Creature Feature: The Andorians

By Contributing Blogger: DJTITOFLOW



First appearing in the classic episode “Journey to Babel” in 1967, the blue skinned Andorians with their big antennas have since become one of the most recognizable aliens in the Star Trek universe, even though surprisingly they have only appeared a handful of times compared with other famous trek species.



In "Journey to Babel" a conference is being held to decide whether the planet Coridan will be admitted into the federation. The Orions desire the Coridian dilithium for themselves so they surgically alter one of their own, Thelev, to look like an Andorian ambassador. Spock’s mother and his father, the great diplomat Sarek appear in this episode. This is definitely a very memorable TOS episode, and it made the Andorians and the Tellarites unforgettable aliens.





Sadly the Andorians would only be mentioned briefly or glimpsed at in other trek series. They appeared three more times in the original series, and twice in the animated series. Some Andorians can be seen in the background during scenes in Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and in “Star Trek 4: "The Voyage Home”.



The ones in the first movie give me the creeps! The antennae are coming out of their foreheads and they look more like ghosts to me. Unfortunately on Star Trek: The Next Generation we only got verbal references to the Andorians. The only Andorian we get to actually see isn’t even a real one. In the episode titled “The Offspring” Data is trying to decide which species his daughter Lal should look like, and were treated to the sight of a weird looking Andorian holographic projection in the holo-deck.




To make things worse she looks kind of green, Andorians are supposed to be blue!! Supposedly an Andorian can be seen on Risa in th episode “Captain's Holiday”, but I don’t remember ever seeing any Andorians in that episode.



The Andorians finally got the attention they deserved more than three decades after they arrived on the scene. And we have “Star Trek Enterprise” to thank for that. They got an extreme make-over, for the better. The skin make up looks great, and the antennas are smaller and more realistic. Plus they move thanks to remote controlled prosthethics.



We also got treated to one of the most kick ass characters of any trek series, Shran -- of the Andorian imperial guard. Shran is played masterfully by Jeffrey Combs, AKA Weyoun of "Star Trek Deep Space Nine".



After Shran's shaky introduction to Captain Archer and his race of “pink skins” at the P’jem monastery they both start forming a friendship that eventually leads to the union of both their races. We also got to see an Andorian sub-species called the Aenar. These paler-skinned beings are a pacifist race, unlike the warrior-like Andorians.



The Aenar also posses psychic abilities. One Aenar was used by the Romulans to remote pilot a ship that threatened to destabilize the quadrant by instigating war amongst earth and its allies. But the pink and blue skins prevailed in the epic episodes “Babel One”, “United”, and “The Aenar”.



Eventually the humans, Andorians, Tellarites, and Vulcans made an alliance, the coalition of planets in 2155. This union brought victory against the Romulans in the Earth-Romulan war. And it led to the formation of the United Federation of Planets in 2161, which is briefly seen in the last episode of Enterprise, “These are the Voyages”. Sadly the Romulan war is never seen in the series. There's a jump in time from the penultimate episode to the last one. Lets see an enterprise reunion mini-series that chronicles the earth-romulan war!! A man can dream cant he?



The Andorians have appeared in all sorts of trek merchandise over the years. They've also appeared in numerous trek videogames, including the upcoming “Star Trek Online” massive multiplayer online RPG, where you can create and play as an Andorian character.



Most recently the Andorians appeared in a one shot comic by IDW that explains why Andorians aren’t seen much in the 24th century. Its called alien spotlight: Andorians. While they still belong to the federation they helped create, their participation in it has gone down dramatically. Many Andorians believe the federation has weakened them and they have isolated themselves in their homeworld of Andoria.



If the Klingons can become allies of the federation I'm sure the Andorians will eventually return to their original state in the federation. Let's not forget this comic book isn't really canon, but the story it presents makes a lot of sense so I'll believe it for now.

With the JJ Abrams movie only a month away I'm already starting to worry that Andorians will once again be overlooked. But the recently released clip “disease and danger” , which features McCoy meeting Kirk, has a reference to the Andorians as McCoy lists all the things that can go wrong in space including contracting a case of the Andorian shingles. Hopefully we will get to see some of them in the film, even if they're just in the background. Even if we don’t see them on the big screen this May I know they'll be back soon enough, because no one can keep these blue skins away for long. The Andorians are here to stay!!

New Star Trek toys popping up at retail a week early

Thanks to our friend CB over at the eclectorama and to a lot of the guys at the TNI boards we are getting reports that the new Playmates toys for Star Trek are showing up at various stores already -- more than a week before their official street date. So far the 3 3/4 and 6 inch figures have been spotted at various Toys R Us and Walmart locations. The Bridge playset, transporter playset, and Starship Enterprise have also been spotted. No sigthings yet for any of the role play toys.



Some of the 12 inch figures have also been found at Toys R Us. If you have found any of these items in your area please let us know. I'm pretty sure they will continue popping up throughout the week as we get closer to the April 18 street date.

Toy Flashback: Playmates' Star Trek TOS Crew

Back in 1993 after the success of the first couple of waves of TNG action figures released by Playmates the company decided to tackle the original crew. The crew was released as a set featuring a diorama of the Enterprise bridge as seen in the original series.


Print ad for the Classic Star Trek Crew Collector's Set (1993).

When this set first came out I was never able to get a hold of it. It didn't stick around long enough on store shelves. I remember maybe seeing it only once at Toys R Us and it had a price tag close to 50 dollars.



I was finally able to get my hands on this item thanks to the wonderful world of Ebay. The set is pretty impressive. The diorama looks great and you can remove the figures without causing any damage to it since it has two layers. The first layer is where the figure trays are attached, but you can lift it up to find a pristine background. The figures are just as great as all the other offerings we got from Playmates during the 90s.



With all the excitement over the new film and the new look for the Original Crew, I figured this was the perfect time to remind fans of how cool these classic figures are. A search on Ebay will produce a good amount of sets available from various sellers and at pretty decent prices.



For action figures that were produced before the days of Gentle Giant scanning actors for their likenesses these figures look pretty close to their real world counterparts.



If you never got a chance to grab these during their original release I highly recommend you add them to your collection now. I'm pretty sure once the new movie hits theaters a lot of the merchandise available on the secondary market featuring the original crew will probably be in more demand.



Playmates continued releasing more figures from The Original Series after this set hit the market and in the coming weeks I'll post some more images from those as we get closer to the release of the new film when we will be turning our attention to the new line of toys featuring the crew of the enterprise during their days fresh from Starfleet Academy.

Book Review: Star Trek Countdown

With a great deal of trepidation I opened up my copy of the Star Trek: Countdown trade paperback a few nights after receiving it in the mail. I've been staying away from as much plot details regarding the new movie as possible. I've been so excited about the new Trek that I promised myself I wouldn't let spoilers ruin the experience of seeing the film and being surprised by the storyline. Temptation kept rearing it's ugly head until I finally succumbed to it and decided on reading Countdown. Most of the book is devoted to introducing the character of Nero and presenting us with the event that leads to his actions on the film.
The book raises even more questions than it answers. One of the few questions it does seem to answer has to do with the big debate as to whether Nero truly is a Romulan. The answer to that question comes accompanied by a major event in trek lore, something I never thought they'd do, which makes me wonder if it will be mentioned in the new film and considered canon.



For those who do not want to be spoiled please stop reading now. Countdown tells the tale of the destruction of Romulus after the explosion of one of it's neighboring stars spreads across Romulan space. Nero -- a miner with a great deal of loyalty to his homeworld, a loving wife, and a baby on the way -- discovers evidence to this potential catastrophe at the same time as the Federation ambassador to Romulus. The Federation ambassador -- who happens to be Spock -- brings word of his discoveries to the Romulan council where Nero also voices his concerns. When the council ignores their warnings they both decide to work together in order to save Romulus. Unfortunately their efforts are not enough and Romulus, along with everything Nero loved dearly, is lost forever.



The character of Nero, is introduced in a very compelling way and is one that by the end of the story has changed a great deal, but with some very clear motivations. My only concern is that he doesn't look like other Romulans. There's still something about his ears and forehead that seems odd to me. Many fans have also said the same based on what we've seen thus far.



The storyline in Countdown takes some big risks. Some work quite well, while others just don't. The good news is that the big majority of them are quite exciting and compelling and I truly hope they get picked up and further explored in the film, especially all the elements that have to do with Spock's and Nero's relationship. The one thing I found rather weak is the use of the characters from The Next Generation.



Worf shows up for no good reason and Data is introduced as the new Captain of the Enterprise-E, which to me just doesn't work, especially after the events in Star Trek Nemesis. I also didn't enjoy seeing Picard as an ambassador to Vulcan instead of the man in the center seat of the Enterprise, where as Captain Kirk once told him, he would always be able to make a difference. You would think that he'd follow Kirk's advice and not take any promotion that would take him off the bridge of his ship.



Geordi also shows up as the man behind the development of a new type of ship that will allow Spock to complete his mission. Based on all the trailers for the film it seems like Nero's beef is with Kirk, but by the end of Countdown all Nero truly wants is revenge on Spock for not being able to help him stop the destruction of his homeworld. At one point in Countdown we do get to see Nero do a bit of research on Kirk during his stay aboard the Enterprise-E, but it's pretty clear his anger is directed at the character of Spock. Is countdown worth reading? I think so, especially since it does a nice job at making us see that the new movie is not a reboot or a reimagining by placing the seeds from which the film will grow in the Star Trek universe we've come to know. It would be tough for this movie to ignore canon if the countdown storyline is the true prequel tale to the film. Everything that leads to the events in the new film happens in the 24th century some years after Star Trek Nemesis.



By the end of Countdown both Spock and Nero are in a very interesting dilemma, one that leaves them at the threshold to the latest cinematic Star Trek adventure. I for one can't wait to get the answers to all the questions Countdown raises.

The Future Begins: Part 1

With only a month to go until the moment we have all been waiting for, ads for Star Trek are quickly popping up all over town. In this new section I will try and feature some of the ads in my part of the world. I'll try and snap as many shots as I can until the movie opens.



Let's kick things of with this gigantic ad covering the side of an entire building right by the entrance to L.A.'s trendy shopping and dinning complex known as The Grove. This is a prime spot for an ad since The Grove is probably one of the hottest spots in town, nestled right between Hollywood and Beverly Hills. I'm glad Paramount is taking their Trek ad campaign seriously.

Creature Feature: The Horta

The Horta was the star of the first season episode "The Devil in the Dark", originally airing on March 9, 1967 during the show's first season from a teleplay by Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney.



According to William Shatner in his 1993 book Star Trek Memories, the episode is one of his favorites for being exciting, thought-provoking and intelligent, all of the ingredients that made up the very best Star Treks.



The story about how the episode came together is quite interesting since it was one of the few, if not the only Star Trek story written to accomodate the use of a specific creature. Writer Gene L. Coon saw the Horta creature, or actually the prop that ended up becoming the Horta way before a word of the story had been written. Stuntman / creature designer Janos Prohaska was walking past the Star Trek production offices one day while dragging what looked like a big blob with a raised center and a fringe around its outer edge. Prohaska spotted Coon and soon crawled under the creature to perform and bring it to life.


Horta eggs as seen in "The devil in the dark"

The creature had even been setup to drop an egg on cue with a special gimmick that could be controlled by the operator inside of it. Prohaska demonstrated this special feature for Coon and the writer was soon marveled by the creature's design and functions. Coon went back to his office afterward and during the following weeks wrote the script for "The Devil in the Dark" in order to take advantage of this creature that had impressed him, as well as left him squirming on the Desilu backlot.



The story Coon crafted featured a sympathetic Alien who is willing to do whatever it takes to protect the existence of its offspring from miners who threaten their underground world. The episode also features one of my favorite moments from The Original Series as Spock attempts to complete a mind meld with the creature, but is unable to due to the creature's agony from its wounds. Spock soon screams out in agony: "PAIN!", in this classic moment.



The episode includes some of the ingredients that have always made Star Trek compelling, and the Horta is one of the coolest creatures ever seen in The Original Series. It's also one of the few non-humanoid looking alien creatures ever featured in the franchise's 43 years of existence. Unfortunately the Horta have never been seen again on screen after this episode, but according to Michael Okuda's text commentary in Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home, a Horta Ambassador was supposed to be included in the Federation Council scenes, but there was not enough time to create the costume.



Luckily for fans of the Horta the species made a special appearance in the comic book story "A Rolling Stone Gather No Nanoprobes", appearing in Wildstorm Comic's Star Trek Special # 1 (published in 2001).



The storyline features a group of Horta partnering up with the Federation on a mining planet which provides the Federation plenty of Ores to mine and the Horta with a unique mineral composition that can nourish them.



In the middle of a celebration to commemorate the centennial of this partnership between Starfleet and the Horta a Borg cube arrives on the planet and the drones attempt to assimilate every living life form in the mines.



The Horta help the humans fend off the Borg thanks to a pretty clever plan. The story is short and well told. I highly recommend it for those fans who are still waiting for the Hortas' return to Trek. The Horta creature also lends itself perfectly for an action figure two-pack featuring a mind melding Spock with the Horta as seen in "The devil in the dark". I always hoped Playmates would get around to releasing a set like this back in the 90s. Hopefully Art Asylum will grant me my wish in the near future. A Horta figure with the attention to detail, and top notch sculpting the folks at Art Asylum are known for would make any fan of the Original Series go nuts. Lets hope DST and Art Asylum can make it happen.

Trek Tech: Tricorder Mark 1

Back in 1996 a Canadian company by the name of Vital Technologies Corporation released a very peculiar item. To most people this odd piece of technology which looked like a futuristic calculator must've seem like a royal rip off with a price tag of over $400.00. To Trek fans this device gave them hope about our chances of getting closer to replicating some of our favorite technbologies from the 24th century. The device I'm talking about is the TR-107 TRICORDER Mark 1.

This scientific instrument was marketed as the real predecessor, in both looks and function, to the fictional Mark 7 tricorders seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Mark 1 offered various educational and scientific functions including an Electromagnetic Field Meter which could measure the levels of EMF radiation from multiple sources such as home appliances, electric heaters, and computer stations. According to the Mark I's promotional materials research studies show that EMFs can affect the health and well-being of humans, plants, and animals. So by utilizing this device you could detect potential health risks through radiation. Another function allowed you to predcit changes in the weather patterns through the use of the Tricorder's weather station function. This was supposed to come in handy for farmers and gardeners. The Tricorder also offered a light meter function as well as a colorimeter which could precisely analize color values. It's kind of tough to picture this device being used on a daily basis by anyone. The device was more of a novelty in terms of scientific aplication design than a practical tool.

Still it's pretty cool to think that a company put so much research and development into attempting to make a real world device based on a piece of science fiction storytelling.
It reminds us once again of the impact Star Trek has had on our culture. This is really not too different than when the Trek communicator paved the way for today's modern cell phones. If you think about it the Tricorder may very well be a source of inspiration behind such devices as the iphone which includes features such as GPS navigation, communications, and even basic sensor technology. I have no doubt that in our near future a more specialized type of device will fulfill the promise of a real world Tricorder.