FM #64 Issue "Stark Trek" 1970 Article

From April 1970 Issue 64 of the venerable Famous Monsters magazine comes this early story on the show, and the bonus is some rare photos that have never really been seen since, like the one of the small copper-skinned ambassadors from "Journey To Babel" posing by the Jeffries Tube, and the closeup of the makeup of the doomed and diseased Only from "Miri."

(Click on images to enlarge. Once open, you may have to click on again to see full-size.)

FM artist Basil Gogos passed away this past week at 88. What a talent!

Bonus: Below, a clipping from a TV movie magazine from the first run of the show.

"Wrath of Khan" article from FM #186

From issue #186 of Famous Monsters, published August 1982, comes this article on "The Wrath of Khan," with exciting full-color photos (something new for the mag). The inclusion of a color section didn't help the magazine much, as it folded shortly thereafter.

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The photos in this article really served to get me even more excited about the movie than I already was, action and drama-packed as they seemed to be. Ready for something really good after the snooze-inducing pace of ST:TMP, this issue fanned the flames of expectation, and I was not let down.

Below, from the same issue, is the merchandise page featuring the Trek material. How much of this stuff did you have, and how much do you still have? I still have the books, and had the three ship models, but none of my old models survived the years and many moves. I do still have some unbuilt ones in their boxes, but I'll never put them together.

The sleeping bag allowed one to really "get into" Star Trek more literally.

Bonus: below, Kirk is on the receiving end for a change, in this funny promotional pic shot during the filming of "I, Mudd."

"Fully functional, you say? I've been called a love machine myself, sometimes."

Trek Movie article in Famous Monsters #145

Once again the collection cabinets open their doors, and this time we look at a report on the first Star Trek movie from issue #145 of the venerable "Famous Monsters" magazine, published July of 1978. This was still early in the film's production, and filming had not yet begun; that was slated for later in the fall. The sets were just being built, and as we know now, the script still undergoing re-writes. But it was an exciting time for us fans!

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Although dead for years, nothing could keep this fan from seeing the upcoming movie.

Below, from the same magazine, the results of a contest from an earlier issue. All too easy for Trek fans!

Bonus: Below, an incredible ad for a contest where some lucky fan got to win a pair of Leonard Nimoy's used Spock ears! This came from the December 1967 issue of Movie Stars. I wonder if whoever won them was mature enough to treasure them, or was it a kid who "taped them to their ears" as the ad suggests and lost them at recess? Thanks to Irene Batelaan of the Netherlands for submitting it! I usually only feature material from my own collection, but this was too good not to share. "Ears to you!"

Fortunately for Nimoy, the article was only referring to his latex tips and not his actual ears.

ST:TMP article from 1980 Famous Monsters

This time we take a fond look back at Issue 161 of the fun(and pun)-filled Famous Monsters, as they covered the new Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This was published in March, 1980 and I bought it on the newstand while living in Savannah, GA at the time. I was 22, going on 16. (I have always been younger in heart than my actual age.)

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In case you're curious about the unusual use of the word "sevagram" in the article above, I looked it up for you. I learned something new about a word I have never read in use before. See, kids could learn from reading FM!

Bonus: below, one of the early publicity photos taken before regular production. They got a lot of mileage out of that transparent chart, as a number of both Shatner and Nimoy photos were made using it. It kind of reminds me of the transparent display screens seen in Abram's '09 Trek movie, except static.

The captain calculates the amount of Vitalis needed to control flyaway hair during action scenes.

Bonus: Below, a vision of loveliness that could go under the wikipedia entry of the word "goddess." Nichelle from her pre-Trek days. No wonder Roddenberry went for her!

1980 FM article on ST:TMP

It's interesting the Ray Bradbury's comments about editing were right on the money, and although the article writer thought we'd never see such an edit, we actually did have the opportunity nearly 25 years later, in the special edition DVD. Robert Wise came back and re-edited it, sound effects were added, and the effects essentially finished. The result is a tighter, more satisfying version than we saw all those years ago on the big screen.

Trek Or Treat!

Below is a Famous Monsters article on the episode "Catspaw" from 1977. Oddly enough, unlike all of their other "telebook" articles, they featured no images from the episode, so I scanned in one from another scrapbook page (above) to accompany it.

Published in 1977, "Trek or Treat" was full of black and white photos from the series with lame captions. But I bought it for the pictures, which were frames from the episodes, which was cool.