Standard Orbit 249: The Toys That Made Us

Star Trek Toys With John Tenuto.

This week on Standard Orbit, host Zach Moore is joined by sociology professor and Star Trek historian John Tenuto to discuss the long history of Star Trek toys. We discuss John and his wife Mary Jo's appearances on Netflix's "The Toys That Made Us," the famous (and infamous in some cases) action figures by Mego, the ever-other-movie approach to toys and merchandise in the TOS movie era, the evolution of action figures in the modern age of collectables and many of John and Zach's favorite Star Trek toys from over the years.

What was the story behind the wildly inaccurate Mego Gorn action figure? Why did the licensees keep guessing wrong on when to make a merchandising push during the movie era? The TNG Galoob line: the forgotten Star Trek toy line? All this and much more in this special Christmas-sized edition of Standard Orbit! Merry Christmas!

Chapters  Welcome to Standard Orbit! (00:01:27) Favorite Star Trek Christmas Presents (00:02:10) The Toys That Made Us (00:06:45) 1960s Toys, Label Swapping (00:11:48) Mego (The Gorn, The Mugato, Etc.) (00:17:25) The Motion Pictures (Every Other Movie) (00:26:30) Galoob's TNG Line (00:48:08) Playmates, Secrecy, Generations (00:56:09) 2000s, Art Asylum/Diamond Select (01:09:20) Collectability vs. Playability (01:29:01) Mature Francises Marketed At Kids (01:39:04) Final Thoughts (01:51:24) POTFM (01:57:53) Closing (01:59:58)

Host Zach Moore

Guest John Tenuto

Production Zach Moore (Editor and Producer) Ken Tripp (Producer) Hayley Stoddart (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Nicolas Anastassiou (Associate Producer) Tim Robertson (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Associate Producer) Corey Elrod (Associate Producer) Dan Rhodes (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)