Trek 25th Anniversary Roddenberry Interview

The December 1991 issue of Cinefantastique featured a number of articles centered around the 25th anniversary of the original series, and sports a great painted cover of the Great Bird of the Galaxy being buzzed by various Enterprises.

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We're looking at a couple of the articles from this issue this time, starting off with an interview with Roddenberry musing about the future of Trek.

Next, an article about one of the recent Trek cruises as various Trek celebrities are interviewed.

1984 Cinefantastique Article on "The Search For Spock

From the May 1984 edition of Cinefantastique comes this 6-page article on "The Search For Spock." Lots of good behind-the-scenes photos, and interview with director Nimoy in this preview of the movie, and it's interesting reading about the making of one of the most anticipated of the sequels. The first page is from the back cover of the magazine, which is an unusual blurb about the inside contents; one seldom saw the back cover of a magazine used for this purpose.

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How well I remember my excitement connected with the release of this film! Although it would have been better if there were multiple versions of Spock appearing... a partial-cyborg Spock, a hip young Spock with a black leather jacket, a more severe and emotionless Spock that wore sunglasses, and a black Vulcan in cybernetic armor that calls himself Spock. Kirk and crew all wonder which, if any, are the real Spock, and then they all fight amongst themselves, and we find the real Spock at the end who has been regenerated, and he has long hair. He comes out with phasers blazing to help defeat an intergalactic threat, and we learn where the other Spocks came from. Wouldn't that have been way cool? They could have stretched that story out for several more movies. A "super" idea! Moving right along...

Bonus: Below, the filming of Spock's V'Ger spacewalk from "ST:TMP."

To Spock Or Not To Spock

From a newspaper clipping dated August 4th, 1977, comes this interview with Nimoy as he contemplated the pros and cons of playing the Spock character again. We're glad he was persuaded to when the plans were finally nailed down for the movie; I don't think we would have been so lucky had the been a new Trek series in the 70's.

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Bonus: Below, a Shatner family picture from a movie/TV magazine sometime in the late 60's.

Video Guide Article on Star Trek IV

From the local (to Beckley WV) "Home Video Guide" which was available to videostore patrons, comes this October 1987 article on Star Trek in general, and the new movie out on VHS, " Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" in particular. First, the inside page which reproduces the VHS ad poster, and the table of contents.

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Sheen: "Sometime in the future, I guess around 2011 or so, I'll probably have to resort to acting nuts to stay in the public eye."

Next, the article itself:

Below, the trivia contest from the same mag. Answer them if you can (and every real Trekker can) but don't send in the form. You missed the contest deadline date slightly.

Bonus: Below, a convention ad flyer from 1994 featuring none other than the actor famous for his Mission: Impossible role, and to a lesser degree, as "Dr. Spock" from an obscure TV series from back in the 60's.

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."

The Monster Times #2: Space Gear/Models Articles

This time we are once again opening up the fragile, yellowing pages of issue #2 of "The Monster Times, published Feb 16, 1972. I've posted several times before from this issue: here, here and here. How I loved this monster mag! More than any other, it covered the things I was interested in. Being a monster, comics, Trek and Apes fan, this newspaper-format publication hit them all and more. We revisit the cover of this fantastic issue again...

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This time we look at two articles... first, on the various props on the show, featuring both some original and fan reproductions. Note well-known fan Joan Winston modeling the original costume and fan-made prop!

Next, an article purportedly reviewing the various model kits available at the time. Who among us didn't have some of these at one time or another? (I'm surprised I didn't get brain damage from the glue fumes. At least, I don't think I did... hmmm. On second thought, that would explain a lot!) Anyway, the article is hampered by the fact that there is no real review of the model kits mentioned, only those handmade by a fan... and although they brag on his Enterprise, they don't actually picture it! Somewhat sloppy.

Bonus: Below, a pre-series publicity shot, taken after "Where No Man..." but before "The Corbomite Maneuver."

1978 Article on Trek's Computers

The short-lived but awesome magazine Science Fantasy Film Classics met an undeserved and early end, but the several issues I have are some of my most treasured mags from the time. I've posted material from issue #3 before, but it's so jam-packed with different Trek articles that it's time to feature it again. Reading this 1978 indepth look at (and practically a dissertation on) the technology behind the computers seen on Star Trek, is interesting from today's perspective and in light of computing advances. The article is actually a reprint of a 1977 article from the computer magazine Byte, so it's written with a little more authority than one might expect from a SF/fantasy mag.

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Bonus: below, from the same issue, a nice painting of the Enterprise defending K-7 from attack by the Romulans and Klingons.