In 1988 San Francisco California based company Galoob; best known for Micro Machines, miniature playsets featuring cars, trucks, trains, tanks, boats and many other types of vehicles, released its first series of Star Trek - The Next Generation action figures under a licensing deal with Paramount Pictures. The success of the television show, a growing audience, and a well established fan base created an attractive market for Galoob and the company produced a total of 6 different 3.5” action figures on blue cardboard backs for its initial release.

The figures included:

Captain Jean-Luc Picard Lieutenant Commander Data Lieutenant Geordi La Forge Commander William Riker Lieutenant Worf Lieutenant Tasha Yar

The front of the cards featured an image of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D and a portrait of the enclosed character. The back featured pictures of other characters, toys, and a cut out proof of purchase (Mission Point) and a brief introduction to the series.

Note: The 1988 package backs shows 7 faces, the 6 Starfleet characters released that year plus a Ferengi alien, a character that was not released until the following year. It’s reasonable to assume this was a promotional teaser and not necessarily a packaging mistake as some thought at the time.

In 1989 the company released four more action figures, the Alien Collection featuring:

Antican: A Cat-like alien with dark fur and white hair.

Q: A race of omnipotent, immortal and omniscient godlike beings from a parallel existence called the Q Continuum.

Selay: A snake-like alien, which have had numerous conflicts with the Anticans.

Ferengi: A small humanoid alien species whose entire culture is based on the pursuit of monetary profit.

As with the previous year, the front of the package shows the USS Enterprise-D and a portrait of the enclosed character. The back of the 1989 packages show 10 character faces.

Production Problems:

Galoob encountered difficulties with production mostly centered on paint color errors which resulted in numerous variations.

Known Variations:

The action figure of Lieutenant Commander Data is known to have been produced with the following variations:

- Speckled Face Data
- Flesh Face Data
- Dark Tan Face Data
- Blue Face Data

The action figure of Lieutenant Tasha Yar is known to have been produced with the following variations:

Appearance of having no eyebrows and light color hair (Paint Errors)

The action figures of Captain Picard and Commander Riker are known to have been produced with the following variations:

Android Color Yellow Lips (Paint Error)

Plastic Bubbles:

Galoob altered the design of the plastic bubble protecting the figure sometime in 1988. The difference between the two designs is significant and immediately noticeable – the original cards have a smooth surface plastic bubble and the altered packaging has raised edges.

International Release: Galoob did release the 6 crew member figures in Canada on bilingual cards (French and English) but never released any of the Alien figures.

Value Speculation:

Note: Estimating value within the context of this article is a highly subjective topic that cannot take into account personal preference or individual examples. The text below is meant to illustrate a broad view of the collecting marketplace as a whole.

Galoob became well known for its Star Trek diecast ships which were an instant success and are highly sought after by collectors. The initial release of Star Trek Action Figures were not considered as big of a hit which may explain why Galoob did not pursue an extension of the licensing agreement to produce additional pieces - the license eventually passed to Playmates who, much to the delight of fans, sucessfully marketed a generous line of figures, playsets, and toys just a few short years later.

As such, the Star Trek figures that were produced by Galoob were limited. The distinction of producing the first mass-marketed action figures depicting Star Trek characters belongs to Mego. Bearing all of this in mind, the Galoob pieces are still very much prized by collectors and have held their value well over the years.

With little exception, the alien figures have out-paced the crew figures. Recent comparison demonstrates that complete sets of all of the figures in good condition can command as much as $200.00 or more.

Individual crew figures can be found for as little as $8.00 to $12.00 depending on overall condition. Exceptionally nice crew figures can be found for as much as double this estimate.

Individual alien figures can be found for as little as $25.00 to $40.00 or more depending on condition. Exceptionally nice examples of Selay, Antican, Ferengi, and Q have commanded $120.00 and higher on eBay and at conventional auctions.

Care and Storage:

All collectible carded action figures should be kept in dark storage away from sunlight. Whenever possible archive quality protective cases should be used. Protective cases help preserve the condition of carded action figures by shielding them from dust and debris and maintaining the shape of the cardboard backer.

Never attempt to remove stickers or price tags -- they have little impact on the overall value and removing them can damage the cardboard backing which does have a negative impact on value.

You can safely dust carded action figures using a clean lint-free or micro-fiber cloth. Never use cleaning products of any kind. Cleaning products can potentially discolor printed surfaces or damage plastic.

Best wishes and happy collecting!