With this year marking the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, expect more retailers to release more Trek-related merchandise.
That includes a set of stuffed animals now available from Build-A-Bear Workshop. The Star Trek Build-A-Bear collection features four new bears marking the franchise's anniversary, including two versions of Mr. Spock, an anonymous red shirt bear from Star Trek: Voyager and a special 50th anniversary bear.
Like all Build-A-Bear plushies, each bear can be personalized with other outfits and accessories. Prices for the bears range from $25 to $52. It's almost worth it to pay more for the "red shirt" bear, because as all Trekkies know, his life probably isn't going to last much longer.
Build-A-Bear customers can also buy separate Star Trek uniforms for the company's bears, as well as other accessories, including the Star Trek theme song. Set phasers to stun!
Here's what the bears look like:
The first episode of Star Trek aired in 1966 on NBC and ran for three seasons. Although its time on television was short, the series remained in the hearts and minds of fans, and eventually launched into its own movie franchise. TV spin-offs also followed, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise.
The movies also continued, covering both the original series and The Next Generation. J.J. Abrams rebooted the movie franchise in 2009, with the third film, Star Trek Beyond, premiering this year (although many longtime Star Trek fans would argue that those films don't belong in the franchise).
Star Trek remains more popular than ever: CBS also plans on releasing a new series next year, and so far, it seems promising, although there are concerns about it launching solely on the network's streaming platform All Access. Not only has CBS tapped Nicholas Meyer - who directed Star Trek: Wrath of Khan - as one of the show's writers, but Bryan Fuller - who got his start writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager - will serve as the showrunner.
Meanwhile, this year will see more 50th anniversary celebrations. Merchandise includes Star Trek Barbie dolls and there's a special 50th anniversary convention heading to New York later this year, featuring many actors from the various Star Trek series and movies, including William Shatner, Karl Urban, Alice Eve, Peter Weller, Walter Koenig and the cast from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
