Galoob

Real world article

(written from a production point of view)

Galoob was founded as Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. in 1954 in San Francisco, California and was reported to be the third-largest toy maker in the US at the time of its acquisition by toy giant Hasbro in 1998. [1] Since then, Galoob's logo has continued to appear on the packaging of a number of toys produced by Hasbro.

Aside from the Star Trek franchise, the company also licensed and manufactured toys featuring a number of other science fiction franchises, including Alien, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Predator, Starship Troopers, Terminator, and Star Wars.

Star Trek licensing

Before its acquisition by Hasbro, Galoob held three separate Star Trek licenses. It produced the first action figures and toys based on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1988, created a line of figures for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier in 1989, and finally released a series of Star Trek "Micro Machines" starship miniatures from 1993 until 1997.

The history and development of the Galoob line was featured in the 2018 "Star Trek" episode of the Netflix series, The Toys That Made Us. In the documentary, former Galoob CEO and son of founders Lewis and Barbara, David Galoob, conceded that his company had, from the outset, made serious judgement errors when they acquired the Star Trek license, admitting, "We did not think Star Trek was a license for adults. We thought the Star Trek license would sell to the kids", thereby underestimating the vast adult collector fanbase that desired sculpted accuracy, rather than the emulation of Kenner's stylized Star Wars toys.

Consequently, its action figure lines were not only small, but were judged inaccurately-molded and had to endure a number of errors during production and release. "It just never really hit its stride at retail," Galoob added, (and) "never was anything like Star Wars, and ultimately we dropped it."

David Galoob's assessment notwithstanding, the wide-ranging and highly lauded Star Trek Micro Machines sub-line from the mid-1990s became very popular among Star Trek collectors for years, despite performing below the company's sales expectations at the times of their release. (see below)

Star Trek: The Next Generation releases

3-3/4" action figures

Denise Crosby poses for Galoob reference photos

Series One

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• Commander William T. Riker
• Lieutenant Commander Data *
• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
• Lieutenant Natasha Yar
• Lieutenant Worf

* With white, brown, speckled, or (rare) blue face

Picard

Riker

Data

La Forge

Yar

Worf

Series Two

• Q
• Ferengi
• Selay
• Antican
• Ensign Wesley Crusher *
• Romulan *

* About a dozen prototypes of each may have existed but these figures were never mass-produced [2]

Q

Ferengi

Selay

Antican

Wesley prototype

Romulan prototype

Vehicles

• Ferengi Fighter
• Shuttlecraft Galileo

Ferengi Fighter

Galileo shuttlecraft

Other toys

• Die-cast USS Enterprise Starship (with detachable saucer section)
• Phaser Weapon
• Die-cast Ferengi Battleship *

* About five die-cast metal prototypes may have existed but this model was never mass-produced [3]

Resin prototype of die-cast USS Enterprise-D

Painted die-cast USS Enterprise-D prototype

Packaged die-cast USS Enterprise-D

Type 1 phaser

Resin prototype of die-cast Ferengi Battleship

Ferengi Battleship prototype in mock-up packaging

General Mills releases

Galoob also provided Star Trek starship toys for a number of General Mills breakfast cereals in the US and Canada as a cross-promotion for its TNG toy line.

Galoob USS Enterprise-D toy premium made for General Mills

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier releases

Action figures

• Captain James T. Kirk: "Captain of the USS Enterprise"
• Spock: "Science Officer of the USS Enterprise"
• Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy: "Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise"
• Sybok: "Mysterious rebel leader of Nimbus III"
• Klaa: "Klingon captain in search of battle"

Kirk

Spock

McCoy

Sybok

Klaa

Micro Machines

Star Trek Micro Machines were plastic miniatures produced by Galoob from 1993 to 1997 as an extension to their pre-existing and wildly popular Micro Machines toy line. Most of these models were less than three inches long, were pre-painted, and all came with transparent display stands.

Displayed Micro Machines miniatures

The first releases were three-packs packaged in transparent bubbles attached to printed cardboard cards, known as blister packs. In size, the miniatures were comparable to the (commonly 1:3900 scale) pewter gaming miniatures made by FASA and Task Force Games. And indeed, a pewter-colored collector's series release (no. 66072) was also issued in 1995 to reinforce the kinship between the two product lines. In total, 52 unique molds were created for the Micro Machines Star Trek line and 93 deco variants were released.

Galoob produced vessels from The Original Series, the movies, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. The first two editions featured ships and stations from TOS, the movies, TNG, and DS9. When the third edition ships were launched in 1994, some new ships were packaged anew with ships from the first editions. The third and fourth editions featured more ships from TOS, the movies, TNG, DS9, and early seasons of Voyager and were mounted on restyled cards.

Special ships were also manufactured, available only as parts of three 16-piece "Collector's Edition" box sets, in which all the models were combined, including ships from "All Good Things...", such as the USS Enterprise-A and the USS Enterprise-E. Other collector sets featuring silvered and bronzed versions of the ships were also issued. Five vessels were individually released in 1995 as part of a promotion for the fourth edition re-release of the three-pack series, and were simultaneously released in mainland Europe by toy company Ideal, which had acquired a sub-license from Galoob.

1996 fourth edition three-pack guide

1994 third edition three-pack Italian set 1 variant

Continental Europe saw the official release of the Micro Machines three-pack second, and third editions in 1993 and 1994 (all mounted on a generic space background for the second, or on a DS9-themed background card for the third edition), and apart from the tri-lingual text (English, German and French) on the packaging, differed from the US packaging in that sub-licensee Ideal's logo was also printed on the packaging alongside Galoob's. All European editions merely stated Star Trek on the bottom on the front of the packaging, as opposed to the US versions that specified which series was pertinent on top of the blister-pack card depicting the series or film the ships pertained to. A second European sub-license was granted to Italian game company Linea Gig S.P.A. (GiG) which distributed the Italian-language only text imprint variants in Italy under their own "65880" series catalog number for the second and third three-pack editions. As with the Ideal releases, a "GiG" logo was printed on the front of the packaging. No European variants were released for the 1995-96 three-pack fourth edition.

Micro Machine Collections

Set	Item No.	Issue	Notes	Photo
3-pack Collection, Series 65825, first edition
#1 Star Trek: The Original Series	65801	1993	USS Enterprise Klingon Battlecruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey
#2 Star Trek The Movies	65802		USS Excelsior (NCC-2000) Klingon Bird-of-Prey USS Reliant
#3 Star Trek: The Next Generation	65803		Klingon Attack Cruiser Borg Ship Romulan Warbird
3-pack Collection, Series 65825 (96-606 Europe), second edition
#1 Star Trek: The Original Series	65881	1993	USS Enterprise Klingon Battlecruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey
	n/a (Europe)
#2 Star Trek The Movies	65882		USS Excelsior (NCC-2000) Klingon Bird-of-Prey USS Reliant
	n/a (Europe)
#3 Star Trek: The Next Generation	65883		Klingon Attack Cruiser USS Enterprise-D Romulan Warbird
	n/a (Europe)
#4 Star Trek: The Next Generation	65884		Ferengi Marauder Borg Ship Shuttlecraft (Berman)
	n/a (Europe)
#5 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	65885		Cardassian Galor Warship Space Station Deep Space 9 Runabout (USS Rio Grande)
	n/a (Europe)
3-pack Collection, Series 65825 (96-606 Europe), third edition
1. The Original Star Trek	66100	1994	Klingon Battlecruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey Botany Bay
	n/a (Europe)
2. The Original Star Trek	66101		Space Station K-7 USS Enterprise Galileo II
	n/a (Europe)
3. Star Trek The Movies	66102		USS Reliant Federation Space Dock Klingon Bird-of-Prey
	n/a (Europe)
4. Star Trek The Movies	66103		USS Grissom USS Excelsior (NCC-2000 or NX-2000) Vulcan Shuttle Surak
	n/a (Europe)
5. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66104		Klingon Attack Cruiser USS Enterprise-D Romulan Scout Ship
	n/a (Europe)
6. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66105		USS Enterprise-C Borg Ship Ferengi Marauder
	n/a (Europe)
7. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66106		USS Stargazer Romulan Warbird Shuttlecraft (Berman)
	n/a (Europe)
8. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	66107		Cardassian Galor Warship Space Station Deep Space 9 Runabout (USS Rio Grande)
3-pack promo one-shot
Star Trek Generations	65846	1994 (reissued twice in 1994 & 1995 as fourth edition set "IX. Star Trek The Movies" – see below)	USS Enterprise-B Klingon Bird-of-Prey (alternate deco) USS Enterprise-D (detachable saucer section)
Individual "Single Edition" fourth edition 3-pack promo releases, Series 65961 (96-855 Europe)
USS Enterprise	n/a	1995
	n/a (European)
USS Enterprise-D	n/a
	n/a (European)
USS Stargazer	n/a
	n/a (European)
Klingon Bird-of-Prey	n/a
	n/a (European)
Romulan Warbird	n/a
	n/a (European)
3-pack Collection, Series 65825, fourth edition (no European variants)
I. The Original Star Trek	66100	1995	Klingon Battlecruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey Botany Bay
		1996 reissue
II. The Original Star Trek	66101	1995	Space Station K-7 USS Enterprise Galileo II
		1996 reissue
III. Star Trek The Movies	66102		USS Reliant Federation Space Dock Klingon Bird-of-Prey
IV. Star Trek The Movies	66103		USS Grissom USS Excelsior (NCC-2000 or NX-2000) Vulcan Shuttle Surak
V. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66104		Klingon Attack Cruiser USS Enterprise-D Romulan Scout Ship
VI. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66105	1995	USS Enterprise-C Borg Ship Ferengi Marauder
VII. Star Trek: The Next Generation	66106	1996 reissue	USS Stargazer Romulan Warbird Shuttlecraft (Berman)
VIII. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	66107		Space Station Deep Space 9 Cardassian Galor Warship Runabout (USS Rio Grande)
IX. Star Trek The Movies	65846	1995 (reissue from 1994 Generations one-shot – see above)	USS Enterprise-B Klingon Bird-of-Prey (alternate deco) USS Enterprise-D (detachable saucer section)
		1996 reissue
X. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	66125	1995	Miradorn Ship Bajoran Fighter Klaestron Ship
		1996 reissue
XI. Star Trek The Movies	66126	1995	Space Dock Shuttle HMS Bounty Bird-of-Prey (movable wings) USS Farragut
		1996 reissue
XII. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	66127	1995	USS Defiant Jem'Hadar Ship USS Saratoga
		1996 reissue
XIII. Star Trek: Voyager	66128	1995	USS Voyager Maquis Ship Kazon Fighter
		1996 reissue
XIV. Star Trek: Voyager	66129	1995	Kazon Mother Ship Numiri Ship Kazon Raider
		1996 reissue
XV. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	66130	1996	Cardassian Obsidian Sisko's Bajoran Sailing Vessel Karemma Vessel
XVI. Star Trek: Voyager	66131		Kazon Torpedo The Array Voyager Shuttlecraft
Limited Edition Collector's Sets (6-9 pieces)
Star Trek Super Pack	65594	1993	Cardassian Galor Warship Ferengi Marauder Romulan Scout Ship USS Enterprise USS Enterprise-B USS Enterprise-D
Star Trek Collector's Set	65827		Borg Ship Klingon Attack Cruiser Klingon Bird-of-Prey Klingon Battlecruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey Romulan Warbird USS Enterprise USS Excelsior (NX-2000) USS Reliant
Star Trek: The Next Generation	96-426	1994	Europe-only variant Borg Ship Ferengi Marauder Klingon Attack Cruiser Romulan Warbird Shuttlecraft (Berman) USS Enterprise-D Bonus Ship: USS Enterprise-A
Star Trek The Movies	66073	1995	Pewter series no. 66072
Star Trek Television Series I	66074
Star Trek Television Series II	66075
Star Trek I	66124		Bronze collection
Star Trek II	66125
Limited Edition Collector's Sets (16 pieces)
I	65301	1993	Borg Ship Cardassian Galor Warship Ferengi Marauder Klingon Battlecruiser Klingon Bird-of-Prey Klingon Attack Cruiser Romulan Bird-of-Prey Romulan Warbird Runabout (USS Rio Grande) Shuttlecraft (Berman) Space Station Deep Space 9 USS Enterprise USS Enterprise-D USS Excelsior (NCC-2000) USS Reliant Bonus ship: USS Enterprise-A
II	65946	1995	Botany Bay Federation Space Dock Galileo II Romulan Scout Ship Space Station K-7 USS Defiant USS Farragut USS Enterprise-B USS Enterprise-C USS Enterprise-D (removable saucer section) USS Grissom USS Stargazer Vulcan Shuttle Surak Bonus ships from "All Good Things...": Future USS Enterprise-D Klingon Battlecruiser USS Pasteur
III	65940	1996	Bajoran Fighter Cardassian Obsidian Jem'Hadar Ship Karemma Vessel Kazon Fighter Kazon Mother Ship Kazon Raider Klaestron Ship Maquis Ship Miradorn Ship Numiri Ship Space Dock Shuttle USS Saratoga USS Voyager Voyager Shuttlecraft Bonus ship: USS Enterprise-E

Differences between the second and third 3-pack editions

• The Enterprise (NCC-1701) was in Set #1.
• The first Klingon Bird-of-Prey, the Excelsior, and the Reliant were in Set #2.
• The Klingon Attack Cruiser, the Borg Cube, and the Romulan Warbird were in Set #3. Later, the Borg cube was replaced by the Enterprise-D.
• The Ferengi Marauder, the Borg Cube, and the Shuttlecraft were in Set #4.
• The Galor-class, Deep Space 9, and the Runabout were in Set #5.

Differences between the third and fourth 3-pack editions

There were no differences between the third (eight issues) and the US-only fourth (sixteen issues) edition as far as contents were concerned, with the exception of the packaging, as the first nine sets are re-packaged items from previously released issues. The fourth edition sported a roman numeral numbering on the front and the models are mounted on the standard-style card used for the entire run. Unlike the first three editions, the fourth appeared to have enjoyed a smaller production run, as the last seven items especially (despite having had two issues for the large part) can fetch high prices on after-market websites.

Trivia

Magazine promo

Presidio Starfleet Headquarters maquette micro machines

Namco/Tsukuda Hobby release for Japan

"Buy 2 Get 1 Free" sleeve for the UK

The Enterprise-D micro machine in a glass tumbler

• The USS Excelsior miniature was released with a NCC-2000 registry and also was printed with a NX-2000 registry. The latter is rarer.
• The yellow-painted USS Stargazer model, first released in 1994 in three-pack set 66106, is actually not that of the starship but is based on Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ready room display model (NCC-7100), though it has the correct registry number.
• Likewise, the Kazon fighter of set 66128 is that of the studio model as it was originally delivered to Paramount Pictures and before it was decided to have it modified into its ultimate onscreen configuration.
• The USS Saratoga was a reuse of the mold for the USS Reliant, with a slightly different paint scheme and the roll bar removed. However it lacks the sensor pods that the Saratoga had in DS9: "Emissary".
• Some silver colored Micro Machines of the Starfleet ships, most likely from the pewter series, were used as part of the San Francisco Presidio Starfleet Headquarters maquette building, first seen in DS9: "Homefront" and used several other times throughout DS9 and VOY.
• On the packaging for Collector Set Two, the descriptions for the USS Farragut and USS Defiant refer to the TOS ships bearing those names, rather than the ship models in the set.
• In the TNG Season 6 DVD-special feature, "Dan Curry Profile", it was revealed that Star Trek Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry, an Original Series fan, collected Star Trek Micro Machines.
• In 2013, former Galoob art department employees Jim Fong and Robert DiGiacomo provided extensive details and archival photographs from the development of the Next Generation toy line to TrekCore.com. Numerous cancelled products and previously unseen prototype designs were covered in these three articles. [4]
• A number of Star Trek Micro Machines starships were also retailed by Namco in Japan and carried its brand logo on the windowbox packaging. The boxes also bore the Galoob and Tsukuda Hobby logos.
• The Micro Machines line was quite popular in its day, and the format has also been employed for rival franchises such as Alien, Babylon 5, Marvel Comics, Predator, Starship Troopers, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Terminator. In the cases of Star Wars, Alien, and Starship Troopers, several items packaged in the Micro Machines releases were compatible with their respective outings in Galoob's larger-scaled "Action Fleet" toy line, and therefore complementary. The Micro Machines logo was also printed on the packaging of many Action Fleet and Titanium Series (die-cast starship lines, typically scaled at a size in-between the larger Action Fleet and the smaller Micro Machines outings) releases, with the latter series also incorporating the Battlestar Galactica and Tranformers franchises.
• The license for larger-scaled Star Trek (toy) ship models passed to Galoob's successor, Playmates Toys, which, envious of the success Galoob had enjoyed with its Action Fleet toy line (particularly for Star Wars), unsuccessfully tried to emulate the formula with the Star Trek: Strike Force line in 1997.
• An Enterprise-D micro machine made an in-universe appearance as late as 2023 in Star Trek: Picard's third season opening episode "The Next Generation", when a bar patron, who was surreptitiously observing Jean-Luc Picard and William T. Riker, absentmindedly dropped one in the glass tumbler of his beverage. The model was sold at Guinan's 10 Forward Avenue bar as a memento for the occasion of Frontier Day.

See also

• Star Trek starship miniatures
• Star Trek model kits

External links

• Galoob at Wikipedia
• Micro Machines at Wikipedia
• Micro Machine Museum – Star Trek Micro Machines page
• Star Trek Galoob toys at Wixiban.com
• Galoob 25: The First Generation of TNG Toys, Part I, Part II, and Part III at TrekCore