It figures: a female Andorian

I love customising "Star Trek" action figures. Here's what I finally got up to when I tracked down the elusive UFP aliens that were featured in Wave 2 of Mego Corps' "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" 3.75" action figure line!



In early 1980, Mego Corporation released 3.75" action figures of characters from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". They proved impossible to find in Australia, so I tried ordering them by mail order from a shop in the USA called Heroes World. Ironically, Heroes World was sold out of the regular crew (Kirk, Spock, Ilia, etc) but had most of the alien ambassadors in stock. At the time I wondered about why I needed figures of aliens, who had scarcely been seen in the movie, when I couldn't have the Enterprise crew. I passed on the offer.


Mego "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" action figures advertisement,
Marvel Star Trek comic, issue #2, 1980.

To accompany the regular Starfleet crew, Mego had produced a small range of Star Trek aliens: Klingon, Betelgeusian, Megarite, Arcturian and Saurian (incorrectly named by Mego as a Rigellian). No Andorian. Of course, a year later, Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Decker, Ilia and the Klingon turned up on bargain tables all over Sydney. And, of course, I couldn't resist colour-correcting the Enterprise crew's insignias! And turning a spare Will Decker into an Andorian!


3.75" Will Decker with 3.75" Andorian custom
(using a Luke Duke head),
plus small AMT Bridge figures.

Over the years, I've developed a fascination for Star Trek aliens, especially the members of the United Federation of Planets glimpsed in "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". Just to tease me, photos of the "missing" Mego aliens were on all the 3.75" Mego cardbacks! The alien ambassadors were never seen at retail in Australia - and the prices for these "rare" figures began to soar through the roof, even in the US.

What made it worse for this Trek completist was that I knew that, even if I bought a set, I'd not be satisfied with the alien figures' slap-dash sculpting, painting and costuming errors. In 1999, I discovered eBay. Loose aliens were finally mine. Let the customising begin!




Costume stills from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
© 1979 Paramount Pictures Corp.

After twenty years of contemplation, I finally customised an Andorian female to scale with the 3.75" line of Mego action figures (1980) from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"! Andorians had been better represented in the extensive range of tiny, white-metal wargame figures released in Britain by Citadel Miniatures in 1980.



Available in pairs of each alien, the long-haired male Andorian Ambassador (above right) came complete with a flabbjellah (combination weapon and musical instrument). Unfortunately no Andorian female in national costume was produced by Citadel; she was omitted in favour of a male Andorian Enterprise crewmember (above left).

Had the Mego ST:TMP line (and the first movie) been popular with children and collectors, Mego would probably have released more of TMP's barely-glimpsed alien ambassadors to cash in on the success of the similarly-scaled "Star Wars" action figures by Kenner in the 70s. Coincidentally, it is the recent 90s versions of 3.75" "Star Wars" characters that have inspired my latest customising activities.

Did you guess the "ingredients" for creating Andorian females?

1. Simply take the head and arms of a Queen Amidala "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace" action figure and the robed torso of the Rune Haako figure.



2. Amidala's hair is made a little more elaborate with quick-setting putty.

3. Her antennae are made from bendy wire from inside a plastic-coated "twist tie". This is heated, inserted into the forehead and cut off to desired lengths. Note that the Andorians depicted in ST:TMP had very different, tendrill-like antennae emerging from the forehead rather than the crown of the head.

4. Rune's robe needs some trimming to bring it to scale with the male Mego ST:TMP aliens. A chunk is cut from the middle of each thigh and the legs rejoined. Rune's shoulder hump has to be trimmed down. Some more putty changes the dimensions of his chest.

5. From there it's a (fairly) simple paint job: blue for the skin, white for the hair, off-white for the dress, decorated with pale blue swirls and a darker waistband.

6. The addition of real Australian gem stones, to represent the geodes used for waist and hair decoration, completes the female Andorian ambassador.




Original costume design artwork by
Robert Fletcher for TMP.

Click here to read about my other Mego 3.75" TMP customs.

Click here to see recipes for my Playmates customs.

CAPTAIN THERIN'S MOMENT OF TERROR!

TWISTED

THEATRE

presents...

CAPTAIN THERIN'S MOMENT OF TERROR!

Our intrepid Playtrek reporter,
Ian McLean, speaks exclusively
to Therin of Andor, captain of
the USS Hood.

Playtrek: Captain Therin, what was your reaction to the decisions
reached at the recent Special Session at Starfleet Headquarters?

Therin: I was thrilled with the outcome, of course. Admiral - I
mean Captain - Kirk is a fine officer. And I was pleasantly
surprised to see Spock looking so well after his recent... er, death.

Playtrek: I understand you were actually present for the
proceedings against Kirk and his crew?

Therin: Yes I was. The USS Hood had been called upon to ferry
Ambassador Sarek from Vulcan - a very important "reinforcement"
when the Klingon peace talks began to sour. Then the giant probe
arrived, neutralising all power to Earth, Spacedock, the Excelsior -
and the Hood with it!



Playtrek: Kirk used time travel to solve the problem created by the
probe. Tell us, have you ever been involved with time travel?

Therin: I have experienced my share. It's a very serious thing in
which to dabble, you know.

Playtrek: What is your favourite time travel anecdote?

Therin: Well, yes I do have one, but it's not for publication.
Starfleet would have my exoskeleton if they found out.

Playtrek: Oh, have no fear! Playtrek Gazette has been a pillar of
the publishing community for several centuries. We would never
stoop to the depths of the gutter press.

Therin: I see... We'll it all began the day I left the conn in the
hands - or trotters - of Commander Grol, our Tellarite morale officer.
I had only stepped out for a minute or two - to attend to some
personal activities in the little room off the bridge. It seems that
Grol took the opportunity of my absence to take the Hood on a little
joy ride...

Playtrek: Around the nearest sun?



Therin: Precisely. I entered the head in the 23rd century and
emerged in the 1930s. Of course, by the time I realised what had
happened, Grol had beamed down to sample the alcoholic delights of
20th century Earth. Using my tricorder to pinpoint Grol's location, I
beamed down to his coordinates. In the meantime, he had vanished
into the night. Luckily, because of the darkness, there were few
passersby to notice my less-than-Terran complexion.

Playtrek: What about your antennae?

Therin: I wore two woollen beanies; I was quite inconspicuous.
When I finally caught up with Grol, he had "borrowed" an old
ground vehicle.



I climbed in and ordered him to drive back to the beam-down point,
but since neither of us were experienced truck drivers, we were soon
out of control and speeding through the mission district. We fought
over the wheel for two blocks, finally coming to a halt when a hapless
woman pedestrian stepped out in front of us. Alas it was too late for
the woman...



Playtrek: How terrible.

Therin: As we fled, I overheard one poor eyewitness trying to tell
a policeman what she had seen.

"But Officer," she was saying, "I saw it with my own eyes. The
truck was being driven by a blue man... and a pig!"

NEXT ISSUE:

Another Playtrek "How-to" special:
"Blackmail: Fund-raising Made Easy", or, "Was That a Pig I Saw at Your Swiss Bank Account?"

Page originally uploaded August 1998