Mini-Mates That Boldy Go Where No Toy Has Gone Before

I don’t know if you heard, gang, but Erin and I went to Las Vegas a while back. One of the non-Erin highlights of the trip for me was visiting the Star Trek Experience in the Vegas Hilton, which is sadly going to close on September 1. My sister, being an even bigger Trek geek than I am, managed to convince her husband to make an impromptu trip out to Vegas so they could visit it before it goes away forever. It was a give-and-take thing, she took him to the Star Trek Experience, he took her to the freaky Bodies exhibit. (If you don’t know what it is, you can either Google and be grossed out or not and consider yourself lucky. My brother-in-law is a physical trainer, so he digs that kind of stuff.)

Anyway, Heather was kind enough to snag something for me on her Vegas trip: sets of the Star Trek Mini-Mates! As you guys know by now, I love these little toys, and I didn’t have any of the Star Trek figures, so I was happy to receive them. They shall soon occupy a place of honor amongst their Mini-Mate brethren such as Superman, Captain America, Frodo, and Marty McFly.

Kirk and Kor!

Here we have Captain Kirk in his Gladiator outfit, and the Klingon Captain Kor, wondering why he doesn’t have a bumpy forehead like the Klingons in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. As you can see, even in his minuscule scale Kirk still had the rippling muscles that made him the heartthrob of the galaxy.

One of my favorite things about the Mini-Mate line is how many of the figures often come with tiny little accessories. Kor here comes with his Klingon phaser, while Kirk (along with most of the Starfleet officers) comes with a tiny phaser, and tiny communicator, and tiny rippling pecs.

Sarek and Spock

Spock, here wearing his dress uniform, came in a two-pack with his father, Ambassador Sarek. Sarek didn’t come with any accessories, which is kind of a shame. But then, what accessories do you give an ambassador? A teeny-tiny peace treaty? Some imitation plastic graft? I dunno.

Spock made up for it anyway. In addition to the phaser and communicator that the rest of his crewmmates came with, he also came with alternate Vulcan hands, pictured here. Lil’ Mini-Spock is wishing that you all live long and prosper. He’s also hoping his other hand didn’t roll under the couch while I was taking this picture, because it’s absolutely impossible to pick things up with his Vulcan hands.

Chekov and Sulu

Chekov and Sulu, bestest buds, came together as well. At this point, I’ve got Mini-Mates of pink aliens, gray zombies, silver robots, green computer intelligences from the Planet Colu and blank-faced girls like the Question. Sulu, however, is my first Mini-Mate of Asian descent, and it’s nice to note that the Mini-Mates people actually have a suitable skin tone for the plastic. I mean… it’s as close to George Takei’s skin as Chekov’s plastic skin is to Walter Koening. Anyway, Chekov comes with the lil’ phaser and communicator, but Sulu has a phaser and a tricorder. No, it’s not a purse. Why would you say such a thing? Really, you’re just embarrassing both of us.

According to the back of the package, there’s a variant version of the Sulu figure as well. Part of me kinda wishes Heather had found that one, since variants are by their very nature a rarer find. On the other hand, part of me is really glad I don’t have the variant because… well… look at it:

Swashbuckling Sulu!

I mean, seriously, is that not the most unnecessarily creepy thing you’ve ever seen on a toy package?

I may have some news on the Dark Knight toy front soon, friends. My good bud and co-worker at Comixtreme Walt Kneeland managed to snag an extra set, so with luck, I’ll have that to share with you soon.

So, that ‘Summer Love’…

So you guys have figured out why Summer Love sucks as a title by now, right?

Still, how ’bout that Chapter Nine? Big reveal, right? I mean, obviously there’s more to it than appears on the surface, but assuming Perry is right about who Stephanie really is… well, shucks, I never saw it coming! So be honest, peeps, did anyone here have an inkling this was the direction the story was going to take? Now that you know the truth, do the clues stand out to you?

Tell you what, you can always go back and re-read the old chapters to see if you can spot ’em. I’ve put each link on the Fiction From the Realms page as the chapters go online. Or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about! Maybe you’re here because you followed a link from one of those toy websites that have so graciously linked to the stories I’ve been writing about my little collection! Well, you’re in for a treat. I’ve been going back, each week, and linking each chapter to the one that follows. So if you haven’t even started reading my novel-in-progress, Summer Love, you can start here, at the prologue, and then just follow the links at the bottom of each page until you get to the most recent chapter, Chapter Nine.

Seriously, friends, how can you ask for better service than that?