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As one of the longest-running sci-fi franchises of all time, Star Trek has generated more than its fair share of merchandise. Before Star Wars and before the MCU, the ruler of geeky ephemera is easily Star Trek.
In 2024, Star Trek is bigger than ever. Not only is it celebrating the 60th anniversary of the filming of the first episode ever — “The Cage” in 1964 — but this year is the 40th anniversary of one of the most pivotal films in the franchise ever, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. On TV, this spring will see the return of Star Trek: Discovery, which will host a premiere at the SXSW Film & TV festival, for its fifth and final season, while a new Michelle Yeoh-led Section 31 film is actively filming and expected to drop late this year. Meanwhile, the hush-hush Starfleet Academy series is ramping up, indicating that the Final Frontier isn’t going away any time soon.
From the very beginning, Star Trek has created some wild and cool Star Trek stuff. From action figures to comics to trading cards and more, the amount of Star Trek collectibles is as vast as it is complicated. But, over the course of a nearly 60-year mission, which Star Trek collectibles are truly the strangest? Here’s a brief guide to some of the boldest, rarest, and most fascinating Star Trek collectibles you can pick up on eBay.
Star Trek Gold Key Comics #1
In October 1967, Gold Key Comics launched a Star Trek series in which artist Alberto Giolitti recreated the Enterprise crew only from publicity photos. This results in a wacky through-the-looking-glass version of the crew, which is both gorgeous and bizarre. In the Gold Key Trek universe, the classic Enterprise has “thousands” of crew members, the transporter is called the “teleporter,” and everybody is still rocking lasers. Spock also gets pretty upset in the first issue. And don’t even mention the uniform colors.
Early issues often featured photo montages on the cover, including the first issue, which sported Spock on the cover holding a beaker looking ready to do some science. The actual story inside this first Trek comic was called “The Planet of No Return” and is mostly about killer plants. If this story was ever made into an actual episode, the crew killing all the plant aliens would cause a bigger controversy than anything anyone has ever said about “Tuvix.” The Gold Key Trek comics are wonderfully wacky, though, and the first issue goes for about $500.
Buy Star Trek Gold Key Comics #1 here
Star Trek: Early Voyages (Marvel Comics, 1996)
Marvel Comics has possessed the license to make Star Trek comics only twice, and each time, the tenure was very short. The first time was connected to the release of The Motion Picture, from 1979 to 1981. But the second time, from 1996 to 1998, was easily the most interesting. Although this period produced several cool titles, the Early Voyages series is the one to look out for now. Well before Paramount created Strange New Worlds, the Early Voyages comic series focused on the adventures of Captain Pike, Spock, Number One, and the crew of the Enterprise before The Original Series. The individual issues aren’t super expensive on eBay, but tracking down each issue makes collecting this series pretty fun. Detail-obsessed fans will also get a kick out of issue #14, when, in an alternate future, Captain Pike is rocking a movie-era monster maroon uniform. Yep! Just like in the 2022 Strange New Worlds season 1 finale! Prices for individual Early Voyages issues vary, but you can generally get the whole series for under $50.
Buy Star Trek: Early Voyages here
Alien Insectoid and Betel’s Attendant, TOPPS Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trading Cards
Star Trek trading cards have existed since 1967, but the first set to really go hardcore on super random obscure details is the 1979 Star Trek: The Motion Picture set from Topps. For those who don’t remember the extremely random “Alien Insectoid” and “Betel’s Attendant” from the movie, you’re forgiven. These creatures were mostly glimpsed as background aliens when Kirk arrives at Federation headquarters. In the case of “Betel’s Attendant,” this alien is a Betelgeusian, a deeply obscure Star Trek species that wasn’t really re-canonized until 2019 in Star Trek: Discovery. While some cards from the 1979 Topps set are easier to get, the super-rare Alien Insectoid and Betel’s Attendant tend to be worth at least a thousand dollars.
Buy the Alien Insectoid TOPPS Card here
Buy the Betel’s Attendant TOPPS Card here
Geordi La Forge Funko Pop NYCC 2023 Exclusive
There are a lot of great Star Trek Funkos, but the coolest one is actually a New York Comic Con exclusive that dropped in 2023. It features Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) in the captain’s chair of the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-D. But Geordi is rocking a red uniform here, which means this moment comes from Season 1 of The Next Generation. And the captain’s chair Geordi is sitting in may not be the one you think it is.
While still rocking that red, Geordi took command in the TNG Season 1 episode “The Arsenal of Freedom.” This is one of a handful of episodes in TNG in which the Enterprise separates into two ships — the saucer section and the battle section. For most of the episode, Geordi commands the Enterprise from the battle bridge, and this Funko seems to represent that moment, which literally only happened in one episode.
Buy the Geordi La Forge Funko Pop NYCC 2023 Exclusive here
Enterprise Trek Tech — Phase Pistol and Communicator
In 2002, just one year after Enterprise debuted, Art Asylum created an astoundingly accurate roleplaying set featuring the Phase Pistol and Communicator from the 22nd Century version of Starfleet. Like the rest of the aesthetic design of Enterprise, the precursor to the phaser was designed to be a retro-futuristic, predating the gear of The Original Series. But this toy Phase Pistol holds a unique distinction in Star Trek history. Eventually, the producers of Enterprise replaced the Phase Pistol prop with the toy version. Basically, the toy produced by Art Asylum looked better and was cheaper to make than the props created for the series. So, if you snag one of these Phase Pistols, you’re getting a Star Trek toy that is also a legitimate Star Trek prop. Because of the notoriety of these toys, the 2002 Trek Tech set can fetch up to $400.
Buy the Enterprise Phase Pistole and Communicator here
Star Trek Collectable Cups: From Taco Bell to Circle K
Over the years, various companies have created limited-release Star Trek cups and glassware to tie in with the release of a new series or film. The most enduring and legitimately cool examples of this are probably the 1984 Taco Bell glasses created for The Search for Spock. These four glasses are fairly easy to track down, and a complete set can cost anywhere from $50 to $100.
Buy The Search for Spock Taco Bell Glasses here
In 1987, you could put your ICEE in special Star Trek: The Next Generation plastic cups from Circle K and other places that sold ICEEs. Today, these are pretty hard to track down, and some factory-sealed boxes cost about $140. However, the actual set of cups can be closer to $60. Warning: Picard’s eyes look really weird.
Buy The Next Generation ICEE Cups here
Lastly, and probably the coolest of the weird Star Trek promotional cup category, are the ICEE cups created for Deep Space Nine in 1993. These are unique because instead of photographs from the show, the cups had wonderful art created for the Malibu Comics adaptation of DS9. These aren’t too expensive, but getting a complete set of four cups is very, very difficult!
Buy the Deep Space Nine ICEE Cups here
Star Trek IV: Movie Cast Bomber Jacket
This one-of-a-kind jacket was created only for the cast and crew of The Voyage Home in 1986. Interestingly, this jacket also features a massive spoiler on the back since it depicts the reborn Enterprise-A hovering above the Golden Gate Bridge. Obviously, the Enterprise doesn’t fly this close to the Earth in the movie, but the revelation that the Enterprise returns only happens at the end of the movie! Either way, it’s really fun to imagine Leonard Nimoy wearing this jacket while directing the movie. There are only a few of these floating around, and they tend to run between $200 and $400.
Buy the Star Trek IV Cast Bomber Jacker here
Lower Decks USS TITAN from Eaglemoss/Hero Collector
For years, the good people at Eaglemoss produced high-quality replicas of various starships from the Star Trek canon, so many, in fact, that they even created models of some ships that never existed. But, in 2022, Eaglemoss went out of business, which meant that some of the last ships produced by the company became very rare. One of those ships was the USS Titan, as featured in Lower Decks Season 1 and Season 2. This was Riker’s first Titan before the Titan-A we saw in Picard Season 3. The Lower Decks version is tough to track down, meaning it will set you back at least $120.
Buy the Lower Decks USS TITAN here
Canon Breakers
Sometimes, Star Trek tie-in merchandise is so weird that it can’t even be contained by the widely expansive canon of the series itself. While the continuity of Star Trek is actually pretty flexible relative to other franchises, these items totally break canon — or do they?
Star Trek/X-MEN #1 (1996)
Without a doubt, the most bizarre Star Trek crossover of all time was the moment when the crew of the classic Enterprise crossed over with the X-Men. During the 30th anniversary of Star Trek in 1996, Marvel wasted no time in taking advantage of obtaining the license to make Trek comics. Could this make sense in some kind of multiverse? Better yet, could somebody try to actually turn this into a movie in our lifetimes? Come for the bonkers premise, but stay for the meeting of the minds between Spock and Beast.
Buy Star Trek/X-Men #1 here
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles + Star Trek
In 1994, you could not buy standalone versions of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock as action figures from Playmates. But, at that time, you could get mash-up versions of Kirk and Spock as…Ninja Turtles! In one of the strangest crossovers ever, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were turned into faux-versions of Kirk, Spock, Bones, and Scotty. These Starfleet turtles came with an assortment of legit Trek gear, as well as their normal ninja weapons.
Buy the TMNT + Star Trek Playmates figures here
1968 Star Trek Tracer-Scope Rifle
Sometimes billed as the “first Star Trek toy,” this rifle toy was clearly a repackaged version of another toy. While the toy claims you can “launch a flight of jet-discs into space,” nothing like this exists in the canon of Star Trek. Even in episodes in which the crew travels back in time or gets stuck in war game simulations, nobody ever has a Tracer-Scope Rifle. But that doesn’t stop this strange aberration from being very, very valuable. Some versions of this 1968 toy rifle are upwards in the range of $3,000, still in the box.
Buy the Tracer-Scope Rifle here
Star Trek 1967 Leaf Trading Cards
In 1967, the first Star Trek series was ending its first season and beginning its second. And so, trading cards were created by a company called Leaf. Without a doubt, these are the strangest Star Trek cards ever, specifically because nearly every single card describes a story or situation that never happened in any Trek episode. Here are a few examples: Card #42 features a photo of Captain Kirk with the title “Kirk Outside Spock Inside.” The text on the back of the card then describes the scenario as a body-swap story in which crew members “see Captain Kirk, but the personality is Mr. Spock.” In order to undo this freaky mishap, Dr. McCoy has to use “shock ion treatment” to switch their personalities back. Obviously, this episode of Star Trek doesn’t exist, even though the setup is similar to the 2022 Strange New Worlds episode “Spock Amok,” in which Spock and T’Pring switched bodies.
That said, we likely won’t see an episode like Card #23 any time soon. This one is called “Teeny Bopper” and features an image of Spock and Bones in what looks like an outtake. The description reads: “A weird gas causes Spock to believe he is a 1967 teeny bopper. Dr. McCoy attempts to restrain him. There appears no antidote.” These cards vary in value, but the best ones tend to go for hundreds of dollars.
Buy Star Trek Leaf Trading Cards here
The Spock Helmet
This is the big one! Released in 1976 by Enco Industries, this toy was, at the time, called “The Official Star Trek Helmet. This outrageous toy had a red light on top and a black antenna. And, although we call it the “Spock Helmet,” it actually came with decals that let you affix the names of different crew members, including Kirk, McCoy, and Scott. Just in case you’re not clear on this, nobody ever wore anything like this in The Original Series. But in 2020, Lower Decks finally did canonize this helmet, as it was revealed to be part of Beckett Mariner’s “contraband.” In 2019, Ethan Peck — Spock on Strange New Worlds and Discovery — unboxed a 1976 Spock Helmet for StarTrek.com. Arguably, nobody has looked better wearing this helmet, but if you want to get one for yourself, you’ll need about $800 for the one in the box and about $50 for the one out of the box.
Buy the Spock Helmet here
The post The Rarest and Weirdest Star Trek Collectibles of All Time appeared first on Den of Geek.
