t was only a matter of time before the mighty Star Trek franchise was assimilated by the even mightier force known as the Beanie Baby. In this case, however, the culprit isn't Beanie Baby maker Ty but rather a manufacturer called The Idea Factory, and the product in question is not a Beanie per se but a knock-off called a Star Trek Bean.
So far six of these tiny toy ambassadors have beamed into stores, including representatives from the Vulcan, Ferengi, Gorn and Andorian races, as well as a Targ and a Mugato. Each Bean is about seven inches high and comes complete with its own tag, which verifies its authenticity and also gives its pedigree. For instance, the Mugato's tag notes that the creature was first seen in the 1968 Star Trek episode "A Private Little War" and that a Mugato is "an apelike carnivore from Tyree's planet. Its bite is poisonous, but can be treated by the Kahn-ut-tu women using mahko root."
Unlike Beanie Babies, the Beans aren't always soft and furry. The Vulcan, Andorian and Ferengi sport polyethylene (think vinyl) clothes, and the Gorn is made up almost entirely of the material, which doesn't seem terribly kid-friendly. The other ingredients of these Beans are polyester fibers and plastic beads (sorry, no actual beans included). Each Bean is also numbered, so consumers can tell if their Vulcan was the 10,301st produced or the 33,423rd (only 50,000 of each Bean were made).
Strange new lifeforms
There's no doubt that the Star Trek Beans are a takeoff on the ever-popular Beanie Baby idea, but in this instance it's an idea whose time has come. Simply put, these are really cool toys. While the quality varies from Bean to Bean (the Andorian is great, but the Gorn is...well, kind of lame), the concept of these stuffed Trek critters is outstanding.
Interestingly, the first six Beans to leave The Idea Factory probably aren't the ones most Trek fans would have expected. Where is the Spock Bean? Or how about a Klingon Bean? Not here. Instead, The Idea Factory has chosen to go with some of the lesser-known aliens in the Trek universe, such as the Mugato and the Targ. While this decision was probably driven by the convoluted Tholian web known as Paramount's licensing department, the effect is that fans get what they really want: anyone will think a Kirk Bean is pretty cool, but only real fans would desire a Mugato for their desks!
The downside to this is that average consumers probably won't be interested in some of these offerings. If there's a Vulcan, it should really be Spock or Sarek, not some average pointy-eared guy in a polyethylene robe. And just how much of a market is there for a non descript Ferengi? The Idea Factory also needs to work on quality control. In this first batch of Beans, probably only three of the six are "real" enough to satisfy true Trek aficionados--the others are a bit lackluster in both design and execution. But The Idea Factory has definitely scored three solid hits in this initial batch, and hopefully there will be more to come.
