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Star Trek TMP: The Happy Meal

2

23skidoo

Admiral
Admiral
Star Trek is credited for predicting and inspiring the invention of many things: the flip-phone cellphone, the iPad, etc.

It's rarely credited for its greatest contribution to world culture: merchandising for TMP introduced the world to the McDonald's Happy Meal!

I just stumbled upon two vintage TV commercials advertising the meals. The first features a Klingon describing the meals (with handy translation provided by ... Gary Owens?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvRyBRVpJGw

And here's a more general ad that shows some close-ups of things like the comic strip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIZs-j5vx34

What would the world be like without Happy Meals? Probably a lot thinner, and some collectors would no doubt be a lot poorer (I'm told a complete set of the boxes with toys, etc. is worth a pretty penny; I will take it on faith only the boxes and the toys are being saved - something tells me a 33-year-old hamburger, French fries and cookie wouldn't be worth too much!)

Alex
 
Somehow, I see this scenario playing out:

The kid gets the "Star Trek Meal" and is excited about a movie based on the cool images on the box and the toy inside. Kid gets parents to take him to the movie. Kid falls asleep 15 minutes in.
 
Broccoli said:
Somehow, I see this scenario playing out:

The kid gets the "Star Trek Meal" and is excited about a movie based on the cool images on the box and the toy inside. Kid gets parents to take him to the movie. Kid falls asleep 15 minutes in.
Click to expand...

Parents are happy!
 
I remember the Happy Meal and I remember seeing TMP on the silver screen. I'm very thankful my parents took me to McDonald's and to the movies :techman:
 
I remember my mother bought me one of those In Erie, (since we were there for her Doctors appointment, also my town didn't have a McDonalds quite yet.) and if I wasn't mistaken there was a small spinning game you put together and move the Enterprise through space on the board.
 
My first experience with Happy Meals coincided with the introduction of the first McDonald's in my area in 1979. Coincidentally the same year STTMP was released.
 
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They had some awesome merchandise at the time of that movie. I'm just disappointed that they didn't make a full set of action figures. In fact, I don't think they've ever made a full set of TMP action figures! The most complete set of figures I've seen was the Citadel lead 25mm figurines.
 
Pauln6 said:
They had some awesome merchandise at the time of that movie. I'm just disappointed that they didn't make a full set of action figures. In fact, I don't think they've ever made a full set of TMP action figures! The most complete set of figures I've seen was the Citadel lead 25mm figurines.
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Mego made a full set of action figures, both in 12 inch and 3 1/4 inch (to rival Kenner's STAR WARS line). Although, I wished they had stuck with their popular 8 inch size for those figures, as they were far superior to the 3 1/4 figures. Playmates also did a set of TMP figures in the 1990s.
 
middyseafort said:
Mego made a full set of action figures, both in 12 inch and 3 1/4 inch (to rival Kenner's STAR WARS line). Although, I wished they had stuck with their popular 8 inch size for those figures, as they were far superior to the 3 1/4 figures.
Click to expand...

What Pauln6 means is that it wasn't a complete set. No Sulu, Chekov, Uhura, Chapel or Rand. Just Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Decker, Ilia and some aliens in 3.75", and Kirk, Spock, Decker, Ilia, Klingon and Arcturian in 12".


MegoTMP action figures ad by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Playmates also did a set of TMP figures in the 1990s.
Click to expand...
But only Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu and Ilia Probe.
 
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Yeah that's what I meant. Art Asylum did a full set of TWoK crew and I was hoping that they would take the path of least resistance and release TMP with the same head scuplts following that but the bottom fell out of the market to the point where the retailers wouldn't even go for TOS (one of the most popular lines) Chapel and Rand. I bought spare TWoK figures and I'm tempted to send photos of the actors off to one of the sculpting sites to have some custom heads made for the spare bodies (I already have an andorian head swap using Shran). They're $70 each but with only Chapel, Rand, Decker, & Ilia to make, that's not a terrible investment. I can live with Decker and Ilia on TWoK bodies and who knows, if DST ever gets round to making a TMP female body before their licence expires it might be possible to swap them onto a correct body. :mallory:
 
Therin of Andor said:
Pauln6 said:
I can live with Decker and Ilia on TWoK bodies
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Why do you need Decker to be on a TWoK body? Use a repainted TMP Kirk or a decollared Spock.

As for Ilia, why not find one of those customized naked female torsos and do Ilia-Probe-in-the-sonic-shower?

And 5" Playmates' customs of TMP characters are cool:


Rhaandarite bridge ensign by Therin of Andor, on Flickr
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I never made customs when the Playmates TMP figs came out so I waited to see if they were going to produce a full set, and when they didn't, I never bothered to buy any!

I have a bit of a fetish for full crew in uniform sets so I'm not fussed about Ilia in a bath robe any more than I'd want Kirk in a bath robe! In fact, Iia in uniform is the only Citadel figure I'm missing. I'm not sure if the custom head makers are ok with alien heads but if they are then I would definitely be tempted to get various alien heads made, probably one of each of the signature TMP aliens plus maybe a Worene and a Suzie Plakson andorian (will probably have to add antennae myself but I can live with that...). The cost of this project is mounting... damn my obsession!

The Playmates customs are really cool, especially your Rhaandarite. The customisers should stitch together their collections and make a great big photoshopped display of all the characters that people have made.
 
Pauln6 said:
a Suzie Plakson andorian (will probably have to add antennae myself but I can live with that...). The cost of this project is mounting... damn my obsession!
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You realize you don't have to sculpt from scratch. You just find a face with the right shape and make necessary changes. Did you realize that the Rhaandarite is simply a Chekov head with quicksetting putty to raise the forehead?

A Suzie Plakson Tarah would use K'Ehleyr as the base head, just as I made alterations to a K'Ehleyr to create a Dr Selar. It gave my Selar the uncanny resemblance to the actress, simply because the sculpt had captured her so well as K'Ehleyr.


Customs - Star Trek action figures by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Depicted above are some of my one-off customs: Trader Worf from "Deep Space Nine: Trials and Tribble-ations"; alien crewmembers M'ress and Arex from Filmation's "Star Trek: The Animated Series"; the Rhaandarite bridge ensign from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"; Tuvix, from the "Voyager" episode of the same name; and Doctor Selar from "The Next Generation: The Schizoid Man".

The large Andorian Starfleet officer was created by combining elements of two Funko "Wacky Wobbler Bobble-Heads".

The boxed "Captain Janeway figure as seen in the 'Voyager' episode, 'Flashback'" is a licensed Playmates figure, made as an exclusive for New Force Comics. (I won a listserv competition with this design. The brief was for contestants to suggest a figure that would be popular enough to attract lots of online buyers, but could be assembled by Playmates using all pre-existing parts. The figure simply uses the head of the regular Janeway figure on Saavik's body.)


Customized action figures by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Playmates' 9" customized "Star Trek" figures: a Lokai,made from a painted Major Don West figure ("Lost in Space") in Bele's slightly customised costume; and Ezri Dax (made from a "Mirror, Mirror" Marlena Moreau, with hair removed, new hair sculpted in putty) - and wearing a "First Contact" Geordi uniform (inner collar dyed teal).
 
Broccoli said:
Somehow, I see this scenario playing out:

The kid gets the "Star Trek Meal" and is excited about a movie based on the cool images on the box and the toy inside. Kid gets parents to take him to the movie. Kid falls asleep 15 minutes in.
Click to expand...
That kid was me :rommie:

They heavily promoted all the strange alien races in the film -- I was pretty disappointed most of them were only in the background of one scene for about 10 seconds.
 
The TMP Happy Meal brings back memories! I had to keep bugging Mom and Dad to take me again and again until I had all of them. I'd open them flat and pin them up. I remember it being pretty hard to find any toy-like stuff for TMP. It didn't seem like there was very much available. And, in a few months, the ESB onslaught started and that was 1980's toy budget. The only place I EVER saw the TMP bridge playlet was in a department store in Ottawa. (I lived in Albany, NY then)
 
Broccoli said:
Somehow, I see this scenario playing out:

The kid gets the "Star Trek Meal" and is excited about a movie based on the cool images on the box and the toy inside. Kid gets parents to take him to the movie. Kid falls asleep 15 minutes in.
Click to expand...

WTF?...I was 12 and at the first viewing and NEVER fell asleep...:wtf:
 
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