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If there was ever a television series destined to inspire successful merchandise, it was Star Trek. This three-year mission into outer space not only became one of television’s greatest cult phenomenons, it also went on to spawn several sequel series shown both on television and at the cinema . It’s the kind of show all toymakers dreams about, but Mego was the lucky company tapped to make the first Star Trek action figures. The result was a line that has become one of the most prized toy collector's items of all time.

Released in 1974, the first Mego Star Trek figures were eight inches tall, made of plastic, and came with removable uniforms. There were just five figures in the first series: Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and an anonymous Klingon figure. All the dolls boasted bendable joints and well-sculpted facial features that closely resembled the actors they were based upon. Each figure came with several accessories: all the figures came with a phaser, communicator and belt, and the Spock and McCoy figures also had tricorders.
The initial Star Trek figures did quite well and were followed by another line later that year that added a new character: Lt. Uhura. She was the only female figure of the series and also the only one to utilize real hair instead of the molded-plastic hair that the other figures had. In terms of accessories, the Uhura figure came with a tricorder but did not have a phaser or communicator. The other characters in the second series were simply reissues of the rest of the characters used in the first.

A third series of Star Trek figures followed in 1975, and this time the focus was entirely on the show’s alien characters. The Gorn, The Keeper, The Cheron and a Neptunian each boasted specially-molded features (like the lizard-like head of The Gorn) and colorful, cleverly-designed outfits (the half black, half white uniform that perfectly matched The Cheron’s half-black, half-white head).

In 1976, Mego released the third series of Star Trek figures. Like the second series, they were all aliens and consisted of four characters: a Mugato, a Talosian, a Romulan, and an Andorian. The final Star Trek figures released by Mego in their initial line of Star Trek merchandise, these third series figures were also the rarest, meaning they command big prices on the collector’s market today.
Mego’s Star Trek figures were complemented by two playsets. The first was the U.S.S. Enterprise Action Playset, a box-shaped craft adorned with a lovely rendering of the Enterprise on its exterior, opening up to reveal a faithful, nicely-crafted replica of the Enterprise’s main Bridge. Its accessories included a captain’s chair, two stools, a computer console and three screens that each included a double-sided image to view.

The coolest feature of the U.S.S. Enterprise Action Playset was its Transporter. The owner placed a figure within its cardboard chamber and turned the knob, which caused stickers on its side to whirl around in a convincing display of transporter trickery. Meanwhile, the spinning chamber spat the figure out a back door, thus creating the illusion that the figure had been “transported.”
Although the Star Trek figures and playsets stopped being made after 1976, the non-figure accessories continued to be made through 1978. Just when it seemed that Mego was going to end its Star Trek toy line, the company was given a commercial shot in the arm by the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The hoopla surrounding this film led to a new line of Star Trek action figures in 1979. This time, the figures came in both small (3½ inches) and large (12 inches) sizes.

The small Star Trek figures came in two series: the first included Kirk, McCoy, Decker, Spock and Ilia, and the second was an all-alien line consisting of a Klingon, an Arcturian, a Betelgeusian, a Zaranite, a Megarite and a Rigellian. These aliens were only sold in the U.S. through mail order, so they are quite rare. There was also a Bridge playset for the 3½ inch figures.
The large series included Kirk, Ilia, Spock, Decker, an Arcturian and a Klingon. The Decker and Klingon figures are the rarest of the 12-inch series.

The movie’s merchandise was rounded out by a series of three spaceship toys: there was a 12-inch U.S.S. Enterprise that included a detachable saucer, an 8-inch Klingon Cruiser and an 8-inch Vulcan Shuttle.
Mego did not issue any further Star Trek toys after their Star Trek: The Motion Picture line, but these toys continue to be popular today.