After more than 20 years since the Star Trek action figure heyday of the 1990s, Playmates Toys — who filled a decade’s worth of Trekkie collectors’ homes with playsets, action accessories, and character figures — announced their return to the final frontier to bring the next generation of Star Trek to their brand of toy production.
Revealed in a surprise release today on StarTrek.com, the toy company whose products are beloved to at least a few generations of Star Trek fans is returning to the market with new items in 2022, including “action figures…. and accessories” from Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Picard, and the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy series — and more from “the expansive Star Trek Universe of series and motion pictures.”
This teaser image joined the StarTrek.com announcement, which seems to hint at a Next Generation-era Commander Data, a Discovery Season 2-era Michael Burnham, Saru, Christopher Pike, and bearded Spock, and a Picard Season 1-era Jean-Luc Picard — all likely concept art underneath those transporter beams, but certainly an idea of where things are headed.
Here’s the official word, which teases the 2022 return of Playmates Toys’ Star Trek offerings:
Playmates Toys and ViacomCBS Consumer Products today announced that ViacomCBS has awarded the global toy company with the licensing rights for action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories for all Star Trek properties.
Playmates will launch its new Star Trek toy line in 2022, following Star Trek’s entry into kids’ content with the premiere of Star Trek: Prodigy, the first Star Trek series aimed at younger audiences.
Among the qualities Playmates will bring to the Star Trek Universe are its attention to brand detail, authentic portrait sculpting, and new product innovations it plans to introduce to its forthcoming Star Trek collections.
Fans can look forward to a new lineup of action figures and accessories from Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Picard, other Star Trek series throughout the universe coming soon, and future selections from the expansive Star Trek Universe of series and motion pictures, including the Paramount+ CG-animated series Star Trek: Prodigy produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and CBS Studios.
Details on forthcoming product lines from Playmates will be announced at a future date.
And it’s not just action figures on the way, as a statement from ViacomCBS’s licensing division implies “ships and more” will be companion offerings in the upcoming release slate.
“As Star Trek readies to beam into the kids’ space for the first time with Star Trek: Prodigy on Paramount+, we are thrilled to also enter the toy aisle with Playmates, offering a new generation of fans out of this world toys that will allow them to embark on their own Star Trek adventures at home,” said Dion Vlachos, Executive Vice President, Hardlines and Retail, ViacomCBS Consumer Products.
“Playmates Toys has deep experience in developing Star Trek figures and playsets – in fact, they helped to define and raise the stature of the range of collectibles. The expertise and ingenuity they plan to bring to figures, ships and more will elevate the play experience for kids and collectors alike.”
We know many of our readers are big collectors of the 1990s run of Playmates Star Trek action figures, playsets, play accessories, and starships, so the news that this beloved licensee is back in the Trek galaxy once more is certainly welcome news.
Which characters, accessories, or ships from the modern run of Star Trek shows will you be adding to your collection when they hit the market next year — and what characters from the Trek legacy series deserve a new time in the action figure spotlight?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!