The May release of a very successful reboot of the Star Trek movie franchise has produced a strong line of action figures, ships, playsets, and role-playing gear from Playmates Toys, which are on sale through major retail outlets.

John Tenuto has been reviewing the products at trekmovie.com where he is Collectibles Editor. He says, “There's never been Star Trek merchandising like this last six months. This is on the levels of Star Wars marketing. When Star Trek: The Next Generation was on TV in the early 1990s and getting better rating in syndication than many prime time shows, you could walk into any store and find a Star Trek puzzle, action figures, all of that. So there was a lot of product – but nothing like this.”

One of his favorites from the new Playmates line is the scale model of the U.S.S. Enterprise with sound effects and Kirk/Spock dialogue. “I'm not a ship person – I'm interested in the characters – but I have to say it's a really beautiful light show,” says Tenuto. “That was my wife's reaction also and my son likes it too.”

“That's an item that a person could put on their desk at work. A little stress reliever - just press the button. It's displayable and playable – that's the best kind of toy because it satisfies the collector and also satisfies the kid. That's really what these companies are trying to get for their product.”

He continues, “I need to see where is my son a week from now with that toy - does he still play with it? The great thing about being a Star Trek collector right now is the variety of things available. For kids, they extend the movie experience through their imagination. For collectors, it's the fun of getting those items and they serve as a tangible reminder of how much you enjoy the universe.”

Action figure collectors have three sizes to choose from issued by Playmates: the premium 12-inch Command series at $29.99 each, the 6-inch Warp series at $8.99, and the 3.75-inch Galaxy series for $6.99. The large Command figures include Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Pike and old Spock as played by Leonard Nimoy. The detailed, fully-articulated figures have cloth costumes, removable utility belts and accessories, and display stands.

The 3.75-inch figures are scaled to interact with two playsets recreating locations in the new movie. The Bridge Playset comes with Captain Kirk and can be completed by adding crew figures which come with additional parts for the set – retail $25.

The Transporter Playset comes with the character Scotty, the engineer who can help beam up other 3.75-inch figures – retail $30. The set features appropriate transporting lights and sounds.

More light and sound action comes with three classic pieces of role-playing gear featured on Star Trek since its beginnings: the Communicator, Phaser and Tricorder - $15 each. The Communicator speaks character phrases from the movie, while the Phaser can be reset from “stun” to “vaporize.”

In addition to the new movie-based products, Diamond Select Toys continues to issue multiple Star Trek lines. A Retro Cloth series with Emcee Toys replicates the classic Mego action figures of the 1970s. They also make a line of action figures based on earlier television and movie adventures, busts, statues, Minimates and Trek Tek replicas.

Marketing executive Matt Peck says, “Diamond Select Toys has been making Star Trek products ever since we took over the license from Art Asylum in late 2005. We began with two new starships and then expanded into action figures and Trek Tek replicas in 2006. Those lines were joined by the Retro Cloth figures in 2007.”

“There's not just one Star Trek fan in the office, “he continues. “Instead it's very much a group effort. When a new employee starts with DST they are almost immediately besieged with DVD box sets, comics and old VHS tapes until we've made them one of us.”

Right now, says Peck, “While Playmates is handling all of the toys for the new Star Trek movie, we possess the rights to every other Star Trek television series and film. We just release our life-size Captain's Chair Replica ($2,717) and we have classic action figure two-packs coming out this summer with the classic version of Kirk & Uhura, Spock & Scotty and McCoy & Sulu ($31.98 each). Our Tribbles, Enterprise Ships, Phasers, Tricorders, Communicators and Retro figures have also been big sellers in part thanks to the attention from the new movie.”

Asked how they decide what new characters to put into production, Peck said, “Determining which characters will be turned into action figures is one of my favorite parts of the process. We put together our own wishlists and then argue it out for hours until we're left with a plan that makes the most sense. We look at character popularity, sculpting costs, past toy sales and more to create the best possible lineup. Personally, I try to include characters that have never been released as action figures and fan-requested characters as much as I can.”

Veteran collectors can reassess their holdings with the help of a recent book by Steve Kelley, Star Trek: The Collectibles. The reference makes clear how little TOS merchandise was issued in the early years and how merchandising grew exponentially as the television series and feature movies multiplied.

“Retro stuff is huge – it's been big for quite a while now,” said Kelley. “You've got baby boomers who've become successful, and they want to collect things that they remember from their past.”  Read in-depth stories on the vintage toys in his companion magazine, The Unofficial Guide to Start Trek Collectibles.

Kelley and his wife, Alayne, also produce their own special line of sealed carded figures for serious collectors.  They go through Star Trek adventures and make additional characters in the Mego style with cloth costumes. Recent issues have included Khan in sickbay medical attire and parachuting Captain Kirk. Look for them on eBay and in the magazine.

Inevitably, a new movie series will also yield production costumes, props and models that at some point will emerge in the marketplace. Fans will remember the ultimate auction, the 40th Anniversary Star Trek: The Collection sale of material from CBS Paramount Television Studios held in October 2006 at Christie's in New York. The auction total reached $7.1 million with top lot a 78-inch-long model of Starship Enterprise-D which brought $576,000.