1974 article: Bill and Marcy's Honeymoon Haven

The old scrapbook opens this time to a two-page spread from the September 15, 1974 issue of the tabloid "National Tattler." The article takes us to a happier time and place in Bill and Marcy's relationship. Not the kind of article I hyperventilated over back then, but still about one of the stars of the show, so that qualified it to be clipped. Whenever we took my Grandma shopping, she would pick up several of the tabloids, and when she was done with them, I would scan through them for any tidbits, articles or photos that had to do with Trek (or any genre I was interested in). Scissors in hand, they would be clipped for the scrapbook!

Bonus: below, a detail from a cast publicity shot taken at the start of "ST:TMP," where Nichelle puckers up and plants an impromptu smack on Gene. Nice! Needless to say, this was not a shot used in general publicity...

Bonus: You see below one of the greeting cards put out in the late 70's, of which I bought most. I posted one earlier, which you can view here, as well as a photo of the card store display; and I'll add more as bonus items all along in the future. The text inside this one says "Hope you're back on the right trek soon!" I suppose this was a card you gave to someone that had made a bad decision in their lives....

And below is an ad found in Starlog magazine for the cards.

When Capt. Kirk Saved Oddjob's Life!

This time, we have a short article about an incident that occured during the filming of Shatner's cheapie flick "Impulse." Our hero! Found in the June 1977 issue of the magazine TV's Dynamic Heroes.

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I've posted an article on "Impulse" before, go here to read it. To see the newspaper movie ad for this film, go here to my other blog "Held Over!"

Bonus: below, an ad that Nimoy did in the early 80's for a telescope company. Really, who better as a spokesperson for such a product? It's only logical.

And below, a beautiful piece of promotional art by artist Keith Birdsong, for the card set that he contributed to in the 90's. Excellent work!

And finally, below is another of the incredible works by Ralph Fowler, from an issue of Enterprise Incidents. Yet another example of his attention to detail and interesting alien architectural designs. Ralph often drew scenes that surpassed the TV budget of the show and took it into movie scope.

Bill's Trek To The Top

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From the collection cabinets comes a magazine article from 1968, reprinted in a late 70's issue of the fanzine "Enterprise Incidents." Not sure of the movie/TV magazine it came from.

Below, another of Ralph Fowler's awesome drawings from the same magazine. I have word that Ralph has visited the blog, and I hope to hear from him soon. If I do, I'll let you know! Ralph, if you read this, please consider doing a blog of your own featuring your artwork on Trek and other genre subjects. I'd love to see it!

"Hello.... anybody home? Hello...?"

Bonus: magazine ad for the new "Official Star Trek Poster Magazine" that came out in 1976. I managed to get all of them, and they are a treasured part of my collection.

Whoopee! "My Star Trek Scrapbook" has been posted as one of the Top 5 Trek blogs over on Film Fresh's own blog. Check it out!

"I'm a doctor, not an actor!"

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Above: This first article comes from "Star Trek: Four Generations," a special collector's edition magazine produced by TV Guide, published in spring of 1995.
Although (by the second season, at least) listed in the credits as one of the leads, and his crusty country-doctor one of the show's most beloved characters, Deforrest Kelley was one of the least-interviewed of the cast members. Hence the relative lack of articles in my scrapbook about him, compared to the rest; who were pretty vocal and had plenty of exposure. Kelly seemed a very private individual who was not seeking the limelight as many stars usually do.
Below is a character/actor page from the Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Poster Magazine.

Below, a small item from one of the movie star magazines published at the time of the series' first run. It attests to the fact of his preference for privacy.

Next, a bumper sticker that was part of a set including all the characters and their famous phrases. This one used the line that Kelley laughingly said he hoped didn't end up on his tombstone. Seeing it connected with him now on such items, made years before his passing, seems a bit sad; but no sarcasm or dark humor is intended.

Below, one of the awesome photo covers on "Trek: The Magazine For Star Trek Fans." If all you have are the "best of" books, you missed out on the truly best stuff. These were like finding an oasis in the Trek wasteland of the time, in the mid-70's.

"I wonder what the commissary is serving for lunch today... fried chicken, I hope."

"Pointy-eared hobgoblin thinks he can get the best of me, he's barkin' up the wrong tree."

Below, one of the ads for McCoy's Hamilton Collection commemorative plate, made for the show's 25th anniversary in 1991. Very nice painting by Thomas Blackshear!

Nice publicity photo below, scanned from one of the better calendars of recent years past.

"Hello, Mr. Spock! Over here, it's Christine! Hello?
Oh... he must not have heard me."

Below we see one of the images from the first set of official publicity photos taken of the cast of the new movie for public release.

"Closer to the camera, you say? How's this?"

Here's to De; a true Southern gentleman, and one of the few cast members beloved and admired by everyone else on the show. One never heard the complaints and sniping, either about him or by him, that characterized some of the other cast. We lift a cold mint julep to you, sir!

70's "Vulcanized" Cheer Commercial

Again, taking the easy route today due to lack of time, but I've been wanting to post this awhile anyway since I saw it on a DVD set of vintage commercials that I bought a couple of years ago.

Oh, man, is this pure goofy 70's; but fun. I like how the gaudy "transporter" effect takes so long to complete but she doesn't react to the psychedelic light show until it's over, then takes the appearance of an alien offering detergent advice in complete stride.

The dude looks more like a Romulan than Vulcan, but we won't quibble. And his parting line is creepy; "I'll be watching." But possibly she is a little turned on by the knowledge that her every private action is being observed by a tall, mysterious pointy-eared alien... whom she, and she alone, could get to open up and reveal the passionate but hidden feelings deep inside. All the while wearing the cleanest clothes in the galaxy.

KFC's Star Trek ad

I am just crazy over this ad by KFC! It feels more like real "Trek" than any of the fan-made efforts, as good as some of them are. They just nail it here! I get such a big smile and good feeling when I watch it.


(Sorry for the slow posting lately, but the family health situation is still going on and making it tough to devote the time I used to on my blogs. Hope to get back to it soon.)

Marvel's ST:TMP comic adaptation

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In 1979, Marvel published their comic adaptation of the new movie, and it was a major item for me when I found it at the corner convenience store near our home in Savannah, GA. Bob Larkin's fantastic painting emulated and updated the famous James Bama original promo art for the TV series (posted below for comparison), and I've wished for a poster of the art ever since.

Below is the title page artwork...

And below is a page scanned in from a scene deleted from the film, where Kirk follows Spock into the memory core of V'Ger and has to be rescued. Since it was put together from only a script and stills, the artists had not seen the film when drawing the adaptation, so there is a disconnect whenever a scene was depicted that required effects from the film. The movie's visual effects had been finished only at the last minute, so the artists had nothing to go on for those many scenes but script notes.

Bonus Stuff : Below is an ad scanned from a December 1977 issue of the Miami Herald. Nimoy had to do something to pay the mortgage, the movie was still several years away!

And next we have a black and white glossy photo from the old scrapbook. I had gotten this from a newspaper presskit (passed along to me by the Entertainment Editor who knew I was a fan), to help promote the series as it ran in syndication in the mid-70's.

And we have below another drawing by me... this was done in pen and ink, a little larger than life-size, as part of a quickly-done banner used for something in the high school cafeteria. My goal had been to capture the likeness with the fewest possible lines drawn. When they were done with it, I cut out the section with the Spock drawing to save.

It was 1974, I was in the 10th grade in South Broward H.S. in Ft. Lauderdale, FL at the time, and I saved my lunch money in order to buy books from the school bookstore (further contributing to my skinniness). I would order paperbacks through the kindly lady there, and that's where I first got my copies of "The Making of Star Trek," "The World of Star Trek," and "The Trouble With Tribbles" making-of book. I was in hog heaven reading them, truly! It's hard to express just how much these books meant to me at the time, and even today when I take those same copies out of my collection case, they take me back to those times.

When Kingons Attack!

The Burger King Star Trek campaign is getting underway with the introduction of what may be the funniest promotion ever. The offspring of an "alien encounter" between the Burger King and a Klingon woman (possibly when he showed up one morning in her bed with a breakfast sandwich as he likes to do, but didn't count on the agressiveness of the species), the "Kingons" are here on Earth on a mission to collect all the Star Trek glasses.

The website "Kingon Defense Academy" which has just opened, has a series of hilarious training videos to help earthers learn the tactics of these glass-grabbing aliens: http://www.whenkingonsattack.com/ You have to visit it for a good laugh, I got a real "kick" out of it!

A Starfleet security man demonstrates the weakness of the enemy, involving lots of groin-punching and kicking... which is pretty much the same defense you would use against any human male that attempts to grab your glass.

While it might look like another kind of attack in this screengrab, the Kingon is actually giving the fellow a Warp Five Wedgie, only one of many methods they employ. Others, many of which are known and feared by interplanetary nerds everywhere, are: "Neon Nurple," which involves a painful nipple-twist; "Dozarian Flat Tire," "Gamelan Armburn," "Intergalactic Nerve Pinch," etc.

The Kingons showed up first at the Hollywood premiere of the new Star Trek movie at Chinese Theater on April 30th. The crowd seemed to love them! The trusting, gullible fools, leaving themselves open for attack...

Ingratiating themselves with the fans, it was not yet apparent that their ultimate agenda was to covertly acquire the glasses, which have dilithium incorporated into their molecular structure.

When Kingons Attack... watch your glass!

Enjoy the first in a series of "Kingon" TV ads, which began airing Sunday, May 3rd.

1975 Tech Manual ads

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Clipped with feverish anticipation from the Miami Herald on December 7, 1975. Four years later the first Trek movie would be released on Dec. 7th. Just sayin'.

Below is an ad that ran in the TV Guide about the same time. The Tech Manual and Blueprints were the biggest thing that happened that year, as far as I was concerned! Even my first kiss paled in comparision. But, you would understand if you saw a picture of the girl.

Bonus: Below is a scan of the 1976 package for a large poster that contained a Trek-oriented crossword puzzle. The poster inside is identicle to the image on the cover, only larger. I think it's funny how Kirk is shooting at something from safely behind Spock.

"Don't move, Spock... it doesn't seem to like Vulcan blood!"

I've been a bit lazy concerning how I posted the 1976 Star Trek cards by Topps... just haphazardly, with smaller images and not showing the backs. Well, no more! I am now posting larger scans, with the backs included, in numerical order, only skipping over those already posted. I start off the better approach to sharing them with the great box top, below:

Ten cents! Compare that price for what you might pay nowadays for a pack of collector's cards! Today's kids don't use bubblegum cards to put in their bicycle spokes, that's for sure. If they could afford them, they'd have to pry them from the cheeseburger-greased hands of the slurpee-guzzling parent's-basement-dwellers who are buying them for their collections. (No offense to such, if this applies.)

Note the tag about the coming movie... it would be another three very long years before it came out.

Nimoy's A Natural As Holmes

Clipped from the May 16, 1976 issue of the Miami Herald. I've posted another article about "Sherlock Spock" earlier, in case you missed it.

Bonus: The ad brochure for the Spock plate in the Hamilton Collection, released to commemorate the 25th Aniversary of Star Trek, in 1991. The artwork for these plates is some of the best ever created for an official product.

Boy, I sure am having a good time going through my collection cabinets and boxes to find items to post in this blog! I'm finding stuff I haven't seen in many years, and in some cases I don't even remember having things I've found. But for the most part it's a trip down memory lane, as many of the things I bring out trigger memories of the times when I first got them. I hope you are having as good a time seeing them, as I am having posting them!

Brochure for 1st Trek VHS Release

Wow, it looks real and it's not even CGI, can you believe it?

In 1986 Star Trek was for the first time released on VHS through the CBS Video Library/Columbia House Video Club. Many a person still has the complete set of these old tapes collecting dust on some shelf! Scanned in for this post is a nice brochure made to promote the collection. As usual click on the pictures to view them full-size.

And since today's post is rather slim pickin's, here is another in the 1976 Topps card set.