I'll go down defending this beautiful playset too. I received it and the crew for Christmas '81 and I still have it today. It was a favorite of mine and saw many missions. It's durable enough to have lasted a ton of battles. Thank you for making this video!
I think adult collectors tend to be overly critical of certain toys from the past. It’s easy to look at playsets like this one, with adult eyes, and critique it for its perceived shortcomings. However, it’s important for adult collectors to recognize that toys back then were not intended to last forever or capture a high degree of detail. Children who played with these toys were expected to use their imaginations, which is what toys are supposed to make use of in the first place. I admittedly jumped on the bandwagon of highly detailed rereleases of action figure lines from my childhood. They seemed to be everything that I thought a perfect representation of a certain character should be. Though in more recent years I find myself slowly but surely phasing out much of the modern toys in my collection, in lieu of the vintage ones I grew up with. For me, collecting these old toys is not about acquiring a potential source of tangible value as part of my retirement plan. But more so as a representation of a more simple and happy time of my life. I think that the critics in us all tend to forget that sometimes.
Kids back in 1979 loved to recreate their favorite scenes from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," by posing their action figures on the bridge of the Enterprise and staring blankly at the viewscreen for hours on end.
@@BrickMantooth, yeah, I laughed at his odd enthusiasm when he said her name. Like she was supposed to be hot and sexy. And the commercial's emphasis on Decker and Ilia over the original cast was obviously pushed by Paramount's marketing. LOL
Oh, yeah… I’m part of that tribe. TMP opened a day before my 12th birthday… I was already a huge Trek fan… And after seeing the movie, I had my mom drive me to Kiddie City where I spent my hard earned birthday money on the bridge set and figures. I remember being a little disappointed in the quality, but the bridge set proudly sat on my bookshelf for many years. As a fun design/sketch project, I’ve re-designed the bridge set to emulate the death star playset… Bridge, transporter, and shuttle bay, all connected by a turbo lift. 12 year old me would’ve approved. :-)
My Enterprise got used as a Rebel base, a bunker and, of course, the titular USS Enterprise bridge for many adventures. I still have it and was really surprised to hear people hate this set. I remember the double-faced tape that held it together and I've never had to re-stick mine. For the $10 I think I paid for it at the time, it was well worth the price. I wish toys like this still existed.
I still have my bridge playset. Some of comonents have broke over the years and have glued back in place. But my bridge was used constantly when I was a child and had gone to many different worlds.
That story about cutting your original,much played with, Bridge Playset up for a school project is a painful one, but one we all share during that period where we were allegedly "moving away from toys." I have a similar story with my Empire Strikes Back Slave 1 that has me still kicking myself to this day. My original childhood toys are amongst the most cherished pieces in my collection. Thanks for posting this. Your vids always bring a smile to my face!
I was 6 yrs old in 1980, had all of SW & ESB action figures, but never knew any of the Star Trek 2 3/4 in. action figures even existed or the Enterprise playset; I only had the Mego's Capt. Kirk.
I remember these action figures but have never seen the bridge playset. Fun stuff! And nice to see that Isaac finally graduated from bartender to a bridge officer, LOL!
What I like about both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn is that each one is perfect to watch for two complete different moods. Sometimes I like fast pace action, but sometimes I was a mellow, reflective moment. But, I say that with hind sight. I saw this movie when it came out and was expecting to see what I was use to in the reruns and on the animated cartoon each Saturday, so didn't 100% embrace it.
I still have my Marvel STTMP comics, and still remember one particular story after 40 years. It explained the invention of the transporter system and the early test humans whose spirits were detached from their bodies like ghosts on an alien world. Fascinating! o_0
Great video! As a kid I don’t ever remember seeing this is or Star Trek figures in the stores. I was too fascinated by Star Wars and Battle Star Galactica toys. The Ovion Warrior was an amazing figure. I remember getting that for Christmas (I bet my dad thought it was star wars) and was just fascinated by the costume and the fact it had four arms.
Mom and dad bought this for me in November of 1983. They found it at a thrift/discount store off the beaten path. No TMP action figures, so I had to use Star Wars and later GI Joes. To this day, I wish I never traded it to my friend down the road because he used firecrackers to recreate the end of TWOK. He gave me the remains, and all I have left is one of the consoles he didn't burn-the thoughtlessness of youth.
I wasn’t around for mego’s hey day and I’ve never collected any of there stuff but I’m a huge fan of Toy Fare’s Twisted Theater and was subscribed to their mag from the 1990s until they stopped printing. So between Toyfare and after being subscribed to your awesome channel for a few years now I’ve gotta say you’ve helped me come around and now every time I go to the store and they have a mego selection I always leave with 1 or 2! They’re absolutely awesome and I think I might be getting the vintage mego collecting bug because I now just bought a vintage Batman and robin!! Thank you Brick Mantooth!!!!!!❤😎
Am of the Star Trek the Motion Picture tribe. As a kid, while I liked Star Wars, I like the look and feel of the refit Enterprise. I must have watched that movie several dozen times. And as an adult... WOW... that movie is touch and go with Kirk being untrained in the new ship and almost getting everyone killed... twice! Spock has his own agenda. McCoy was practically kidnapped for the misadventure. And Decker and Ilia are the prototype Riker and Troi on Next Generation. GREAT movie. Loved the Klingons new look (and anthem). The music was AMAZING and would be the intro to Next Generation. And the comic series with Marvel I have been re-reading lately and so much fun. The Motion Picture had a great look about it, and I love that time in Star Trek.
Agree 100% Feel sooo bad for fans who never got to see those first few Star Trek movies in the theater because THAT GORGEOUS ENTERPRISE MODEL ON THE BIG SCREEN ! ! ! PURE MOVIE MAGIC !
Oh, the Star Trek : TMP figures were amazing. Found the main crew in the stores around the time Star Trek II was being released. Did not know about the bridge set, but it looks amazing. Knew about the alien figures from the back of the figure card and advertisements in comics, but never found any in stores.
Never even knew about the Enterprise Bridge playset at the time (which is really weird because I was a HUGE Trekkie) , but I had the Admiral Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Decker. I just had them walk about a bookcase with encyclopedias and other hardcovers on it and pulled the books half-way out and made the "swish" sound like they were automatic doors and had had a particular set of grey books with metallic red lettering on them as the transporter room to tansport them to the couch or the floor with rolled up socks and the Battlestar Galactica Muffit and Ovion and Commander Adama and Starbuck and Str Wars C3PO to interact with. Oh and I used to cut out pictures of computers and stuff from the catalogues and tape them to the book spines, etc for my ghetto playsets, LOL. But except for my beloved droids, I was much more impressed with the 10-point articulated Micronauts, Buck Rogers and a couple of Black Hole figures, specifically V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and a Sentry robot. I was a rather obnoxious articulation snob I guess. Because C3PO and R2D2 weren't really agile in real life... err... in the movies, that was OK, but otherwise I almost NEVER had different articulation figures interact. Now I would have been ALL OVER the Star Trek III figures if I found any of them, even though I would have been just getting out of toys about that time.
Great video on the history of this piece. The kids in the commercial crack me up. Kid: "Wow! The crew go back and FOWATH!" (thick little accent there). LOL! This came out at a very competitive time, because my little brain was torn between Star Wars, The Black Hole, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica and The World's Greatest Superheroes. I've often wondered why MEGO chose to make the Star Trek line all soft plastic and not the articulated O-ring figures like the Buck Rogers line.
I don't remember the figure line or playset for Star Trek the Motion Picture at all. But even though the playset is cheap I think I would have loved it as a kid. So many possibilities...
This was fun. I like your chuckles about your love for it. I would have bought it because I was a nut for STTMP. But for some reason on the afternoon I watched the movie I was more motivated to purchase the old communicators/walkie talkies that were on clearance at the toy store. This bridge playset didn't hang around too long and I never got one. Maybe foolishly I sold the old bridge playset last year on ebay. Anyway I am glad you do these videos because they are a great escape from all the horrors of 2020!
I would have had a great time playing with it as a kid. I definitely know I'd use it to recreate ALIEN ( I know there weren't toys for it, and of course I'd substitute other figures to emulate the film), or create a science fiction scenario. In all, my imagination would make good use of it. Thanks for the great review!
I like this bridge set. You could use any 3inch figure of that time that came out and pretend they're a crew member or someone hijacking the ship. (Stop motion movie style)
This is a personal Grail item for me....in great shape and a low price... I know, I can dream. Maybe someone will recreate it in an affordable way like I have seen The Buck Roger's Starfighter.
Great video as I was born at the end of 1978 I missed out would of loved this I remember a couple of kids having a couple of the figures handed down to them but never seen this set second hand growing up
I loved my bridge play set as a kid I didn’t think of it as cheap, today I would say so but the adventures I had with this play set was better than any movie 🍿
No idea what happened to certain toys I had when I was 10. Crazy to see the $8 price tag in the catalog for this playset, then to see it at cons / conventions or on eBay for hundreds of dollars. But our memories of our original experiences with toys like this are what matter.
I had Spock and Kirk. I lost them playing near the water when I was young. Was very upset. Just recently found on card Kirk and Spock figures MOC from Star Trek 3 the ETRL figures. Look great.
I've always loved Star Trek the Motion Picture and always believed it has been unfairly maligned. It is the only Star Trek movie I have on DVD and the only Star Trek movie of which I have lots of merchandise like the Mego figures, posters, drinking cups, Starfleet mobile, Dinky Enterprise, Marvel comics, Whitman puzzle, Topps card set, etc. I especially love the McDonald's Happy Meal items, and have fond memories of them. I was able to find some on Ebay a few years ago, and have them on display.with my toy collection. I know what you mean about the Star Wars Death Star. I got one for Christmas in 1978, and sometime in the 1980's it disappeared. I found another one a few years ago on Ebay, and it's in great shape and complete. I bought it from the original owner who took great care of it. I never saw the movie Enterprise in stores, and that is probably why I don't own one. It's much too expensive now, so I'll have to wait until I win the lottery. Did you really get one for fifty cents in a clearance? All I got on clearance for that price was a Cylon (that I still have). The TV Enterprise isn't as expensive, and I have one complete with the original box, and all of the 8 inch figures except for the Romulan ($$$ again). "Jim, this is a mechanism."
The Happy Meal boxes were great. As a 9 year old, I found it incredibly odd that they included a cartoon of the transporter malfunction. It did help me prepare for that scene though, which was pretty terrifying for kids.
I have all of the Happy Meal boxes, and the one with Kirk in the space suit is my favorite because of that scene of Spock entering the station. It had some great effects and showed Spock in agony when he got zapped. I find it odd that the Klingons are so prominent on the boxes and other merchandise, considering what happens to them so early in the movie. Looks like they didn't know. They were always having trouble with that transporter. One of the boxes has some nice artwork of the transporter on the front.
This was the one that the scientific folks have said is the only one that follows the actual science within the movie. Which is what probably bored other people.
I finally bought one last year with a box and am glad I did as I have loved this playset for a long time. Have you seen the eBayer selling repros of the Palamino and Cygnus bridge? I asked the seller if it could be possible to do the Vulcan Shuttle. It seems it could be done with the few photos and the commercial you posted. It would cost in the hundreds but what a unique piece that would be!
I had some of the figures but not the bridge. I also recall McDonald's put out some happy meals with nice graphics to promote the film. I think they may have introduced the boxed happy meals that would become popular to this day.
You had me laughing out loud on this one for sure! Even though I didn’t have this set, I do have the Southbend electronic Enterprise that was released at the time. I was actually a fan of the movie when it was released. BTW, the Southbend Enterprise is a great toy!
Brick Mantooth It sure is! I always wondered why Mego wasn’t the one to offer it. It reminds me a lot of the Milton Bradley Star Bird. Mine is in beautiful shape. They’re fetching a pretty high price these days!
@@Bonedadyo TMP was really a great example of splitting a license. Mego released an Enterprise "Model" but I guess Southbend won a separate license for "Electronic Model", they even made Phasers but Mego made communicators, it was definitely a sign of things to come.
I had this as a kid but my memories of it are pretty low compared to 8" Mego figures, Star Wars, Micronauts or even Adventure People. I remember being bothered by the lack of color and that the door rotated instead of sliding open. For Star Trek play, I generally played with my Enterprise plastic model and then picked up the action on a planet surface. I also had the TMP Bridge Punch-Out Book which--even though it was all paper and scaled too small for action figures--was much more cool in my mind as a bridge than the Mego version. It was so detailed!
The 1701 refit playset, from a design and play stand point, is brilliant. The fault lies within Mego's execution. Unfortunately, I never had this playset. My mind was so 🤯 over Star Wars, it did not even blip my seven year old radar. Looking at this toy, in the video, it could have even been used as a Star Destroyer playset. Imagination is wonderful! The docking port could have been used to slide the docking ring of the Falcon up to and imagine people passing through. I am surprised Hasbro never made a Falcon with an opening or removable docking hatch on the starboard side above the ramp. Even the Joe Shuttle, if this playset is put on books or on the edge of the table could have "docked" with this; imagine a Buck Rogers figure piloting the shuttle, and the Enterprise bridge is the ship that found him. Bad guys, good guys, all guys, who cares! Great playset! Having never felt the plastic I do not know of this is the thinner, very flexible plastic, the kind that moves when flicked with your fingernail, and makes a weird noise; or if the set is made from thicker, more stable plastic, that does not bend when picked up. Talking about it, and the play scenarios running through my head, I wish I had one right now, lol!
I had a few figures from the line, but not the bridge. I had the comic adaption of the film as well. While it does look a bit cheaply made to adult eyes, I can see where it would have been fun to play with as a kid.
I found all the main cast and most of the Aliens over here in the UK at a discount store that had a first floor devoted to clearance toys and that would have been 80 or 81.I love these figs probably because the costumes in Trek 1 and 2 rock! Thanks for all this wonderful content. ps Obviously I sold my originals 30 years ago but I just had to track a set down a few years back and they still ROCK!
The US only sold them to JC Penney and abandoned them. They popped in Canada, Italy and the UK because orders were prepaid with a letter of credit. Mego would have been foolish to cancel.
It looks cool. I was a little too young for it (I was 4 in 1979), but the more I watched the video, the more I realized it's not hard plastic and why it might be seen as inferior to cardboard in vinyl, which seems like the cheapest of all.
a few years ago on Ebay, there was a guy who was selling a graded Star Trek TMP bridge mint in box and his asking price for it was $15,000. Obviously, there were no takers for his auction, but my question is, if someone had bought the bridge for $15,000 what was the buyer going to do with it? I mean, if you are a collector you're certainly not going to open the sealed box. Would anybody on here pay $15,000 for this playset? I seriously doubt it. I know I wouldn't LOL
@ 3:05 LOL! Why is Ted Lange on the Enterprise bridge? "Hey, Issac! You're on the wrong ship!" Maybe his bartending is out of this world? Maybe he heard there was an opening for a bartender at Chalmun's Cantina on Mos Eisley and thought he could catch a lift(off) with Kirk and Spock and the gang? That brings up a fun question : Did anyone "mix" their various action figures regardless of the franchise they belonged to, or was there an unspoken rule that no figures of differing franchises shall ever share the same play space? I had somewhat of a rule like that, but it was based on a figure's points of articulation... Star Trek, Star Wars, Adventure People, were all "5-pointers" (5 points of articualtion : neck, shoulders, hips), so they could co-exist (even though AP's figures' necks had more "bob&pivot" action). But the likes of Buck Rogers, Black Hole, G.I.Joe (1980s), Micronauts, etc, were all "10-pointers" (10 points of articualtion : neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, waist), so I figured it "wasn't fair" to the 5-pointers, lest they feel insecure or jealous or something, lol. Yeah, I was a demented kid.
@@BrickMantooth Hahaha, on that one, I did the exact opposite! Back in the 70s with the Mego 8" dolls (I had very few "Pocket heroes" figures, but the few I had were blended in with Star Wars), I didn't know Marvel from DC, they were just all superheroes. But even after learning the difference, when the Super Powers (DC) and Secret Wars (Marvel) lines came out, I still mixed them up as one huge universe, lol. Of course by then my previous prejudice of "points of articualtion" had relaxed, as Super Powers had the jointed knees (except for Brainiac, Kalibak, and maybe a few others... Come to think of it, that may have been what finally relaxed my "rule" on the whole thing, lol... if Kenner could be inconsistent, so could I).
I'd mix different franchises, but hardly EVER different articulations. I guess I was an articulation snob. WAY preferred the 10-POA figures like Buck Rogers, Micronauts, Black Hole and GiJoes. Now I do remember liking mixing C3PO and R2D2 with those 10-POA figures because even in "real life"... err... in the movies, those droids had no agility.
@@BrickMantooth Nah my Batman and Spidey and Hulk Pocket Heroes fought all the time. Now my 8" Megos that was funny. I had Kirk Spock, Spider-Man and "Planet of the Apes" Cornelius and... well you could imagine who out of all those got his a$$ whupped regularly. If only I had the 8" Mego Lizard, it'd have been a WAY different story for poor Cornelius !
@@paulwalsh2344 LOL! "Articulation snob" - I guess that was me, too, haha. The C-3PO/R2-D2 exception is a logic I can follow, but for me it was like the other way around ; before I got an actual C-3PO figure, I used a yellow "Time Traveler" (from the Micronauts). The additional articualtion meant more "accurate Threepio" poses, which made getting the actual figure almost like a "downgrade", but luckily I ranked authenticity & accuracy above anything else. :-P
What a great video! I never had the bridge, but I agree it's a nice set. The "sterility" of it really does match what the bridge looks like in the film. I did have a couple of the figures--Kirk and Spock--and wished that I had more. Too bad that Vulcan shuttle was never made. I like how it is shown connecting with the bridge in the advertisement you included.
It is what it is. Had I not been born in 80, I’d love to have had it. I do remember playing Star Wars with my cousin, and he had the McCoy figure from this line. Hell, I would’ve used this play set with the few Star Wars figures I had. Too bad I’m just now finding out about it.
Oh yeah, could you imagine Bones doing medical work on Star Wars figs ! ? With the FX-7 and 2-1B Medical droid ! ? And for that matter, the Scotty I had working on... well ANYTHING from the Star Wars line, ships or droids !
I loved these toys! I have the wave one figures in place of pride in my Star Trek display. Would love to get my hands on the bridge. At Mego Meetup last year, didn’t Marty say they’d like to revisit the 3.75” scale? I’d flip for TMP wave three!
Had those figures. Still have them somewhere. They were terrible at standing though. The legs were different lengths and very noticeable on one of the figures
Interesting how Star Wars sold all those toys from just movies. My parents refused to take me to the theater (because they were cheap) so I had a few Star Wars toys from garage sale finds but I really loved watching Star Trek The Original Series and whenever one of the movies was a special presentation on ABC! I still occasionally look at the old Corgi toy catalogs and wish I had those Star Trek toys.
I really loved these Star Trek figures when they first came out and I had all of the ones that were the first release, but the other aliens I didn't see for sale and this playset I would have loved but I also used all of the 3 3/4ths figures like Buck Rogers and Star Trek and Black Hole all of the sci fi figures and ships to me they were all space so they fit.
I was being paid by my dad during this time but what really pissed me off was that my folks never brought me to Toys R Us to spend my pocket money there. Nor did they allow me to buy it from the winter catalog from either JC or Sears. I should have just gotten a money order and paid for it at the different department stores that had catalog sales but being a 8-9 year old kid I had no idea about. Although I did take a girl who was my girl friend we actually made it to the place to buy a wedding license because pretending to get married was enough for us it was time to elope. Made my folks bust a gut laughing.
As a kid, I would've killed for that playset.... as well as the unmade Cygnus playset and the unmade Palomino spacecraft from The Black Hole. Thanks for this video! 👍👍
My only encounter with this Bridge Playset, other than really wanting it from Christmas catalogs & missing out on the original vinyl set even though I had an 8” Kirk & Spock, was seeing it on a high top shelf at a Zellers within a year after it came out, and was reduced in price but still way out of my kid-budget. I think I bought Calibos from the Clash of the Titans line that day instead. Within a year after that I saw a ton of the rare alien 3 3/4” figures all on clearance at a Metropolitan store, along with the Black Hole line of figures. I purchased a VINcent and a Humanoid instead. I remember it being a REALLY(!!!!!!!!!) tough decision. Out of all of this I only still have my VINcent.
A good mix between the 'toyetic' need to be playable for kids, and enough detail to see clearly that it's screen accurate. It being built in a "widescreen ratio" is a nice touch.
I had this, and all the figures, at the time. Living in Canada meant, I found all of the aliens at Sears... I’m sure I saw a shuttle, but couldn’t get it, unless it was actually from Southbend? I recall the docking feature. I might have lost the megarite, and lost the cape for the rigelian. Of course I painted ilia to look “like” uhura. I ended up painting the bridge, but then stepped on it, in my 20’s... so it got chucked! I repurchased it at some point, on eBay, for under $100, now they go for $1000? I have an English box, if you want to switch it out, I think I bought it in Nanaimo, so no french...
I still have the Kirk & Decker figures. But the only memory I have of this playset was trying to stick all of the pieces together with little glue pads. After that, I don't know what happened...
I had this bridge & figures, but it was so tiny & flimsy, cheap thin plastic stuck together with double sided sticky tabs. The door was like a revolving coffee cup lid, which made no sense. What's an air lock doing on the bridge anyways? I remember throwing it out. I was such a picky kid! I hear it fetches good retail $ these days. However, I still have Isaac! LOL!
Never saw the bridge in the UK. Though I did have a few of the cast figures plus a couple of aliens that I acquired in a swap in the early 80s. Really loved the film and still do! Sadly the aliens have gone in a trade with Intergalactic Trading Co in the early 90s.
I totally hated the vacuform of the set. We were NOT gentle on our toys, and it cracked fairly early on in it's life. Even after the main body was trashed we reused the chairs and consoles for play for a LONG time though. As a toy it had SO much play value though! I couldn't get enough of it! As for the comics...I enjoyed a few stories, the issue with the Endeavor really sparked my imagination. In the end, I'm more disappointed in that lack of forward momentum for the toys line than anything else.
Yeah the toys came and went but to be fair, none of the TMP merchandise sold by the looks of things. It could still be easily found in the mid 1980s...
Those action figures were scarce where I lived in Lakeside AZ, I did however have the Admiral Kirk and 1st Science Officer Spock figures. I was probably the only Lad in the Walk-In theater that watched THE HUMAN ADVENTURE JUST BEGIN. It was either at Flagstaff Mall or in Santa Fe New Mexico where I saw it, I was enthralled in the center middle row, I watched it from Overture to Lights Up. It was like no other Cinematic film I had ever seen I was 12 years old and it was my first Adult (In the Best Sense of The Word) Motion Picture by myself. Yes it was rated G at the time, however it wasn't your typical Boy's Flick, this was High Art Cinema aimed at Adults. Most fans I have met think this was the worst of the Franchise, I do not hold this view at all. IMMWAOO The Search for Spock was a Mess. By the way the Vulcan and V*Ger scenes looked really bizare and Alien Cool to me back then (1979 Christmas Time) I didn't know it was a budgetary issue and that they did not get what they wanted done. I saw the newer version on DVD and it was ok. I mean if they were going to add new effects shots why not upgrade the ones they kept instead of going for the 1979 look?
Except for saying that Star Trek III: TSFS was a mess, I completely agree with your comment. I was 11, but me and my Dad were HUGE Trekkies and that movie hit all out buttons man. Fantastic. Sure when re-watching, I admit I visually fast-forward some of the V'Ger special effects, but other than that... FANTASTIC movie. The Enterprise in drydock reveal is PURE MOVIE MAGIC ! And I feel soooo sorry for fans who never saw those movies in the theater, where that Enterprise was 20 feet tall... I just got goosebumps thinking about that, lol ! So realistic and believable up there on the big screen. It LOOKED LIKE I COULD REACH OUT AND TOUCH IT AND COME ABOARD !... just perfection.
@@paulwalsh2344 Thank you8 for your input, I enjoyed reading your reminiscing, and I respect your difference of opinion, so if you want present it to me that would be "..fine." - Spock (From Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
@@paulwalsh2344 SIDE NOTE Do you remember the 3 3/4 inch Tonka figures that were out the same time as the STTMP figures were? They were very affordable at the Local Ace Store 5 miles or so from where I lived and I got a whole slough of them (Army building before I heard the term.) and used them as the enterprise crew most were male in blue coveralls style (they were all in coveralls style even the gals) I had 4 Gals in Red They were Security (Hey it's Star Trek post Star Wars Gals could be security, and in my crew they were the only security team because they were the only red "dressed" figures (there were no Tonka Pastel figures that I knew of so I went with the STTOS color scheme for the crew more or less the colors weren't exact.), the Yellow ones both male and female were Captains and other senior Officers I had 3 of those 2 Ladies and one Gentleman (decades before Captain Janeway Might I add.) the orange ones were8 and I used them in my Star Wars Toys as Rebel Pilots (Because Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot, that's why). They had green ones but that was way before The MACOS of Enterprise so I didn't buy them. I apologize I didn't mean to write a "book" here.
@@paulwalsh2344 By the way I never got to see Wrath of Khan on the Silver Screen, but I saw all of the other Original cast and all of the Next Generation Movies and The 1st 2 of The Alternate timeline/reality Movies on the Silver Screen.
While the action figures were on par with Kenner's Star Wars line I have to say the bridge playset is a bit of a let down. Not only is the material thin and rather cheap looking, it's guilty of not being screen acurate. A full size bridge made of better quality materials would have gone a long way to improve this playset. I personally enjoy Star Trek TMP, however it might have been better if they would have crafted a more action/adventure sci-fi movie would have lent itself to better align with SW thus allowing for better toy sales for Mego.
It is kind of samey coming out of one sheet of colored styrene. Had a few playsets made in the same manner and they didn't last very long. I guess this was the direction toys were taking post Star Wars but I like the older Mego methods.
I had this and loved it as well. But i did not like the fact that the figures didn’t come with phasers. So i mostly used my star wars, micronauts, adventure people, buck and black hole figures
Love the set but we did get the full;l crew if I remember rightly. They did the same for some playmates version of this film. I so hope (I doubt it tho) we get a new line of Star Trek figures preferably in a Marvel Legends format for all the shows
When the figures came out I was 4 years old. I don't think the Star Trek: The Motion Picture 3 3/4" figs were available here. The 8" Mego Star Trek figs were available; I remember playing with Kirk when I was 10, sadly that fig wasn't mine. Luckily by now I own 3 3/4" figs of Kirk, Spock & McCoy. Now if only that Bridge Playset wouldn't cost an arm, a leg and a kidney...
Never had the Enterprise btidge but do have a few of the figures still. Also had that Batcave you showed for a second. Nothing cheap or flimsy about mine. My old man filled it with concrete and mounted it to a board...that thing was neigh indestructible lol. The plastic began to get brittle and break apart and eventually we had to get rid of it :(
This Friday I will be 62 years old I would give anything to have that bridge Star Trek lives!
I'll go down defending this beautiful playset too. I received it and the crew for Christmas '81 and I still have it today. It was a favorite of mine and saw many missions. It's durable enough to have lasted a ton of battles. Thank you for making this video!
really happy to hear from another fan!
I think adult collectors tend to be overly critical of certain toys from the past. It’s easy to look at playsets like this one, with adult eyes, and critique it for its perceived shortcomings. However, it’s important for adult collectors to recognize that toys back then were not intended to last forever or capture a high degree of detail. Children who played with these toys were expected to use their imaginations, which is what toys are supposed to make use of in the first place. I admittedly jumped on the bandwagon of highly detailed rereleases of action figure lines from my childhood. They seemed to be everything that I thought a perfect representation of a certain character should be. Though in more recent years I find myself slowly but surely phasing out much of the modern toys in my collection, in lieu of the vintage ones I grew up with. For me, collecting these old toys is not about acquiring a potential source of tangible value as part of my retirement plan. But more so as a representation of a more simple and happy time of my life. I think that the critics in us all tend to forget that sometimes.
Kids back in 1979 loved to recreate their favorite scenes from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," by posing their action figures on the bridge of the Enterprise and staring blankly at the viewscreen for hours on end.
I'm sure at least one kid did that.
😆😅😂🤣
@ atomicdancer lol, I'll give you that ! I LOVED TMP though.
One of my favourite playsets! Love the STTMP Mego line
me too!
LOL at the kid all excited about Commander Decker.
yeah AND LT. ILIA!
@@BrickMantooth, yeah, I laughed at his odd enthusiasm when he said her name. Like she was supposed to be hot and sexy. And the commercial's emphasis on Decker and Ilia over the original cast was obviously pushed by Paramount's marketing. LOL
@@MasterJediDude You can almost hear the kids eyebrows going up and down. Ilia was possibly the greatest pegwarmer of the 1970s.
Brick Mantooth I almost expected the kid to throw in a hubba hubba
A kid all excited about Commander Decker?!? You mean Stephen Collins confession about sexual misconduct with multiple minor females.
I used this play set as the DEATH STAR detention center control room as a kid. That shoot out was always one of my favorite scenes STAR WARS.
It's a great scene.
Would make a decent bridge for Admiral Ackbar too.
Oh, yeah… I’m part of that tribe. TMP opened a day before my 12th birthday… I was already a huge Trek fan… And after seeing the movie, I had my mom drive me to Kiddie City where I spent my hard earned birthday money on the bridge set and figures. I remember being a little disappointed in the quality, but the bridge set proudly sat on my bookshelf for many years. As a fun design/sketch project, I’ve re-designed the bridge set to emulate the death star playset… Bridge, transporter, and shuttle bay, all connected by a turbo lift. 12 year old me would’ve approved. :-)
glad to know ya!
The presence of Isaac sold it for me. :) Great video once again.
thank you, glad you dug it.
My Enterprise got used as a Rebel base, a bunker and, of course, the titular USS Enterprise bridge for many adventures. I still have it and was really surprised to hear people hate this set. I remember the double-faced tape that held it together and I've never had to re-stick mine. For the $10 I think I paid for it at the time, it was well worth the price. I wish toys like this still existed.
Me too!
I still have my bridge playset. Some of comonents have broke over the years and have glued back in place. But my bridge was used constantly when I was a child and had gone to many different worlds.
We share that, thanks for letting me know.
That's great! :)
That story about cutting your original,much played with, Bridge Playset up for a school project is a painful one, but one we all share during that period where we were allegedly "moving away from toys." I have a similar story with my Empire Strikes Back Slave 1 that has me still kicking myself to this day. My original childhood toys are amongst the most cherished pieces in my collection.
Thanks for posting this. Your vids always bring a smile to my face!
The weird thing is, I already was collecting toys but I viewed the TMP toys as pretty common.
I was 6 yrs old in 1980, had all of SW & ESB action figures, but never knew any of the Star Trek 2 3/4 in. action figures even existed or the Enterprise playset; I only had the Mego's Capt. Kirk.
I remember these action figures but have never seen the bridge playset. Fun stuff! And nice to see that Isaac finally graduated from bartender to a bridge officer, LOL!
Isaac will be making many more appearances.
@@BrickMantooth Outta sight !
Did I see Issac the bartender bringing some Romulan Ale to the bridge? LOL
You did indeed.
What I like about both Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn is that each one is perfect to watch for two complete different moods. Sometimes I like fast pace action, but sometimes I was a mellow, reflective moment.
But, I say that with hind sight. I saw this movie when it came out and was expecting to see what I was use to in the reruns and on the animated cartoon each Saturday, so didn't 100% embrace it.
I have new found respect for the motion picture now.
I still have my Marvel STTMP comics, and still remember one particular story after 40 years. It explained the invention of the transporter system and the early test humans whose spirits were detached from their bodies like ghosts on an alien world. Fascinating! o_0
Sounds almost like TNG episode where they find Scotty locked in a transporter
@@christopherlacher3544 "Relics" was an awesome episode ! Really touching send off for Scotty !
I love the issue where Marvel Dracula shows up on the Enterprise!!!
Great video! As a kid I don’t ever remember seeing this is or Star Trek figures in the stores. I was too fascinated by Star Wars and Battle Star Galactica toys. The Ovion Warrior was an amazing figure. I remember getting that for Christmas (I bet my dad thought it was star wars) and was just fascinated by the costume and the fact it had four arms.
Yeah, it's a really nice figure, I particularly love his gold jacket.
Yeah, the Ovion was really cool ! And made a really great alien for all 3 3/4" figures.
I would have loved having this as a kid. Thanks for the review!
thanks for watching!
Isaac on the bridge!
I really appreciate your work on these and the forum. Thank you.
My pleasure!
Isaac is getting around a lot lately!
He's our unofficial mascot.
Reminds me of SNL's "The Love Boat: The Next Generation!"
Before my time. I wasn't born until 1980 but I was a huge Trek fan and would have liked this as much as you did.
What kids wanted to play Love Boat? Gotta be like 1/5 the percentage of kids who wanted a Black Hole set!
That Black Hole playset looks amazing...
yeah I'd have been ALL OVER the Black Hole sets as a kid.
I would have played Poseidon Adventure with the Love Boat playset just turn it upside down and add a Christmas tree.
Great look at this much debated playset! I have a newfound appreciation for it!
thanks for letting me know!
Mom and dad bought this for me in November of 1983. They found it at a thrift/discount store off the beaten path. No TMP action figures, so I had to use Star Wars and later GI Joes. To this day, I wish I never traded it to my friend down the road because he used firecrackers to recreate the end of TWOK. He gave me the remains, and all I have left is one of the consoles he didn't burn-the thoughtlessness of youth.
TSFS
I wasn’t around for mego’s hey day and I’ve never collected any of there stuff but I’m a huge fan of Toy Fare’s Twisted Theater and was subscribed to their mag from the 1990s until they stopped printing. So between Toyfare and after being subscribed to your awesome channel for a few years now I’ve gotta say you’ve helped me come around and now every time I go to the store and they have a mego selection I always leave with 1 or 2! They’re absolutely awesome and I think I might be getting the vintage mego collecting bug because I now just bought a vintage Batman and robin!! Thank you Brick Mantooth!!!!!!❤😎
1:15 Hey that's me! Was not expecting to see that hahaha
I was trying to find the weirdest Star Wars picture I could find and that totally won.
Am of the Star Trek the Motion Picture tribe. As a kid, while I liked Star Wars, I like the look and feel of the refit Enterprise. I must have watched that movie several dozen times. And as an adult... WOW... that movie is touch and go with Kirk being untrained in the new ship and almost getting everyone killed... twice! Spock has his own agenda. McCoy was practically kidnapped for the misadventure. And Decker and Ilia are the prototype Riker and Troi on Next Generation. GREAT movie. Loved the Klingons new look (and anthem). The music was AMAZING and would be the intro to Next Generation. And the comic series with Marvel I have been re-reading lately and so much fun. The Motion Picture had a great look about it, and I love that time in Star Trek.
Agree 100% Feel sooo bad for fans who never got to see those first few Star Trek movies in the theater because THAT GORGEOUS ENTERPRISE MODEL ON THE BIG SCREEN ! ! ! PURE MOVIE MAGIC !
Oh, the Star Trek : TMP figures were amazing. Found the main crew in the stores around the time Star Trek II was being released. Did not know about the bridge set, but it looks amazing. Knew about the alien figures from the back of the figure card and advertisements in comics, but never found any in stores.
Never even knew about the Enterprise Bridge playset at the time (which is really weird because I was a HUGE Trekkie) , but I had the Admiral Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Decker. I just had them walk about a bookcase with encyclopedias and other hardcovers on it and pulled the books half-way out and made the "swish" sound like they were automatic doors and had had a particular set of grey books with metallic red lettering on them as the transporter room to tansport them to the couch or the floor with rolled up socks and the Battlestar Galactica Muffit and Ovion and Commander Adama and Starbuck and Str Wars C3PO to interact with. Oh and I used to cut out pictures of computers and stuff from the catalogues and tape them to the book spines, etc for my ghetto playsets, LOL.
But except for my beloved droids, I was much more impressed with the 10-point articulated Micronauts, Buck Rogers and a couple of Black Hole figures, specifically V.I.N.C.E.N.T. and a Sentry robot. I was a rather obnoxious articulation snob I guess. Because C3PO and R2D2 weren't really agile in real life... err... in the movies, that was OK, but otherwise I almost NEVER had different articulation figures interact. Now I would have been ALL OVER the Star Trek III figures if I found any of them, even though I would have been just getting out of toys about that time.
Fantastic! I do hope you never run out of Mego to talk about :)
I hope not either.
Great video on the history of this piece. The kids in the commercial crack me up. Kid: "Wow! The crew go back and FOWATH!" (thick little accent there). LOL!
This came out at a very competitive time, because my little brain was torn between Star Wars, The Black Hole, Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica and The World's Greatest Superheroes. I've often wondered why MEGO chose to make the Star Trek line all soft plastic and not the articulated O-ring figures like the Buck Rogers line.
Oh man, a 10-POA Star Trek line would have RULED ! And same for Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan ! ? FUGET ABOUT IT ! !
I don't remember the figure line or playset for Star Trek the Motion Picture at all. But even though the playset is cheap I think I would have loved it as a kid. So many possibilities...
This was fun. I like your chuckles about your love for it. I would have bought it because I was a nut for STTMP. But for some reason on the afternoon I watched the movie I was more motivated to purchase the old communicators/walkie talkies that were on clearance at the toy store. This bridge playset didn't hang around too long and I never got one. Maybe foolishly I sold the old bridge playset last year on ebay. Anyway I am glad you do these videos because they are a great escape from all the horrors of 2020!
I would have had a great time playing with it as a kid. I definitely know I'd use it to recreate ALIEN ( I know there weren't toys for it, and of course I'd substitute other figures to emulate the film), or create a science fiction scenario. In all, my imagination would make good use of it. Thanks for the great review!
thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!
@@BrickMantooth You're welcome!
I like this bridge set. You could use any 3inch figure of that time that came out and pretend they're a crew member or someone hijacking the ship. (Stop motion movie style)
Oh yeah, I did that with the Micronauts a lot.
@@BrickMantooth Awesome!
This is a personal Grail item for me....in great shape and a low price... I know, I can dream.
Maybe someone will recreate it in an affordable way like I have seen The Buck Roger's Starfighter.
Great video as I was born at the end of 1978 I missed out would of loved this I remember a couple of kids having a couple of the figures handed down to them but never seen this set second hand growing up
The love boattttttt both exciting and newwwww
climb aboard, we're expecting youuuuuuuuuu
Set your mind on adventure, your heart on a new ro-mance
I loved my bridge play set as a kid I didn’t think of it as cheap, today I would say so but the adventures I had with this play set was better than any movie 🍿
thanks for sharing that, I totally agree.
No idea what happened to certain toys I had when I was 10. Crazy to see the $8 price tag in the catalog for this playset, then to see it at cons / conventions or on eBay for hundreds of dollars. But our memories of our original experiences with toys like this are what matter.
I had Spock and Kirk. I lost them playing near the water when I was young. Was very upset. Just recently found on card Kirk and Spock figures MOC from Star Trek 3 the ETRL figures. Look great.
I've always loved Star Trek the Motion Picture and always believed it has been unfairly maligned. It is the only Star Trek movie I have on DVD and the only Star Trek movie of which I have lots of merchandise like the Mego figures, posters, drinking cups, Starfleet mobile, Dinky Enterprise, Marvel comics, Whitman puzzle, Topps card set, etc. I especially love the McDonald's Happy Meal items, and have fond memories of them. I was able to find some on Ebay a few years ago, and have them on display.with my toy collection.
I know what you mean about the Star Wars Death Star. I got one for Christmas in 1978, and sometime in the 1980's it disappeared. I found another one a few years ago on Ebay, and it's in great shape and complete. I bought it from the original owner who took great care of it. I never saw the movie Enterprise in stores, and that is probably why I don't own one. It's much too expensive now, so I'll have to wait until I win the lottery. Did you really get one for fifty cents in a clearance? All I got on clearance for that price was a Cylon (that I still have). The TV Enterprise isn't as expensive, and I have one complete with the original box, and all of the 8 inch figures except for the Romulan ($$$ again).
"Jim, this is a mechanism."
Yeah, I get all misty eyed when i see TMP merchandise myself, happy times.
The Happy Meal boxes were great. As a 9 year old, I found it incredibly odd that they included a cartoon of the transporter malfunction. It did help me prepare for that scene though, which was pretty terrifying for kids.
@@MasterJediDude I forgot about that being on the happy meals, it was creepy! I was nine and it shook me.
I have all of the Happy Meal boxes, and the one with Kirk in the space suit is my favorite because of that scene of Spock entering the station. It had some great effects and showed Spock in agony when he got zapped.
I find it odd that the Klingons are so prominent on the boxes and other merchandise, considering what happens to them so early in the movie.
Looks like they didn't know.
They were always having trouble with that transporter. One of the boxes has some nice artwork of the transporter on the front.
This was the one that the scientific folks have said is the only one that follows the actual science within the movie. Which is what probably bored other people.
I finally bought one last year with a box and am glad I did as I have loved this playset for a long time. Have you seen the eBayer selling repros of the Palamino and Cygnus bridge? I asked the seller if it could be possible to do the Vulcan Shuttle. It seems it could be done with the few photos and the commercial you posted. It would cost in the hundreds but what a unique piece that would be!
I've seen them, just haven't taken the plunge....yet. I want one.
This set is soooo cool....
I agree.
Star Trek the Motion Picture was the 1st movie I watched in the theater! I still like it! Also I had this Kirk figure and a Bones Mego.
I had some of the figures but not the bridge. I also recall McDonald's put out some happy meals with nice graphics to promote the film. I think they may have introduced the boxed happy meals that would become popular to this day.
Yeah, they were the first major release of the Happy Meal. I loved those things, actually i still have all the boxes here somewhere.
You had me laughing out loud on this one for sure! Even though I didn’t have this set, I do have the Southbend electronic Enterprise that was released at the time. I was actually a fan of the movie when it was released. BTW, the Southbend Enterprise is a great toy!
It looks like an awesome toy!
Brick Mantooth It sure is! I always wondered why Mego wasn’t the one to offer it. It reminds me a lot of the Milton Bradley Star Bird. Mine is in beautiful shape. They’re fetching a pretty high price these days!
@@Bonedadyo TMP was really a great example of splitting a license. Mego released an Enterprise "Model" but I guess Southbend won a separate license for "Electronic Model", they even made Phasers but Mego made communicators, it was definitely a sign of things to come.
Brick Mantooth Agreed!
With you 100% - I had a ton of fun with this play set. Like you, I got it for a song and had many, many adventures with it.
I had this as a kid but my memories of it are pretty low compared to 8" Mego figures, Star Wars, Micronauts or even Adventure People. I remember being bothered by the lack of color and that the door rotated instead of sliding open. For Star Trek play, I generally played with my Enterprise plastic model and then picked up the action on a planet surface. I also had the TMP Bridge Punch-Out Book which--even though it was all paper and scaled too small for action figures--was much more cool in my mind as a bridge than the Mego version. It was so detailed!
The 1701 refit playset, from a design and play stand point, is brilliant. The fault lies within Mego's execution. Unfortunately, I never had this playset. My mind was so 🤯 over Star Wars, it did not even blip my seven year old radar.
Looking at this toy, in the video, it could have even been used as a Star Destroyer playset. Imagination is wonderful! The docking port could have been used to slide the docking ring of the Falcon up to and imagine people passing through. I am surprised Hasbro never made a Falcon with an opening or removable docking hatch on the starboard side above the ramp.
Even the Joe Shuttle, if this playset is put on books or on the edge of the table could have "docked" with this; imagine a Buck Rogers figure piloting the shuttle, and the Enterprise bridge is the ship that found him. Bad guys, good guys, all guys, who cares! Great playset!
Having never felt the plastic I do not know of this is the thinner, very flexible plastic, the kind that moves when flicked with your fingernail, and makes a weird noise; or if the set is made from thicker, more stable plastic, that does not bend when picked up. Talking about it, and the play scenarios running through my head, I wish I had one right now, lol!
I had a few figures from the line, but not the bridge. I had the comic adaption of the film as well. While it does look a bit cheaply made to adult eyes, I can see where it would have been fun to play with as a kid.
Great point, when i look at it, i see it as the ten-year-old kid who had it. I do get why an adult would look at it and dismiss it.
I found all the main cast and most of the Aliens over here in the UK at a discount store that had a first floor devoted to clearance toys and that would have been 80 or 81.I love these figs probably because the costumes in Trek 1 and 2 rock! Thanks for all this wonderful content.
ps Obviously I sold my originals 30 years ago but I just had to track a set down a few years back and they still ROCK!
I loved them too and agree, they rock!
Isaac from Love Boat, that was what was missing from the movie!!
He would have added millions to the box office.
The only Star Trek movie figures I saw at Children's Palace where a few of the main characters. The aliens were very scarce.
The US only sold them to JC Penney and abandoned them. They popped in Canada, Italy and the UK because orders were prepaid with a letter of credit. Mego would have been foolish to cancel.
It looks cool. I was a little too young for it (I was 4 in 1979), but the more I watched the video, the more I realized it's not hard plastic and why it might be seen as inferior to cardboard in vinyl, which seems like the cheapest of all.
Yeah, I mean, I broke my death star as a kid too.
a few years ago on Ebay, there was a guy who was selling a graded Star Trek TMP bridge mint in box and his asking price for it was $15,000. Obviously, there were no takers for his auction, but my question is, if someone had bought the bridge for $15,000 what was the buyer going to do with it? I mean, if you are a collector you're certainly not going to open the sealed box. Would anybody on here pay $15,000 for this playset? I seriously doubt it. I know I wouldn't LOL
Oh that auction was famous, especially for the insane amount of tildes in the description. I'm not a proponent of grading personally.
I had the kirk in Admirals uniform and Spock. I would of loved the bridge playset!
It's a nice set.
@ 3:05
LOL! Why is Ted Lange on the Enterprise bridge?
"Hey, Issac! You're on the wrong ship!"
Maybe his bartending is out of this world? Maybe he heard there was an opening for a bartender at Chalmun's Cantina on Mos Eisley and thought he could catch a lift(off) with Kirk and Spock and the gang?
That brings up a fun question :
Did anyone "mix" their various action figures regardless of the franchise they belonged to, or was there an unspoken rule that no figures of differing franchises shall ever share the same play space?
I had somewhat of a rule like that, but it was based on a figure's points of articulation...
Star Trek, Star Wars, Adventure People, were all "5-pointers" (5 points of articualtion : neck, shoulders, hips), so they could co-exist (even though AP's figures' necks had more "bob&pivot" action).
But the likes of Buck Rogers, Black Hole, G.I.Joe (1980s), Micronauts, etc, were all "10-pointers" (10 points of articualtion : neck, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, waist), so I figured it "wasn't fair" to the 5-pointers, lest they feel insecure or jealous or something, lol.
Yeah, I was a demented kid.
I remember playing with DC Superheroes and not mixing with Marvel when I was 8.
@@BrickMantooth Hahaha, on that one, I did the exact opposite! Back in the 70s with the Mego 8" dolls (I had very few "Pocket heroes" figures, but the few I had were blended in with Star Wars), I didn't know Marvel from DC, they were just all superheroes. But even after learning the difference, when the Super Powers (DC) and Secret Wars (Marvel) lines came out, I still mixed them up as one huge universe, lol. Of course by then my previous prejudice of "points of articualtion" had relaxed, as Super Powers had the jointed knees (except for Brainiac, Kalibak, and maybe a few others... Come to think of it, that may have been what finally relaxed my "rule" on the whole thing, lol... if Kenner could be inconsistent, so could I).
I'd mix different franchises, but hardly EVER different articulations. I guess I was an articulation snob. WAY preferred the 10-POA figures like Buck Rogers, Micronauts, Black Hole and GiJoes. Now I do remember liking mixing C3PO and R2D2 with those 10-POA figures because even in "real life"... err... in the movies, those droids had no agility.
@@BrickMantooth Nah my Batman and Spidey and Hulk Pocket Heroes fought all the time.
Now my 8" Megos that was funny. I had Kirk Spock, Spider-Man and "Planet of the Apes" Cornelius and... well you could imagine who out of all those got his a$$ whupped regularly. If only I had the 8" Mego Lizard, it'd have been a WAY different story for poor Cornelius !
@@paulwalsh2344 LOL! "Articulation snob" - I guess that was me, too, haha.
The C-3PO/R2-D2 exception is a logic I can follow, but for me it was like the other way around ; before I got an actual C-3PO figure, I used a yellow "Time Traveler" (from the Micronauts). The additional articualtion meant more "accurate Threepio" poses, which made getting the actual figure almost like a "downgrade", but luckily I ranked authenticity & accuracy above anything else. :-P
What a great video! I never had the bridge, but I agree it's a nice set. The "sterility" of it really does match what the bridge looks like in the film. I did have a couple of the figures--Kirk and Spock--and wished that I had more. Too bad that Vulcan shuttle was never made. I like how it is shown connecting with the bridge in the advertisement you included.
Totally agree!
It is what it is. Had I not been born in 80, I’d love to have had it. I do remember playing Star Wars with my cousin, and he had the McCoy figure from this line. Hell, I would’ve used this play set with the few Star Wars figures I had. Too bad I’m just now finding out about it.
Oh yeah, could you imagine Bones doing medical work on Star Wars figs ! ? With the FX-7 and 2-1B Medical droid ! ? And for that matter, the Scotty I had working on... well ANYTHING from the Star Wars line, ships or droids !
@@paulwalsh2344 Bone's aruging with C3P0 much like he would with Spock and Han chiming in on the fun. Lol
I loved these toys! I have the wave one figures in place of pride in my Star Trek display. Would love to get my hands on the bridge. At Mego Meetup last year, didn’t Marty say they’d like to revisit the 3.75” scale? I’d flip for TMP wave three!
Marty did say that, they'd explore any format.
Had those figures. Still have them somewhere. They were terrible at standing though. The legs were different lengths and very noticeable on one of the figures
Interesting how Star Wars sold all those toys from just movies. My parents refused to take me to the theater (because they were cheap) so I had a few Star Wars toys from garage sale finds but I really loved watching Star Trek The Original Series and whenever one of the movies was a special presentation on ABC! I still occasionally look at the old Corgi toy catalogs and wish I had those Star Trek toys.
I really loved these Star Trek figures when they first came out and I had all of the ones that were the first release, but the other aliens I didn't see for sale and this playset I would have loved but I also used all of the 3 3/4ths figures like Buck Rogers and Star Trek and Black Hole all of the sci fi figures and ships to me they were all space so they fit.
I was being paid by my dad during this time but what really pissed me off was that my folks never brought me to Toys R Us to spend my pocket money there. Nor did they allow me to buy it from the winter catalog from either JC or Sears. I should have just gotten a money order and paid for it at the different department stores that had catalog sales but being a 8-9 year old kid I had no idea about. Although I did take a girl who was my girl friend we actually made it to the place to buy a wedding license because pretending to get married was enough for us it was time to elope. Made my folks bust a gut laughing.
As a kid, I would've killed for that playset.... as well as the unmade Cygnus playset and the unmade Palomino spacecraft from The Black Hole. Thanks for this video! 👍👍
To me it looks like it had a lot of potential to create some good Star Trek adventures
it totally did!
Never saw this in stores.
My only encounter with this Bridge Playset, other than really wanting it from Christmas catalogs & missing out on the original vinyl set even though I had an 8” Kirk & Spock, was seeing it on a high top shelf at a Zellers within a year after it came out, and was reduced in price but still way out of my kid-budget. I think I bought Calibos from the Clash of the Titans line that day instead. Within a year after that I saw a ton of the rare alien 3 3/4” figures all on clearance at a Metropolitan store, along with the Black Hole line of figures. I purchased a VINcent and a Humanoid instead. I remember it being a REALLY(!!!!!!!!!) tough decision. Out of all of this I only still have my VINcent.
Yeah, I remember KMart here blew out all that second series Black Hole for $0.99, I got a Humanoid and STAR that day, so exciting.
A good mix between the 'toyetic' need to be playable for kids, and enough detail to see clearly that it's screen accurate. It being built in a "widescreen ratio" is a nice touch.
Ha, never thought of it that way.
I had this, and all the figures, at the time. Living in Canada meant, I found all of the aliens at Sears... I’m sure I saw a shuttle, but couldn’t get it, unless it was actually from Southbend? I recall the docking feature. I might have lost the megarite, and lost the cape for the rigelian. Of course I painted ilia to look “like” uhura. I ended up painting the bridge, but then stepped on it, in my 20’s... so it got chucked! I repurchased it at some point, on eBay, for under $100, now they go for $1000? I have an English box, if you want to switch it out, I think I bought it in Nanaimo, so no french...
I purposely bought this Grand Toys box because it was the same one I had as a kid. Bought mine at Hudon's Bay.
I had one loved it. Crap material but hours of fun. Still have the figures!
Great review and great research! I just had a random 3.75 Spock figure amongst my Star Wars and GI Joe figures. Wished I had more but SW ruled then.
Oh yeah, I think Kirk and Spock sold best, the rest sat.
I still have the Kirk & Decker figures. But the only memory I have of this playset was trying to stick all of the pieces together with little glue pads. After that, I don't know what happened...
oh those glue pads were not meant to last 40 years, let me tell ya.
What is Issac from The Love Boat doing on the Bridge? Serving drinks?
always.
I wish i had the entire collection, including the wrist communicators. And i nearly have the entire Marvel run from 1970!
Never put your Commander Decker action figure near your polly pockets...it will end in tears.
🤦♂️
I had this bridge & figures, but it was so tiny & flimsy, cheap thin plastic stuck together with double sided sticky tabs. The door was like a revolving coffee cup lid, which made no sense. What's an air lock doing on the bridge anyways? I remember throwing it out. I was such a picky kid! I hear it fetches good retail $ these days. However, I still have Isaac! LOL!
Never saw the bridge in the UK. Though I did have a few of the cast figures plus a couple of aliens that I acquired in a swap in the early 80s. Really loved the film and still do! Sadly the aliens have gone in a trade with Intergalactic Trading Co in the early 90s.
I don't think the Bridge was sold in the UK but the figures were by Pedigree.
Had most of the figures but not the bridge playset. I had to use my Space: 1999 Eagle as a vessel for the Trek:TMP figures.
Space Trek: 1999
at my kay bee the original stuff was flying off the shelf in 1980, at a dollar 1.99, while STMP 1/18 scale stuff sat there way into 84-85
I bought a carded Ilia in 1990 when I was in college.
@@BrickMantooth still on the peg? did she grow hair ?
My son would love this
Dang, man, fifty cents?!? That's haunting.
It's okay!!
But, it seems that, in one of those multi-dimentional trips, they had, a strange visiting of the bar tender from "The Love Boat" crew!!
Yeah, Issac is an immortal being like Apollo.
@@BrickMantooth You're AWESOME, man!!
I've been ENJOYING your "Plaid Stallions" website since those 1970's "Sears"catalogs reviews on men undergear!!
Naw... I'm pretty sure Isaac was in one of the scenes... different costume though.
Thanks for the recommendation
Any time!
I totally hated the vacuform of the set. We were NOT gentle on our toys, and it cracked fairly early on in it's life. Even after the main body was trashed we reused the chairs and consoles for play for a LONG time though.
As a toy it had SO much play value though! I couldn't get enough of it!
As for the comics...I enjoyed a few stories, the issue with the Endeavor really sparked my imagination. In the end, I'm more disappointed in that lack of forward momentum for the toys line than anything else.
Yeah the toys came and went but to be fair, none of the TMP merchandise sold by the looks of things. It could still be easily found in the mid 1980s...
@@BrickMantooth, yeah, the Ilia figures collected dust on the pegs for years.
OMG I had this playset!!! I used to pretend it was the bridge of an Imperial Star destroyer!!
2:44 Why would Mego did not release the Vulcan shuttle anyway? It's got a lot of effort in here.
Love this playset i am core fan trekkie
Those action figures were scarce where I lived in Lakeside AZ, I did however have the Admiral Kirk and 1st Science Officer Spock figures. I was probably the only Lad in the Walk-In theater that watched THE HUMAN ADVENTURE JUST BEGIN. It was either at Flagstaff Mall or in Santa Fe New Mexico where I saw it, I was enthralled in the center middle row, I watched it from Overture to Lights Up. It was like no other Cinematic film I had ever seen I was 12 years old and it was my first Adult (In the Best Sense of The Word) Motion Picture by myself. Yes it was rated G at the time, however it wasn't your typical Boy's Flick, this was High Art Cinema aimed at Adults. Most fans I have met think this was the worst of the Franchise, I do not hold this view at all. IMMWAOO The Search for Spock was a Mess. By the way the Vulcan and V*Ger scenes looked really bizare and Alien Cool to me back then (1979 Christmas Time) I didn't know it was a budgetary issue and that they did not get what they wanted done. I saw the newer version on DVD and it was ok. I mean if they were going to add new effects shots why not upgrade the ones they kept instead of going for the 1979 look?
Except for saying that Star Trek III: TSFS was a mess, I completely agree with your comment. I was 11, but me and my Dad were HUGE Trekkies and that movie hit all out buttons man. Fantastic. Sure when re-watching, I admit I visually fast-forward some of the V'Ger special effects, but other than that... FANTASTIC movie. The Enterprise in drydock reveal is PURE MOVIE MAGIC ! And I feel soooo sorry for fans who never saw those movies in the theater, where that Enterprise was 20 feet tall... I just got goosebumps thinking about that, lol ! So realistic and believable up there on the big screen. It LOOKED LIKE I COULD REACH OUT AND TOUCH IT AND COME ABOARD !... just perfection.
@@paulwalsh2344 Thank you8 for your input, I enjoyed reading your reminiscing, and I respect your difference of opinion, so if you want present it to me that would be "..fine." - Spock (From Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
@@paulwalsh2344 SIDE NOTE Do you remember the 3 3/4 inch Tonka figures that were out the same time as the STTMP figures were? They were very affordable at the Local Ace Store 5 miles or so from where I lived and I got a whole slough of them (Army building before I heard the term.) and used them as the enterprise crew most were male in blue coveralls style (they were all in coveralls style even the gals) I had 4 Gals in Red They were Security (Hey it's Star Trek post Star Wars Gals could be security, and in my crew they were the only security team because they were the only red "dressed" figures (there were no Tonka Pastel figures that I knew of so I went with the STTOS color scheme for the crew more or less the colors weren't exact.), the Yellow ones both male and female were Captains and other senior Officers I had 3 of those 2 Ladies and one Gentleman (decades before Captain Janeway Might I add.) the orange ones were8 and I used them in my Star Wars Toys as Rebel Pilots (Because Luke Skywalker X-Wing Pilot, that's why). They had green ones but that was way before The MACOS of Enterprise so I didn't buy them. I apologize I didn't mean to write a "book" here.
@@paulwalsh2344 By the way I never got to see Wrath of Khan on the Silver Screen, but I saw all of the other Original cast and all of the Next Generation Movies and The 1st 2 of The Alternate timeline/reality Movies on the Silver Screen.
While the action figures were on par with Kenner's Star Wars line I have to say the bridge playset is a bit of a let down. Not only is the material thin and rather cheap looking, it's guilty of not being screen acurate. A full size bridge made of better quality materials would have gone a long way to improve this playset. I personally enjoy Star Trek TMP, however it might have been better if they would have crafted a more action/adventure sci-fi movie would have lent itself to better align with SW thus allowing for better toy sales for Mego.
Even the cardboard Death Star playset in the UK is a better! Freaking cardboard!
It was a fun playset. The build quality was never an issue in my opinion.
me either.
It is kind of samey coming out of one sheet of colored styrene. Had a few playsets made in the same manner and they didn't last very long. I guess this was the direction toys were taking post Star Wars but I like the older Mego methods.
I had this and loved it as well. But i did not like the fact that the figures didn’t come with phasers. So i mostly used my star wars, micronauts, adventure people, buck and black hole figures
Phasers would have helped.
I wish I still had mine. People are selling them for a grand on eBay. It was a lot of fun.
Was that Isaac from Love Boat on the bridge?
Don't know, but it was Outta Sight !
Love the set but we did get the full;l crew if I remember rightly. They did the same for some playmates version of this film. I so hope (I doubt it tho) we get a new line of Star Trek figures preferably in a Marvel Legends format for all the shows
When the figures came out I was 4 years old. I don't think the Star Trek: The Motion Picture 3 3/4" figs were available here. The 8" Mego Star Trek figs were available; I remember playing with Kirk when I was 10, sadly that fig wasn't mine. Luckily by now I own 3 3/4" figs of Kirk, Spock & McCoy. Now if only that Bridge Playset wouldn't cost an arm, a leg and a kidney...
Never had the Enterprise btidge but do have a few of the figures still. Also had that Batcave you showed for a second. Nothing cheap or flimsy about mine. My old man filled it with concrete and mounted it to a board...that thing was neigh indestructible lol. The plastic began to get brittle and break apart and eventually we had to get rid of it :(
your dad was pretty handy.
Considering the movie the figures and sets are based on, these feels like toys adults enjoy more than kids, both back then and now