Charles Apple

A nice little story in Thursday’s USA Today sent Star Trek geeks everywhere into a frenzy with a preview of the new toys coming out this spring — toys tied into the upcoming Star Trek movie:

The new 12-inch figures. Photo from USA Today.
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That movie beams onto a screen near you May 8. The toys are set to hit stores beginning April 19, reports USA Today’s Mike Snider:

The starring triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy will be available in 3¾-inch ($7), 6-inch ($9-$10) and 12-inch ($30) models. Also available will be figures of the original Spock, who meets the young Spock in a time anomaly. Other crewmembers will be available in the smaller sizes. Playsets include the Enterprise Bridge and Transporter Room.

What’s that? “The original Spock”? Yes, indeed, Leonard Nimoy himself will make an appearance in the movie as a very, very old but familiar pointy-eared friend who time-travels into the past to set things right:

Nimoy in the trailer for the new movie and his action figure.
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The younger Mr. Spock, of course, will be played by Zachary Quinto. He’s currently best-known as “Sylar” on the TV show Heroes.

Quinto. Photo from Paramount Pictures.
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The new movie toys are made by a company called Playmates. Which is a pretty funny name for a toy company — just try running that through Google on your work computer!

The new 3.75-inch figures. Photo by Diamond Comics.
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But, in fact, Playmates makes all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys. Plus, they held the license for Star Trek toys for most of the 1990s. Most of our collection — alas, boxed up in the garage — was made by Playmates.

In addition to the three sizes of action figures mentioned in the USA Today story, a set of Star Trek Barbie dolls will be available:

Photo by Mattel
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These’ll be pricey, though, selling for about $45 each. You’ll find Spock, Kirk and Uhura chillin’ in the toy aisles in March.

And yes, this isn’t the first time Mattel has made Star Trek-themed Barbie dolls. This set came out about twelve years ago:

Photo by Mattel
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They, too, were very pricey at first. We bought our set for half-price at the old Viacom store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue.

Finally, if you don’t need any more action figures cluttering your desk at work, then quit messing around with kids’ stuff and get into the big time…

How would one of these look in your living room?

A replica of Capt. Kirk’s chair from the old 1960s
TV series. Only $1,999. Woman not included.
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Oh, yeah. Now we’re talking.

You have to order these puppies in advance. The solicitation promises working lights and sound effects. Like it says, nearly two thousand bucks, but that’s not including shipping. God only knows how much that would set you back.

Also take note: This is the chair from the original TV series. It is not the captain’s chair from the new movie:

Paramount Pictures.
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Read the USA Today story here. Read more about the Trek Barbies here. Read the first story about the small action figures here. Find the Captain’s chair here.

Read our previous post about the new Trek movie here.

Find the official Star Trek movie site here. I’ve been keeping up with the latest Trek movie news here.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2009 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Amusing stuff, Getting a life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.