We’re seeing an increase in what I call deep-cut collectibles: figures based on secondary and even obscure characters, ornaments depicting oddball 1970s models, and screen-accurate recreations of the bridge, among others. 

And I am definitely here for all this — even though I may no longer be the ideal customer. Forty years into this journey, I have slowed and focused my collecting, and I now concentrate on vintage 1960s and 1970s items. Having said that, I really want that sweet Nacelle Toys bridge model.

And I applaud these companies for releasing collectibles that are essentially love letters to us.

Deep cuts are not new

Deep-cut and obscure collectibles have always existed in our fandom. Over the last few decades, we had the Mego Cheron figure, cards signed by seen-once guest stars, the Spock decanter from the Grenadier Spirits Company, the Eaglemoss model of the Jefferies ring-ship design, and the Playmates Dr. McCoy’s Medical Kit, featuring the “Anabolic Protoplaser with light Up Laser Tip!”

And that list is just from looking around my Star Trek room. There are others.  

Celebrating the new deep cuts

So, deep-cut collectibles are not new but I am glad to see the recent uptick in this category.

This TrekNews article rounds up some of the latest obscure figures, including Captain Rachel Garrett from Yesterday’s Enterprise, Tuvix from the actually good Voyager episode of the same name, Peter Preston from Star Trek II, In a Mirror Darkly’s Captain Archer, and others.

And then there is my favourite recent addition: Hallmark’s tribute to the weirdest of all AMT products, the Spock shooting the three-headed snake model.

The AMT model and the new Hallmark ornament

I love that model so much that I paid a professional to assemble and paint one for me. (He also did my AMT Enterprise.) I wonder if today’s Hallmark customers will know where this little gem came from. 

The 60th anniversary of Star Trek is surely the catalyst for much of this merch activity, but I think licensees are also tapping into a nostalgia for simpler and better times. Spock shooting that snake is not true to Star Trek’s ethos, but it does evoke a time when building models or playing landing party with action figures helped us celebrate these stories.