Because I’ve reached the point now in my Treksphere life where I mostly drool over toys, collectables and merchandise, I think it’s fitting that to start of 2022, we take a big look at what toys, gadgets, gizmos and plushies the future has in store for us!
Speaking, Figure-actively.
Playmates Return
First off, it’s Playmates. If you were a Trek fan in the late 80s early 90s, you will no doubt will have seen a medley of these TNG trek toys floating around. I still have a few comics from back in the day with ads for these tiny TNG plastic figures. Well, for those who want a hearty hit of nostalgia, Playmates are releasing not one, but three generations of Trek figures for us!
From Wrath of Khan to series 3 of TNG and Discovery… These figure sets feature, Khan, Kirk, Spock, for TWOK. Picard, Data and Riker for TNG, with Saru and Burnham for Disco.
These figures look superb, a lot cleaner and well defined than your typical nostalgia-fueled toys from yesteryear. They have some very clean paint lines, and I like how the joints have been gently hidden in the “folds” of the clothing so as not to be so obvious and ruin the final sleek look of the figurine.
The TNG era figures certainly have that big nostalgia vibe for me, though there is no word yet as to any accessories such as phasers or tricorders, I wouldn’t mind a little Starfleet badge stand for display though. Would certainly look great on display and help complete the look.
I am wondering why all the sets have 3 figures except Disco which only has 2. Surely we can’t get a Pike or a Georgiou? Or heck, not even a DOT? It’s a shame because it feels a little lacking. These figures are part of a new wave of 10 for 2022. I am hopeful that in the coming months we will get an update that will show us more figures and more accessories to go with them. Hopefully, a full crew for each ear would be nice!
You can expect us to keep an ear to the ground with this in the coming year. But that’s not all that Playmates have promised us for 2022.
Behold the Playmates USS Enterprise, the TOS version. Honestly, compared to the (Somewhat incredibly overpriced) Playmobile version from Earlier this year, this looks more the part, hopefully, it doesn’t come with the same heavy price tag, but it promises to be bright, colourful, with sound, light and phrases.
And last but certainly not least, we have the classic phaser!… The classic TOS phaser, not much to say as it’s a prop that’s been done a fair few times at this point (Star Trek V phaser when?), but one thing of note is that the images we found
Mirror Mirror…Christmas Universe?
Yes, we may now be into the new year, and last year was yesterday, and tomorrow will soon be today. But while you work out that word salad, we have new Christmas tree ornaments from Popminded! Capping off a three year run of the electronic mirror universe Christmas tree ornaments. Scotty is yet to arrive in July, with McCoy arriving sometime in October.
Other items that are coming this year include a TOS Enterprise viewscreen photo frame, a Borg regeneration alcove phone stand (okay,) I need that BADLY. And an “ittby bitty” Judge Q from Encounter at Farpoint.
While I might not be as taken with the photo frame holder, it’s definitely a wonderfully novel way of framing a photo. It’s nicely detailed and is instantly recognisable as the viewscreen of the Enterprise. As a static frame, it’s a fun goofy way of preserving photos of nerdy con adventures, competitive Gorn wrestling, or just any old fun photo.
The viewscreen frame is expected to arrive this autumn.
I love the look of both the Q plush and the alcove phone stand. Especially as I’m one of those people who has two screens and a phone active while working. (I promise not all of it is just for Twitter).
Part of me wishes it had some additional function, maybe as a charger or even just have that little disk up top to light up, but ah well, it is still a fun novelty and will no doubt be adorning my desk soon enough!
Both the plush Q and the phone stand are also expected in autumn.
