Starship miniatures, concept art costumes and props from TOS, The Motion Picture and more, all up for auction

In the coming hours and days two different auctioneers are offering up quite a variety of interesting props, costumes, starship miniatures, artwork and more from across numerous Star Trek TV and film productions, including a lot of items from TOS and The Motion Picture, and more spanning right up to Into Darkness. Continue below to check out some of the highlights.

The most notable item is probably the iconic TOS phaser rifle from Where No Man Has Gone Before, which is coming up for sale later today from Hertitage Auctions in their Hollywood and Entertainment Signature Auction. This large one-of-a-kind prop remains in remarkable condition 55 years on from its creation.

The Wand Company's Bluetooth communicator is back, and tricorder on the way

The Wand Company, makers of high end Star Trek prop replicas with practical functions, are back in action, with both the return of a classic product, and a new working tricorder on the way. Continue below to check them out.

So far The Wand Company have produced a TOS phaser remote control(ad), a TOS communicator Bluetooth handset, and a type-1 phaser remote controlled mood light rock(ad). The phaser and communicator have been out of production for some time, and as a result are typically garnering very inflated prices on the secondary market. Well that price bubble just burst, as communicator is going back into production for a 55th anniversary release, and is available to order now on the Star Trek Shop (due to ship just next month).

BlueBrixx to launch huge Star Trek construction toy range

Germany construction toy company BlueBrixx have announced they have secured the license to produce Star Trek building sets, and have already revealed no less than seventeen different sets in the planning stages, spanning ships at various scales, and full scale props! The range so far includes designs based on TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager subjects. Continue below to check out what they've got coming. 

BlueBrixx are currently in development on these sets, so most of the images they have released are of digital prototype models, which are still subject to refinements before the final releases. For anyone who has ever tried to built Star Trek ships in Lego or similar building block systems, you will know the spindly gravity-defying arrangements of saucers and nacelles are not the easiest thing to pull off in brick form. Never the less, most of these prototypes look very impressive already. 

The flagship releases of the announced sets so far are two big starship display models. The USS Enterprise-D set will be 1953 pieces, and has managed to translate the organic rounded shapes of the D impressively well out of building blocks.

Original TOS phaser and other Trek treasures up for auction

This week Heritage Auctions are running their Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Signature Auction, which includes a number of original production props and artwork from various Star Trek sources. I've previously reported on the huge selection of beautiful Star Trek matte paintings in the auction, so today will have a look at some of the other items, which include some interesting bits from TOS and TNG.

Perhaps the highlight of the entire auction is an extremely rare TOS phaser hero prop. Heritage Auctions have provided a great set of photos of what will surely be of great interest to prop enthusiasts - You'll need deep pockets if you fancy getting it yourself, as this single phaser starts bidding at an astonishing $100,000!

Playmates Toys returns to Star Trek with universe-spanning releases starting in 2022

Playmates Toys are returning to Star Trek! The company that has twice before produced extensive range of Star Trek toys are back on board thanks to to Star Trek Prodigy opening Trek up younger audiences. Playmates will start producing toys for that series alongside Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and the rest of Trek TV and movies, from next year. 

As announced on StarTrek.com, their license spans "action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories for all Star Trek properties". The announcement also promises "Playmates will bring to the Star Trek Universe are its attention to brand detail, authentic portrait sculpting, and new product innovations it plans to introduce to its forthcoming Star Trek collections."

There's also this teaser images, which with a little enhancement gives us the first glimpse of six action figures on the way. Continue below to have a look!

FanSets latest Star Trek pins ask you to Choose to Live to seek Jamaharon

Those busy pin makers at FanSets haven't been slacking lately, with loads of new Star Trek pins in a variety of formats coming every couple of weeks. Their latest pins include a lot of love for Picard, plus TOS, TNG, DS9, and Discovery pins. Continue below to check them all out.

First up is this Elnor, "Choose to Live" pin, in a new format for Trek featuring a quote in a speech bubble!

Fun! FanSets have already dubbed this format MicroQuotes on Twitter, and are open for idea for more characters. So get tweeting with your favourite pithy Trek quotes!

FanSets release All Good Things combadge, Titan pins coming, and much more

FanSets have kicked off the new year with loads of new spins from Star Trek old and new, and lots of teases of what they're working on for later in the year - Including Titan merch and other Lower Decks releases, new ship pins, characters, and insignia badges. Continue below to check out their latest.

First up, and just released, is the latest in their rapidly growing insignia badge range, the All Good Things... combadge, which was also seen in the alternate future in Voyager's Endgame, and DS9's The Visitor, and inspired the similar Picard badge.

So many Star Trek pins! All the latest from FanSets, QMx, Numskull, and Forbidden Planet.

Looking for some Star Trek pins? Then continue below for all the latest designs from FanSets, including multiple Badgey pins, a Christmas design, new character and ship pins, and more! Plus a new range of TOS pins from Numskull, 32nd century Federation merch from Forbidden Planet, and QMx combadge reissues.

As previously reported, FanSets are continuing their annual tradition of a festive Star Trek pin with a Christmas themed Badgey this year, freshly released this week:

New Star Trek Tridemensional Chess Set coming from The Noble Collection

The Noble Collection have revealed a new Star Trek Tridemensional Chess Set. Available for pre-order now, ahead of a December release, the set is a fairly faithful replica of the original prop seen in several episodes of The Original Series, complete with red toned acrylic boards, and distinctive designed black and white pieces. Continue below to check it out.

Fansets launch more full size prop pins, plus all the latest character pins from across the Trekverse

Collectable pin makers Fansets have been busy as ever lately with lots of pins based on Picard, and the promise of lots of Lower Decks pins coming first. They've also got a healthy sprinkling of designs spanning almost every corner of the Trekverse too. Continue below to check out all the latest.

Fansets' newest thing is branching out into full size prop pins, which are strictly collectable pins and definitely not prop replicas (as they make a point of pointing out quite a lot, I dare say for licensing agreement purposes!).

Their newest release is one that should please 24th century fans, a full size reproduction of the Voyager combadge, also seen in DS9, TNG movies, and Picard flashbacks. This has a nice matte finish, just like the original prop, and a double pin-back to make it extra secure - But remember folks, this isn't a prop replica, no sirree. I mean, who would ever think of wearing this pin-on-able thing that looks like a prop often worn on a costume? What a weird idea that would be...

The Wand Company tease "fully-functional" tricorder replica

The Wand Company, who have previously brought us the phaser remote control, and communicator bluetooth handset, are back, and ready to complete their TOS landing party kit with a "fully-functional" tricorder!

The Wand Company's approach to these products is not just to make a device that looks a bit like a Star Trek prop, with a practical function, but to really go to town to make a perfect replica of the screen used device, hiding inside it whatever function they have decided to give it.

The tricorder isn't due for release until summer next year, but they're excited to show it off, and so released this teaser video:

Voyager behind the scenes: Miniatures, concept art, aliens, props, and more

I've gathered some of the Voyager behind the scenes bits and pieces I've come across lately, for a look behind the scenes on the series. Continue below for a look at starship miniatures, cool concept art, props, alien make-up, and more from the production of Voyager.

This first item is a foam-core mock-up of the USS Voyager miniature, created as a reference for episodes that involved Voyager landing on planet surfaces. This is currently up for sale on Ebay (for quite an ambitious price!); the seller says they obtained it from visual effects supervisor Dan Curry, and has a note describing how it was used:

These models were created by the Voyager Art Department at my request to bring on location and used a line shots where Voyager has landed and is sitting on the ground. It would be impractical to bring the expensive model out of the motion control stage and risk damage. This technique provides an accurate reference for photographing the hero miniature in the studio as well as a temporary composite for the editors to cut into the work print to give a sense of scale to the scene. 

Playmates Star Trek toys box art by Ron McPherson

I recently came across the art of Ron McPherson, the artist who created much of the box art for the 90s Playmates Star Trek toy range. Between his website and Behance portfolio, he has shared much of his work on the range, giving a rare opportunity to checkout the artwork without all the other box titles and labels. I've paired each piece up with the final box art, to give a look at how the packaging design works. Continue below to check out:

I have to start with the artwork for one of my favourite ever Star Trek toys, the glorious "transwarping" Enterprise, as Playmates named the tri-nacelled future Enterprise from All Good Things....

McPherson's artwork captures stages of the transformation, complete with the hull panel flaps you have to flip out to reveal the refit components.

TNG Mego previews and other Star Trek toy updates

I've gathered all the latest previews of Star Trek action figures and figurines today, including images of the forthcoming Discovery Funko pop vinyl figures, The Coop's recent Handmade by Robots characters, and Kuzos miniatures from Factory Entertainment. Continue below to check out those, but first...

The next wave of releases from Mego is shifting their retro action figure range into the 24th century with their first TNG characters, Captain Picard, and Data. Mego Museum and Mego's social media have released some new preview images, showing pre-production samples (so they might yet get tweaked). These are currently expected to arrive from June.

Factory Entertainment's latest barware and collectables

At the New York Toy Fair, Factory Entertainment have been showing off their latest Star Trek creations, which as ever for the company span a wide range of product types, including wine bottle stoppers, bottle openers, coasters, collectable props, and toys! Continue below to check out the latest.

Among the most eye-catching pieces on display are the starship wine bottle stoppers. They've previewed the USS Enterprise and Klingon battle cruisers before, although they seem to now have shinier finishes. And joining them in the range is the USS Enterprise-D. TrekCore tweeted an excellent set of photos giving a really close look, including this group shot:

Star Trek costumes, props, miniatures, and concept art heading to auction

There are two big TV and movie auctions coming up in the next couple of weeks (from Profiles in History and Julien's Auctions), and both feature numerous Star Trek lots, offering many costumes, props, miniatures, and pieces of production art from several Star Trek movies, and all of the classic live action TV series. Continue below to check out some of the highlights.

If you're a fan of The Motion Picture you might be able to get hold of something interesting, as several of the lots from Profiles in History are from the film. My favourites are a couple of pieces of Robert Fletcher costume concept art, mainly because Spock's "meditation garments" are so gloriously unusual!

USS Enterprise and Borg Cube PCs, and other Trek gadgetry

Got a round up of the latest Star Trek gadgets today, including USB sticks hidden in insignia badges, a wireless charger, and the latest Borg Cube PC. But first, the most extraordinary Star Trek PC so far released:

Remember the USS Enterprise shaped PC that Lenovo were showing off last year? Well they and Tiburn (aka Titanium Technology) only went and actually brought it to market! This starship-shaped computer has been licensed for release in twenty-five countries, which I assume is covering the Asian market, as so far it has been offered via crowd funders in China (via JD Finance) and Japan (Makuake) - These were run earlier this year, and the PCs are starting to arrive with backers now.

Check out this snazzy video which shows of the features of the starship computer:

Factory Entertainment Star Trek bottle openers on the way

Factory Entertainment have released images of the first of their Star Trek bottle openers, which they are expecting to be available by January. The initial range has two designs, both prop inspired, one each from TOS and TNG. Continue below to check them out.

The TNG design is a combadge, and looks about the right size too. Which no specified in the official product descriptions, it appears to have a magnet in the back, making it a pretty neat fridge magnet too.

Mego preview Wrath of Khan figures, and other updates

Mego have started to release further images of their forthcoming wave of Wrath of Khan action figures, continue below to check them out, and for some other Mego updates.

The first non TOS-TV era Star Trek figures to join the Mego revival range, on offer in this wave will be Admiral Kirk, Captain Spock, and of course Khan Noonien Singh. Mego's solicitations for the wave have revealed the packaging design for each, while the Mego Museum have released a large selection of images of the Spock figure:

Tribbles get an upgrade, now app-enabled and interactive

Tribbles just got an upgrade. The little balls of fluff have been available for years, including ones that makes sounds and vibrate. But now Science Division have bred the next generation of tribbles, with interactive features enabled via a mobile app!

Here's how Science Division describe the new tribble's abilities:

Download the Section K-7 app to change your Tribble's mode, and to make it scream at your friends by alerting your Tribble that the person holding it is a Klingon. You don't need the app to change your Tribble's mode. Use the mode button on your Tribble, to interact without the app.

Science Division Tribbles have three modes:

At Ease: Your Tribble is not searching for Klingons. It will trill to acknowledge you when you interact with it. It will also trill on its own without being picked up because, well, it's a Tribble. When left alone, your Tribble will continue to trill, but will do so less frequently to avoid irritating its human companion.

On Duty: Your Tribble will begin actively seeking Klingon agents. Pass it around to determine who is an ally, and who is an enemy among us. It will trill when it meets a friend, but it will scream if it detects a Klingon!

Watchdog: If you must leave personal items unattended, set your Tribble on top of the object that you wish to protect. If a Klingon agent attempts to retrieve that object, your Tribble will alert you with a scream!