaze was depicting. Matt dug it, and since he's a darned good artist, he used Blaze's setting and scenario to make this drawing for me to give to Blaze:



Blaze thought it was awesome and said "It looks like Matt's drawing comes after mine, because the giant has lost all his phasers. Oh, and it looks like the giant has a beard now, which is a detail I hadn't though of. Nice work! Matt and I should work together more often." Good stuff. I made a photocopy so Blaze could add the final touch of color:



-James

AA/ DST Spotlight- Captain James T. Kirk (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Figure Name: Captain James T. Kirk
Manufacturer: Diamond Select Toys



Captain Kirk was released as part of a Toys R Us Exclusive figure 2-pack with Commander Spock.



The Rundown: "Herbert! Herbert!"...*Ahem* Sorry, I'm watching "The Way To Eden" while writing this. Back to it... Toys R Us recently got a deal going with Diamond Select for some exclusive Star Trek merchandise. One of the first items was this Kirk in his gray captain's uniform from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.



The head is the same used on the regular release Motion Picture 2-pack. I feel like it's far superior to the Wrath Of Khan head. The face is less 'pinchy', and the hair much less curly. It's so good in fact that I bought an extra to switch onto a TWOK body.



The body is pretty much the same sculpt used on all 3 of DST's TMP figures, with just slight tweaks on each one (like collar and 'skirt' differences). All 3 of them use the TNG Data legs and arms, including the closed fist. The fist works better for Kirk than it does for Spock. Kirk is a puncher.



Since he reuses the Data legs, Kirk has a bit of the wonky leg syndrome going. Not as bad as on Data, but still noticeable.



Accessories: Just like Spock, Kirk includes a TMP style phaser and wrist communicator.

As I said before, I love the TMP-style uniforms. All 3 figures that DST did in this style are really nice despite a couple of flaws. I just wish that DST would take a few more chances and release the rest of the crew. It's mostly just a matter of simple head swaps and minor tweaks. See-



-James