New Trek Merchandise

[Geekyfanboy]

CBS Announces Over a Dozen New Trek Product Licenses  June 10, 2008
by John Tenuto ,

Trek back with Mattel and many more big names
As reported yesterday, CBS Products is at the New York Licensing Expo this week talking up the Trek brand. Today CBS has officially announced over a dozen new Trek licenses with partners like Mattel, Fortune Fashions, Pez many more. The licenses cover things from toys, to electronic devices, to clothes, to food, to bedding, so the next year is shaping up to be a Trek collectors dream.

The new Trek licenses cover a wide variety of areas, here is a quick breakdown.

Lots of new Trek toys and games from Mattel
Mattel, the world's largest toy company, has licensed the worldwide rights to create numerous branded products including a line of Star Trek-themed Barbie® Collector dolls; Tyco® R/C flying radio controlled vehicles; a Scene It?® DVD game that includes content from Star Trek television series and movies; and a 20Q Star Trek trivia game. Mattel has had a Trek license before, in the late nineties they made a few toys including TOS-era themed Barbie and Ken dolls. However, this new license appears much more extensive.

Trek T-Shirts and costumes
Fortune Fashions will introduce a line of "fashion-forward, trend-right tees" featuring iconic characters and phrases from the Star Trek universe for the U.S. Fortune joins other recent T-shirt licensees Steve & Barry's and Junkfood in the U.S. and NTD in Canada. And Rubies is back; the costume maker who had the worldwide license for Trek costumes for years before letting it lapse now has it again.

Trek candy and cakes.
The CBS release included the official announcement of the Star Trek Pez, which TrekMovie.com previewed last weekend. In addition, CBS announced DecoPac will be making Trek-themed cake decorating kits for US and Canada and Les Chocolats Vadeboncoeur will be doing Trek Easter chocolates in Canada. CBS also announced that Hallmark (who already make Trek ornaments and greeting cards) will now do Trek party supplies, which should go along great with your Trek cake.

Polar Lights and AMT Models
CBS also announced a new licensing deal with Round Two (for USA and Canada) who are the new owners of the Polar Lights and AMT brand model kits. So we should expect some new model coming down the road soon, and in fact a re-issue of the Polar Lights TOS-era Enterprise has already been announced for Fall.

Collectible stamps and key chains.
Two more licenses will come as good news to collectors. IGPC will be providing Trek collective stamps, which are stamps issued from around the world and resold in collectors packages. Plus Basic Fun will be making Trek figural key chains (USA & Canada), which are likely to be similar to the new Star Wars key chains available now at retailers.

But wait, there's more
Other new Trek licensees announced by CBS:

    * Dreamlink (US) – USB computer accessories
    * GIT (Worldwide) – Digital collection of all Star Trek comics published through 2005
    * Northwest (US & Canada) – Pillows and throws
    * Armitron/E. Gluck Corporation (US & Canada) – Watches

Star Trek movie helping the big push
Clearly the Summer 2009 Star Trek feature is increasing interest in the Trek brand, allowing for this big expansion. In the official release CBS Executive Vice President Liz Kalodner noted:

    We want to make the brand more accessible to not only those fans of Star Trek, but to all those fans of pop culture who appreciate the brand for what it represents. With a feature film release set for May 2009, Star Trek will be introduced to a whole new generation."

This is big
This list is very exciting for collectors and general fans. While Star Trek certainly has been marketed widely during the last four decades, it has not been marketed this widely, with this kind of variety, all at the same time. Secondly, the list (combined with the earlier announcement that Playmates will be doing Toys and collectibles for the Star Trek feature film) shows that CBS Consumer Products is trying to engage all kinds of fans. There are products geared to all ages and to women, men, and families. Also, CBS is trying to introduce Star Trek to other kinds of collectors. Stamp, Barbie, Pez, and radio controlled vehicle collectors are their own subcultures. These kinds of products are for those brand collectors and Star Trek fans. It is a great way to introduce Star Trek to a wider audience at retail stores and with these kinds of hobbies. It also means that the Star Trek film marketing, much like Indiana Jones, will involve both retro Trek and new Trek. For example, the Indy film toys now are based not only on the newest film, but also the previous features. There will obviously be plenty of TOS items this year as get closer to the film. Basically, what this all means is that in 2008 and 2009, Star Trek is finally one of the "big guys" of marketing. Many of the items on the list are the kinds of products you see with Star Wars, and it is great to think that Star Trek has the potential of being in the same league. Frankly, its about time.

More details to come
There are still more details to be revealed about the specific products from the new licensees, so look for future 'Collective' columns to bring you news and previews of what we can expect in Trek Merchandise over the next year.

[Meds]

More wallet burning items, going to need a second mortgage now, and in England that's a problem ha ha

[Rico]

Sometimes seeing a brand everywhere can be a bad thing.  Hope they don't overdue it too much.  Remember the whole "Phantom Menace" toy overload?  You can still see some of those tucked away gathering dust in toy stores.

[Meds]

Oh god yeah, bloody Jar Jar Binks back packs, god i hated seeing those. Could you imagine a Scotty back pack with Simon Peggs face on it, and if i bought it, ha ha i'd be asking for sarcatic comments. (like i got after seeing Run Fat Boy Run grrrrrr)

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Sometimes seeing a brand everywhere can be a bad thing.  Hope they don't overdue it too much.  Remember the whole "Phantom Menace" toy overload?  You can still see some of those tucked away gathering dust in toy stores.

lol too true. 

King

[jedijeff]

I agree, hopefully they do not go overboard, but it will be nice to see some Star Trek merchandise. Over the past few years, there has not been much past the Diamond/Art Asylum stuff. Though I guess with that said, hopefully they choose quality over quantity, as with some of these movies, they seem to put out a lot of toys and other merchandise, that looks kind of cheap. It is nice that they will also be doing other Trek stuff, and not just the new movie.

[Rico]

I wish you could get some of the new figures, and toys in the stores.  Nobody seems to carry them except the comic shops, etc.  But some of the above stuff sounds like it will be out in regular shops.

[Dan M]

I think the talk of episode 1 merchandise still being in stores is a bit of hyperbole, but the point is still well-taken.

I'm pretty sure that, unlike the Diamond Select lines, the upcoming Trek figures based on the new movie will be available at major retailers.

[Rico]

I have seen Phantom Menace figures still in stores.  Dusty - but still some out there.  Usually in the clearance section.