Shortly after Star Trek came out in May, I was delighted to find a talking Spock bobblehead.
He was one of four, but I had no great desire to purchase Captain Kirk
or either of the one-shot aliens that had also been given the bobblehead
treatment. I wished that other characters had been selected instead,
especially Scotty and Bones. I'm still on the lookout for Dr. McCoy, but
thanks to a lucky block sale find, I can now check Scotty off my list.
I
was perusing a table full of oddities when I spotted him out of the
corner of my eye, lying on a blanket in the grass. I saw the insignia
first, and I knew I'd want him whoever he was, because how often does
one stumble upon a foot-and-a-half-tall plush Enterprise crew member for
fifty cents? But a quick peek at the red shirt and the expression of
consternation told me that this was Montgomery Scott, galaxy-class
engineer. Either that, or a random red-shirt about to be pulverized by
some hostile alien being. But a peek at the tag confirmed it. I had my
Scotty.
I find it rather sad that poor Scotty must be frozen
into a permanent state of aggravation, but given that most of his catch
phrases - "I canna change the laws of physics!",
"I'm givin' 'er all she's got, cap'n!" and the like - involve perilous
situations, it seems like an appropriate choice. I wish that Scotty,
like Spock, could talk; would it have been that hard to stick a sound
chip into his hand or behind the gold insignia on his uniform shirt?
Half the fun of the character is his Scottish accent, but you just have
to imagine it, or provide it yourself.
Scotty has big black
shoes and black pants, and his shirt is red with gold trim and a black
collar. The pants seem to be made of felt, while the shirt and shoes
look like nylon and don't attract pet hair so easily. Scotty's
flesh-colored hands and black hair are the same material as the pants,
while his flesh-colored face and ears are the same as the shirt and
shoes. His facial features are purely two-dimensional, with thick lines
forming his mouth, nose, eyes and eyebrows and thinner lines helping to
accentuate how stressed out he is.
Scotty is just large enough
that he makes a good stand-in for a teddy bear, especially on trips,
where his presence is likely to inspire laughter. I brought him camping
with me, and upon my return to our small cabin, I discovered that my
friend had left him dangling by one foot from the top bunk, giving him a
good reason for that grimace. I haven't removed his tag yet, but once I
do, I'm sure he'll be even more cuddly. I expect the same is true of
solemn Spock and smirking Kirk, the other two characters in this line.
I
was surprised to find out that they'd been released in 2009; what would
prompt his young owner to toss him in the yard sale so quickly? Maybe
he was a gift from someone trying unsuccessfully to turn the kid into a
Trekkie. In any event, he cheerfully said, "Oh, that's mine!" when he
spotted Scotty in my arms and rushed off to get me a bag. So I think he
was much more excited about gaining fifty cents than upset about losing
the greatest engineer Starfleet has ever known.
If you're a
Trekkie looking for a fun addition to your bedroom, you might want to
look into Scotty or his commanders. I've never seen them in stores, but
they seem to be pretty easy to come by on eBay and Amazon, where you can
expect to pay $10 to $15 each for them. A note on my tag promises,
"More beaming down soon!" so perhaps all seven of the major crewmembers
will be pillows before long. So far, I've seen no evidence that this Toy
Factory line has expanded, but if Bones turns up, I might have to think
about giving Scotty a buddy. Till then, perhaps my Tribble would be
appropriate company...
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