Monday, February 8, 2010

1972 The Monster Times article: The Saga of Star Trek

This time, I've dug deep into the inner recesses of the Collection Cabinet #2 (pictured in the middle of the three, the TMT stack is on the fourth shelf down, on the left) for some of the earliest and best Trek articles to come out during the early 70's, when the show was only beginning to gain its reputation as the "show that will not die."

Here, from Feb. 16, 1972 is Issue #2 of "The Monster Times." More than any other, "The Monster Times" seems to encapsulate the memories and excitement of that period of my life, and each issue holds a fond place in my recollections. The first article from the issue, titled "The Saga of Star Trek," marks the beginning of my effort to scan and post (eventually) all of the articles from this particular issue. Since its oversize newspaper format makes scanning time-consuming, it might take a little while, but I will get it done. Enjoy!
(Click on images to enlarge.)



As a note, I bought the "tracer gun" toy pictured above as a kid. All I have remaining is a piece of the cardboard backing that I saved for my scrapbook, which you can see here.



Bonus: Below, from a later edition of TMT, a regular feature called "Trek Talk" that kept fans up to date on the latest tidbits of Trek news. I'll scan and post them in coming entries in the order published, at least in the issues I have. This is from Issue #34, published June, 1974. These little nuggets of Trek history are glimpses into the past of the show's revival rumors and the early conventions, as well as other appearances in TV and film by the actors. Even in dry months with no Trek articles, the Trek Talk feature was a little fix I could depend on. I'm tagging any entry that contains one of these as a bonus item, with the tag "Trek Talk," so you can locate them easily. Logical, no? Yes.

A note about my Monster Times posts; over the past few years there have been various announcements from two different sources that all the back issues of this publication were going to be scanned and posted online in their entirety. Realizing that if this were the case, my work at scanning in my own dog-eared copies would be wasted effort; so I refrained from sharing many articles from this source. I, like many others, would enjoy having large-format scans of all the issues. Not only would it mean I didn't have to scan (or even take out to read) my own copies, saving on more wear-and-tear on the paper, but I could read the issues I missed and save them to my own harddrive. However, neither announced plan has come about, and rather than wait longer, I've recently begun posting material from this great magazine on this blog, as well as my others (see side bar for links to these). I hope you get a kick out of it!

Another bonus, below: a nice photo of Nimoy as Spock, looking rather skeptical about something... since it seems to be a third season pic, he's probably skeptical about the show's chances for renewal.

"Oh, Really?

It's a lot of fun getting together with a fellow Trekker and going through each other's collections. Since we can't get together to do this, I'm taking stuff out of mine to scan and share with you. I've always felt a connection to others that love Trek, so if you like these little virtual get-togethers, leave a comment... let me know you enjoyed going through my stuff! After all, you wouldn't just walk in my house and start rummaging through the cabinets, then leave without a word, would you? Would you?

12 comments:

Jackie T said...

Please believe, I do love your sharing your Trek stuff. It's a goldmine for me, and I check it several times a week to see what's new. Some of it I remember from the old days, when I'd find Enterprise Incidents or Starlog and rush home with it with all the excitement that a new Beatles single used to engender - and that's saying something. For what it's worth, I prefer the articles about the stories, the cast or the fate of the franchise, rather than the nuts and bolts stuff like SFX. But that's just me! Please keep bringing it on, and thank you

Frederick said...

Jackie,

Thanks for stopping by and for commenting! It's much nicer to chat with visitors who browse, as opposed to those that "go through the cabinets and walk off!"

A lot of the appeal, I think, of a blog like this, is the memories that are brought to the surface, and not just the item itself. Seeing an item in my collection that I haven't seen in awhile brings a rush of memories associated with it and the time and place I lived when I bought it.
I hope it does the same for my visitors!

Come back and browse, and chat some, whenevery ou feel like it!

Tanner K. said...

I don't know a star trek fan when I see one but I don't even have to see this one:-) Check out my blog:
http://tanktalk11.blogspot.com

Wayne said...

I love your blog! Like Jackie T, I check it throughout the week for updates. There have been so many posts here of photos, articles, clippings, etc. that I too have or had at one time. In fact, I still have this issue of the Monster Times in my own cabinet. It was one of the few things I bought at my first ST convention back in 1976. (I was 11 years old. ) I remember taking it to school to show some of my friends. It got a little beat up, but I still love it. Keep up the AMAZING work on this blog!!

Tom Q Public said...

Sorry I don't comment more ... I do read your blog regularly. I'm much more of a "TNG"-era fan, but only 'cause I wasn't born until shortly after "TOS" was canceled. It is quite fun reading about all your curious collectibles and recollections ... blog long and prosper! ;-)

-T

Frederick said...

Wayne,

Thanks for commenting! The fact that you do still have that issue is great! Doesn't it hold a lot more in fond memories than just the printed content? I have about 30 issues in all, and I treasure them... but I can say that if I had one at age 11, I probably wouldn't still have it. I probably would have cut it up for my scrapbook, like I foolishly did with three or four of the earliest Famous Monsters issues.

Frederick said...

Tom,

Glad you are finding the blog fun to read! It's probably like delving into a family history and enjoying finding out about kin you didn't personally know, but like to read about because your family came from them! :)

I suppose I should start a blog featuring my TNG and other spinoff show clippings, but I just haven't yet. I wonder if I should begin to post them here as well?

William Pinn said...

Star Trek Rocks! Thanks for sharing!

Jackie T said...

Re your last post, I hope you don't include TNG in this blog. It's good to find a purely TOS resource, and if you link your TNG blog people can easily access it. Just my opinion; I was recalling those old days you referred to, and one of the main components of those days of innocence was that there was only one Trek and fandom was not divided. I've never opted to move onto the other spinoffs, and treasure your blog for that reason! I wonder what your other readers think

Frederick said...

Jackie,

Good thought.... if I do feature material on thea spinoff Trek series, I should keep it separate and do a blog devoted to just that.
Although with four blogs on my plate already, starting another would be daunting...

Nick said...

That illustration is GREAT.

Love that phaser rifle ... never seen one like THAT before!

Lisa said...

I've also got this issue of "Monster Times" from long ago -- all my Trek material is in some plastic boxes and though I haven't gone through them in a while, I won't give them up. They're in the middle of a move right now, but I'll be reunited with them soon. Your collection is awesome!