A continuing Trek
Collectors see the stars with new Star Trek offerings
By Tina Benitez -- Playthings, 6/1/2006
Classic sci-fi series Star Trek turns 40 this year and part of the celebration includes a second series of figures from Diamond Select Toys, Timonium, Md.
The new assortment offers additional versions of The Next Generation's Worf and Riker as well as special sculpts of Captains Pike and Kirk (in chair) from the original series' pilot episode. They will be launched at this year's San Diego Comic-Con and released at retail in September. The Kirk figure will be an exclusive to Comic-Con. An Enterprise 1701 with Kirk's voice and Enterprise 1701-E with Capt. Picard's voice are also planned for release later this year alongside figures of TNG's Barclay, Geordi and Data.
Michael Leavey, marketing and sales supervisor for Diamond Select, tells playthings that they'll see how sales of the Star Trek figures go and hope for the best since the property has such a strong fan following.
“So many of today's adults grew up with action figures and toys based on popular television shows of their youth,” Leavey says. “As a new generation comes of age, their taste in toys remains, but now the toys are based on shows that appeal more to adults, like Star Trek, Stargate and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Star Trek has always appealed to the adult fan base and was one of the first shows or properties to really venture into so many different areas of licensing. Now in its 40th anniversary year, we are excited to be on board and satisfy the needs of the millions of fans worldwide.”
Also on the Star Trek anniversary trail is Master Replicas, Walnut Creek, Calif., which plans to release three limited-edition models of fan favorite Phaser guns: the Assault Phaser ST-108 ($449), the original series ST-110 priced ($1,199) and the ST-113 Pilot Version, a Master Replicas exclusive for $1,299.
