First imagined by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s, the Star Trek universe has seen a bewildering array of TV series, movies, books, and games. Star Trek conventions, where many memorabilia items are sold, continue to be popular events. Over the decades, a wealth of collectible items have hit the market. Presented below is a brief selection of what is offered.
Star Trek Action Figures
The Mego company became famous in the 1970s for its licensed action figures, depicting many beloved television characters. Naturally, Star Trek’s enthusiastic fanbase was eager to purchase figures of their favorite stars. A total of fourteen figures were developed and released between 1975 and 1978. These came in three “waves” —the first wave of figures consisted of the Enterprise crew —Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, a Klingon, and, released slightly later, Uhura. The second and third waves featured various aliens and creatures seen in the show, and these two waves are considered the hardest to find among collectors. In particular, the Romulan and Andorian figures from wave three are regarded as the rarest in the Mego range and fetch the highest prices.
Collectors should note that the figures have since seen numerous re-releases, with EMCE Toys and Eaglemoss Collections bringing out replicas in recent years. While these re-releases can be bought cheaply, an original 1970s Mego toy in an unopened box can sell for several hundred dollars.
Star Trek Novels
In 1966, the publisher Bantam Books acquired the Star Trek license. Veteran science fiction author James Blish was hired to write novelizations of each episode. Blish hated the idea of tie-in fiction and had not seen Star Trek before writing the novels, referring only to draft scripts sent to him by Desilu studios. Many of these books were co-written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence, and her mother Muriel, though Blish continued to receive exclusive credit until the final entry, Star Trek 12, published two years after Blish’s death. It is said that Blish’s disdain for Star Trek was such that the Lawrences were essentially the only active contributors to the series from Star Trek 6 onwards.
Paperback copies can be picked up at a low cost. Complete collections will fetch the highest prices.
Since the original books came out, many other novels set in the Star Trek universe have appeared, from those depicting adventures on the Enterprise-D of the Next Generation to novels based on the latest television series (Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds). William Shatner himself has even written Star Trek novels. Any bearing his signature increase in value considerably.
Star Trek Ship Models
AMT acquired permission to produce a model of the USS Enterprise early in the production of the original series. Released in 1966, the first edition with lights sells for high prices today. Editions made between 1967 and 1975 had “enhanced” lights. Lights were finally removed altogether in 1975.
The AMT Enterprise remains one of the best-selling models and has had a virtually continuous production run between 1967 and today.
AMT kits were of such high quality that they were used in the original show as part of an agreement between AMT and Desilu Studios. One represented the battle-damaged USS Constellation in the episode “The Doomsday Machine.”
Other model kits of various Star Trek ships have been released, but Kirk’s original Enterprise is still iconic. In 1979, South Bend Electronics, a division of Milton Bradley, created a model of the refit USS Enterprise seen in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In addition to flashing lights and sound effects, this kit allowed owners to reassemble the ship’s components to repurpose the model into different Starfleet ships.
Star Trek Computer and Board Games
Videogame developers Interplay, led by industry veteran Brian Fargo, were hired in the early 1990s to make two Star Trek adventure games—Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. The latter had a limited-release collector’s edition, of which only 75,000 copies were produced. This collector’s edition features the game itself, which sees the Enterprise embark on eight new missions and an extra CD-ROM containing a behind-the-scenes documentary including interviews with Leonard Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry. The box also includes the game’s manual, a badge designed around one of the game’s missions, and a VHS tape of the classic Star Trek episode “City on the Edge of Forever.” In mint condition, these editions can fetch considerable prices.
The Star Trek franchise has also inspired numerous board games. The first-ever Star Trek board game, produced during the show’s initial broadcast, was released by the Ideal Toy Company in 1967. It was essentially a game of strategic starship movement in which you are pitted against other players. It is unique as being the only board game released when the original show was airing.
In the decades since, new Star Trek board games have been released frequently. A recent example is Star Trek: Ascendancy. Released by the company Gale Force Nine in 2016, Ascendancy is a superb addition to any collector’s game library. The base game lets players guide the Federation, Klingons, or Romulans to victory in a randomly generated galaxy. Since the initial release, numerous expansion packs have added more factions and technologies into the game. Unopened copies of Ascendancy are highly prized.
Final Thoughts
Every year, the range of Star Trek collectibles grows. Only a collector with the deepest of pockets and unlimited time on their hands can hope to obtain everything.
With the recent spate of new TV shows, the franchise’s fate is looking healthier than ever. Trek fans (Trekkies) have always been fiercely loyal to the show. This ensures that toy, game, and publishing companies will always have fertile ground for creating collectible items.
Matthew Doherty is a writer, editor, and teacher specializing in all things history-related. His work has been published in the UK Defence Journal, the Small Wars Journal, and The Collector. He holds an MSc from the University of Edinburgh and a BA from the University of Leeds. In his spare time, he also writes science fiction stories.
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