Star Trek: The Animated Series Coloring Book

The Animated Series (or TAS as it is known) holds a lot of nostalgia for me and many others. Although I was already a fan of Trek before I saw it, TAS was really my first extensive introduction to the series, since it was in first-run, while in the early 70's the original series re-runs had not kicked in to the extent they would a few years later, and were harder to find. Although I never had a TAS coloring book, I have found an excellent site by Kail Tescar devoted to the series that has created an entire gallery of such pages! Go here to view them, then print your choices out and let your kids have at it! You can help a little too.

Below are some samples from the site. Sharpen your crayons and  have fun!

Bonus: a sexy painting of Lt. Uhura found online for your enjoyment!

View the full size image here.

Source:  http://instagram.com/p/XXtN2PtcNj/#

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...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

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."

"Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" review

From the scrapbook pages this time we read a review of the well-received "The Voyage Home." The inset clipping is from TV Guide. Of course these came out in 1986.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Bonus: below, a page from the scrapbook that focuses on some clippings of mini-cons in the Miami area, with two of them from different papers on the same con, presented by the Star Trek Federation Of Fans. That was held on Labor Day weekend of 1975, which was August 30-Sept 1.(You can find out more about this fan club that was very active in the 70's by visiting their Facebook group here.) The inset photo clipping is from "The Star" tabloid, which often ran Trek-oriented bits now and then.

Bonus #2: The cover of one of the souvenir convention booklets put out by the STFF, with a great cover sketch of the androids Ruk and Andrea by co-founder Joyce Huser.

US magazine preview of ST:TWOK

From the pages of the June 22, 1982 edition of "US" magazine, comes this preview of the Vonda McIntyre novelization of the upcoming movie. The tease of the scene is preserved as well as the movie, since it was not revealed in the excerpt that this was only a simulator exercise. It served well to pique the interest for the movie and make many reading think that it was indeed how Spock died, effectively setting them up for the trickery of the scene in the film, which derailed one's expectations of Spock's actual death scene later.

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Remember, word had leaked out early that Spock was going to die in the movie, prompting fan outcry and letter writing protests. In early drafts, Spock did die near the beginning of the film, shockingly. But realizing that the shock factor of Spock's death had been lost, the simulator scene was written to fool the audience into thinking "oh, this is what made people think Spock was going to die, we can relax now because it was a mistaken rumor." Then when the actual big death scene came, it was still a surprise. The leak actually helped the movie script be better than it might have been. See, fans can influence the moviemakers! The effort didn't spare Spock, but made his death more meaningful and dramatic within the context of the movie.

Bonus: Below are several pages from the 1980 "Enterprise Officer's Manual" by Geoffrey Mandel (and co-illustrated by Doug Drexler) that deal with some elements of "Space Seed," the episode that introduced us to Khan. As you can see by the cover below, it was a spiral-bound notebook affair, and since it was not licensed, but a fan-produced book, it was not available on a widespread basis at the time; I bought my copy at the specialty shop "Starship Enterprises" in Ft. Lauderdale. It was, however, very influential, and the idea was used in several licensed books later on, as well as some of the information contained within.

Update: Although the link has been on my sidebar for awhile, in looking through the contents of the "Star Trek Blueprints" site, I see that they have the entire Officer's Manual posted. No need for me to scan in more pages, since all are viewable here! Enjoy.