Star Trek V 20th Anniversary : Collectibles From ‘The Final Frontier’ June 13, 2009
by John Tenuto , Filed under: Feature Films (TMP-NEM), Merchandise , trackback
TrekMovie continues our 20th anniversary coverage of Star Trek V with a look at the collectibles from The Final Frontier. The film may not have delivered enough box office, but it certainly did deliver a lot of stuff for fans of Star Trek collecting.
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER – THE COLLECTIBLES
Action Figures
At the time of Star Trek V, Galoob has the license for Star Trek action figures. For Star Trek V, they produced five 7.5" vinyl action figures of Captain Kirk, Captain Spock, Dr. McCoy, Klaa, and Sybok. While not popular with fans at the time, these do often get about $50 each on the secondary market today.
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Ship toys & model
ERTL made two Star Trek V diecast toy ships, one of the Enterprise and one of the Klingon Bird of Prey. These were sold in toy and grocery stores at the time.
AMT also released a version of the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 A from Star Trek V with a shuttlecraft.
Posters
Whatever your opinion is of Star Trek V, it was the most action oriented of the original six films (consider that its director was man of action William Shatner). And since the summer film competition for Star Trek V in 1989 included films like Batman and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade it made sense that the teaser poster for Star Trek V would emphasize action and adventure. What resulted, though, is arguably one of the best and most unusual teaser posters in Star Trek history, although some fans took the poster literally and were disappointed there weren’t actually any seat belts in the theaters. The teaser poster is great because it also played on the old joke of why the designers of the Enterprise didn’t install seat belts on the ship. The theatrical poster was from illustrator Bob Peak, who had done the posters for the previous four Trek films.
Soundtrack
Jerry Goldsmith was brought back to the world of Star Trek composing this film’s soundtrack. He reintroduced a very energetic version of his Klingon theme and composed an incredibly beautiful score, especially for the opening scenes at Yosemite and the music on the God planet. Filmtracks calls this "one of Jerry Goldsmith’s most vibrant, thematically diverse, and forgotten Star Trek scores." And they are right.
Adaptations and Books
Star Trek V received all the traditional Star Trek adaptations, although not necessarily all in 1989. During the summer of 1989, fans could get the novel by JM Dillard (both in text and audio version narrated by George Takei and Leonard Nimoy) and the comic book by DC Comics (featuring scenes not in the final film). There was an excellent book by Lisabeth Shatner on the making of the film which really shows how the narrative changed during the filmmaking and the compromises that Shatner had to reconcile. Starlog produced a souvenir magazine available on newsstands and through mail order.
The trading card set adaptation would have to wait about 10 years before being made by Skybox Cards.
Collectible Plate
In 1995, the Hamilton Collection was releasing plates based on various Star Trek films and television shows. There was a plate for Star Trek V featuring Sybok as the predominant image.
The Best Star Trek Collectible Ever?
While the new Star Trek film has a tremendous amount of tie-ins from food companies, Star Trek V had one lonely offer from Kraft. However, to paraphrase Shinzon, that Kraft Star Trek V promotional item shall echo long after all the other promotions are but a dim memory! What is it? The Kraft Star Trek V The Final Frontier official dispensor (with futuristic spoon and fork included). An incredible design, there is nothing better than recreating one of Star Trek’s most heartfelt scenes where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy profess their affections for each other while camping while eating marshmellons, er marshmellows, from the Kraft dispenser. Row your boat indeed!
Modern Collectibles
Despite its reputation, Star Trek V hasn’t been forgotten and new items are occasionally available. Of course the film is included in the new BluRay collection of movies with an excellent commentary by Mike and Denise Okuda, Judith and Garfield Reeves Stevens, and Daren Dochertman whose Sean Connery imitation may be worth the price of the disk alone. In 2008, Film Cells Limited made four different Star Trek art pieces utilizing authentic film cells, some of which are available for sale at the official Star Trek store, and through Film Cells.
Last year, Master Replicas also released a prop replica of the Star Trek V assault phaser utilized in the rescue of the Nimbus III hostages by Sulu (and you thought he could only fence) and company. The replica is available for $434 from Entertainment Earth.
Good for collectors
While the film didn’t deliver the box office or critical acclaim hoped for, Star Trek V did provide collectors with a diversity of toys and books, an incredible soundtrack, and one of the best tchotchke items ever.
More STV 20th Anniversary Coverage To Come
Later we will have a closer look at the work of Bob Peak, whos Star Trek V poster was his last of the franchise, and on Sunday we will wrap up our STV coverage with list of fun facts about The Final Frontier.
Thanks to the excellent resources TrekToy.com and Memory Alpha for some of the images
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Comments»
While I didn’t like Sybok – I did like most other aspects of Star Trek V.
How will the Vulcan stuff go with the new time line?
I still have the Marshmellow Dispenser, though the fork and spoon are long-gone :(. I also had the Star Trek V Enterprise model kit, but like most of my models from that time, I destroyed them by playing with them. My Mom has the soundtrack, which actually ranks among my favorite of the Star Trek soundtrackes (It’s Goldsmith, of course!).
God bless!
I got a 32 oz plastic cup that I used for years after that. Also a pin that was way cool. I know you can get all that easily now, but it was slightly harder then. Anyway — I liked the movie well enough in the theatre the first time I saw it. It’s only after repeated viewing that the flaws became painful.
I have both of these ERTL toys. Unfortunately Enterprise lost one of it’s nacel’s :(
wow come to think of it that movie did have some cool stuff.
I had the Book too, doesn’t Dr. McCoy reprogram the ships computer library on camping traditions because He knows Spock would research them.
that’s why Spock calls ‘em Marshmellons, if I remember correctly.
I havent forgotten Jerry’s score.
I still dont have the vinyl figures- but never understoodwhy the die cast shipshadthe most fragile parts of the ship- the warp nicelles moulded in plastic? they r prone to breaking.
Excellent score, and I loved the merchandise !!!
For some crazy reason, this one holds a special place in my heart. Probably because this was the first Trek movie I saw after becoming a fan.
I gave my ‘marshmelon’ dispenser to my son when he was little, a couple of years after STV. I think he still has it somewhere downstairs in his Mancave.
I bet all those collectibles are just like the movie: cheap and crappy
#9
There is no reason to apologize for avoiding what I call “Jar Jar Think” otherwise called Group Think. There is nothing wrong with this film that isn’t right with this film.
The score was good..the phaser design was awesome!!!.Uhura’s fan dance, McCoy and Spocks flashback scenes..were the only things outside of the first 10 minutes and the last 5 minutes that made this movie even tolerable to me…
I expected so much more after TREK 4, but was truly disappointed…and they still think rock monsters would have saved it!!??!!…
The figures are statues not action figures. Not even the heads or arms move. The Klaa figure is the most dynamic, The Sybok doesn’t have the long hair he had in the movie.
I thought the movie began very promisingly. The image of the dirt farmer and the laughing Vulcan were strong and I loved the music and cinematography when Kirk is scaling the peak, but then Kirk falls and the movie does as well.
It’s funny that 1989 was one of the most anticipated summers of my life with Star Trek, Indiana Jones and Batman, then all three were colossal disappointments.
I still want to knee Shatner for this abortion of a Star Trek movie.
There were also walkie-talkie communicators that were some sort of mail away premium. There are some up on Ebay right now if you want to update the article.
They are excellent replicas of the props used in the movie, which really look like the successor to the TOS version, as opposed to that metal box with screws Kirk was yelling into in TWOK! ;)
The Jerry Goldsmith score is absolutely beautiful. I hope for an expanded re-release.
I really liked Star trek V. It had a great feel to it that you were part of a family of characters that, for me at least I’d grown up with. These were not just the adventures of the Enterprise crew, but you got to see a little of their lives on shore leave, camping, joking, and of course singing. That feeling graced the TOS movies in a special way and made you overlook budget constraints or plot holes. I also thought the scenes were Sybok showed Spock, and especially McCoy ‘their pain’ were good expansion of the characters when you’d think by a fifth film the effort wouldn’t be there.
The action was good enough, but for me it was the familiarity, the comfort I suppose, of having my friends back on the big screen.
Star Trek was gone from the realms of good storytelling, following a simple lack of effort on the part of a number of writers, producers, and directors for several years. When you look back to the TOS movies you remember the golden days. It’s just fantastic to see a whole new generation of kids, and born again fans, breathing life into the TOS adventures once more.
Weird. it looks like the Enterprise is flying towards the DS9 wormhole even though that series hadn’t been created yet.
Goldsmith’s score is regularly, and rightly, listed by film music lovers of deserving an official expanded release. (There are some ok bootlegs floating around out there.)
And Shatner’s book about the making of the film, written with his daughter (who, I believe, appears in the movie as a Yeoman), is something I remember as really enjoying. Maybe worth going back for another look.
I still own the two Ertl die-cast ships, both still in unopened packs.
And own two of the Kraft Marshmallow dispensers, one still in the unopened bag.
I have 2 of those marshmellow dispensers. Unfortunately they came in a plain white box. I also got those mail in communicators. They came as a pair and took batteries with working antenna. Very nice collectible.
I still have that model of the Enterprise, the small white one like.
I remember buying it too, there was also a Bird of Prey you could get and I got that too.
On an unrelated topic, does anyone else feel that the new Terminator should have actually been called, “Terminator: Come On”?
“Come on” is used a bit frequently!
I still have the diecast Enterprise-A sitting on my bookcase.
An interesting tidbit: They actually used the AMT Enterprise-A and shuttlecraft models in the movie.
Really.
Watch it again.
Those CAN’T be Hollywood special effects.
Can they???
I recall a pair of Star Trek V working walkie talkie communicators being released in conjunction with the film. The radios looked a lot like the TOS versions on the outside, except of course there was a telescoping antenna. They came in a plain white box with no artwork and actually worked pretty well with a range of about 1/4 of a mile. I sold mine years ago but they still pop up on eBay from time to time.
Wow I’d kill to have that marshmallow dispenser.
Talk about a tasty indicator of Trek’s low point…
Well, the best of this film was its soundtrack!
The marshmallow dispenser was cool, but mine broke. The join between the lever and hatch cover wore out.
Hey Closettrekker, are you a dad? If so, there’s all kinds of cool stuff here for your kids to getcha for Fadda’s Day!
Especially since we know how much you love this movie! ;-D
J/K — Have a great weekend, CT!
I just want to say, that I enjoyed Star Trek V. It wasn’t the best Trek film, but it was still waaaay better than Insurrection and Nemesis. It was the first Trek film I saw in the theaters, I was 6. It featured classic back and forth between Kirk, Spock and McCoy. So, say what you will. I am nostalgic for Star Trek V.
What you didn’t cover in the article was the “collectibles” that were at the movie theater. I worked at a theater that was showing STV and we had some really tacky things.
Pencil toppers with a Klingon Bird of Prey , plastic cups with the logo on them, and other dumb things. The only good thing was a lapel pin shaped in the Delta Shield with the Star Trek V logo on it.
As for the score by JG: I loved what he did for the very last phrase of music to end the movie. Hard to describe in words.
For $434 dollars, that prop phaser better be able to stun someone for real, and not just with the price!
Over all STV was a disappointment but it wasn’t all bad. I really liked Sybok.
I really really really want one of those marshmellon dispensers!!!
33 – Good one! Thanks for the laugh!
The mail away Star Trek V communicator offer was one of, if not the, best such offer for Trek, ever. They look just like the prop (STIII design).
#37 You mean the walkie-talkies? Got ‘em! Yeah, very cool.
The marshmellon dispenser is one of my favorite collectibles, too.
The assault phaser is AWESOME. It has the exact feel of one of the heroes- which I got to play with years ago- but with killer sound and light fx.
Goldsmith’s score was both masterful and sadly the dawn of his using that beaten to death 4-note phrase he kept bringing back, with minor variation, in the rest of his Trek scores. Da-da-duh- DAAA!
After seeing ST:V I wanted one of those nifty marshmallow warmers. I actually went to various stores and asked for something similar. All I got was puzzled looks. To be young.
I think it was Mad Magazine that wrote, “Why are they putting seatbelts in theaters this summer? TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM WALKING OUT!”
The soundtrack is NOT available on iTunes!
If you click on the Entertainment Earth link for the $434 assault phaser, it says in the description it is “fully functional.” If it were really fully functional, $434 wouldn’t be a bad price. Somehow I doubt it actually shoots energy beams that can stun or kill.
My favorite line happened at the end…When the three were reflecting and Spocks says”I lost my brother..” to which Kirk replies..”I lost a brother once too…But I got him back.)
One of the cool things I’ve never forgotten about the novelization of the movie…JM Dillard fixed a grievous mistake. At the end of the movie and Spock says I’ve lost a brother. Kirk says, “I lost two brothers. I was lucky to get one back.”
While The Shat was busy trying to keep up with Nimoy, he neglected little things….like continuity and back story. Forgetting Sam Kirk was pretty unforgivable. The only thing worse than leaving out a key piece of Jim Kirk’s established canon would have been to make up something ridiculous…like a long lost half-brother for one of the other main characters. Oh….wait….
Jerry Goldsmith’s 3rd finest Trek soundtrack, behind only TMP and FC! The score was probably the best part of the film.
Wow, I had everything except the plate. And to think I wondered why I didn’t lose my virginity that year.
The communicators were awesome, I still have mine and the Marshmellon dispenser. Great items! #44, he didn’t forget Sam, that was the whole point of that scene. They thought he was referring to Sam and then he added the twist by mentioning Spock.
Everyone mentions the #s being wrong in the turboshaft. I always thought it made perfect sense as Scotty said that the shaft was closed for repairs. They had to fix the deck level #s!
I’ll always love Trek V. I dont give a damn what anyone else says about it.
#48
Amen.
Had the Ertl Die casts, and my Enterprise lost it’s Nacell too! But my Grandad soldered back on for me, it looked pretty cool actually, like it had been in batte!
A marsh-melon dispenser. Oh, joy.
Whoever wrote this forgot about the Star Trek V Communicators (that were walkie-talkies)– I don’t know how/who sold them originally, but I have a pair that I bought off e-bay several years ago…and of course, the Star Trek V Phaser from Playmates
Off all the films, Star Trek V is the one I would most like to get a special edition treatment. It probably wouldn’t help the horrible story much, but even just a special effects overhaul would be nice. With today’s visual effects it would be easy to correct those scenes of the Enterprise warping off at odd angles and fix those deck numbers in the turboshaft and even remove that damn microphone from the shot. Heck Shatner could even add his rock monsters, just like the one in Galaxy Quest!
3.
Same here bro. Starfleet lost three or four good starships to my youthful appetite for destruction.
The Enterprise-D was annhilated by a rouge semi-sentient gaseous anomaly. And by rouge semi-sentient gaseous anomaly I mean me, some gasoline and a lighter.
IMHO the highlights of the score are the intro/outro and the revamped Klingon theme.
You know, I think I’m going to have to re-watch Trek V. I’m reminded that the soundtrack was pretty great, and the cast actually looked pretty good in this film. It’s like they were right on the verge of being too old but not quite there yet (Star Trek VI? Definitely past their prime in that one). The entire God/Kirk confrontation scene was classic Trek, and I thought the campfire scene was incredibly poignant. Checkov pretending to be captain was genuinely funny (probably the only genuine humor in the whole film), and I liked the Sybok/Spock relationship as well. All we have are these 6 movies featuring the original cast. I’m glad for Star Trek V, especially now.
#45 – I just listened again, for the first time in a while, to Goldsmith’s score for “Planet of the Apes” (1968). That is one of the most amazing and brilliant film scores he ever wrote, influenced a good deal by Bartok and Stravinsky.
Apparently a lot of people thought he had used synthesizers and other electric sources for it, but a lot of the interesting sounds were from percussionists playing on kitchen mixing bowls and other unconventional items.
He and Horner both wrote some great scores for Trek films. It’s sad that he is no longer with us. He was a great composer.
Don’t know if anyone mentioned it, but the Trek V poster art is certainly the very best of the entire series, IMO. It’s just a beautiful design, gorgeous color and Kirk and Spock look very iconic.
I remember the end of Trek IV with Kirk and co. going into warp, and thinking WOW I cannot wait until V! Finally, the crew was whole and with a new Enterprise…it was as though the whole series story arc was now full circle, and we could get a really great story for the next movie. Hell, possibly another 3-movie story arc, in the scale of II, III and IV. They were all still barely young enough to pull it off, after all.
I was pretty disappointed with V, and recall being pissed off that it didn’t even come close to my expectations. I agree a special edition of this movie is desperately needed.
John,
I would like to add that the diecast ERTL ships were actually repainted reissues of items released for “Star Trek 3-The Search For Spock”. The toys were not exactly very well detailed ( the Enterprise looked chunky and clunky, and the bird of prey had virtually no detailing at all ), and looked pretty cheap. There also was a third ship in the original release: a diecast U.S.S. Excelsior, which was probably the best of the three. Sadly, that one wasn’t re-released, since it did not appear in TFF.
The Enterprise is basically the same as the first version with the exception of the “NCC-1701-A” moniker. The Klingon Bid Of Prey actually got an upgrade with this release, since it was repainted in more correct shades of green. When first released it was inexplicably painted robin egg blue, and had the “Star Trek 3 logo emblazoned on it’s wing!
Even as late as 1992, these same ERTL toys could be found in the gift shop of the Smithsonian’s National Air And Space Museum, repackaged on specially printed backer cards with the NASM name and logo on them. At that time, they were about the only Trek related gift item in the shop.
Boy, even the toys associated with STV were weird. ‘Action figures’ that couldn’t move, marshmellow dispensers…oi vey. Star Trek V was a strange time, my lads.
That being said, I did have the AMT model of the ENT-A & shuttle. But since I had the AMT kit with lights from I think Star Trek IV, I ended up kit-bashing the STV version, Doomsday Machine-style, and giving it battle damage from STVI. Haha. I’d have loved to have put a lighter to Star Trek V as a whole, obviously, so I was working out some healthy aggression. :)
And every time I see that ‘Why are they putting seatbelts in theaters this summer?’ poster, I can’t help but remember the famous retort: To keep the audience from leaving!
My son and i were watching Trek V the weekend after ST09 opened and we both said the same thing about the Goldsmith score, it was great!
especially loved the fanfare/ STTMP opening that blended into the rock climbing song. also strong were the Nimbus 3 melodies as well as the god thing tune.
the only thing i did not like is the abrupt fanfare at the beginning of the end credits (they did the same thing for First Contact, and i did not like it there either).
as for the film, I think the special effects killed this movie. the “warp speed now!” flash of the Big E going to warp to avoid the klingon torpedo looked like something from southpark. also the over abundance of the bird of prey staock shots were just mind numbing. and the great barrier was about as menacing as algea in my pool!( heck they would have been better of using V’ger cloud footage, since by this time most people ha not even seen that movie in a decade or so).
Shat did a very good job on the action. if he would have bolstered up a few scenes on nimbus, and cut out some of his lame jokes, and had a real effects team, this pic could have been as good as Voyage home
I agree with Lukas! Have FUN y’all! J-R!
I got two marshmallow dispensers, after eating a ton of marshmelons. Well, at least two packs of them. One I opened, the second never was. The box is still sealed, even 20 years later, with my 1989 address on it. And, they’re not for sale. Sorry.