My Star Trek Scrapbook

Uhura's Panties

2012-02-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

I know, I've posted individual images from this scene before, but here are some choice shots all together in one image for your enjoyment. You can never see too much of Uhura's panties, and this was one of the most revealing scenes in the whole series! From the teaser for "The Gamesters Of Triskelion."

(Click for the full-size image!)

Once clicking and opening the image, you may have to click on it again to view it full-size.

George Takei: Eternal Frustrations

2011-12-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

From Starlog, published August 1989, comes this article (paired with the previous article on Jimmy Doohan) featuring George "Oh, my!" Takei. He, moreso than some of the others it seemed, resented the small part he had compared to the three main stars. As far as I recall (not having watched it as much as the other films), he was featured as much as all the rest of the secondary cast, part of about every action scene. I understand his frustration, but really, he was included in it more than most TV episodes had him. At least he got to be a captain in the next one, which was some consolation, I'm sure.

"Next time, this chair is MINE!"

Bonus: Below, Kirk cuddles up to a belly dancer on Argelius, but strikes out as Scotty gets lucky. The girl would have done better with Kirk; more kissing and less knifing!

"I'm the star of the show, ask any of my co-workers. Want to go for a ride later?"

Daredevil of The Skies: James Doohan

2011-10-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

From issue #146 of Starlog, published September 1989, comes this article on everyone's favorite Engineer, Montgomery Scott. Or to be more accurate, the much-loved actor that brought him to life, James Doohan. It's interesting to learn that, but for being hired a day or two earlier for Trek, he might have become the engineer of the Seaview. Fate was kind to him (and us) by beaming him up before he could take that voyage to the bottom of the sea into obscurity.

It's also revealing to see how he and the other secondary cast members were chafing at the meagerness of their parts in ST 5, which was thanks to the ego of the director, who just happened to be the star. It's my outlook that giving an egotist like Shatner the directorial reins of a film he was also starring in was like giving the fox the keys to the henhouse. (No offense, Bill, but your talent for self-promotion was often at the expense of your co-stars, and nobody likes that.)

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One amusing bit from the article is when Jimmy says he would never guest-star on "The Next Generation," but we all know he did later. He didn't want to have to appear older through aging makeup, but when they found a way to get him in that century without aging him, he was ready for it! I'm glad he did it, it was a great homage to him.
Bonus: Below, a vintage photo of Bill Shatner from a TV/Movie magazine around 1967.

"I don't know why the extras like Jimmy and George hate me, they get to bask in my stardom!"

1980 Harold Michaelson Interview

2011-08-23T09:17:00.000-07:00

From Issue 30 of Starlog magazine (see the cover and another article here), published January 1980, comes this interview with the production designer of ST:TMP, Harold Michaelson. Michaelson took the existing Mike Minor designs for the new warp core from the planned "Phase Two" series and expanded it vertically to encompass multiple stories, as well as horizontally. The now-familiar design has been the design basis for every new show and movie ship's engineering deck... with the notable exception of the one movie that really could have used it... the recent '09 reboot. The money-saving use of a beer factory as engineering was nearly universally lambasted by fans, and hopes are that the producers of the sequel will listen to fan feedback and give us a real engineering room set, one befitting a big budget.

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"Whatever thou doest, Spock, dost not look up, lest thee seest up the robe of Surak."

The caption for the top photo is in error, as the ship on the design board is actually the air tram and not the Vulcan shuttle.

Bonus: Below, a fun video promoting the Star Trek "Battlestations" slot machine game. Since I don't anticipate ever going to Vegas, and I don't frequent casinos, this is about as close as I'll ever get to this game... but it does look like it would be fun to play. If I ever get rich, I might order one for my game room. The copy promoting the machine is under the video. Go to Youtube to view the video in larger format: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGN0ixpErU

WMS Gaming has captured the adrenaline rush fans feel when Captain Kirk makes that universal call to arms, “Battle stations!” From the design team behind the player favorite STAR TREK™ slots comes a whole new take on Community Gaming®— STAR TREK™ BATTLESTATIONS!

The game pits up to four players against the Klingons in a space battle between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire; complete with voice-overs from original show stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Casual and obsessive Trekkies alike will love the new STAR TREK slot game from WMS. Whether you just watched the TV series occasionally or can identify STAR TREK episode numbers and recite the command structure of the Romulan military, STAR TREK™ BATTLESTATIONS! will bring the popular TV show to life at a casino near you.

"ST:3 The Search For Spock" Effects Article

2011-08-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

From issue #28 of Enterprise Incidents (after the format change and national distribution as a sci-fi movie magazine) from April 1985 comes this behind-the-scenes article on the making of the effects for Star Trek 3. I do remember that the anticipation in my mind was much higher for #3 than it was for #2... there seemed to be very little advance publicity for TWOK, except for the furor over the leaked death of Spock. But after the movie was released and so well-received, the fan excitement over the third one seemed to be increased and there was much more in the media about it as it was being made.

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This Kruge miniature was used for the scene where he plunges into the abyss on New Genesis... the cut between the actor and the animated figure was disguised by a flash of lightning.

Ah, the good ol' days of model work.

Below is a detail from the 2-page spread put back together. I didn't want to shrink down the spread by showing both pages connected, so I scanned in the one photo that went across both so you could see it in its entirety. The detail visible on the scale model of the Excelsior is interesting to see, since we didn't get to see it much on screen in the movie.

It was still an ugly ship, though.

1979 Robert Wise Interview

2011-08-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

1979 was one of the most exciting years to ever happen for many Trekkers, and especially me. From that heady time comes this interview with director Robert Wise from Issue 30 of Starlog magazine, which came out in December of 1979, bearing the cover date of January 1980. For many, this issue came after they had seen the movie, but since I had to wait until January to sneak off to see it (thanks to my uptight and perpetually-irritated stepfather) this material only stoked my fervor.

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However, the excitement was tinged with worry, as early word leaked out that the movie was less than stellar. We kept on believing, though, and didn't let the rumors dampen our anticipation. This article by Tribbles author David Gerrold from the same issue did worry me, though... fortunately it did earn enough to warrant a sequel, which amped up the action factor.

Bonus: From 1967, a photo of Shatner on a smoke break, from one of the movie-TV gossip magazines.

"I could knock the Marlboro Man right out of his saddle."

Coming soon: the Harold Michaelson interview from this same issue.

They Won't Let Spock Stay Dead

2011-08-05T07:32:00.001-07:00

From the Beckley Herald, Friday, June 1, 1984 comes this oddly pictureless article about "The Search For Spock."

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Below, from the same page of the newspaper, the movies playing at the time.

Bonus: below, from the Macon, GA Central High School newspaper, published in 1974, an article by a friend of mine that I met there that year, Clay Weaver. Both being Trekkers and having other similar interests (like "Planet of the Apes" and "Kung Fu" movies) we hit it off immediately, because back then, us Trekkers had to stick together. The button in the photo belongs to him, as does the shirt it's on.

1978 Article: The Technology Of Trek

2011-07-28T11:30:00.001-07:00

This time, I'm bringing you more material from Issue #3 of the awesome Science Fantasy Film Classics magazine, published July 1978. You can view the cover here, and earlier content I've posted from this issue here, as well as here. And there will be more to come in future posts, you can be sure. This time the article focuses on the wonderfully thought-out technology that set the show apart from all other TV sci-fi, and was years ahead of its time. It was the technological trappings that made the setting so believable. The article looks at the technology on the show and where things were at the time, and postulates which items could be created and how long in the future it might be. With the exception of the transporter, which was more of a time-and-budget-saving device than a real possibility, many of the ideas are much closer to reality now, and some have been realized. The furthest away from being possible any time soon is warp drive, being only a theory.
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Bonus: a full-page photo of Bill Shatner from one of the TV-movie magazine articles published in September of 1967, during the show's original run.

Trek 25th Anniversary Roddenberry Interview

2011-06-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-09T11:56:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-28T05:59:00.000-07:00

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.

The Monster Times #2: Space Gear/Models Articles

2011-04-17T15:58:00.001-07:00

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."

Note: Blogger is acting weird again today, putting huge gaps in between every element, every time you save the post. Not my fault.

1978 Article on Trek's Computers

2011-04-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

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.

1985 Interview with Nichelle Nichols

2011-03-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back, after a short absence from posting, due to various mundane things taking up time from the fun stuff for a little while. From issue #30 of "SF Movieland" magazine (formerly "Enterprise Incidents" after it went mainstream), published June 1985, comes this article on the fetching Nichelle Nichols. Love that sassy pose... she is rocking that miniskirt!

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Bonus #1: an ad flyer from 1994 for a con featuring Nimoy.

Bonus #2: a publicity pic of Kirk and the shimmying (but ill-fated) belly-dancer Kara in "Wolf In The Fold." Her hootchie-kootchie dance was a memorable start to the episode, but to be fair some of the strength of the scene may have been due to the re-use of Vina's Orion Slave Girl dance music from "The Cage."

"How about dancing over here to my lap, gorgeous?"

Crossover Alert: Captain Kirk saves the day in the Cracked spoof of "Generations," to be found on "My Star Trek Scrapbook 2!"

1985 Cracked "Search For Spock" Spoof

2011-03-03T07:05:00.000-08:00

Severin does his usual great job of capturing the actor's likenesses in this spoof on "The Search For Spock," from issue #209 of Cracked magazine, published January 1985. However, he does mix in uniforms from the first movie on the first page for some reason! No Trek cover artwork this time, sadly.

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Bonus: Below, a nice photo of the cast from the same movie, omitting Nimoy since at the time these were released it was supposed to be a mystery if Spock was in it or not. Was there ever any doubt? I was thrilled to see Uhura finally get her skirt back, thanks to Nichelle's request. Poor Chekov didn't fair so well with his wardrobe, however.

Fan Club Magazine article on Nichelle Nichols

2011-02-22T06:26:00.000-08:00

Anyone visiting here even casually is aware of my Uhura fixation; blame it on my imprinting on her at the emergence of my puberty in 1973, I guess. Anyway, here is an article on Nichelle from the April/May 1990 edition of the Official Fan Club Magazine. First, the cover of the issue, which is from one of my favorite publicity photos, which places Uhura where I felt she should have been, one of the four main characters.

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Notice that Spock is not objecting to what would be an invasion of space from anyone else.

Bonus: Below, another rare pre-Trek photo of Nichelle putting her best foot forward. Lovely, but I actually prefer her with a few more pounds on her as we saw her during the series.

Bonus: Just for fun, a couple of photoshop manips where I put Uhura in the "U.F.O." Moonbase uniforms and purple wigs... doesn't she fit in wonderfully? She's mod, baby!

Bonus: Below, from the same issue of the fan club magazine, is a one page review of the (then) latest Trek novel "The Pandora Principle."

1986 "USA Today" article on "The Voyage Home"

2011-02-18T05:19:00.000-08:00

The success of the fourth Trek movie, "The Voyage Home" is covered in this article from "USA Today," dated Friday, Nov 28th 1986. The fact that director Nimoy is primarily interviewed made for good publicity, unlike it would have been had they talked exclusively to Shatner, who said in practically every interview that he had no clue why the show and movies were successful. Here the focus is rightfully on the movie, not an actor's attempts to establish a separate success. Nimoy always comported himself intelligently (his "Bilbo Baggins" video notwithstanding) representing the franchise well. Shatner does chime in though, expressing his disapproval of the plans to bring "The Next Generation" to TV without the original cast (although neither he or Nimoy would probably have returned if asked). His effort to direct the next movie is brought up, and the fans could already hear the rumble of distant trouble brewing on the horizon as he considers covering ground that Nicholas Meyer had already done in "The Wrath of Khan."

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Bonus: Below, found for sale on the web, is this unusual photo of bridge semi-regular Sean Kenny in his stand-in role of the crippled Captain Pike. His passing resemblance to Jeffery Hunter solved the problem of Hunter not wanting to reprise the role, and the heavy makeup --along with the character's lack of ability to speak-- sold the "illusion" if you'll pardon the pun. This is probably a make-up test/documentation photo, rather than a publicity photo.

"Wrath Of Khan" Cable TV Premiere

2011-02-16T07:50:00.000-08:00

This local Telecable cable guide comes from the WV/PA area, and came out in April of 1983 when "The Wrath Of Khan" (notwithstanding the TMP photo used on the cover) was premiering on pay TV for the first time. The nice interview with Shatner is the highlight of the issue, but there were a number of other items scattered throughout the digest-sized magazine that I also included.

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"Spock..." "Yes, Jim?" "You're... standing in my way."

Don't forget to visit my new blog devoted to the other Star Trek shows that came after TOS: www.MyStarTrekScrapbook2.blogspot.com!

Enquirer's Star Trek 30th Poster

2011-02-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

This time we open the scrapbook to bring out a 30th Anniversary commemorative foldout poster from The National Enquirer, published on September 10, 1996. The accompanying article from the previous page is included below; rather than isolating the Trek material as I usually do, I left in the rest of the page's material since it's so darn amusing. I don't think Roy Rogers got his wish when he rode out into that great ranch in the sky a couple years later. (However, I would like to think he and Trigger were reunited there.)

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Next, the poster itself, which had to be scanned in four sections and pieced back together.

And since the above poster includes the spinoff series up to that time, I think this is a good time to segue into the news that I have... (cue Alexander Courage's trumpet fanfare) ...I have started another scrapbook blog that includes my collected material from all the other Trek series that came after the original. Click here to go to My Star Trek Scrapbook 2!

Because you asked for it! Well, some people did, anyway.

Bonus link: Go here for some great Star Trek artwork by Pat!

1986 Close-Up on William "Dr. Daystrom" Marshall

2011-02-10T11:27:00.000-08:00

One of the most commanding figures to guest star on the original series, coming in only behind Khan in intensity and force of personality, is Dr. Richard Daystrom, memorably portrayed in the episode "The Ultimate Computer" by classically-trained actor William Marshall. With his towering and powerful frame (which dwarfed the lead Shatner), rich deep voice that rang out authoritatively, and intimidating presence, Marshall dominated each scene he was in.

Had he been cast in a different role as an out-and-out villain, rather than a misguided and unbalanced genius, there is no doubt that he could have been one of the crew's most dangerous and fondly-remembered adversaries, if written intelligently. The constraints of the Daystrom role meant he played him as a man driven to madness by a lack of recognition for his inventions, distracted and tormented by his desire to see M-5 become his greatest contribution to mankind. But imagine him in a role that let him be in charge of his capacities, pitted against Kirk as one of the few enemies that could match him in sheer force of will. What a Klingon captain he would have made! Even Kang would have respected him as a force to be reckoned with.

We see some of that quality in his thoroughly charming, yet chilling performance as Mumwalde, the so-called "Blacula" of the two films he played the character in. His alternately threatening-yet-sensitive approach to the role, portraying him as a victim as well as a predator, lifted it above the low-budget exploitation film genre it was a part of at the time.

This time we look at an article from the April/May 1990 edition of the Official Fan Club Magazine (see the cover). These two pages featuring Marshall were part of a series of articles that focused on guest stars from the show. The cover feature on Nichelle Nichols is scanned and ready to post in a future entry.

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Below, some screen captures from the episode (source: Trekcore.com) that illustrate Marshalls' height over the series stars.

"So, what do you think of my profile, Doctor?"

Kirk punctuates his criticism of Daystrom with a swift jab to the ribs.

The captain takes out his frustration on Daystrom's jumpsuit and chest hairs.

Shatner was undoubtably standing on a box for this scene.

Below, a publicity still and poster from Marshall's other role he is best known for: "Blacula." I have both films in my DVD collection, and enjoy watching them when I'm in a 70's kind of mood.

\
"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark..."

Bonus: Another of the humorous photo-captions that I like to throw in for a chuckle now and then.

The future is bright... perhaps too bright.
The crew finally got to see the new movie based on their exploits.

Ebony 1967 Nichelle Nichols Feature

2011-02-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

Here it is, folks... we're showed you the cover before, but never the inside content. This time we are feasting our hungry eyes on the rare 1967 issue of Ebony magazine (a digest-sized publication) that features Nichelle Nichols on the cover and inside article. The photos were taken especially for the magazine, so are not the typical publicity shots we've seen for years. These images are a great behind-the-scenes look at Nichelle's contribution to the series, and feature her in some wonderfully lovely pictures interacting charmingly with the cast and crew. I know that everyone around her must have loved her! First up, the cover. I know I've featured it before, but this time I'm bringing the largest version of the cover online that I am aware of...

And the inside feature itself, packed with unusual images of our favorite communications officer.

I love the candid in-costume images of Nichelle in the article, and especially below, as she gracefully brightens the set with her shape and smile. Look at the one of her standing between the wardrobe mistress and stylist, who helped create her onscreen image. Isn't she gorgeous? And the one on the bike... be still, my beating heart! It's not good for you to get so worked up.

Note the above ad for the "lighter, brighter skin" product. Then, as now, it seems that the societal pressure to conform to a certain image drives people to make changes to their appearance; changes that God never intended, and are certainly not desirable. Be who you are, everybody, and be proud of it! At the very least, be content.

Bonus: Below, a rare moody b&w photo, not from the magazine, but a publicity still from before the series.

1986 Article on Star Trek Novels

2011-02-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

More this time from the great 20th Anniversary Issue of Starlog, #112, published in October of 1986; I've been posting material from it recently, and will do more until it's all here.

Back when new Trek was still years away (and only a hopeful dream), and later during the lulls in between the movies, the Trek fiction novels were all we fans had (apart from fan fiction, which was hard to find for most, and the comics, which were basically short stories). I used to buy every single novel that came out, from the first, all the way up until about the mid-90's, when I only bought one now and then when a book looked particularly interesting. This article, titled "The Novel Adventures of Star Trek," briefly reviews the novels that were put out up till then, late in 1986.

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Bonus: below, from the same issue, is a one-page tribute to the series from author Allen Asherman, a name familiar to me from his days as editor of "The Monster Times."

And below is a panel of art commemorating the anniversary from the same issue depicting a meeting across time.

Star Trek Aliens Coloring Book

2011-02-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

On a lighter note this time, I'm featuring some select pages from a coloring book that features (mostly) the Star Trek aliens. This was published in 1986, and, although the interior artwork by Paul Abrams is passable, with decent facial features, the artist clearly was not familiar with Trek lore or designs, and was only working from a few isolated photos; much like the artist on the Gold Key comics in the early days. But if they were working from reference photos, how do you account for the strange looking alien on the cover that is "supposed" to be a spying Klingon (who looks like Lorne Greene), but is sporting rounded bumps on either side of his head? Oh, well, it's just for kids, who's gonna notice? (Says the artist.) T'Lar seems a bit taken aback by it, though... either that, or she's totally checking out his butt.

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"Oh, Bill, I've found your hairpiece, do you mind not leaving it lying around?"

I know that if you have any vintage Star Trek coloring books you are not going to let your kids color in them. So, print out these pages and hand them out to the kids with your blessing!

Below, a nice group shot, based on the familiar publicity photo we all know and love. So far, so good...

But below the lack of familiarity with the show manifests itself as a purely imaginary picture of Spock's father and mother. But you have to admit, his mother really is a hottie! And with a dad that looks like a cocky and confident Vulcan Sean Connery, a Spock from this background would have probably been portrayed by a super-cool and swinging James Coburn (click here for my interpretation of how this would have played out; I've always thought Coburn would have made an excellent Vulcan). Coburn's super agent Flint had a similar nerve pinch, too. By the way, did you know that Spock's half-brother Sybok was originally supposed to be played by Sean Connery? Tru dat! Man, I got off on a tangent there...

"He always liked Sybok better than me. I think it's because of the beard."

He's blue, and worried, because he's missing an antenna. Since he's subtly pointing to his thigh, it's possible that he wants you to search his pants for it.

Mr. Chekov brandishing... something. A squirt gun? A futuristic stapler? One thing's for certain, it sure ain't no phaser. Pavel was getting into his new position in Security, so color his shirt red, for much blood, pain and screaming.

"Hey, Uhura! I think I've found a cure for PMS!"

"Please deposit 50 cents for one more minute, Doctor."

Rubber gloves donned, the crew braces for the mess they have to clean up from the captain's sick targ.

"Who took my burlap sack? I'm naked and it's freezing on this blasted ship! And would it kill ya to leave a little salt scattered around?"

"Yo inna heap o' trouble, bo-ah!"

Below, the cat may be giant, but why is the table leg also giant? It seems the artist thought that Kirk had been shrunk. Again, nitpicking on a kid's coloring book. I almost feel like a bully doing it.

"And hurry the **** up about it, you sotted Scot!"

Below, a couple more pages that feature Uhura, but the facial resemblance is not that great, neither is the body type accurate. She looks more like agent Lana Kane from the cartoon series "Archer." But that's okay, because she is made of total hotness also.

"I just love stroking Bill's hairpiece. Listen , it's purring!"

"I just know this planet is going to have some great stores for shopping!"

"Dr. Spock" Probes Unknown

2011-01-28T10:29:00.000-08:00

This article, clipped by me sometime in 1977 from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel (I didn't preserve the date), was difficult to scan by virtue of the fact the the first column ran pretty much the length of the newspaper page, meaning I had to scan it in three parts and photoshop it back together. Poor layout, methinks. But the worst thing about it is that whoever added the headline made the tired old "Dr. Spock" mistake. Come ON, people! Poor Leonard must have been so very, very tired of this happening. I added the photos to take up the empty space left when I clipped the article from the paper.

(Click images to enlarge.)

Below is a funny comic panel from fanzine "Enterprise Incidents"(#6, September 1978) that illustrates the frustration that Nimoy (and Mr. Spock) must have felt over the mistake! Another thing that used to get under my skin, and was certain to elicit a quick (and snarky) correction from me, was someone calling the show "Star Track."

Too late the poor schlub learned that Vulcans can turn violent with little provocation under certain circumstances.

Bonus: Below, a nice publicity photo of Nimoy as "They Call Me MISTER Spock" from Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan."

"Did... you just call me... DR. Spock? Because unless my ears deceived me, you did. And these ears do not lie."

Bonus #2: A verra nize b&w publicity photo of Kirk and Spock from the glory days of the original series. This is one of my favorite shots of them together, for the memories it brings back to me. Scanned from the same issue of "Enterprise Incidents" as the cartoon above.

Kirk and Spock commemorated their friendship with a visit to their Sears photography department.

And, because I'm in a generous mood today, yet another bonus below, this time a great pen and ink by Ralph Fowler (see his tag link for more) from -again- the same issue of E.I. I love this guy's work, and wish I could hear from him!

I used to wonder occasionally, upon hearing an ignorant person use the "Dr." title for Spock, if the actual Dr. Spock ever got tired of dealing with kids asking him where his pointed ears were. One can only hope.

The Monster Times #2 Article: Writing Star Trek Comics

2011-01-26T05:17:00.000-08:00

Anyone reading this blog for long knows of my affection for "The Monster Times," a newspaper-format monster magazine that was little-remembered by most, but fondly by those that found it. I picked my first issue up in 1973, and it really fanned the flames of the fire that had begun in my pre-teen life for Star Trek, and to a lesser degree, Planet of the Apes. Of course, I had loved monsters since I was a tyke, so this publication really hit the spot with its coverage of all these areas. I didn't buy the issue I'm covering this time from the newstand; I found it much later at a genre collectables shop. But I was thrilled to come into possession of it, as it had been one I had wanted since seeing it in the back-issues ad in TMT itself years before.

I've featured material from issue #2 of TMT before, here and here; but it was so chock full of Trek stuff that it could be awhile before I'm done. This time we feature an article about Star Trek comics, from a well-known writer that contributed stories to the Gold Key version; Len Wein.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Although the Gold Key comics were my first Star Trek item ever purchased, and really, my entry point into fandom, I never really cared for the art or the stories; I could tell even at that early stage in my appreciation for the show, that the comics really didn't reflect it very well. They still have a nostalgic attraction for me, however, and I enjoy my old issues that bring back good memories. In this article we find out how one man swam against the tide to try and correct come of the most glaring departures from the show, and bring up the level of the writing as well.

The pages from the British comic strip were the highlight of the article for me, boasting as it did superior art and much more accurate depictions of the characters (read more about them here). I came across more pages of this comic later when they were reprinted in various convention booklets and such, but never a complete set containing a whole story. The article kicks off with a look at the book that the author used to help bring the Gold Key people in line, and one that holds a wealth of wonderful memories for me as well; "The Making of Star Trek." Never have I been more excited to get a book than when I did that one!

And, as a bonus, below we feature another item from the same issue, the photo-story parody "Star Drek." It actually uses a couple of publicity photos I've not seen anywhere else, before or since; the cowering Uhura and the Tellarite in the Jeffries tube.

DC 25th Anniversary Comic Issue

2011-01-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today we look at the cover and inside bonus material from the 25th Anniversary issue of DC comic's Star Trek comic. The 25th Anniversary of Trek in 1991 yielded a lot of material for fans, and the text and art tributes by various writers and artists in this comic are nice. Enjoy the ones I have picked to share! First the nicely-done cover art, illustrating the interior story which concerns Harry Mudd. The story art is extremely well done, also.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Next, below are two pages with tributes by Chris Claremont, award-winning comic book writer and novelist; and author Michael Jan Friedman.

Claremont wondered about a new show 20 years hence from 1991... but it didn't take that long to see another show based on Star Trek!

Next we have reflections by fan favorite author Peter David, and writer Howard Weinstein, who penned an animated series script, "The Pirates Of Orion."

And below we see some of the special art in the back of the comic by various artists.

1989 Newspaper Article On Star Trek Fans

2011-01-21T05:56:00.000-08:00

When you have such dedicated fans like Star Trek has inspired, sometimes the media focus goes from the show to the followers; after all, they are fun to write about. This time I'm bringing out an old article from the Friday, June 23, 1989 edition of the Charleston Gazette about the members of the local fan club in nearby Huntington, West Virginia, which I lived near at the time. This one had to be scanned in three sections then photoshopped back together. I hope you appreciate the work. :)

These fans had a lot more guts than I would have, to appear in a newspaper photo in costume. I was more of a closet Trekker, having been forced there of necessity by my step-dad while I was living at home. Even after getting married and out on my own in 1981, very few co-workers or casual acqaintances knew of my interests. But that's not to say I was any less interested than these fans; I simply kept my enjoyment to myself. I did, however, attend a couple of meetings of their club, and a convention in Charleston where Walter Koenig and Marina Sirtis were the guest stars. Star Trek: The Next Generation had premiered in 1987 and public interest was high.

There are actually two articles on the front page, and they are continued on separate pages which are posted under it; one focused on the franchise, and the other on the fans.

It would be so easy to poke fun at these un-self-conscious fans, but we're all in the same boat. If they were Star Wars fans, now, that would be different. We could laugh then.

I bet getting the lady in the wheelchair in place for the photo at the local strip mining site was difficult. If you are one of the fans in the photo, or were a part of the Huntington or Charleston fan club, and merely even lived in the area and remember the activity, leave a comment, I'd like to hear from you!

I can certainly relate to the quoted fan Jonathan Jones, who, according to the article, moved to WV from Florida, which was also my case exactly. I strongly echoed his sentiment that "West Virginia is Star Trek hell." Which meant that finding material there was a real challenge. Fans had to stick together, because collectable items were almost impossible to find.

Below, one of the movie ads that ran in the same edition of the newspaper; from them we can see that the article above was probably ran to coincide with the release of the fifth movie. Also out that week were "Batman," and "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids." The ads for those can be seen along with many others from my collection at the blog "Held Over!" at http://www.heldovermovies.blogspot.com/.

Bonus: Below, cover art by one of my favorite genre artists, Bob Larkin. This was the cover for the 1982 Marvel comics paperback collection of issues from their monthly comic series. His covers were not only faithful to the characters, costumes and settings, but were always dynamic and colorful.

An alien, having determined the human's weaknesses, used the music of historical villain Britney Spears to incapacitate the crew.

Star Trek Giant Poster Magazine #3

2011-01-19T05:21:00.000-08:00

There were two publications that came out in the 70's that really were incredible to find back then... the Star Trek Fotonovels (which came out in 1977, and which we'll tackle soon) and the Giant Poster Magazine. Finding a new edition of either of these on the newstand was a major event in my little world!

I've posted the complete scans of issues #1 and #2 of the poster magazine, and will continue to feature them occasionally until they are all covered. This time we look at issue #3, (published in October of 1976) devoted to covering the more humorous aspects of the show. First, the cover... unusual for the fact that his uniform tunic appears purple rather than blue. This is probably because a colored gel was being used on one of the lights illuminating the scene.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

As always, I scan these pages in sections and then photoshop them back together, which is why the posts of the various issues are spaced apart as they are. It's a big job! If you had these issues, but don't any more, these posts will restore them to you, in a manner of speaking, and refresh your memories of them. If you missed them, they will be new to you! And if you still have them, but haven't looked at them in awhile, the posts will save wear and tear on your issues.

Next, the two pages that it opened up to first; one featuring images from the blooper reel, and the other the rules for playing the game Fizzbin, made up by the captain on the spot to confuse and distract the guards in "A Piece of the Action."

Next, page three, which was twice as large as the previous page, when the magazine was opened up further. A nice writeup on the most famous episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles."

Below, page 4, from the opposite side of the page above; on the inside fold. A nice look at the humor of Star Trek, much of which came from Dr. McCoy.

And then there's the back cover, interesting because of the ads for the two exciting items, the Tech Manual and the Blueprints. Take the trivia quiz if you think you know Star Trek! Answers given next issue.

Bonus: Below, a contributed item from a reader! Although I primarily featured material from my own collection (hence the "my" in "My Star Trek Scrapbook") I have decided to share material sent in by readers, if, of course, I don't already have that item. This time, we have a real rarity; a movie magazine page featuring DeForest Kelly way before his role on Star Trek. Contributor Kristie pointed out that since it mentions his involvement in the then-current film "Variety Girl", that this dates the article to 1947. Bet some of you didn't know his career went back that far! Kristie is an active contributor to a blog dedicated to Kelly, which you should visit! There are some awesome and rare photos of De posted there.

Note: I have begun a Twitter account for those that would like to use it to stay informed when I make posts here. Subscribe at www.Twitter.com/fredtrekker!

Kelly Freas Chekov Portrait

2011-01-17T05:57:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a fun series of posts to do, and this time we look at the last of the portraits painted by Kelly Freas of the Officers of the Bridge. Why is Chekov last? I admit, the order of posting was entirely my own choice, the pictures were not numbered. But in descending order of any list of the bridge crew, poor little Chekov always comes in last. Aside from the fact that he was only added in the second season, Chekov seems to have been the whipping boy of Star Trek, not even showing up in the animated series. Did Freas do him justice in his portrait, though? Let's take a look-see...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Like his painting of Sulu, Kelly perfectly captures the facial features of Chekov, who actually seems the closest to his 1967 self than any of the others. And oddly enough, whereas most of the others gained longer hair (based as most were on photos of the stars taken at the time, the mid-70's) Pavel's is the same as the series; maybe Freas judged his Monkees haircut shaggy enough already. Nothing added to it for visual interest, as in most of the others, either; a phaser or something would have added a little zing. I would have given it an A+ for character accuracy, but I deduct a bit for the lack of flair here that had been given to the others. But for the very nice starfield background, this would have been somewhat lackluster. Even his expression seems a bit distant and sad; whereas his buddy Sulu looked happy and energetic, Chekov looks lethargic and introspective.

Not surprisingly, painful depression really was inwented in Russia.

Maybe the expression comes honestly... Chekov always seemed to get the crappy end of the stick; a Ceti eel in his ear put there by Khan, an butt-ugly Drill Thrall who wanted to molest him on Triskelion, a plasma-burned hand when V'Ger overloaded their shields, brain injury on an aircraft carrier in Earth's past, shot and "killed" in the Melkotion OK Corral illusion... even his Mirror universe double fared no better, as he end up screaming for hours in the Agonizer Booth. Chekov was famous for screaming in terror and/or torment; that would dial down your enthusiasm level.

Or, perhaps it was taken from a then-contemprary photo reference of Walter Koenig, who probably was depressed at his lack of work after the series, and was forever ambivilent about his typecasting. His interviews and book "Chekov's Enterprise" all bemoaned the fact that he was so underused. The one convention I saw him in, where he was onstage with TNG actress Marina Sirtis, he looked uncomfortable, as if he had been ill, or eaten lunch at Taco Hell. Though, to be fair, I guess years of people asking him to "say 'nuclear wessals!'" would drain the joy from any man. He could probably relate to "Galaxy Quest" more than any others of the cast.

Bonus: Below, the salute to Walter Koenig from Starlog's Trek 20th Anniversary issue #112.

"I wonder... am I helping my career by playing Chekov or hurting it?"

Thanks for sticking with me on this series of posts! Thanks for your comments, also. I love hearing from my readers. Now that you've seen them all, name your favorite!

Kelly Freas Sulu Portrait

2011-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

For the last five blog entries we have been looking at the Kelly Freas paintings from the "Officers Of The Bridge," as the set was called when it was first premiered in the 1976 New York Star Trek convention booklet. Today we turn the corridor corner and encounter the shirtless sword-and-pec flexing Sulu, and I've gotta say that Kelly outdid himself on this one.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Shatner, beware my steel! And check out my abs, your flabby middle cannot compare!"

Looking closer at the face below, highlighting that familiar Takei smile, we see that Kelly simply nails the features on this characterization, and for that reason I have to put this portrait near the top when it comes to accurately capturing the features.

From the swashbuckling sash, which reminds one of the mirror universe (although that was a much deadlier Sulu), to the fencing rapier, Freas seems as though he had fun doing this one, showing Sulu practicing one of his hobbies that makes it more memorable than a pose at his usual station on the bridge. I confess that I would rather have seen Uhura's washboard abs than his... I'm sure, however, that Sulu's fans were thrilled.

This oiled-down and sweaty image brought to you by ""SULU Pour Homme," the cologne for men! Oh-h-h-h, m-y-y-y!

Below we see a publicity still that features Sulu in a similar pose. But for that one scene early in the series ("The Naked Time"), Sulu might never have broken out of the background to become an interesting character. Resisiting the natural impulse to have Sulu stereotypically emulate a samurai, the writer gave him depth and uniqueness by instead having fencing as a hobby, and secretly fancying himself one of the Three Musketeers.

"TWANG-G-G-G-G-G!"

Bonus: As with the other entries, I am pairing the paintings of the characters with the salute to the actor that brought them to life, from the Star Trek 20th Anniversary issue of Starlog, Issue #112, which came out in October of 1986.

And here we see a photo of George, (from the magazine salute) probably one he had taken himself near the time of the 4th movie, that seems to be directly inspired by the Freas painting.

"Give me a ship of my own or suffer the point of my sword!"

Next: From Russia with love!

Kelly Freas Uhura Portrait

2011-01-13T06:03:00.000-08:00

So far, in our look at the bridge crew portraits by fantasy/sci-fi artist extraordinaire Kelly Freas, we've seen Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty. Now, fellows, calm your churning hormones, for the post of the Freas portrait we've been most anticipating is here... Lt. Nyota Uhura! Kelly's ethereal style was perfectly suited to portray the galaxy's most beautiful communications officer. As noted by myself and other commenters, the resemblance to the characters was achieved in varying degrees of success. How does Uhura fare? Judge for yourself...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"She walks in beauty, like the night."

Aside from the non-regulation silver go-go dancer boots, Uhura's portrait turned out pretty well. Although Nichelle's waist was nowhere near that small, her other assets are nicely portrayed. Her graceful hands and the familiar sexy pose that showed off her legs are faithfully reproduced here. But the bodies of the stars were never the issue. Nichelle's striking facial features are captured nicely, considering that, like several of the others, it is not a head shot but a full body painting, which makes faces more challenging to accurately depict, being smaller. The colors of the panel on her board, and the PADD prop add some visual interest as well. The only way it could have been better would have been to depict her in the mirror universe uniform!

"Message coming in, captain... it says I've been voted 'Hottest Starfleet Officer' for the fifth year in a row!"

Bonus: From issue #112 of Starlog magazine, the Trek 20th anniversary issue published in October of 1986, is Nichelle Nichol's salute pages. (I have decided to retroactively add each star's salute pages to the Kelly Freas portrait page of their character, so look back over them in coming days to see each one.)

Uhura doesn't need a phaser to stun you, just a look.

Such a pose from the scene in Star Trek III makes one wish that Nichelle had been given more such opportunities in the original series. She really was, as the only female regular on the bridge, criminally underused. But, considering the times, I suppose we were lucky she was there at all. Today, she would be a co-star, as evidenced by the character's prominence in the 2009 reboot.

Kelly Freas Scotty Portrait

2011-01-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

We've recently been looking in detail at the individual paintings that Kelly Freas did in 1976 as part of a set called "Officers of The Bridge." (You can see all the posts, once they are done, by using the "Kelly Freas Art" tag on the right side of the page.) They were originally created for the program booklet (pictured below) for the New York Star Trek convention at the New York Hilton, held Jan 23-25 in 1976, which, besides the portraits, contained cast and crew bios by Ralph and Valerie Carnes.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

This time we are looking at Mr. Scott's portrait, which is one of the most interesting paintings in the set, in that Scotty is decked out in his dress uniform and traditional kilt. He's holding (what is probably) a basket-hilted Claymore, and the face appears to be based on a picture of James Doohan as he appeared at the time, beard and all. The background depicts Montgomery Scott's Scottish heritage, ranging from the ancient Celtic castle to an early pulp sci-fi-style rocket.

There Can Be Only One.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, and I'll run ye through."

And below we take a closer look at the chiseled visage of our Scotch-loving Scottish engineer, who looks as if a Klingon just insulted his beloved ship. Seriously, you do not want to mess with a man who is holding a sword and has an expression like that. A great piece of artwork, and one of my favorites in the set. I'm betting that this hangs somewhere in the Doohan household.

"Gr-r-r-r-r! The haggis is in th' fire now, fer su-r-r-re."

Update: Reader Rob Bignell submitted a comment with a link to this photo he found online, of Doohan at a convention in 1975. This confirms that the portrait was based on photos of Jimmy at the time, and it's very accurate! Thanks, Rob!

The fan in the photo still has scars from cigarette ash burns on her arm, which she treasures to this day and proudly shows her grandkids.

Below, a scan of a photo from one of my scrapbooks showing the wearin' o' th' kilt, which gives new meaning to the term "dress uniform."

"Mr. Chekov, if you keep insisting that the kilt was "inwented in Russia," Mr. Scott here is most certainly going to deck you."

Bonus: (Updated on 1-13-10) Here is the salute to Doohan from Starlog issue #112, which celebrated Trek's 20th anniversary in October of 1986.

Bonus #2: Below, a writeup from the same issue of Starlog on the location filming of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," which shows Jimmy turning on the legendary charm for a bonnie lass visiting the set.

Update: here's a link to a video found online where James Doohan talks about his encounter with a suicidal fan. Quite touching!

Next: the best legs in Starfleet! You know who I'm talking about.

Kelly Freas McCoy Portrait

2011-01-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Today we continue posting the set of paintings by Kelly Freas, which I acquired from Lincoln Enterprises in 1976. So far, we've seen the somewhat familiar Kirk and Spock, and today we see the portrait of everyone's favorite grumpy but lovable country doctor, Leonard McCoy.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Three guesses where this probe is going?"

Below, we take a closer look at the good doctor's face, and in this case I have no criticism; Freas perfectly captured DeForest Kelly's features. If the artist was working from recent photos of the cast rather than production pictures, as some commenters on previous posts mentioned, then DeForest had changed the least of the three main stars. Here we see only a few more creases, but the expression is pure McCoy, which shows that Freas certainly could depict accurate faces with no trouble. Using a sickbay wall panel as a background, and giving him a (fairly generic) medical instrument, adds some visual interest as well. All around, an excellent part of the set, and a beautiful painting on its own.

"I only peek in the line of duty. Now, get undressed, Nyota."

Bonus: (retroactively added on 1-14-10) Here is the DeForest Kelly salute from Starlog issue #112 (October 1986) which was the Trek 20th Anniversary edition.

By coincidence, this photo of McCoy perfectly matches the position of his head in the painting.

Bonus: Below, the cover of the "Wrath of Khan" paperback adaptation, published in July of 1982. After the "leisurely" pace of the previous movie, I (and many fans) were ready for some action, and by George, we knew from the moment we heard the title that we were likely to get it. The return of Khan! I was super excited, and picked up the novelization a few days before the movie came out. As I usually did in such cases, I read about 75 percent of it before stopping, in order to preserve any surprises that the ending of the movies brought. I was glad I did, when I saw the movie. Although the cover art is uncredited, it shows all the earmarks of a Bob Larkin painting, so that's my best guess. Anyone know for sure? Update: Two commenters think it's by Boris Vallejo, so it probably is. He did some great covers also. When I find out for sure, I'll post it!

"Spock, don't look now, but I think we're being followed."

Next: Another painting in the set; and if you say one word about what he's wearing, you could get kilt by this manly bearded swordsman.

Kelly Freas Spock Portrait

2011-01-06T08:21:00.000-08:00

Continuing the series of posts covering the set of Kelly Freas Trek cast paintings, first offered through Lincoln Enterprises in 1976. Last time, we saw Kirk's...this time we look at Kelly's Mr. Spock portrait...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Would you like me to... 'energize' you?"

In a pose and spacesuit from "The Tholian Web," we see Spock manning the transporter console with a rather impish (or some might even say seductive) expression. What does that glint in the eye signify... the onset of a slight case of Pon-Farr? The use of the suit illustrates Kelly's apparent desire to have the crew images look as different from one another as possible, through the dramatic use of props, poses and dress. (Although the IDIC would have been a more appropriate background, perhaps he was not versed well enough in Trek lore to be aware of it.) Most artists that do a series of crew portraits just have them all in the usual uniforms.

Below we have a closer look at the face. That face... which seems to resemble Nimoy somewhat less than last entry's did Shatner. I would probably put this at the bottom of the set as far as capturing the features accurately, but once again, the style in which it is rendered (Kelly's unique look) probably renders the complaint moot. Who am I to tell him how he should have painted it? All I can say is, when my 17 year-old self looked at it for the first time after getting the set in the mail, I thought, "man, that doesn't look that much like Spock!" That is probably akin to someone looking at a Picasso and saying "why does that man have both ears on one side of his face?" Oh, the ignorance of youth. What say you? Was I right? Or just irrelevent?

I am pretty certain I wouldn't want Spock looking at me that way while in the midst of a crisis. Or any time, come to think of it.

Update: As a bonus, I am retroactively adding to these portrait posts the salute that Starlog did for each actor in their Trek 25th Anniversary Issue, which came out in October of 1986 (just before the December release of "The Voyage Home." Below is their salute to Leonard Nimoy, most famous for creating the compelling alien character of Narab on "Zombies of The Stratosphere" in 1952, and also Mr. Spock on a TV show in the late 60's called "Star Trek."

"Hurry up, I'm about to fall over here!"

Bonus: Below, the nice Roger Stine painted cover art for the 1989 comic adaptation of "ST V: The Final Frontier." The inside artwork was nice, but considering the source, the story unremarkable. We did get to see the fire-breathing rock creature at the end, though... the one Shatner had scripted but didn't get to include due to budget limitations. It wouldn't have saved the movie, however.

At least the faces resemble the actors.

Kelly Freas Kirk Portrait

2011-01-05T06:50:00.000-08:00

Back in 1976 I bought the set of crew paintings by the awesome fantasy artist Kelly Freas from Roddenberry's Lincoln Enterprises. Although I have featured the Uhura portrait before (naturally), I have never posted the complete set. I decided this omission should not be continued, so I will be posting them all in succession until they are all here, starting with the good Captain, James Tiberius Kirk.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

The addition of the UFP symbol behind him is a nice touch. Looks like he left his girdle at home though.

Below is a closer look at the face, which, although a fine rendering, is just a tad off from Shatner's visage. While Freas was a fine artist, it seemed that in some cases (in this set, at least) the paintings did not quite capture the likenesses of the so-very-familiar features of our heroes. As more examples are posted, we see that there are varying degrees of success; with this being one of the better ones. I give this one an "B+" for character likeness. What do you think? Still, you can't fault the ethereal style that Kelly brought to each canvas, and not being an art critic, I won't try to. As for as likeness, it could be his artistic interpretation of the character, and not an effort at photographic reproduction.

Update: This photo below is actually pretty close to the image in the painting.

Since these are all 11 by 16 inches, they have to be scanned in two parts and then photoshopped back together. The crease in the middle comes not from the stitching process, but the fold in the paper from where I had them stored for years in one of my collection cases. I wish now I had stored them flat and unfolded in some protective folder, or even rolled up.

Sure, these posters can be seen at various places around the web, and even bought at the official Freas website. (who, sadly, is no longer with us.) But, those are not my prints, and not from my collection; and if a criteria for posting was a complete lack of availability anywhere else, I would hardly post anything at all. I decided awhile back that I would not consider other available online sources when featuring items from my collection. Why should I send readers off to another site for something I have in my own cabinets? And why limit what I put on my blog just because of what someone else has on theirs? So, come back soon for the next post on this lovely set!

Update: I have been retroactively adding in each star's salute page from the Trek 25th Anniversary issue #112 of Starlog to these Freas posts. Here is the Shat's...

USA Today Articles on ST VI

2011-01-04T08:19:00.000-08:00

From the Friday, December 6, 1991 edition of USA Today comes this nice article and positive movie review of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." It seemed fitting that the last original crew movie would premiere so close to the date of the first movie, "The Motion Picture" which came out in 1979 on Dec. 7th.

First, the review, which was highest up on the USA Today "Life" page...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

And second, the article, which was right under the review. I split the picture and the text so that both would be bigger in the scan.

The second part of the article, however, was long... almost from the top of the page to the bottom. I had to scan it in two sections and put them together in one image. Sorry for the smallish text, but it couldn't be split up or it would separate some lines of text. As usual, Shatner sounds the most clueless of the cast, with his odd "dust man" comment. The rest comport themselves well, all making the typical statements according to their personalities that we've come to expect over the years. From George's bubbly self-promotion to Walter's morose musings on the smallness of his part, the gang's all here.

Nichelle! Oh, Nichelle!

2010-12-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you look and look for gold and sometimes you trip right over it. Today I was checking my Facebook ST Scrapbook fan page, and someone had posted this picture of Nichelle Nichols, pre-Star Trek, that they found online here. I reacted to it like a cartoon character, with my legs flying up in the air behind me and twirling like helicopter blades. My eyes bugged out and bounced on the floor, before they blew up like balloons then deflated with a rude noise. My jaw flopped down on the floor and my tongue rolled out and down the stairs, out the door and onto the street where a taxi ran over it. I heard strange old-timey car horn sounds blasting out of my ears. I had never seen this treasure before! Wowowowowowowowowowow! My Uhura/Nichelle fixation got a major reinforcement right then!

(Click on image to see high-rez version, if your heart and glands can stand it.)

Do not gaze upon the goddess too long, lest thine eyes be dazzled.

Although this find deserved a post of its own, here are a couple more images I had gathered recently that you will enjoy. The one below, sadly, is no larger than you see it; but it's a beautiful publicity shot on the bridge I had not seen before. Gorgeous!

And although I have posted a version of the classic 1967 Ebony cover below from another source, this one turned up online recently, without the address label and in a slightly larger size. I wish I had this issue!

If you are able to take your eyes off her long enough, look at the Jeffries tube surface near the top right of the photo. A tear can be seen in the cardboard material of the tube they scavanged and used to make it!

Update: Little did I realise when I posted this that it was on the same day as Nichelle's birthday, December 28th! Happy birthday to the lovliest and classiest woman to grace the bridge of any starship!

Galileo Ornament Ad

2010-12-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

From the late summer of 1992, the front of a promotional card advertising the soon arrival of the newest Hallmark Christmas decoration... the Shuttlecraft Galileo!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

And below, the back of the card that tells of a "landing party" where a cardboard Enterprise mobile would be given away. These had been used in earlier promotions, hanging from the ceilings of the stores.

We Wish You A...

May you and yours have a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it in your home), remembering the reason for all the celebration and gift-giving...

Isaiah 9:6
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Animated M'Ress Bio

2010-12-20T08:41:00.001-08:00

In her brief appearances M'ress managed to show more tail on the bridge than Uhura did, and that's saying a lot.

Last time, we looked at one of two bios of the new alien characters from the animated series that I bought in the early 70's from Lincoln Enterprises. We've seen Arex's dossier; now let's look at the other, for the intriguing cat-like M'Ress. A quick Google-image search for her name will reveal that quite a few fans found her sexy and worthy of much fan art depicting her in various poses, uniforms, and stages of undress. Here's a forum thread with M'Ress appreciation as its topic.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, a pencil drawing I made of M'ress sometime in the mid 70's, when I was about 16 or 17. I've posted this before, but thought considering the topic it would fit good here in case some had missed the earlier entry.

"Okay, who's the wise guy that put the flea collar on my chair?"

Bonus: Below we see the cover of the second Blish original Star Trek novel, started by him before his death and finished by his widow, Judith Ann Lawrence, who often co-wrote his books with him and had in fact finished the last adaptation, #12, when Blish sadly passed away before completing it. "Mudd's Angels" was published in May of 1978. The cover art is by one of my genre favorites, Bob Larkin, who invokes the feeling of the earlier adaptation covers depicting the starship in close proximity to similar alien planet surfaces.

"Ahh, th' pimpin' life is good, me lassies!"

Below is the back cover, continuing the style seen in all the other direct adaptations in the series.

Animated Arex Bio

2010-12-18T11:09:00.000-08:00

"Sure, I'm a little depressed. Wouldn't you be, serving on a ship with such ugly aliens as these humans?"

Back in 1973 or so Roddenberry's company Lincoln Enterprises sold bios of the animated series characters. Since I knew the main characters, the only two I bought were those of the two new aliens, Arex and M'ress. I'll post M'Ress next time; first, we look at the biographical information on the odd-looking (to us) tripodal Arex, who was voiced (as almost all non-regular characters were) by James "Scotty" Doohan.

Although designed to be more alien-looking than any character could ever have been done on the live-action show (an advantage of the animated format) Arex was never used as more than window-dressing; all we ever saw of him was seated at navigation and pushing buttons. I can't remember ever having seen him even stand, much less walk and do anything. He was so underused that he made Uhura look like a top-billed co-star by comparision.

Bonus: Below is the front and back of the assembly directions that came in the "Space Ship Set" by AMT, which came out in the mid 70's. Each ship was small, only about 5 inches at the longest; this set was fragile on its base and it didn't last long over our many moves. I think all I have left, other than this sheet, is the fuselage of the Klingon ship.

Dec 7th: Happy Birthday ST:TMP!

2010-12-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

Star Trek may have been born on September 8, 1966, but it was born again on December 7th, 1979. It's rebirth was a long time coming; although in retrospect it doesn't seem that long, for those of us who lived through the 70's as a fan, it was very long indeed. Now, as I look back, it's hard to believe that 31 years have passed since the newest Star Trek in over a decade was bursting upon us, heralded in the TV spots by the weighty tones of the equally weighty Orson Welles. This wasn't just a new movie... it was an Event!

(If you are new to this site, and haven't yet plumbed its depths, click on this link for all the entries tagged Star Trek: The Motion Picture to enjoy the many articles and items I've posted so far. It will take you back to that exciting time!) Here's an article you can skip to that came out the weekend of the movie premiere that spotlights Stephen Collins.

Here is a short article from issue #17 of Starlog (published in October of 1978) that features the upcoming movie, as it was just getting underway; for real this time.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Here's the Star Trek Report from Susan Sackett from the same issue. There's a line in it from a hopeful writer about a planned book set "70 years in Star Trek's future." Don't think the book got published, but it is interesting that it just about coincides with the time of the future Next Generation series that came later. Coincidence? Or the germ of the idea to advance things to that time period? Like how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop, the world may never know.

Bonus #1: Here's one of several coloring books that came out in 1979 using publicity photos from the movie for front and back covers. A nice picture on the front that I don't have anywhere else.

The phrasing of the text on the back is amusing: "The Enterprise has beamed down on you..." Huh?

Bonus #2: A nice b&w publicity shot, taken very early in the shoot (possibly on the first day) of the crew all together.

Nichelle's uniform would have been so much better by leaving off the pants and letting her wear high black boots.

And one more bonus, a nice photo of our heroes in those infamous one-piece jumpsuits that left nothing to the imagination below the waist.

One word that describes the movie that really doesn't fit any of the sequels in "epic." The scope, the leisuirely pace to enjoy the scale, and the lofty ideas and concepts all combine to take one on what feels like an important journey, and not just an adventure. The tagline, "The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning" is accurate (if not in the intended meaning), in that the action/adventure would only come in followups; but this one, more than any other, had the feeling of a truly big-budget film, and not just a movie. The oft-maligned drydock tour of the ship, criticized by many as too long and only being a showcase for special effects, was for me the highlight of it all; the long-hoped-for lingering look, in close-up detail, had tears of awe flowing from my eyes the first time I beheld the starship in all it's glory. I knew how Kirk felt as he gazed at her with love!

That said, the tightened and finished Director's Cut is the superior version, and the only one I take out to watch now. I look forward to doing that once more to celebrate this 31st birthday!

1994 Time "Generations" cover article

2010-11-23T10:29:00.000-08:00

Just in time for Thanksgiving, an edition of Time magazine that was published the week of a past Thanksgiving, November 28, 1994. Sure, most of us have this issue, but this is for those that missed it, or for those that just haven't taken it out to look at in awhile.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Hope all my readers have a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of the love of your family, enjoyment of great food, and reflection on what you have to be thankful for... remembering the One to express our gratitude to.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! Psalm 100:4 (RSV)

Check out some vintage Thanksgiving ads from papers that I clipped movie ads from here, and here.

Star Trek 4 Starlog articles

2010-11-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

This time we look at a couple of articles on Star Trek IV from Starlog issue #114, published January 1987, which means it was on the newstands in December of the previous year, when the movie came out. "The Voyage Home" was a great present for Trekkers that year! First, the cover...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

And next, the main article, which is an interview with director/star Leonard Nimoy.

Next we have a three-page look at the movie itself.

And finally, as a bonus, a cartoon from the same issue that re-casts the crew with some looney actors. Am I the only one that would like to see this idea realised now as a special DVD movie?

Rare Pics of Bill Shatner

2010-11-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

(Click on images for somewhat larger versions.)

From the Corbis photo website, comes these archival images of Bill in his younger days (See the site for lots more photos of Bill throughout his career).

Below, Bill adds playing the harmonia to his already-full range of accomplishments.

Below, Bill tries out a punching bag, one he might need to keep in practice for punching out beligerent aliens and traitorous starship captains.

Below, relaxing at home with a cigarette and a script. Glad our couches now are more comfortable than those in the 60's!

Below, a photo that looks to be from the late 70's as Bill is in good form on the parallel bars.

Below are a my favorites in the set of new images, as Bill trades massages (!) with Yvette Mimieux, who, as you recall, played "Weena" in 1960's "The Time Machine." Since Captain Kirk was my hero, and I had a teen crush on Weena, seeing them both together is great! They looked as if they were getting pret-ty cozy there...

Bonus update: you may recall reading in some recent posts about the fan film "Paragon's Paragon;" the most recent of which is here. Well, I have finally heard from the filmmaker John Cosentino, and he has told me, "I am going to try getting Paragon's Paragon re-mastered onto dvd over the winter. The super8 film is 35 years old and anything can happen. It is a $500 dollar project. Should it work I will make actual snippits of Paragon available. "

This is good news for fans like me who have been intrigued by the images and info we have seen from this film over the years. I will keep you posted on any news, and when they are ready to premiere! Let's wish John luck as he goes through the process of digitizing the old film.

1990 "Starfleet Academy" article

2010-10-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

Here's an article from the May 1990 edition of the awesome magazine "Cinefantastique," where Walter Koenig spills the beans about the then-planned "Starfleet Academy" movie which could have been ST 6. Thankfully, it was never made, and we got to see our heroes one more time in a grand send-off, "The Undiscovered Country." If Walter's efforts to alert the fans (and the resulting backlash) factored at all into the studio's decision to scrap the idea, then we should be grateful to him.

(Click on images to enlarge .)

Of course, Star Trek '09 was in essence the same idea; recasting the characters with younger actors, showing the Academy days, and even using Nimoy as an anchor; but enough years had passed that by then, we were ready to revisit the original show and were willing to accept new actors if it meant seeing the TOS crew in action again.

Bonus: Below, a silly article from the National Enquirer tabloid, published in September of 1983, that tries to use Star Trek to lend "credibility" to it.

"Uh, you should be gettin' back under the beam, Cap'n, unless ye want to lose the left side o' yer body, sir."

"The Search For Spock" Press Kit Pics

2010-10-22T20:07:00.001-07:00

Where ever I lived at the time, I made it a point to get in good with the person at the local newspaper who handled the entertainment section and received the movie press kits. I was fortunate to be able to get quite a few press kits for various genre movies when they were finished with them, as most were thrown out later. Here are a few from the "Search For Spock" press kit package, I'll post more from this and others as time goes by. Beneath each one is the card stuck to the back that described the photos.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

On a personal note, I apologise for the lack of recent posts; but it's getting into the holiday season and my mail order business is getting very busy and taking up more time than usual (no, it's not Trek-related.) I'll try to post more soon, though, as often as I can!

"Paragon's Paragon" Fan Film Found! Partly...

2010-09-24T06:26:00.000-07:00

Readers of this blog may recall a post on the long-thought-lost 70's fan film "Paragon's Paragon," reproducing a Cinemagic magazine article on the production. (Go here to read it, if not.) I ended the post with a note that I hoped someone would read it and supply clues to the whereabouts of the film... and it's happened! Sadly, the actual video is not currently available for viewing; but we do have color images from the film now.

I recently received an email from Robert Long II, that said this:

Dear Fred,

Great article you have on Paragon's Paragon. It does indeed exist as I have the 25 minute convention version of the 100 minute film. I got it from my friend Don Dohler before he passed away. John Consentino is still alive, retired, and lives in the Midwest. I've tried to get in touch with him with no success. As this is not my fan film - I am not posting it on Youtube without his permission. However, if you write back I'll try to send you some screen grabs from it. If you ever find yourself in my area I would be happy to screen it for you. It also has a making of that is very cool.

Regards, Robert Long II

Of course I immediately wrote back and asked for anything he could send regarding this previously lost fan film. He kindly sent the cover of the video, along with 13 screen captures from it, with this note:

Hello Fred,

Here is a hand full of screen grabs from John Consentino's Paragon's Paragon. Made in the early 1970s it is one of the earliest Star Trek fan films to take the sets, costumes, and special effects to such a high level. The full movie deals with two identical Vulcans, attacks from the Klingons, the shuttle craft landing on an alien world, and the Klingons and the Federation meeting up with the Organians. I hope you and your readers will enjoy the screen grabs of this VERY rare production. Robert Long II

We are grateful to Robert for taking the time to capture the images and send them to share with us! Here is the cover of the VHS box...

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below are the promised screen captures; the first known color images from this early fan effort which adapted the Blish novel "Spock Must Die" for their own original characters (who are really analogs of our familiar crew). Please pardon the attempts a humorous captions, but I love doing that!

"These are the voyages of the AMT Enterprise..."

"Schamba, open hailing frequencies... and go lighter on the minstrel makeup next time, huh?"

"Oh my God, WHERE did you get those shoes, they're FABulous!"

"My symbiont muttonchops and mustache agree that we are in deep trouble."

"I refuse to step into any machine that uses tinfoil as an element!"

#1: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"
#2: "Would you tell that person to stop mocking me?"

"Just because you are handsome and incredibly intelligent does not mean I admire you."

"Please clear the track, the podraces are about to begin!"

"It's funny how much bigger those shuttles are on the inside than the outside."

It's a little-known fact that the Organians were a race of swinging bachelors.

"In this case is preserved the only remaining fart of Kahless."

"Hmm... no, I don't think you look fat in that dress. Not really. I mean, not at all!"

"We are masters of the hand shadow show!"

And, there you have it... looks pretty ambitious! Although we would like to be able to see it, we can understand the reluctance to post it. We can wish, however, and perhaps expressing our desire to see at least some of it might convince Robert, the holder of the movie, to edit and post a trailer, at least. I'll let you know of any further info as it becomes available.

1-20-2012 update: I have heard from Robert, who owns a copy of a convention highlight reel, which are portions of the film shown at cons years back. He graciously allowed me to view it! It has no audio from the film, only Trek music dubbed in, but the footage is interesting to finally see. I have emailed John Consentino for permission to post it, and if he gives it, and if Robert allows, I will post it soon. But all that is pending. However, in any event, I will be posting some behind-the-scenes information about the making of the film from John himself, very soon. He liked my captions, by the way, saying "Your wise cracks under the freeze frame Paragon shots are cute." Hey, if TOS shots get these, "Paragon" is not exempt from my weird humor!

Starlog #1 Nimoy article

2010-09-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

I've been bringing out some material from the early Starlogs recently, and while I had them out I thought I might as well do some more. This time we are revisiting the landmark first issue (published June of 1976) that meant so much to many of us young fans at the time, and still means a lot in terms of the memories it evokes. I've already posted the Shatner interview, so this time I'm scanning in the Nimoy article for your enjoyment. Whether you've read it before, or this is your first time, I hope you get a kick out of it!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, the 5 x 7 color postcard from Lincoln Enterprises that I ordered in 1974, which -although I have posted it here before- I am displaying as a color version of one of the black and white images in the article. Not exactly the same, but snapped only seconds apart in the photo session taken before the filming of the first regular episode after the second pilot. The ship is the three-foot filming model used sometimes for the show's effects.

Mr. Spock caught playing with his models again.

Starlog #3 Con Articles Part 4

2010-09-17T11:45:00.000-07:00

For the past three entries, as you may know, (if not, use the Archives links to catch up) I have been posting the pages from issue #3 of Starlog, as they covered the 1976 Bi-Centennial 10 con, held in NY in September of 1976. This post wraps up that series, with the appearance page on Walter Koenig, and an inside look at the joys and trials of organizing conventions by none other than superfan Joan Winston.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, from the same issue, is a writeup on the rollout celebration for the shuttle prototype which was named Enterprise. (I've covered this in other posts, but with articles from other sources.)

Starlog #3 Con Articles Part 3

2010-09-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

For the past two entries I've posted pages from the Starlog issue #3 coverage of the Bicentennial 10 convention, held in September of 1976 in New York. I continue the series of articles now with pages that spotlight appearances by George Takei, Deforest Kelley, Bill Shatner and Susan Oliver (Vina), as well as a look at the animated series by a consultant to Filmation studios.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Need to brush up on your warp factors, George... not quite accurate there, as any fan would tell you.

A cel showing the infamous six-fingered Spock. This kind of mistake would never have slipped by in the live-action series; although to be fair they did leave off one of Scotty's fingers from time to time.

I'll be finishing up the rest of the articles next time, so come back soon... or if you are visiting after the fact, click on the next entry to read!

Bonus: Below, a small 1973 newspaper clipping about the cartoon from my scrapbook, from the series first run. You can see the tape I used, before I was old enough to know better than to use scotch tape for such things. But, I was just 13, so I can be excused... can't I?

Starlog #3 Con Articles Part 2

2010-09-15T13:58:00.001-07:00

As promised last time, here are more of the pages from Starlog issue #3 covering the September 1976 Bicentennial 10 convention in New York. The pages this time cover appearances by NASA space specialist Jesco Von Puttkamer (who would go on to be the technical advisor on ST:TMP), Kathryn Hays (Gem), James Doohan, Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones) and Tribbles writer David Gerrold, as well as a look at the (in)famous blooper reel. Enjoy!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Below, it was with amusement that I read the text in the David Gerrold panel. The question and his answer are, in retrospect, prophetic in view of his later revelations.

Come back soon for more convention report pages from this memorable issue!

Starlog #3 Convention Article #1

2010-09-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

The collection cabinet (one of three) opens today to bring forth from the hallowed archives of sacred writing Issue #3 of the venerable Starlog, bearing the cover date of January of 1977, meaning it came out in November of the previous year. As isolated as I was from connecting with fellow fans, the extensive coverage of the September '76 Bicentennial 10 convention in New York was like manna for my famished Trek appetite. I plan on posting all of the pages covering the convention over the course of a week or two, so come back soon for more awesome flashbacks to the fun 1970's!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Love how Nichelle's booty gets the center focus of the cluster!

Below, the first of the stars spotlighted, the lovely and charming Nichelle Nichols, followed by Grace Lee Whitney.

Remember, check back in soon for more in this series of articles!

Below, from the same issue, the inside cover ad for Gene's album "Inside Star Trek." I have great memories of that record, which I still own. I recorded some of the interviews with the stars onto tape and replaced Gene's voice with my own, as if I was conducting the interviews. It sounded pretty good, and was an early expression of my talent for audio production, foreshadowing my work in radio in later years.

Bonus: Below, a dollar bill that lives up to the name; dollar Bill... Shatner, that is. A greenback made for especially tucking into the thongs of strippers, mostly of the also green-backed Orion variety.

"Wrath of Khan" article from FM #186

2010-09-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

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.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

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

2010-08-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

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!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

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.

Enterprise in the Smithsonian 1977 article

2010-08-13T13:24:00.001-07:00

From Issue #2 of "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs," published in April of 1977, comes this article on the display of the original 6 foot filming model of the Enterprise in the respected Smithsonian Institution. Although the few photos of the model are limited to the last two pages (the rest of the 6-page feature basically a tour of the museum leading up to the ship), it is still a nice look at how it was displayed at the time. Note that this was before the controversial (among fans) repainting.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Bonus: below, yet another of the 1967 Leaf bubblegum cards. Spock looks uncharacteristically alamed while McCoy seems pretty calm about being in such a cold environment with no protection.

"Great Surak! This poor soul has been frozen solid, Doc!"

"Search For Spock" article from Twilight Zone magazine

2010-08-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

From the August, 1984 edition of "Twilight Zone" magazine, comes this article on "The Search For Spock." The main article is an interview with Leonard Nimoy on directing the movie, and there is an inset writeup on Cathie Shirriff, who plays Valkris. She was first Klingon female we had seen in the movie series, beginning the welcome tradition of Klingon Kleavage.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"I challenge you to a battle of the Bh'Rhests."

Bonus: Below, another of the 1967 Leaf bubblegum cards, this time sporting a caption that actually makes sense. If it had continued the trend the other cards followed, it would have sported something like ""What's on the menu?" or "Opening the mail."

And one last bonus image, a nice publicity shot of Kirk and Bones on the bridge, in a slightly different pose than the others taken at the same session. Kirk looks a little uptight over something in this one.

"Forget it, Bones! I'm not going on another diet."

1986 Official Fan Club Magazine article on Nichelle Nichols

2010-08-03T08:06:00.001-07:00

From issue #51 of "Star Trek: The Official Fan Club Magazine," comes this cover article on my favorite mini-skirted African-American Communications Officer; clarifying "favorite" because their was another. (Did you know that? I'll be doing a post on that subject soon.) Anyway, this interview with Nichelle Nichols was conducted a couple of months before the release of "The Voyage Home," in which she had a larger role than the previous films.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Bonus: below, a lovely publicity shot of Uhura from a set of photos in the official newspaper press kit. I got quite a few press kits back in the day since I was friends with the lady that worked at the newspaper who dealt with them.

1977 article: "I Am Still Not Spock"

2010-07-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

From issue #5 of "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in October of 1977, comes a number of articles. First, the cover; a nice painting of the Russion whiz kid, Chenko... Chirpoff... er, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Dees is my head, da; but painted on Keptin Kirrk's body."

The first article featured this time is one about Nimoy's continuing promotion of his autobiography, "I Am Not Spock." As we all know, he would give in to inevitability about 20 years later and write a followup called "I Am Spock;" which might as well have been titled "Alright Already, 'I AM Spock!' Happy Now? Sheesh!"

Next, from the same issue, comes this writeup on one fan's close encounter with Bill Shatner who is wearing a really loud shirt. Fortunately, his charisma and force of personality dominate it into submission, but it was a real fight for supremacy. If this girl Janet Haan is on Facebook or something she is probably going to want to kill me for posting this! But, I hope not. If you're out there, Janet, comment and let us know!

Somewhere in New Jersey a family discovers that their couch cover has gone missing.

And lastly, a photo album of Walter Koenig that includes one of him naked, which I know many of you have been wishing to see. Walter is the Woody Allen of the TOS cast, and with that photo it's easy to see he's always been that way... worried and a bit insecure; am I right? When your main characteristics as an actor on the show are a bad accent and the tendency to scream often, it's no wonder one might develop a bit of a inferiority complex.

Stop that or you'll go blind, Walter.

"I'm worried that people will confuse me wth Davy Jones of the Monkees."

If you want to see more articles from other issues of this magazine, use the "ST Fan Clubs Mag" tag on the sidebar! If Starlog was steak and potatoes, this publication was a greasy cheeseburger and fries... but still good when you're hungry like we were back then!

Gene Roddenberry Article from Starlog #2

2010-07-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

From the second issue of Starlog, published, I believe, in August of 1976, comes this article on the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Gene Roddenberry. Not a Trek cover, sadly, but a nice Space:1999 painting anyway.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

"Oh, no, Fred Frieberger is in control, we're doomed!"

The whereabouts of the three-foot filming miniature on the desk has become a minor mystery in the years since that photo was taken. Maybe someday it will show up again. Update: Susan Sackett sheds a little more light on the subject in a comment on the Facebook ST Scrapbook fan page: "Last I heard, it was on someone's coffee table. It was ripped off during the late 1970s when the first movie was being made. It was last seen at a special effects house... btw, I took that photo!"

Below, the next article in the issue was about the planned movie, still in its early stages at that time. In one paragraph we see that Gene's script named "The God Thing," essentially a vehicle for expressing his low opinion of religion, was rejected by the studio honchos. To their credit, they at least realized that a script debunking God as a petty, deceiving alien computer would not make a well-received film (as we can see from the later ill-fated Star Trek V, which re-worked the idea). Happily, this did not end the chances for the first movie being made. (Read more about the rejected script here and here.)

Below is a two-page collection of quotes from the same issue from various well-known people about the show...

Personal note: Although I admired Gene as the mastermind behind Star Trek, (he was my hero for many years) I do not share his views on the Judeo-Christian understanding of the Creator, and am uncomfortable posting them without clarifying that point. Although this is a light-hearted blog sharing nostalgic material about the original series (where the subject was hardly an issue), when a subject this close to my heart is brought up in the material and presented in a negative light, I feel the need to comment. And since this is my blog, I feel it's not infringing on anyone's perceived right to not be confronted by issues such as this. My readers come here, I don't take it to them. Escape is only a click away.

Gene, a vocal secular humanist, was not bashful about sharing his views, and neither am I. Contrary to appearances online, not all Trekkers are atheists. Although Gene's earlier Star Trek IDIC philosophy obstensibly made room for all, later statements in his personal life particularly excluded those who believed in God. Apparently universal tolerance could only extend so far. Some fans, too, seem to resent believers coming to the party. But we're here, and we love Trek too... even though we don't necessarily share the worldview it sometimes promotes. "Eat the meat and toss the bone" is my way of looking at it. I shall now descend from the soapbox, thank you for your patience.

Bonus: In keeping with the theme that has surfaced this time, below is a photo of Jeffery Hunter in his biggest role, the title character in the 1961 film "King of Kings," years before he took command of the starship as Captain Christopher Pike.

"Come unto Me, all you who are weary, and I will give you rest."

I've just found this tribute page to our favorite pre-Kirk captain of the Enterprise... enjoy!

"ST VI: The Undiscovered Country" review

2010-07-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

From the scrapbook comes this positive review of the last original-cast film, clipped from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel newspaper, published on or near December 5th, 1991.

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It's funny how two different reviewers can have such wildly conflicting opinions on the same film, based on their perception of the source material. Here is another review, from the Miami Herald, which I posted earlier.

Bonus: Below, from the scrapbook is a popular publicity shot that many fans are familiar with!

Bonus #2: another of the wackily-captioned 1967 Leaf cards, this one particularly head-scratchingly strange.

Below is a photograph of a poster-sized pen-and-ink drawing I did in my senior year, 1976. The photo reduction is all that remains of it, the original having been wrecked during various moves. The dark shading over the text was a photo developing error by the friend in school that took it, they were not shaded in the original.

"Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" review

2010-07-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

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.

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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.

1975 Convention Flyer

2010-07-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

From the scrapbook comes another of the mini-con flyers that I enjoyed receiving in the mail when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale, FL during the mid-70's. That was as close as I ever got to the cons; of course I didn't get to go, even though I was the perfect age to enjoy them, 16 to 17. (Regular readers know why. For those new to the blog, here's a clue.) I saved every one of these and put them in the old scrapbook pages for perservation. The con organizer was none other than James Van Hise, editor and publisher of the awesome fanzine Enterprise Incidents.

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Star Trek's direct ancestor and one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies! Read another of my blog entries on this influential film here.

To find more of these convention brochures now or in the future after more are posted, use the "con brochures" tag on the sidebar.

Bonus: Below, some publicity pics of Fred Phillips and Nimoy during one of the makeup sessions preparing him for a day's filming.

US magazine preview of ST:TWOK

2010-07-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

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.

NASA Names Space Shuttle "Enterprise"

2010-07-06T11:14:00.001-07:00

From the collection cabinets comes this article from issue #2 of "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs," published April 1977. This was a magazine that seemed to be an amateur publication that somehow got national distribution. Not that it was a bad job; it just came off a little more like a home-made effort of love by some fans than anything put together by experienced publishers (with apologies to any of the editors that might be reading this). But, that was part of the charm of this short-lived magazine, and I bought every issue, especially since this was during the latter days of the drought of Trek material we old-timers lived through.

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This time we are looking at an article on the infamous re-naming of the shuttle prototype after the Star Trek spaceship. Too bad the Captain didn't make it, though...

Dig those cool 70's bell-bottoms and leisure suits!

No bell bottoms here, though... they look a little stuffy.

Below, another page from the same issue, covering a book-signing by Nimoy of his ill-titled book "I Am Not Spock," which was ironic since the people lining up to see him and get his autograph on it were there because of that role.

Oh, yes you are, Leonard.

Below is the back cover of this issue.

1967 article "Space Age Crew Enjoys Old Fashioned Barbeque"

2010-06-22T06:34:00.001-07:00

For a small but appreciative group of fans in the 70's, those who were lucky enough to have a specialty shop in their city, the fanzine "Enterprise Incidents" was pure Trek gold.

Editor/founder James Van Hise (best known to fans as the author of numerous "unauthorized" Trek books) often included reprints of vintage articles from past publications, for which I was grateful. From issue #6, published in 1978, comes this reprint of a 1967 article originally from the magazine "TV Star Parade," as some of the cast chows down on a cookout between takes.

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There's nothing like a cookout in the summer with good friends!

Another of the fun aspects of the fanzine was the artwork within. Although I don't even know the first name of the artist, "R. Wilber" often contributed nice pen-and-ink drawings to the magazine. Below are three examples for you to enjoy. If you are in the know about the artist, please leave the info in the comments area and I'll update the article. Hey, maybe we'll hear from Mr. Wilber himself, if he is still alive and well, as we hope he is.

Below: From issue #2, we see that not all aliens greeted Starfleet officers with open tentacles/claws/feelers/arms.

Below, from #3, an illustration for the episode highlighted that issue, "The Menagerie." I watched this two-parter again on my Blu-ray set just a few nights ago.

Below: And another from #6, this time depicting "Balance of Terror."

I'll post more of Mr. Wilber's art as I find it in other issues, as well as that by different artists. One of my regrets of the time period is that I never contacted James to submit some of my own artwork. I like to think it would have been accepted (don't all artists?), and I would have been proud to see it in a forthcoming issue! Here are a couple I would have sent in: "Mirror Uhura," and "Fight On Rigel 7." Do you think I would have made it?

Star Trek Poster Magazine #2

2010-06-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

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!

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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 Report from Starlog #19

2010-05-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

From issue #19 of Starlog magazine, published February of 1979, comes this edition of "Star Trek Report" by Susan Sackett. These monthly reports from Gene's secretary were a reliable and anticipated look at the progress of the movie.

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Update: Susan Sackett herself, who is a friend on my Facebook fan page, left these comments on the post over there: "Thanks for bringing back memories. Hard to believe they actually paid me to write this stuff! I think it was $300 per column, but I really don't remember, just that it wasn't a lot! Truth be told, it was really like trying to balance a ball on my nose for FOUR YEARS without dropping it! Finding things to write about and cheerlead for the "upcoming movie/TV series/whatever" month after month was a real challenge. Glad you enjoyed my little contribution!" Yes, we did, Susan. Thanks for the insight!

Bonus: below, from the same issue, a short news bit about the Yellowstone location shooting for the movie.

Also gleaned from the same issue comes this writeup on a Trek spoof by an Australian TV show. Although I never saw it, (with apologies to Mr. Hogan) it sounds about as dumb as a lot of the others done since then, a tradition that continues to this day... and they haven't improved much.

And below, finally, is a sad reminder of the time when I heard the news that talented Trek fan Mike McMaster had passed away.

For more material from this issue, go to my other blog "Fantastic Flashbacks" for a look at the painful collective memory known as "The Star Wars Holiday Special." Yes, Virginia, it does exist!

1980 article: The Lost Designs of ST:TMP

2010-05-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

From issue #32 of Starlog, published March 1980, comes this revealing article on the "Lost Designs of ST:TMP" featuring an interview with Andy Probert.

Probably the best photo you will ever see for the details on the filming model of the Vulcan shuttle "Surak."

1978 Interview with Nichelle Nichols

2010-05-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

Back in the late 70's and early 80's there were a number of cheaply-produced magazines put out to capitalize on the sci-fi boom by one company, all with photo-montage covers or strange generic sci-fi paintings. They carried names like "Space Trek," "Space Wars Heroes, " "Weird," "Warp," etc., all put out by the infamous Myron Fass, known for his multitude of exploitational and trashy publications (read the whole sordid story here, a NSFW link). Sucker that I was for anything Trek-related, I bought some of them as well, and occasionally a recognized author like Allen Asherman would contribute, like in today's featured interview with Nichelle Nichols. This is from the first issue of "Space Trek" put out in winter of 1978.

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That's actually a nice photo below of Nichelle from "Plato's Stepchildren" that I had never seen anywhere before, so sometimes they printed something not seen absolutely everywhere else.

Bonus: Below, a nice big photo of Nichelle at her loveliest.

Below, another photo of Nichelle at her loveliest... wait, I said that already. Can't it be true again, though?

Nichelle has aged beautifully, as attested by the photo below.

1978 article: The Making of ST Phase II

2010-05-12T17:57:00.000-07:00

From Issue #12 of Starlog, published March of 1978, comes an interview with Gene Roddenberry on the progress of the then-planned TV series. The planning, designing and writing for the proposed series was finally moving along until it was scrapped in favor of a big budget movie, which had just happened after the interview but before press time. It's interesting to see the struggles they went through to get it going, and observing what would evolve into the movie, and beyond. Much of the stage was being set for what we saw in the movie at this point. Gene is to be commended for not simply throwing up his hands and walking off due to the frustrations and fights he was going through!

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Bonus: below, from the same issue, is Susan Sackett's report on the development of the series.

And below, also from the same issue of Starlog, is a report that looks at the development of the new Enterprise design. The inset box reveals the latest news that the series had been scrapped in favor of developing the two-part "In Thy Image" as a big-budget theatrical film, and as yet Nimoy was still not involved. Interesting stuff to look back on as history, or to remember if you haven't seen it in awhile.

As I read about Gene's struggle to make his vision and be in control of it, I get a little sad in retrospect how, after the movie came out with lukewarm reviews, they put someone else in charge of the next movie. Many see the second movie as the best of any of the movies, but we have to remember that the groundwork was laid and the path paved by Roddenberry, and others then built on that hard work. The Motion Picture may have lacked action, and the script may have needed more work before being pressed into production; but it was not a failure, and studios don't generally "throw good money after bad;" they only recognized that if another was to succeed, it would need to be more dynamic and exciting. Even during the series, Gene was a good producer, but not neccessarily a good writer. The studio felt that, next time, it needed more.

1976 Federation Trading Post Article

2010-05-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

The fun stuff this time comes from the first issue of the short-lived, but memorable (and cumbersomely titled) "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in December of 1976.

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I've posted an entry about this magazine before here, along with a cover gallery, so check that out too. The article I'm featuring this time is about the legendary (among Trek fans) specialty shop "Federation Trading Post," co-founded and operated in California by Charles Weiss and Ron Barlow, who was known to fans such as me from his work on the great newspaper "The Monster Times." The New York branch was manned by the also-legendary fan-turned-pro Doug Drexler. Although both were far from me (I had the "Starship Enterprises" stores in south Florida for my fan fixes), I was aware of them, and enjoyed reading about them in this in-depth article. Please contribute any memories or facts you may have in the comments section!

Poor "Fake Balok" only wishes the article writer had spelled his name right.

All I'm doing here is posting a magazine article from the past about it, but Doug Drexler himself is the one with the real treasures. To hear all about it from the source, read his blog entry with loads of info and awesome photos from the FTP East!

Update: Doug commented this on my Facebook post about the article: "Frederick! I'm astonished whenever I visit your site. It's like my ultimate 1976 magazine stand exploded! This article is amazing. That's back when Paramount couldn't care less about Trek. Creative and industrious fans kept it growing. Thanks for posting this!" -Doug Drexler

One of the things highlighted in the article is the hunger fans had for accurate replicas of the show's props, at a price affordable by most. We have a good number of that kind of thing today, with very nice prop replicas that have lights and sound, for a reasonable price, off the store shelves. But back then it was a dream, and only those fans with a good job or generous parents could get their hands on these kinds of things. For myself, I had the kid-sized "Exploration Set" model kit, and the water-gun phaser, and that was it until only a few years back when I bought the Playmates version of the "big three." Fans with more money than I can get the Diamond Select replicas, lucky people! But the fact is, having accurate and life-sized replicas are within the reach of the average fan now, and we are fortunate for that.

1974 "Movie Monsters" Trek article

2010-05-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

From the December 1974 first issue of "Movie Monsters" comes an eight-page article on Trek. (You can see the magazine cover here, since I have featured the monster articles in it on another of my blogs.) The article is memorable to me mostly from the negative reaction I had to it; I hated it! The strange treatment of the photos accompanying it (except for the first one of the ship), and the somewhat derogatory review of the show really ticked me off when I read it. How dare anyone criticize the show? Reading it now, I have mellowed somewhat and I realize it was not as bad as it seemed at the time; but it was the first time I had read an article that was written in anything other than glowing terms, (notwithstanding this one, which was only an published reader letter)and I wasn't ready for it. I know now that the show was not quite perfect, only nearly so. :) Many of the claims are unfounded or just plain in error; but the one thing that rankled me most was that the writer blamed the third season decline on Roddenberry, when he wasn't even producing the show any more; Fred Frieberger was the one to blame for dragging a beautiful show through the mud of mediocrity. But, it seemed that the author was not aware of this.

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I wasn't the only one angered by the writeup; a few issues later they printed a story that was more positive in direct response to all the irate letters from the fans! Read it here, from an earlier post. Fan power!

Bonus: Below is another from the set of Random House greeting cards put out in 1976. (See all that I have posted by clicking the "greeting card" tag on the right.) The inside text consists of one word: "COURAGE!"

Bonus #2: Below are the front and back covers to the next James Blish adaptation, Star Trek 10. This was a first printing, published in Feb. 1974. I bought this in 1975 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL when I was 16. I still recall the excitement when I saw it in the high school bookstore where I bought it with my lunch money. It has a nice (and unusual for the Blish books) painting of the Enterprise blasting a Klingon Battlecruiser. The artist gave us some great detail, even adding extremely large rivets on the metal of the ship, as if it had been put together by NY bridgeworkers in the 1920's. I mean seriously, they had to have been as large as dinner plates to be visible at that range! Otherwise it's quite accurate.

"Break out the diving suits and the jackhammers!"