Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993 TAG: 9312210053
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ian Spelling
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Don't despair. If you've got Trekkers on your list, there are plenty of enterprising last-minute gift options.
Here are just a few of the "Trek" items available at toy stores, book shops and other retail outlets across the country. (All prices are suggested retail prices.)
Pocket Books has published three 1994 "Trek" calendars - one each for "Trek"-classic," Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine." All three feature a galaxy of color photos and the birthdays of your favorite "Trek" stars. They sell for $10 each.
Boldly going where no computer book has gone before is "20th Century Computers and How They Worked," which looks at today's computer technology from Data's 24th-century point of view.
Written by Jennifer Flynn, this entertaining and educational book is available from Alpha Books for $18.
Playmates Toys beams into the holiday season with a variety of "Trek" items.
Most exciting is the new "Next Gen" transporter, which uses a sound chip, lights and mirrors to simulate "Trek"-style molecular transporting. It sells for $39.99.
Of course, you'll need someone to beam up, so consider Playmates' array of "Trek" action figures.
The "Classic Star Trek Collector Set," for $49.99, features Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Sulu and Scott packaged in a window-box replica of the original Enterprise bridge.
Playmates also offers individual action figures of the entire "Next Gen" crew, as well as such extras as Sela, Ambassador Spock, Capt. Scott, Guinan, Adm. McCoy and K'Ehleyr. Each figure sells for about $5.99.
Another fun toy from Playmates is a $9.99 clip-on Communicator Pin that flashes and beeps.
On the heels of their 25th-anniversary "Trek" Game Boy video-game cartridge, Absolute is offering a cartridge based on "Next Gen." A tougher challenge than the 25th-anniversary edition, it sells for $32.95.
Hail all frequencies with your very own Enterprise telephone, which flashes red and sounds a red alert when there is an incoming call. Hammacher Schlemmer sells it for $89.95 and can have it to your loved one by Christmas Day via Federal Express. Call (800) 543-3366.
Most Trekkers have heard about "Star Trek Memories," William Shatner's informative, occasionally controversial account of his early Enterprise days.
If you know someone who hasn't yet read it, you can pick up a copy of the HarperCollins best seller for $22.
Other gifts to consider include a one-year subscription to Starlog magazine ($39.97; send a check or money order to Starlog Communications, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016-1689); "Trek" music from GNP Crescendo Records (prices vary; call 800-654-7029 for information); videos of the "Trek" films or episodes of "Trek"-classic or "Next Gen." These are available from Paramount Home Video (prices vary; check your local video store for individual tapes and special collectors' packages).
\ Trek specs
Avery Brooks reprises his role as Robert Urich's mysterious friend Hawk in the second of a series of "Spenser: For Hire" reunion movies for Lifetime Television. Titled "Spenser: Pale Kings and Princes," the two-hour movie is scheduled to air Jan. 2. . . . Erik Menyuk, aka The Traveler on "Next Gen," co-stars with Kevin Bacon in the new Disney comedy/drama "The Air Up There," which is scheduled to open nationwide Jan. 7. Menyuk plays an assistant basketball coach competing with Bacon to replace a legendary, about-to-retire college coach. . . . Whoopi Goldberg just finished filming the romantic comedy "Corrina, Corrina," due from New Line Cinema next fall. Goldberg plays a housekeeper who arrives at the home of a recently widowed father (Ray Liotta) and manages to get through to his withdrawn daughter (Tina Majorino).
\ Trek alert
If you have Trek news or trivia to share - or if you have questions relating to "Star Trek" - write to Ian Spelling, care of features department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a reply.
by CNB