[YouTube] Star Trek Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments

An ornaments post may be unusual for a blog about video games and toys but the ornaments feature a great license and although not toys, they are very nice to display and similar to figurines. Back in 2017 I actually did a two part Star Wars ornaments post with videos. This will be similar with the only difference being I'm sticking to one post instead of two. Hallmark's Star Trek series began in 1991, five years before Star Wars, with only a single release each year until 1995 and new ornaments continue to be released annually. My collection consists of only ornaments from the '90s and covers classic Trek, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. As I did with Star Wars, the video features those that have lights and or sound effects. In this case, that means none of the characters are in the video, and only two of the ships plus a stand have sound effects. When doing some research I came across a blog solely about this topic so here is a link to that if you want to get more details on the complete series: Hallmark Star Trek Ornaments.

https://youtu.be/xbH54gQyWCs

I'm listing them in order of release rather than grouping them by series. With Star Wars I photographed each one next to its box but this time I decided to do front and back box scans, then photograph the ornaments separately. The scales vary between them and the three-ship set consists of miniatures about an inch in length. 

Shuttlecraft Galileo (1992)

U.S.S. Enterprise NC-1701-D (1993)

Klingon Bird of Prey (1994)

The Ships of Star Trek (1995)

Romulan Warbird (1995)

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (1995)

Captain James T. Kirk (1995)

Star Trek 30 Years (1996)

Commander William T. Riker (1996)

Mr. Spock (1996)

U.S.S. Defiant (1997)

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy (1997)

Commander Data (1997)

Captain Kathryn Janeway (1998)

Runabout U.S.S. Rio Grande (1999)

Group Photos

Star Trek: 25th Anniversary Games

This is the second of three Star Trek posts this month if I manage to complete the third one which happens to be the inspiration for this month's theme. There have been a variety of Star Trek games, most of which released in the 1990s when Star Trek: The Next Generation was quite popular. I'm focusing on the 25th anniversary releases for PC, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), and Game Boy in this post, none of which I've ever played. Also, as the game title indicates, these games feature the crew from the original television series. I'll start with an article from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) issue #30 (January 1992) which actually has a preview of the film Star Trek VI, and then there are a few pages covering the NES and Game Boy releases. The games were already released at this point but they aren't previews or reviews, simply a write-up on each one. After that there are review scans of the NES and Game Boy versions from GamePro and a review of the PC game from Video Games & Computer Entertainment. 

Electronic Gaming Monthly

GamePro

October 1991

February 1992

Video Games & Computer Entertainment

July 1992

[YouTube] Star Trek Generations' Enterprise NCC-1701-D

https://youtu.be/0jJKY_HZvyY

In a previous blog post about the video game ads by Playmates, I wrote a bit about the toy company which was founded in 1966. It produced quite a few Star Trek toys during the height of The Next Generation (TNG) show's popularity, including 4.5" action figures and ships, even a Borg cube, from multiple Star Trek shows. This toy is based on the same Trek timeline as TNG but the design is from the seventh Star Trek film, Generations, that released in 1994. In the film the Enterprise takes a beating from a Klingon Bird of Prey helmed by the Duras sisters, forcing Riker to evacuate the crew by detaching the saucer section before a warp core breach occurs. While the toy's saucer doesn't detach, it does feature scorch marks and two panels that pop off revealing damage that lights up. Three "AA" batteries power the toy that also has light up Bussard hydrogen collectors and warp engine nacelles, plus there are photon torpedo, explosion, and warning sound effects.

Unfortunately, the deflector does not light up nor do any weapon locations. The scorch marks look a bit odd to me as well though it makes sense for the movie and it could be fun when playing with multiple toy ships. A stand is included making it easy to display and it also comes with a small movie poster and not-so-detailed blueprint. You'll notice in the video and in my photos that I never applied the decals. I purchased the toy on clearance while working at Toy Works in 1995 and its primarily been kept in its box. I've not been able to locate the original MSRP though I'd guess it would have been in the $19.99 range.

Parts & Documentation

The poster is a little big for my scanner so about a quarter inch got cut off.

I also threw together a quick Photoshop image of the toy in space. When I say quick I do mean I didn't put too much effort into it like I did with the Millennium Falcon and Fisher-Price toys. The photo I used had it attached to the stand so it looks a bit awkward where I had to remove the stand from the image digitally.

Year 4: November Update

Unfortunately, this will be the month with the least number of posts since I began the blog. I did do a few "Let's Play" videos on YouTube with the latest being for Create With Garfield!, a lesser known program where users create static images featuring Garfield characters. This video was created and uploaded on Thanksgiving as I attempted to make a holiday scene that you can see to the right. The placement of Nermal is a little messed up as I meant to move the cat a bit to the left but accidentally hit the return key. It might not be too obvious at a glance though Nermal's tail is overlapping Arlene's face a little bit.

Today is possibly the biggest shopping day of the year. If you're buying toys you might like to hear what W.A.T.C.H. believes are the 10 worst toys this year (click on the slideshow at the bottom of the linked page) and what Parents.com says are the 45 best toys of 2020. The worst toys are being rated on safety and promotion of violence while the best toys are favorites among those who tested them. I've been playing the beginning of every physical video game release this year and let me suggest staying away from L.O.L. Surprise! Remix, Speed 3: Grand Prix, and XIII. It's doubtful any kid would ask for Speed 3 or XIII but L.O.L. is probably quite popular. L.O.L. does not have much content and it's very rough; it's primarily a handful of short mini-games with limited gameplay. PAW Patrol is a step up from the previous release with open environments rather than side-scrolling levels but the pups still don't make any sounds. 

L.O.L. Surprise! Remix

PAW Patrol: Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay!

Slide Stars is another game kids might be interested in since it features a bunch of influencers. That one is playable even if there isn't much to it and as the ESRB rating says, it has mild suggestive themes. I'd put Cobra Kai on the weak side too while Transformers: Battlegrounds isn't bad for a young gamer that likes turn-based battles (the art style is based on modern cartoons, not 1980's Transformers). I've previously discussed the G.I. Joe game and that one is okay for fans but a very average shooter for anyone else due to bland level designs. Keep in mind, as I said, I've only played the beginning of these games which in most cases is around the first hour.

Slide Stars

Transformers: Battlegrounds

Also, I finally got my first smartphone! While I am well behind the times, I actually didn't even want one but my carrier has been informing me this year that the outdated technology in my flip phone might cause the phone to cease working or at the very least there would be a decrease in call quality this January as the major carriers transfer completely to VoLTE. I've only had the phone for about two days and am finding it quite confusing to navigate. The reason I mention this here is that I did create an Instagram account years ago to help promote the blog. However, when I did that I thought I could use a PC to upload images but, of course, Instagram is meant for smartphones only. Once I figure this out I may start posting images there if you wish to follow. https://www.instagram.com/vault1541.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jonathan

Gaming Ads: Retailers

This may be the final new ads album unless I acquire more ads for publishers that don't yet have an album. As the title suggests, these are ads from video game retailers. Some are about the retailer and some are for sales so I thought now would be the best time to post these as the holiday shopping season takes off around Thanksgiving. Plus, with two new consoles recently released and prices increasing for some games, you can look back at what games typically cost 30 years ago. There are some other random things mixed in, such as Babbage's top 10 charts that appeared in Electronic Gaming Monthly. 

Retailers albums: Facebook - Google Photos