Tribble Toy Variations

[ClassicTVMan81]

I've got a question about the Tribbles made by Lincoln Enterprises.

1. Which of the Lincoln-made Tribbles had a squeaker sewn into them, and which sizes? This is tough, because some variations do squeak and some do not. Catalog numbers are as follows: 0401=2 Tribbles, 0402=1 Tribble, 0403=2 small Tribbles.

2. How many Tribbles did Lincoln Enterprises actually make, and when did they stop doing so?

TRIVIA: Lincoln Enterprises, as you should know, was started by Gene Roddenberry and his wife, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, as Star Trek Enterprises in 1967, but in later years the name of the company had to be changed, presumably to avoid legal action from Paramount. "Rod" Roddenberry currently runs the company, following the death of his mother, Majel, in December 2008.

~Ben

[Therin of Andor]

scotpens wrote:

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There must be a lot of fakes floating around purporting to be genuine, original, screen-used tribbles. Just how does one go about authenticating the provenance of a tribble?

Mine came with a personal letter from David Gerrold himself, and confirmation by emailed anecdotes about the day he was cleaning out his garage and found it. Prior to me obtaining this one, I was able to inspect one of his screen-used tribbles at a convention. The screen-used beige/brown tribbles from the episode had to get extra dye brushed onto them, so the fur is uniquely two-toned and it makes them readily recognizable by people who worked on the show and very hard to duplicate.

It is much harder to authenticate the other colours made off the commercial rolls of fur fabric, such as white, especially since "The Making of..." book had the original pattern and clear instructions, encouraging many fans to make their own for conventions in the 70s - and the ones made to be sold through Lincoln Enterprises didn't have any labels, etc.

ClassicTVMan81 wrote:

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1. Which of the Lincoln-made Tribbles had a squeaker sewn into them, and which sizes? This is tough, because some variations do squeak and some do not. Catalog numbers are as follows: 0401=2 Tribbles, 0402=1 Tribble, 0403=2 small Tribbles.

The catalogs specified if your tribble was fitted with a dog-toy squeaker. I'm fairly sure those above numbers were non-squeakers. Squeaking tribbles were a later addition.

The squeaking one I have from Lincoln is quite flat, with long white fur. I guess if you hid the squeaker deep inside a spherical tribble, it would be harder to squeak.

2. How many Tribbles did Lincoln Enterprises actually make, and when did they stop doing so?

Who would know? They broke into the quadrotriticale holds and everything went to Hell.

[ClassicTVMan81]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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The catalogs specified if your tribble was fitted with a dog-toy squeaker. I'm fairly sure those above numbers were non-squeakers. Squeaking tribbles were a later addition.

The squeaking one I have from Lincoln is quite flat, with long white fur. I guess if you hid the squeaker deep inside a spherical tribble, it would be harder to squeak.

I wonder what years LE had issued the Tribbles that did squeak, and which catalog #s would those ones be? I know they probably don't have those ones now, after which point the electronic Tribbles with the authentic Tribble sounds had become commonplace.

~Ben

[Therin of Andor]

ClassicTVMan81 wrote:

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I wonder what years LE had issued the Tribbles that did squeak, and which catalog #s would those ones be?

My first order from Lincoln was in about 1981

Just Googled a reference here:
http://www.bonanza.com/listings/Star...rises/25600700

This catalog, if I recall, was distributed in 1981 and still had commemorative merchandise (eg. medals) for what Lincoln had called the "Star Trektennial" (1966-1976). My catalog had the cover depicted in the link above but there were internal references to material and scripts based on "Phase II" and "The Motion Picture". The auction wrongly dates the catalog as 1976.

A few other pages and versions of the catalog here:
http://mystartrekscrapbook.blogspot....%20Enterprises

I recall a Sydney-based huckster getting a supply of squeaky flat tribbles from Majel Barrett herself in about 1986.

I know they probably don't have those ones now, after which point the electronic Tribbles with the authentic Tribble sounds had become commonplace.

Lincoln probably stopped supplying their own tribbles through the catalog once a toy company held the official licence.

The first non-removable, battery-powered, licensed, screaming tribble (ie. reacting to Klingons) that I recall was by the idea company (lower case), about the same time as the set of so-called Meanie Beanies (Vulcan, Andorian, Mugato, Gorn, Ferengi, Targ) was released, because I added one ginger tribble to my set. It came with a small attached cardboard tag.

Their tribble was rereleased (but alternately packed in a cardboard frame) to celebrate the airing of "Trials and Tribble-ations" (1996). My local bookshop gave me a free white screaming tribble just for buying the novelization of the episode.

Later, the same company did a licensed tie-in beanie of the Ba'ku rhyl ("Insurrection") mostly for the "Star Trek: The Experience" store at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1999.

Neither of my battery tribbles function today, but my flat white Lincoln Enterprises dog-squeaker tribble still squeaks.

After the idea company, the license passed elsewhere, there were definitely boxed walking tribbles, and ones that could purr, chirp and scream alternately. "Star Trek: The Experience" also had tribbles.

[ClassicTVMan81]

How, exactly, were the squeaky Tribbles made (as sold through Lincoln Enterprises in the early 1980s)? Weren't those just homemade versions made by us Trekkies and given to the Roddenberry family?

~Ben

[jayrath]

ClassicTVMan81 wrote:

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How, exactly, were the squeaky Tribbles made (as sold through Lincoln Enterprises in the early 1980s)? Weren't those just homemade versions made by us Trekkies and given to the Roddenberry family?

You suggest that we made them and gave them to the Roddenberrys for resale?

The wealth of incredible detail you ask for in this and all your other threads is starting to make me wonder. Are you mocking us?

[Therin of Andor]

ClassicTVMan81 wrote:

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How, exactly, were the squeaky Tribbles made (as sold through Lincoln Enterprises in the early 1980s)?

Huh?

In the 70s and 80s, Lincoln Enterprises was staffed by workers with limited English, which is the main reason customers had to order by catalogue numbers. Letters asking questions had to wait until Majel Barrett came into the warehouse.

I assume that Lincoln farmed out the work of making tribbles, cutting up lengths of film into clip frames, duplicating scripts and TAS storyboards, etc.

Weren't those just homemade versions made by us Trekkies and given to the Roddenberry family?

No.

[TorontoTrekker]

FWIW, the company "Tribble Toys" is actually run by David Gerrold's business partner, Miles Rinis. (I'm not sure how much David actually has to do with the day-to-day operations - probably not a whole lot, though he did contact me a few years ago about doing the website for them. Unfortunately, my employer wasn't interested, and I didn't have the infrastructure to do it independently. Every time I've seen them at a con, Miles has been manning the booth.)

Point being, the toys you get from Tribble Toys are just about as authentic as you're going to get, aside from Lincoln Enterprises.

[Timewalker]

I make my own.

[Therin of Andor]

TorontoTrekker wrote:

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Point being, the toys you get from Tribble Toys are just about as authentic as you're going to get, aside from Lincoln Enterprises.

I tried to buy my glommer from Miles at Tribble Toys, referred from David Gerrold's website, but there was some glitch in his overseas ordering system at the time (2010), and he mentioned that Roddenberry.com had some stock from the same source. I knew I'd had no problem with that site, and my glommer arrived!

[Rhubarbodendron]

Merry Christmas wrote:

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It might not be "officially-licensed," but I bought one of these down at Fred Meyers a couple of months ago. Known as a pillow.

It makes no sound, but I've been known too when it gets rubbed on my skin.

LOL, before I read your explanation I only judged by the picure and thought it was a slice of Tribble-toast.

Timewalker wrote:

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I make my own.

Pictures, please!!!
And congrats on your promotion How's the new lounge?

[Timewalker]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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Pictures, please!!!
And congrats on your promotion How's the new lounge?

Sorry, I don't have any pictures of them. They're pretty basic - fun fur, sewn by hand (I'm honestly scared of electric sewing machines!). One year my local Star Trek club made a bunch in various colors and enlisted some out-of-town and SCA friends to play a joke on our Captain (our club was organized as a ship, the U.S.S. Wynnderuner) at the summer science fiction convention. Thing is, our Captain held another position: Assistant Tribble Keeper (it's a long story, and a rather scary one, as to what became of the Chief Tribble Keeper). Throughout the weekend, people would pass him in the hotel hallway or casually bump into him at a panel... and hand him a Tribble. During the Saturday night party, he opened his drinks cooler and discovered that some Tribbles had beaten him to it. The poor things had obviously been there for quite a while, since they'd turned blue from the cold! And evidently there is a type of Tribble that enjoys the "punk" look, as it was half-blue and half-pink.

The Captain was not terribly impressed with us by the end of the weekend...


The new lounge is ghastly quiet. I posted in THREE threads so far, and nobody's even said hello yet.