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Netflix show, 'The Toys That Made Us' will have a Star Trek episode.


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#1 Jay K

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 12:23 PM

https://www.polygon....rek-hello-kitty

 

The episode will be available sometime within the next four months according to the above article. After watching the Star Wars episode today, I think this'll be something that none of us here will want to miss. Here's the section from the above article concerning Star Trek:
 

The most challenging episode to make, Volk-Weiss said, was the upcoming show on the Star Trek toy lines. That’s because there were simply so many disasters to catalog.

“Todd McFarlane is doing Star Trek toys now,” Volk-Weiss said, “But before that, there was Playmates. ... They just went crazy! ... With Star Wars, Kenner had one failure — the Micro Collection — but everything else, to a certain extent, was either a home run or a grand slam. With Star Trek, you literally had failure after failure.

 

“They always made toys for the wrong movie. The original Star Trek movie? Failure. Lots of toys. Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan? Huge hit! No toys. Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock? Barely a hit, lots of toys. Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home? Biggest hit in the original movies. No toys. ... It’s literally just a comedy of errors.”

 

Now other than charting the history of Star Trek toys in general, the main reason of interest for all of us here, will be centred around how they got a hold of this image:

 

26805364_392012747924777_359912468008224

 

The resin prototype of DST's upcoming model of the Reliant.

 

The company have been pretty much silent for well over a year now, so as well as enjoying all the memories that will come rushing back (playmates, micro machines etc), I'm really looking forward to both what they have to say, and also how they come across on camera...

 

Either way, exciting. :)



#2 MisterPL

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 01:23 PM

MEGO was my introduction to Star Trek toys. Playmates came much later but I was all in, at least until the impossible to find exclusives hit. That was a huge turnoff.

 

Trek brought me to Art Asylum, of course, where they made 7" figures with rubber pants. (Terrible move.) While I pined for realistically sculpted 1:18 scale figures like Star Wars, I got hooked on Minimates.

 

I'm curious to get DST's take on the franchise and see how often they blame retailers for their own mishandling of the property. This will be a must-see episode for me. 



#3 Gothneo

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 03:38 PM

It was the TOS AA figures that drew me in, but I think their zenith really was the TWOK figures...and really I think that was DST by then. TWOK and ENT Away team.. those are some special Trek Figures still to this day IMO. 



#4 s8film40

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 06:04 PM

I've really enjoyed the series so far even though most episodes so far covered something that I had a slight passing interest in at best. It'll be interesting to see what they do with this one. The previous episodes have really centered around one toy company each. Star Trek has had many companies over the years. I feel like Playmates is the most successful long term line and has the most nostalgia that and maybe a little Mego.



#5 1701D

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 07:29 PM

The Star Trek episode should be really interesting for one reason; the failure of so many toy lines. Like what happened from the perspective of the toy companies whove tried but failed with Star Trek.

Its also going to be interesting to see how and why Playmates 90s line was quite successful.

#6 1701D

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Posted 17 January 2018 - 07:33 PM

As for me; it was the Playmates ships that hooked me and it wasnt until Art Asylum came in that I was hooked on the whole lot: ships and figures and role play.

Ive come full circle with what appeals to me because ships are by far and away what grabs me about Star Trek today. Ideally Id love to see Mega Construx or LEGO take on Star Trek and give us construction based ships with cool action features... that would be cool.

#7 bgiles73

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Posted 21 January 2018 - 11:58 PM

I hope the show will have interviews with Mego, Galoob, Playmates, Art Asylum/DST, and all the other licensees. Im most interested in the stuff that Galoob came close to releasing and didnt. I think their bridge set was a missed opportunity.

#8 MisterPL

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Posted 22 January 2018 - 09:01 AM

I just watched the Star Wars episode and wished they'd talked to Galoob. They didn't even mention its success despite covering Kenner's failed attempt at a micro line and the fact that Hasbro acquired Galoob just before The Phantom Menace. I'm sure the Trek episode will cover as many licensees as they can.



#9 Whirlygig

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Posted 22 January 2018 - 10:36 AM

The first 4 episodes seemed to have been put together by visiting the same handful of companies and taking interviews with the same handful of people about all relevant topics, then splitting them up by toy property into episodes.

 

They will probably take the same approach and hit up Playmates folks to talk about TMNT, Trek, etc -- but I could easily see them glossing over just about every other company except for 1 or 2 others (e.g. Mego) they choose to include.  I wonder if it will be a common theme for the interviewees to b**ch about Trek fans being too picky and self-destructing all of their lines -- I would expect as much out of DST if they make the roster, and possibly other companies too?

 

Anyway, I've been pleasantly surprised how they did kind of delve into some of the less-than-flattering legacies associated with the lines, and not just turn it into a giant nostalgia love fest.  

 

They made it sound extremely puzzling to them why MOTU soared higher and higher until it abruptly ended around '86/'87, and why they haven't been able to ever recapture that.  I don't find it puzzling at all.  I have two answers working simultaneously against them in that time frame for them, the latter of which I find extremely unlikely to ever reverse course enough to benefit them.  First, guess who showed up in '88?  TMNT.  Better toys, never looked back!  Haha.  That one might be a little subjective but I think there's some truth to it (and don't get me wrong, it is pretty obvious the exaggerated toy design/sculpting that made TMNT so great was pioneered by He-Man).  But secondly, and most importantly, and also relating to TMNT as well...  Star Wars started a cultural shift that took us as a society, gradually, throughout the 80's, from liking more fantasy-based fiction, toward sci-fi based fiction (even if sometimes merged with fantasy), especially as far as children's interest went.  I don't think you are going to find any kids left on the planet, except ones whose parents were MOTU fans and nurtured it into them, who thinks Conan the Barbarian (i.e. He-Man) is the coolest kid in school.  They admit up front in the episode, they culled that idea direct from the focus groups of kids they assembled, and that idea just isn't there in kids' heads anymore and I don't think it ever will be, not enough for MOTU to make a comeback that is.  Lucky for them, they had Skeletor -- he is a far better anchor for that franchise than He-Man himself IMO.



#10 Morgan

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Posted 22 May 2018 - 06:18 PM

The trailer for the season is up, and it previews the Trek episode, among others:  https://twitter.com/...041839017529344

 

Hopefully this will be the first relatively objective look at the Star Trek lineups of Galoob and Playmates, and quite a contrast to action figure magazines of the time that couldn't see the forest through the trees.



#11 Whirlygig

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Posted 04 June 2018 - 11:31 AM

Enjoyed the back 4 episodes...

I wonder how many collectors in this forum own the "Spock" helmet...  I think I have seen it come up a time or two in threads...

 

I hope there is more to this series as I demand a TMNT episode!!!



#12 Alteran195

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Posted 04 June 2018 - 12:35 PM

It was kind of disappointing that they didn't really talk much about Eagelmoss, or interview Ben for the episode. They are currently doing more for Trek than DST has done in years. 

 

It was cool seeing the Reliant, maybe one day it might actually exist and be purchasable. 



#13 s8film40

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Posted 04 June 2018 - 01:35 PM

It was kind of disappointing that they didn't really talk much about Eagelmoss, or interview Ben for the episode. They are currently doing more for Trek than DST has done in years. 

 

It was cool seeing the Reliant, maybe one day it might actually exist and be purchasable. 

I've always thought of that stuff more as collectibles not really toys and certainly not what I would've expected a nostalgia driven show like this to focus on.



#14 Whirlygig

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Posted 04 June 2018 - 03:56 PM

Yeah, and also, it's about the toys that made us, not the toys we buy now in adulthood to recapture the excitement of buying the toys that made us.  So I can understand that the modern state of toys is usually relegated to a more footnotey mention.  :)



#15 MisterPL

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Posted 05 June 2018 - 09:24 AM

The Trek episode was more of a cautionary tale about how to mismanage a brand. From label-slapping and poor timing to simply not paying attention to what fans want, the merchandising of Star Trek has been a roller coaster of serendipitous successes and face-palming failures from one licensee to the next.






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