The True Story Behind Galoob's Failed TNG Toy Line

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Trekcore just published a great three-part series on the Galoob TNG toy line, taking us behind the scenes with the toy makers involved and giving us a peek at what was, what might've been and why the line ultimately was a failure.

When TNG first aired, the 10-year-old me was excited by this toy line and I had nearly every figure. I remember being greatly disappointed that the playsets and dioramas never came out. For 3 1/2 inch figures, they weren't so bad. Well, except for the phaser being molded directly onto the figure.

The articles:
http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/10/galoob-25-the-first-generation-of-tng-toys-part-i/

http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/10/galoob-25-the-first-generation-of-tng-toys-part-ii/

http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/11/galoob-25-the-first-generation-of-tng-toys-part-iii/

Happy reading!

 

[publiusr]

An Great find. I seem to remember a huge inflatable Enterprise D was mulled about too--wasn't it?

Dinky had this disk firing TOS ship. They did a mini-refit--but I swore I saw artwork showing DINKY's disk firing ship with stunted, square TMP nacelles in one ad.

 

[Harvey]

The inflatable Enterprise is discussed in the article (and pictured). It looks hideous, although it was just a prototype.

 

[Christopher]

Neat! I still have the die-cast E-D with separable saucer. I liked how the plastic piece it rested on inside the case made a handy display stand for it.

I also used to have 2-3 of the action figures -- I think they were Geordi, Riker, and Worf -- and I was disappointed in later years when they turned out to have no collector's value. Still, I sold them or gave them away or something.

 

[publiusr]

I've got that ship too. The side view of the Hot Wheels E-D is perfect. The saucer has a perfect profile--not too flat--and the impulse is rectangular--not square.

 

[Melakon]

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I still have 2 or 3 of those die-cast Enterprises to this day.

The best part was, it was almost the exact scale as the lead miniatures FASA made at the time, it was about 1/2" too small compared with the Constitution class E.

There was no chance of there being a lead miniature of that monster, so it was pretty cool to have something that close.

 

[Unicron]

Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting.

 

[F. King Daniel]

My inner child loves these concepts. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hober Mallow]

I can't see any parent buying their kid that Q action figure.

 

[Unicron]

Those lips are rather scary.

 

[Lance]

A local antiques and collectables shop near me has got two of the figures fully boxed, Tasha and Worf. They're asking like 40 bucks or something for each of them.

 

[cardinal biggles]

That brings back some great memories. I had just about everything I could get my hands on at my local Kay-Bee Toys: the six crew members, the Ferengi fighter, the die-cast Enterprise, and the phaser. Sadly, only the Enterprise survives. What I really loved was that they were scaled the same size as my Star Wars figures, so Darth Vader frequently made up for the fact that Galoob's four alien figures never showed up in my area.

 

[bbailey861]

I still have a couple of the original action figures, as well. That was great reading, thank you.

 

[Albertese]

I remember I had the Picard and Geordi figures from this line when I was a kid. I still have the 6" die-cast Enterprise. And I rememebr pictures of the large plastic bridge playset.

Fun article, really takes me back!

--Alex

 

[publiusr]

The frisbee offering was interesting at least.

 

[rafterman1701]

Neat! I still have the die-cast E-D with separable saucer. I liked how the plastic piece it rested on inside the case made a handy display stand for it.

I also used to have 2-3 of the action figures -- I think they were Geordi, Riker, and Worf -- and I was disappointed in later years when they turned out to have no collector's value. Still, I sold them or gave them away or something.

I still have the ship in its plastic Enterprise-shaped bowl. And I have the four red uniformed officers and the Galileo shuttle. I always feel like no one remembers this line. But it was a big deal when I was 11.

 

[od0_ital]

I remember back when I was a kid, my mom took us to a K-Mart in Fort Worth not long after TNG had premiered, and I ran in before my brother & sisters even got out of the van, and went straight to the toy department's action figure aisle. I saw the crew action figures and just about lost my shit, runnin' back out to the van to find my mother...and she had already pulled out a sales circular from somewhere or another and saw that the TNG figures were on sale.

I think I was able to get three that day...Picard, 'cause he was the captain, Worf, 'cause he was the alien, and Geordi, 'cause I liked his VISOR. I'm sure Data must not have been available, or else he would have been one of my first three, since he was already my favorite on the show.

I think I still have the Worf figure floatin' around somewhere...

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ I hope you kept them in the original packaging......

 

[od0_ital]

^

HA! Good one!