Star Trek Poster Magazine #2

From the boundless depths of the collection cabinets comes Issue #2 of the Star Trek Poster Magazine, officially known as the "Star Trek Giant Poster Book." Published October 10, 1976, this monthy magazine was the one publication I did not miss. Knowing when it was due on the drugstore magazine stand, I haunted the rack until the magazine delivery guy dropped off his shipment and was the first to get an issue from the bundle!

(Click on images to view larger size.)

Bonus: Below, the next in the series of novelizations by James Blish. Painted by the same artist that did the cover for #9, the art is so similar that it could be mistaken for the earlier edition at first look. A little lazy, it seemed to me at the time. Surely even a change in the background colors could have set it apart more.

Star Trek Poster magazine #1

Published September of 1976, this first issue of the legendary Star Trek Poster magazine was a ground-breaking publication that totally rocked my world. The show was at its height of popularity through the weekday reruns in syndication, and I was at the height of my love for it. Here, scanned in its entirety, is that memorable premiere issue that I enjoyed so much. I have all of them, and plan on posting them now and again until they are all on my blog for your enjoyment; either for the first time or to bring back your own fond memories. It was work scanning each of the inner pages in two parts and putting them back together, but worth it if you enjoy it. Let me know!

(Click on images for a much bigger version!)

Please note that the first article below was written by Doug Drexler, who went on to actually contribute much to Star Trek in the later series and films!

Below is the back cover, with a thumbnail of the inside poster and a preview of next issue. Due to the size of the poster, I'm not scanning it here; too much wear and tear on the copy. The ads for the Tech Manual and Blueprints also are neat to see again. Do you know the answer to the trivia quiz questions?

Update: Doug Drexler commented this when I posted the link on his blog: "Fred! That’s a real blast from the past! Thanks for linking that! That was during the Trading Post days. BTW, LOVE your blog!" Thanks, Doug! That means a lot coming from you.

I have a funny memory of the time I bought this issue. We had just moved from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to the little "town" of Gray, GA and it was very discouraging to me to go from such a great place to find Trek material to a Trek desert out in the country. But I traveled to nearby Macon (my hometown) for a job and I would stop at the drugstore on the way home the day of the week that the new magazines came in. I was 17 at the time, still living at home, and many of my regular readers know of my domineering stepdad, who hated Trek for my sake. I had to sneak in everything I bought and then when I went to spend the weekend at my Grandma's house, I would take my new items over there for safekeeping. To get this magazine in, I used a slick trick; earlier, I had slit the screen in my bedroom window right along the bottom where it wouldn't show. I then cracked the window some and left it that way. When I got home, I came by the window, slipped the magazine up inside it under the pane, then went in the front door. When I went to my room, I opened the curtain and pulled the magazine in through the split in the screen. Another contraband item successfully smuggled in!

1976 TREK article: Enterprise Miniatures

This issue of Trek ("The Magazine For Star Trek Fans") #5, printed in July of 1976, was the second issue that I ever got, and boy, was this magazine a treasure for the Trek-fevered and Trek-starved teen that I was. Unless you lived through the time, and was as devoted to the show as I was, you can't understand the excitement and happiness that finding such a publication as this could bring. A full-color cover photo of my heroes... just awesome! And unless I had been living in Ft. Lauderdale, close to the magazine's publishers, I would never have been able to get them. As it was, I picked them up at the store "Starship Enterprises," a comics and genre collectibles store that I haunted as often as I could get over to it.

From the magazine comes this article on the various miniatures of the Enterprise used on the show; hope you enjoy it!

Below is some nice artwork that adorned the back cover of the magazine...

1976 article "Spock, Part 2: An Analysis"

Last entry, we looked at Part 1 of an two-part examination of the character of Spock, from a 1976 issue of "Quasimodo's Monster Magazine." This time, part 2 is a conversation about the Vulcan's popularity with writer Jacqueline Lichtenberg, who co-penned the book many of us remember so very, very fondly; "Star Trek Lives!"

Update: I recently added Jacqueline as a friend on Facebook, and alerted her to this post. She was kind enough to comment, so click on the "comments" tab for this entry and see what she had to say! It is so neat to be able to interact with people like her who had such an impact on my young life as a Trekker.

Bonus item: the next inside page from the "Star Trektennial" edition of Lincoln Enterprise's 1976 catalog (see others posted by using the "Lincoln Enterprises" tag on the sidebar).

Below is the painted Kirk portrait that I ordered from the page above (left-hand lower part of the page); more will be posted in the near future. These were done by a young Andy Probert, who was responsible for much of the final look of the redesigned Enterprise in "ST:TMP."

And below is what the keychain viewers in the catalog looked like. This one had a film clip frame of Uhura in it. Scanned image is larger than actual size.

Look for more Lincoln Enterprises material in upcoming posts. Be sure to comment if you have memories of you own you want to share! (Update: here is a Flickr group devoted to sharing filmclips acquired from Lincoln Enterprises!)

1976 article "Spock, Part 1-His Story"

From issue #7 (click to view the cover) of the lower-rung publication "Quaismodo's Monster Magazine," printed in April of 1976, comes Part One of a two-part look at the cultural phenomenon of Mr. Spock. When I say "lower rung" I mean that the magazine was of inferior quality compared to some of the others put out at the time; in comparison to "Famous Monsters," "Monsters of the Movies" or "Castle of Frankenstein," it suffers the most. The cheap pulp paper used, which reproduced the black and white photos poorly, tore easily and turned yellow rapidly. The layout seemed shoddy and the writing, generally geared to the younger crowd, varied in quality from one article to another. However, being the lover of monster movies as I was, and Star Trek to a greater degree, I still bought some of the issues, especially when they featured a Trek article. This in-depth look at our favorite Vulcan was competently done, and worth posting here for your enjoyment, whether for the first time or again after many years.

The magazine also included a Trek "spoof" in comic form, which I won't include here for the simple fact that it was the most lowbrow, idiotic and poorly-drawn parody (so-called) one could imagine, best left unseen and forgotten. Alright... if you don't believe me, look at this one panel and you'll see what I mean (I don't want to sully this blog by even posting it as a clickable smaller image). Sheesh... "lower-rung" indeed. That one scraped the bottom of the barrel.

Part two of the article on the Vulcan is coming next time, however, featuring a rare discussion about the appeal of Spock with one of fandom's well-known writers, Jacqueline Lichtenberg, who co-penned a book many of us remember fondly; "Star Trek Lives!"

Bonus: Another cover from the nostalgia-generating James Blish adaptation covers, this time volume #7. Thanks to blog reader Donald A. for contributing it, since he read in an earlier post that my copy had no cover, being bought at a used bookstore years ago.

It was right then that Sulu swore off of the weed he had been secretly growing in his hobby garden.

The artwork on this book is one of the more unusual covers, depicting as it does a version of the scene from "Who Mourns For Adonais," albeit in a rather stylized fashion. This is the first time any scene from an episode was referenced on a cover, and marks the start of less "retro" covers and a move toward more modern artwork.

Spock Speaks! 1976 Nimoy Interview

Wow, what a year 1976 was in my Trekker memories! I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, FL at the time, and the comic book/collectable store "Starship Enterprises" was my main source for genre material not found anywhere else. One of the items that they carried was the British publication "TV Sci-Fi Monthly," an excellent newspaper-format magazine printed on glossy paper, similar to the Trek poster magazines (which I'll be covering in the future also). This time we're looking at a Leonard Nimoy interview from Issue #7.

(Click on images to view full-size.)

"Once I smiled a smile so rare..."

Below, one of the neat graphic features that the magazine often included; they would use the new "Starfleet Technical Manual" as a reference and create color images of the weapons, ships, equipment and other items; this time they illustrate the flags of the various Federation civilizations. Update: to view an article from this same issue on the series "UFO," go to my other blog "Fantastic Flashbacks!"

Bonus: Below, another item purchased at the Starship Enterprises store in Ft. Lauderdale; one of the cards put out at the time by Random House. This time it features a punch-out phaser. I suppose (if you are very bored) you could print out the images from here on card stock and then cut out the images to make your own! Once completed, the phaser features exciting wiggling action as the nozzle moves when you press the trigger. Wow!

Bonus #2: Below you will find a particularly fetching pose of Janice Rand, in a large-format image; perfect for printout and hanging on the wall to admire! This lovely Yeoman is well-known for her value as bridge eye-candy, and resourcefulness in creative ways to serve hot coffee, even in power-conservation situations. Interests include walking on beaches, weaving her own wigs, and having her legs looked at (ideally, all at the same time).

"Can you see my legs in the shot? Cause I totally want the picture to show them off."

Note to my regular readers: when commenting you may notice that I now have to approve them before they are posted. This is only because I have had to deal with a spate of spambots recently, and had to go behind them and clean up their crap mess from about a 15 posts or so. I don't know how they do it when there is a test that commenters have to go through to post; but they are doing it somehow and I don't like it. So, sorry for the extra step, but it's easier for me to approve or deny a comment than have to go in and delete it from the post later.

1976 article: "Shatner: Shakespeare To The Stars"

Here's another article from the first issue of Starlog, published Aug, 1976. I've already posted the cover and some memories of this landmark first issue, here, as well as an article in the post before this one. This was such an exciting issue to read, being mostly devoted to the series as it was; a great way to start off the magazine!

The photo caption above says that Shatner insisted on doing all his own fight scenes... which is true, up until the point where the director called "Cut! Stuntmen!" The stuntmen on the show are so easy to spot now, with our high-definition TVs. but back when watching it in the 70's, I never noticed them.

1976 article: Star Trek: Past, Present and Future

Today's item from the collection cabinet is a goodie from the first issue of Starlog, published Aug, 1976. I've already posted the cover and some memories of this landmark first issue, here. Now, I begin posting the actual articles contained within, starting with one that is especially interesting in light of what all has come about since it was written.

Bonus: below, a newspaper clipping about Bill's TV movie "Indict and Convict," from 1974. You can see the old tape that holds it in my first scrapbook, which was a school notebook.

Bonus: Below, Kirk discovers that the time of captivity on Mudd's planet could be filled in some entertaining ways.

"So, you say you are both fully functional?"