TrekCore VoyWeek: Delta Quadrant – “Toys and Merchandise”

Last week was Voyager week on TrekCore.com. During this week TrekCore was releasing special Star Trek Voyager related content. This was done by their official website: www.TrekCore.com. As a Voyager fan website, we will keep you up-to-date with all these releases. Read here the article about Voyager’s Toys and Merchandise from the Delta Quadrant.

Source: TrekCore.com

USS Voyager – by Playmates (1995) 

Unlike the other Star Trek series, each of which had several different playsets and ship/station models released, the Voyager line by Playmates had only two: the extremely rare Maquis fighter from the “Innerspace” line (right), and this highly-detailed USS Voyager model.

The Voyager model featured adjustable warp nacelles, internal lighting, and a sound chip to recreate weapons fire. A removable section of the hull allowed it to be mounted on the stand included with the set.

Playmates Toys took on the Star Trek action figure license in 1992 with the first post-Galoob wave of Next Generation 4.5″ toys – each came with a host of accessories, sized for the figure to hold while reenacting epic space adventures. The first line of Voyager figures arrived with the show’s premiere in 1995, and featured each of the main cast.

While the line sold well enough for a second wave of figures in 1996 – featuring Joe Carey, Seska (as a Bajoran), a Vidiian, a Kazon, Chakotay in Maquis clothing (from “Caretaker“), and a full-Klingon B’Elanna Torres (from “Faces“) – the line did not continue past that year.

Future Voyager figures were grouped under the generic Star Trek titling, including all Seven of Nine figures, an evolving Tom Paris (from “Threshold“), Security Officer Neelix (from “Before and After“/”Year of Hell“), and several other releases.

A handful of limited Voyager figures were released over the next few years as well, including a version of Janeway from “Flashback” (as a mail-order exclusive), and the infamous “1701 Barclay” from “Projections“, which was released in a run of only 3,000 units. To the annoyance of collectors – some of whom paid rather inflated prices for the extremely rare original release – the Barclay figure was included in the “1701 Collectors Set” two years later.

Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments (1996 – 2002)

An annual tradition dating back to 1991, the Voyager line of Hallmark ornaments lasted just a bit longer than the series itself. 1996’s USS Voyager model, 2000’s Borg Cube, and 2002’s Delta Flyer featured illuminated internal lighting and built-in audio to recreate authentic moments from the series; they were sculpted by Lynn Norton.

The three crew ornaments – 1998’s Captain Janeway, 2000’s Seven of Nine, and The Doctor from 2002 – were all sculpted by frequent Hallmark artist Anita Marra Rogers.

Voyager Ceramic Figural Mugs – by Applause (1996)

Applause, Inc. released several highly-detailed ceramic mugs featuring the faces of Star Trek actors from all of the series – though curiously, a Picard design was never issued – and their Voyager selection included Captain Janeway, Neelix, and a generic Kazon. While some may choose to drink their coffee out of a giant actor’s head, these were really meant for display purposes.

Star Trek: Voyager Dioramas – by Applause (1997)

Throughout the mid-1990’s, US-based Applause, Inc. put out a whole host of hand-painted dioramas recreating scenes or characters from all of Star Trek to that point – including Armus killing Tasha Yar in “Skin of Evil“, Captain Kirk fighting Khan in “Space Seed“, and Odo shapeshifting into a bird.

For the Voyager line, they chose to focus on three concepts: Neelix cooking up a pot of stew, a generic “action” pose with Chakotay, Tuvok, and Captain Janeway, and the memorable first meeting of Freya and the EMH from “Heroes and Demons“.

While the figures were limited in numbers, the Neelix and EMH scenes appear to be relatively inexpensive, while the Janeway-and-crew piece goes for a higher price.

Latinum Gallery 12″ Seven of Nine – by Playmates (1998) 

Later in the decade, Playmates began to focus on the “high-end” collector market, offering more detailed (and more expensive) sculpted figurines and dioramas. This “Latinum Gallery” Seven of Nine sculpture measured 12″ tall (14″ with base), was sculpted from cold-cast resin by artist Steve Varner… and cost $129.00.

A Vision of the Future – Star Trek: Voyager (1998)

The 2003 Star Trek: Voyager Companion arrived as a rather notable disappointment, after the popular Next Generation and Deep Space Nine companion books offered so many behind-the-scenes details on the formation of those two series. Luckily, two oversized books released during the Voyager series run serve well as supplemental works to that lackluster publication.

A Vision of the Future – Star Trek: Voyager by Stephen E. Poe begins the Voyager story from a series of secret meetings between Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor, and follows the show’s development through the two years of planning and pre-production that went into the formation of the show with eyewitness accounts of Genvieve Bujold disatrous performance as Captain Janeway, and the budget-blowing reshoots required for “Caretaker” after the studio couldn’t decide which hairstyle best suited Kate Mulgrew.

The well-researched book contains dozens of interviews with everyone from the art department to the cast and production staff, and even the Paramount security guards tasked with keeping uninvited guests off of the sets – along with several full-color, exclusive photos from the construction of the Voyager sets in the early days of production.

Highly recommended.

Star Trek: Action! (1998)

TrekCore’s second literary entry – Star Trek: Action! by Terry J. Erdmann and Paula M. Block – the pair behind the amazing Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 – is an intense, in-depth look at the creation and production of three action sequences, one each from Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Insurrection.

The Voyager feature contains behind-the-scenes accounts of the climactic ending to Season Four’s “Hope and Fear“, with set concept drawings, preliminary makeup sketches, action sequence storyboards, and crew interviews covering just what it took to put that Borg-infested ending together.

For those of you who love examining every little detail that goes into putting together a sequence for film, this is the book for you!