1983 Lincoln Enterprises Catalog

In 1974 I sent off for my first Lincoln Enterprises catalog (see some of the other posts about them here), and in 1983 I was still getting them in the mail. By then, they were getting bigger and fancier, with color photos of much of the material within. Whereas the original ones from the 70's were in a newspaper format (which was fun to read then, but hard to scan now), the newer ones were in magazine format, though still on newsprint paper. This issue from 1983 included material from both ST:TMP and The Wrath of Khan. However, it still contained older material from their earliest catalogs, like Kung Fu, Search, and Gene's several made-for-tv pilots. This post contains the first half of the catalog, the second half will be posted soon.

(To view full-size, click on each image. It will open in a new window. You may have to click on it once more to magnify.)

The painting prints offered below were unusual considering how they mingled characters from the films with figures like Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon and even The Great Gonzo Muppet!

Bonus: Below, the cover of the soft-cover "Make-Your-Own Costume Book" for ST:TMP. Published for kids, it surely wasn't made for accuracy. However, I think it would be a fun retro-cosplay for some fan to recreate one of these now!

1975 Model Rocketry Catalog

Although I never owned the actual model rockets, my 16 year-old self was excited to find this digest-sized Estes catalog in 1975 that featured their new Star Trek model rockets on the cover! We get a great cover painting, and a two-page spread inside about the models... nice. I am also including scans of any pages that mention or depict the Trek models. I was impressed with how accurate the Enteprise model was, without very much in the way of alterations to make it into an actual flying rocket. I know that if I had bought one, I would never have flown it, preferring to keep it in good shape to display (if I had lived in a home with a father that permitted such things). Enjoy!

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Although, the Klingon ship looks like it was built around a barrel.

Anyone familiar with early Trek merchandising remembers how the starship was often erroneously depicted with rocket exhaust coming out of the shuttle bay (which irritated me). In the case of this model rocket, it was actually correct!

UPDATE: I said earlier that I had a newspaper clipping somewhere of a local model rocket club launching the Enterprise. Well, I've found it, and it's below. It was clipped from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on May 25, 1975. I didn't save the entire article, only the photo and the line in the article about the launching of the Enterprise rocket.

Update: I have heard from a reader who was one of the people in the above photo! Blogger Robert Koenn said... "A friend just gave me the link to your blog. It is funny because I am in that picture. I am the guy standing on the far right side of the picture with my right arm up to my ear. This was a launch back around 1975 down in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. I lover ST but never owned a flying Estes ST kit. I do have numerous ST plastic models on my shelf and in boxes to build."

Star Trek Aliens Coloring Book

On a lighter note this time, I'm featuring some select pages from a coloring book that features (mostly) the Star Trek aliens. This was published in 1986, and, although the interior artwork by Paul Abrams is passable, with decent facial features, the artist clearly was not familiar with Trek lore or designs, and was only working from a few isolated photos; much like the artist on the Gold Key comics in the early days. But if they were working from reference photos, how do you account for the strange looking alien on the cover that is "supposed" to be a spying Klingon (who looks like Lorne Greene), but is sporting rounded bumps on either side of his head? Oh, well, it's just for kids, who's gonna notice? (Says the artist.) T'Lar seems a bit taken aback by it, though... either that, or she's totally checking out his butt.

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"Oh, Bill, I've found your hairpiece, do you mind not leaving it lying around?"

I know that if you have any vintage Star Trek coloring books you are not going to let your kids color in them. So, print out these pages and hand them out to the kids with your blessing!

Below, a nice group shot, based on the familiar publicity photo we all know and love. So far, so good...

But below the lack of familiarity with the show manifests itself as a purely imaginary picture of Spock's father and mother. But you have to admit, his mother really is a hottie! And with a dad that looks like a cocky and confident Vulcan Sean Connery, a Spock from this background would have probably been portrayed by a super-cool and swinging James Coburn (click here for my interpretation of how this would have played out; I've always thought Coburn would have made an excellent Vulcan). Coburn's super agent Flint had a similar nerve pinch, too. By the way, did you know that Spock's half-brother Sybok was originally supposed to be played by Sean Connery? Tru dat! Man, I got off on a tangent there...

"He always liked Sybok better than me. I think it's because of the beard."

He's blue, and worried, because he's missing an antenna. Since he's subtly pointing to his thigh, it's possible that he wants you to search his pants for it.

Mr. Chekov brandishing... something. A squirt gun? A futuristic stapler? One thing's for certain, it sure ain't no phaser. Pavel was getting into his new position in Security, so color his shirt red, for much blood, pain and screaming.

"Hey, Uhura! I think I've found a cure for PMS!"

"Please deposit 50 cents for one more minute, Doctor."

Rubber gloves donned, the crew braces for the mess they have to clean up from the captain's sick targ.

"Who took my burlap sack? I'm naked and it's freezing on this blasted ship! And would it kill ya to leave a little salt scattered around?"

"Yo inna heap o' trouble, bo-ah!"

Below, the cat may be giant, but why is the table leg also giant? It seems the artist thought that Kirk had been shrunk. Again, nitpicking on a kid's coloring book. I almost feel like a bully doing it.

"And hurry the **** up about it, you sotted Scot!"

Below, a couple more pages that feature Uhura, but the facial resemblance is not that great, neither is the body type accurate. She looks more like agent Lana Kane from the cartoon series "Archer." But that's okay, because she is made of total hotness also.

"I just love stroking Bill's hairpiece. Listen , it's purring!"

"I just know this planet is going to have some great stores for shopping!"

1976 Federation Trading Post Article

The fun stuff this time comes from the first issue of the short-lived, but memorable (and cumbersomely titled) "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in December of 1976.

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I've posted an entry about this magazine before here, along with a cover gallery, so check that out too. The article I'm featuring this time is about the legendary (among Trek fans) specialty shop "Federation Trading Post," co-founded and operated in California by Charles Weiss and Ron Barlow, who was known to fans such as me from his work on the great newspaper "The Monster Times." The New York branch was manned by the also-legendary fan-turned-pro Doug Drexler. Although both were far from me (I had the "Starship Enterprises" stores in south Florida for my fan fixes), I was aware of them, and enjoyed reading about them in this in-depth article. Please contribute any memories or facts you may have in the comments section!

Poor "Fake Balok" only wishes the article writer had spelled his name right.

All I'm doing here is posting a magazine article from the past about it, but Doug Drexler himself is the one with the real treasures. To hear all about it from the source, read his blog entry with loads of info and awesome photos from the FTP East!

Update: Doug commented this on my Facebook post about the article: "Frederick! I'm astonished whenever I visit your site. It's like my ultimate 1976 magazine stand exploded! This article is amazing. That's back when Paramount couldn't care less about Trek. Creative and industrious fans kept it growing. Thanks for posting this!" -Doug Drexler

One of the things highlighted in the article is the hunger fans had for accurate replicas of the show's props, at a price affordable by most. We have a good number of that kind of thing today, with very nice prop replicas that have lights and sound, for a reasonable price, off the store shelves. But back then it was a dream, and only those fans with a good job or generous parents could get their hands on these kinds of things. For myself, I had the kid-sized "Exploration Set" model kit, and the water-gun phaser, and that was it until only a few years back when I bought the Playmates version of the "big three." Fans with more money than I can get the Diamond Select replicas, lucky people! But the fact is, having accurate and life-sized replicas are within the reach of the average fan now, and we are fortunate for that.

1995 article: Nimoy Closes Book on Trek Myths

From USA Today, Oct. 23, 1995, comes this article on Nimoy, as he is promoting his new book, "I Am Spock." Aware that the title of his first book, "I Am Not Spock," was unfortunate, he attempts to set the record straight about how he feels concerning his Vulcan alter-ego.

Bonus: Below is a 1985 review of the "new" Star Trek 3 videotape release, from "Video Review" magazine. Buying movies was getting a little more affordable by then; this one was released for "only" $29.95.

Bonus: a rare 1991 Enterprise hologram card, the only one I found in any of the packages. The image appeared surprisingly clear in the scan.

And below, the back of the card. I'd like to know what this is worth, should I sell it.

Bonus: another Bloom County strip with the gang engaging in a little role-playing. But everyone must play by the rules or it's not as much fun!