Artist Inspirations: Spock (1996)

With a search through common images of Spock sitting at the controls of the Science Station we never get the match we are looking for.  In all five cases (see above) Spock is never holding the control desk with his left hand as he does on the ornament.  By grasping the console he appears to be steadying himself as if the Enterprise is being blasted by some sort of alien attack.

Looking to narrow down the options from the 79 original episodes the inspiration may have come from, I started with the science scope that is prominently displayed at the control board. 

Constitution Class Science Scope Design
In 2254, some starships, including the Constitution-class USS Enterprise, were not equipped with a scope. (TOS: “The Cage”)

By 2265, however, a dark blue, featureless scope had been introduced at the science station of most Federation starships. This device jutted out of a console at an elevated angle, camouflaged well into the darkness of the console. Unlike the scopes of the previous century, this style of viewer was stationary and its contents could be seen from a further distance. As direct contact with an eyepiece was not necessary, two people could simultaneously view the device’s display. (TOS Season 1)

In 2267, the shaft that comprised the science viewer’s exterior was re-colorized to a light grey, consequently becoming more easily recognized within its console. Also, a circular control was added to the device’s exterior on the left side of the shaft, comparative to the user’s position. (TOS: “Catspaw”, et al.)

Memory Alpha

Star Trek “Where No Man Has Gone Before” Pilot: 2265
Star Trek Season 1: 2266-2267
Star Trek Season 2: 2267-2268
Star Trek Season 3: 2268-2269

Wikipedia

“The Galileo Seven” was the first episode of 2267 and the 16th entry in the first season of TOS which means there are only 64 possible episodes it could be from.

The search for Spock’s inspiration continues…

Star Trek: Mission Chicago Tickets on Sale Tomorrow

Assemble your crew and lay in a course for Star Trek: Mission Chicago—the ultimate Star Trek fan experience for all ages! Whether you’re a Ten-Forward regular or fresh out of the Academy, Star Trek: Mission Chicago has something for everyone!

Discover a new frontier of immersive experiences and unique encounters with fellow fans unlike anything you’ve seen before. Explore the past, present and future of Star Trek while embracing the ideals of a diverse and inclusive future that remains at the center of Gene Roddenberry’s beloved universe. Join us as we go beyond expectation with a fan experience loaded with celebrity guests, exclusive merchandise and exciting announcements that can only be offered at Star Trek: Mission Chicago, the official fan convention brought to you by ViacomCBS and ReedPop.

Star Trek: Mission Chicago tickets will go on sale Thursday, July 29th with exciting guest announcements to be reveled soon!

Star Trek: Mission Chicago will be held April 8 – 10, 2022 at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, IL.

HMS Bounty Sells Out in Five Minutes! Next Chance…KOC Event in August

The Star Trek™ HMS Bounty Klingon™ Bird-of-Prey Metal Ornament event exclusive sold out in five minutes for the ComicCon@Home event, just two minutes behind the quick-selling Star Wars™ Animated Boba Fett™ Ornament exclusive. It didn’t come without us issues though.

The ornaments didn’t go live until 12:02. There were reports that ornaments went from ‘COMING SOON’ to ‘OUT OF STOCK’ to ‘IN STOCK’ after refreshing the page. Most customers who had issues at checkout seemed to be buying more than one ornament (i.e. HMS Bounty AND Boba Fett). Once a shopping cart was reduced to one item the checkout issue was resolved. Others were able to get an item in their shopping cart but it still wasn’t allocated to them and the ornament would be out of stock before they could get a credit card number entered.

The HMS Bounty will next be available at the KOC Fan Convention Ornament Sale taking place August 17, 2021 at 10:00 E.S.T. It will be an online event only and KOC (Keepsake Ornament Club) is required. Unfortunately, KOC membership is sold out for 2021.

If you are not already a member it will be available again October 7, 2021 at Noon E.S.T. for NYCC.

Instagram from PopMinded by Hallmark.

2021 itty bittys® Star Trek™ Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu “Mirror, Mirror” Plush

Available October 2021…

itty bittys® Star Trek™ Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu “Mirror, Mirror” Plush

Regular price: $7.99

Product Details

Relive one of the most memorable episodes from the original Star Trek television series—”Mirror, Mirror”—in itty bittys style. A transporter malfunction results in alternate universe versions of the Enterprise crew, including parallel Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.

  • itty bittys Star Trek “Mirror, Mirror” Lieutenant Sulu plush is crafted from soft fabric.
  • 3″ W x 4″ H x 2.25″ D

2021 Keepsake Ornament Debut Delayed Two Weeks

NEW EVENT DATES! Ornament Debut | October 16-24

Shipping challenges are affecting Hallmark’s product availability for the holiday season. To ensure the best selection possible, they have rescheduled this event to October 16-24 (previously Oct. 2 – 10), with early KOC shopping available on Oct. 15. Holiday Open House (HOH) has moved back by one week to Nov. 12 – 21 (previously Nov. 5 – 14).

Star Trek™ Mirror, Mirror Collection Ensign Pavel Chekov Ornament With Light and Sound & Star Trek: Picard™ La Sirena Ornament With Sound due out October 16, 2021.

Although a number of October ornaments have been pushed back to November there is no word of either Star Trek ornaments being delayed.

HMS Bounty Event Exclusive First Available Tomorrow for SDCC

July 23, 2021 – Noon E.S.T.

SHOP EXCLUSIVES

  • Log into your Hallmark account before noon so you can expedite check out. Limited quantities will sell out quickly.
  • If you do not have a Hallmark account register beforehand.
  • If you already have a Hallmark account be sure to confirm your password is still active ahead of the event.

Kate Mulgrew on The Daily Show with Janeway Ornament

The Daily Show 
on Comedy Central
Hosted by Craig Kilborn 
November 17, 1998

Craig:  [William Shatner’s] got the big ego though. He thinks he’s special.

Kate:  He has been a starship captain. What do you expect?

Craig:  Are you one day going to have that enormous ego.

Kate:  No. I keep my ego in perspective. [makes face]

Craig:  Ok.

Kate:  ‘Cause I’m just a girl, right?

Craig:  I’ll tell you what, if I were you, what would expand your ego. This is real, this is a Christmas ornament of you at the helm. [brings out 1998 Janeway Hallmark ornament] Look at this. How do you stay grounded, I mean you’re a super star. This is beyond a doll. This is a Christmas ornament.

Kate:  No, but I think the logic behind this little device is extraor…it weighs fifty-eight pounds.

Craig:  It is.

Kate:  So, what does your Christmas tree look like, is the question.

Craig:  The one down in Rockefeller Center is the only one that could hold this.

Kate:  You wouldn’t wanna run into her in a dark alley, would ya?

Craig:  You look tough there. Is there any… Can this be a stocking stuffer as well? Or is it just an ornament.

Kate:  I’m sure you could…stuff it.

[audience laughter and applause]

Read the entire interview transcript with additional photos at Totally Kate: The Official Fansite of Kate Mulgrew.

Kate Mulgrew will return in the role of Hologram Janeway in Star Trek: Prodigy.

Resellers Overcharging for the Star Trek™ HMS Bounty Klingon™ Bird-of-Prey Metal Ornament

A word of warning not to buy/preorder the overpriced HMS Bounty that is showing up on eBay. The event exclusive ornament will be available to buy from home on July 23, 2021 at Noon E.S.T. and October 7, 2021 at Noon E.S.T. There will be a limited amount so be sure to log in early.

Updated photo 7/16/21. Went from two sellers to five sellers overnight.

HOW TO PURCHASE POPMINDED EXCLUSIVES

This year, we will offer event exclusives ONLINE ONLY in conjunction with the following events, typically attended in person: Comic-Con@Home, scheduled July 23-25, 2021, and New York Comic Con, scheduled October 7-10, 2021. Product allotments will be divided evenly between the two convention timeframes. Exclusives will be sold on a first-come basis starting at Noon Eastern Time (9 a.m. Pacific Time, 11 a.m. Central Time) on the first day of each convention.

Additionally, small quantities…will be allotted for sale to Keepsake Ornament Club Members. For more information on membership, go to hallmark.com/ornaments/keepsake-ornament-club.

For details on how to purchase exclusives, visit PopMinded.com/Events and expect the PopMinded convention shop to return in-person, to a full line-up of events in 2022.

For more information about PopMinded by Hallmark and the products offered, visit PopMinded.com.

Hallmark.com

Product Details

  • Designed by Jake Angell, this metal Keepsake Ornament comes pre-packaged in a box for easy gift giving, preservation and storage. Dated 2021 in copyright.
  • PopMinded™ event exclusive ornament and one of only 3,750 issued. Limited availability while supplies last, not available in stores.
  • Originally created for 2021 San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic Con and select events.
  • Metal Christmas tree ornament measures 4.5″ W x 0.58″ H x 2.89″ D.

Artist Inspirations: Enterprise Stamp (1999)

Top: Date of issue: 17th September 1999.


Star Trek stamp illustrator, Keith Birdsong, also created the cover art for several Star Trek Pocket Books novels. Unfortunately, Birdsong passed away in 2019 at the age of 59.

It was a long journey to get the United States Postal Service to issue a Star Trek stamp. Star Trek fan, Bill Kraft, led the effort and captured it in his book, Maybe We Need a Letter from God: The Star Trek Stamp.

The drive to honor Star Trek on a U.S. postage stamp is unique. “Maybe We Need a Letter from God: The Star Trek Stamp” traces an old-fashioned grassroots movement, long before easy access to the speed of the Internet, that involved a strategy of signed petitions, endorsement letters and media exposure. Fueled by the spontaneous combustion of fan fervor, the Star Trek Stamp Committee embarked on a journey that took over a decade to complete. A dubious Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, a bureaucratic “force field,” thwarted the Star Trek Stamp Committee’s efforts for 13 years. The book includes over eighty endorsement letters from some of the most renowned individuals in the worlds of science, science fiction and government, along with documentation from some of the nation’s leading newspapers such as “USA Today,” the “Los Angeles Times,” the “Chicago Sun Times,” and “Time Magazine.”

Artist Inspirations: Star Trek Gadgets

Top Left: Screen used tricorder. From the Paul G. Allen Collection at the Henry Museum.
Bottom Left: Episode image showing internals with door dropped down.
Middle Top and Bottom: The 2018 Hallmark tricorder.
Right: A much longer strap was used on the show so it could be positioned near the hip when hanging from the shoulder.


Left: From the Paul Allen collection at the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle, Washington.
Left: A midgrade hand phaser from TOS Set Decorator John Dwyer’s collection. Photo from Star Trek Prop Authority.

Star Trek Communicator Article, 1998

1998, Deep Space Nine and Voyager were on the air and Star Trek: Insurrection was in theaters. Hallmark had only released its 16th and 17th Star Trek ornaments and Kevin Dilmore interviewed longtime Hallmark Star Trek artists Anita Marra Rogers and Lynn Norton for Star Trek Communicator magazine. The magazine, a bimonthly publication of the Official Star Trek Fan Club, folded in 2005.

A big ‘thank you’ to the wonderful reader who sent me this article.

Star Trek Communicator, Issue 119 (October November 1998)

“It is Paramount’s criteria that the characters do not have a hook in any part of their bodies. Therefore, we have to incorporate a part of their environment with them as a vehicle to place the ornament hook.”

Anita Marra Rogers

Within two years Seven of Nine would have a hook driven into her cranium, a practice that continues with character ornaments to this day.

Top Left: An example of the “environment” that was required to avoid skewering a character’s body.
Top Right: In the early days, Hallmark would sometimes implement a ‘fish hook’ design which swept a hook over a character’s head.
Bottom Left: Seven of Nine’s head wound in 2000.
Bottom Right: Picard’s unfortunate hook placement in 2017 resembled some sort of torture device. “THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!”

Trekmovie.com Reviews Spock Storyteller Ornament

Veteran Hallmark artist Jake Angell has once again outdone himself with the design of “Mirror, Mirror” Spock.  Standing with his arms crossed, Spock is a handsome figure. The details—from his trademark beard to his medals and Terran Empire badge—are precise for such a small model. His gold sash hangs neatly over his left thigh and his dagger is at his right hip.

Christine Rideout, Trekmovie.com

Read the entire review and view ornament images at trekmovie.com.

Artist Inspirations: M’Ress (2018)

There are two images that have been found that closely resemble the Hallmark Keepsake. How each are related is a little fuzzy but it seems certain the inspiration for the 2018 Special Event M’Ress ornament originally came from an image from a March 1987 comic book entitled Who’s Who in Star Trek (below left). The ornament has substituted the board and pen/stylus for a tricorder.

A second image was found on a Wiki page (below middle) that looks almost identical to the ornament (below right), most notably in the face and ears and how it differs so much from the comic book. The Wiki image appears to have been copied from the Hallmark image and embellished with the tricorder strap, the addition of a seam and pleat in her uniform, larger tail and feet, and more detail in the sleeve fabric.

Left: Illustration from Who’s Who in Star Trek by Ken Penders & Romeo Tanghal, Source: Memory Beta
Middle: Source: Star Trek Timelines Wiki
Right: 2018 Hallmark M’Ress ornament.
Illiustration from Who’s Who In Star Trek Issue #1.
Page from Who’s Who In Star Trek Issue #1, 1987, DC Comics
Image from They Boldly Went

Personal Data
Name: M’Ress
Occupation: Communications Specialist
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: None
Group Affiliation: Starfleet
Base of Operations: U.S.S. Enterprise
First Appearance: “The Survivor”
Height: 6’ Weight 160 lbs
Eyes: Gold Hair: Orange
Current Status: Science Department, U.S.S. Enterprise

History
Communications Officer M’Ress is a Caitian, one of several felinoid civilizations know through the United Federation of Planets (see U.F.P.).

Caitians are approximately the height of human males. They are bipedal, with manes and hairy coverings that occur in various colors. M’Ress’ fur is orange and brown. Her eyes are golden, and look like that of a Terran cat.

Her voice is soft, with a purring sound that becomes more of a hissing when she is emotionally agitated.

M’Ress’ uniform does not include boots, as her paws are padded and do not require protective coverings.

M’Ress is usually selected for landing party duty on planets lacking bright light. Like all felinoids, she sees better in the dark than she dies in bright light.

M’Ress uses her long tail for a variety of purposes which include keeping her balance, sensing temperature changes (she has no whiskers), and sensing the vibrations of approaching individuals.

Her musculature gives M’Ress the strength of two average Terran males. Her disposition, however, is gentle, and she will only use her strength to defend herself or to protect other lives.

After serving aboard the Enterprise for over a year, M’Ress transferred back to the planet Cait, where she worked as a communications analyst (see Enterprise). Missing the adventure, M’Ress returned to Starfleet (see Starfleet) and requested assignment aboard the newly commissioned Enterprise.

Left: Issue #1 Andorians thru Dr. Mccoy.
Right: Issue #2 Marla McGivers thru Vulcans.