As another tie-in to the animated series, Lieutenant M'Ress from the animated
series was a key character in "Passage to Moauv" but she was drawn with light blue
skin and green hair. She was drawn with no feline features, but she did have a
pronounced purring quality to her voice. M'Ress's people were also named as
Caitians.
Reference was made in "Passage to Moauv" to Mr. Spock's pet sehlat which was
seen in the animated episode "Yesteryear" and which was first mentioned in the 1967
original series episode "Journey to Babel."
References to Romulans were often wrong in the story records. In "The Robot
Masters", they were said to be living just outside the known galaxy. The Romulan
Empire was incorrectly called the Romulan Hegemony in "In Vino Veritas." Also, the
Romulan homeworlds are Romulus and Remus (or Romii), but the homeplanet was called
Romula in "In Vino Veritas." Finally, they were incorrectly depicted in the record
read-along comic book for "The Robot Masters" as having green skin and dark green
hair.
The story told in "A Mirror For Futility" was very similar to the second season
STAR TREK: Voyager episode "Prototype." In that episode
the Voyager crew encounters a ship crewed by Pralor robotic units who are fighting a long-term war with ships
manned by Cravic robotic units. The organic flesh-and-blood creators of the Pralor and Cravic robotic units
had died centuries before.
Scotty was only 8 years older than Spock, but "The Man Who Trained Meteors" has
him saying that he's been flying shuttles since Spock "was a wee lad."
In some stories, the red alert klaxon sounds like "Ahooogah!" instead of the
"Rrrrrrr Rrrrrrr" sound evident on television.
The last three stories ("Dinosaur Planet", "The Robot Masters" and "The Human
Factor") whose author is unknown, all feature the character of Security Officer Frank
Tanka.
"The Human Factor" is clearly the last story, since it makes reference to
defeating the meteor master, the Romulans, and encountering dinosaurs.
Both "Dinosaur Planet" and "The Human Factor" incorrectly have Sulu's rank as
Ensign, when he was actually a Lieutenant.
The STAR TREK Story Records are readily available via online auctions such as
Ebay,
and since they exist in such abundance the going prices for most 45 RPM records are around $3 to $9.
Their worth is surprising low despite the fact that they are around 25 years old. The 45 RPM STAR TREK Story Records were produced in such quantities that many, many exist in perfect condition still in shrink-wrap!
The 33-1/3 RPM LP STAR TREK Story Records are less abundant and are thus more expensive. With the exception of Record #22 and Record #23, most LP's can be found through online auctions for around $12-$25. The LP's produced prior to 1979 are more expensive than the ones with photo covers which were produced in great abundance in 1979 to coincide with the release of the first STAR TREK movie.
Record #22 (shown above) is a 12-inch record with 6 stories on it produced in 1979 or 1980. Record #23 is a very rare 12-inch record with 5 stories on it produced in 1979. Both are worth around $30 or $40 dollars but may still sell for less by auctioners unaware of their value.
STAR TREK is a Registered Trademark of Paramount Pictures Corporation.
All Rights Reserved. The STAR TREK story records were produced by Peter Pan Records, and
Power Records a Division of Peter Pan Industries.
In the years just after the Second World War, a company was formed
in New Jersey called Synthetic Plastics Company. Among various other
products made at the manufacturing facility on Kormorn Street in
Newark starting in 1949, were phonograph records including several
aimed at children.
These first offerings bore the label of Peter Pan Records and were
78 RPM records containing perennial children's song favorites such
as Old MacDonald's Farm, Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the
Three Bears, and the Nine Billy Goats Gruff. These recordings often
featured a vocal group called the Caroleers. Other singers appeared
also and were sometimes accompanied by the Peter Pan Orchestra.
These brightly-colored plastic records featuring children's
songs continued to be produced and sold into the 1950's and early
1960's. In the 1960's, fewer new titles were produced as the company
turned to concentrate on their plastic products such as their other record
label Promenade Records.
As the 1970's began, the Peter Pan Industries division was formed from
parent company Synthetic Plastics, and the new wing started producing
children's recordings that were spoken-word stories. These included Peter
and the Wolf (1971) and a record with two stories derived from the
Flintstones television series (1972). The latter was a tie-in to popular
characters of the time would only be the first in a long, successful series
of story records based on television shows, comics and movies. The
number of media tie-in titles would ultimately number in the dozens,
including such subjects as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman of the
comics, Star Trek, Six Million Dollar Man, and Kojak from television, and
four of the Planet of the Apes movies. Several of the STAR TREK
records were produced by Arthur Korb.
The Power Records label was retired in 1977 and all subsequent records were
produced under the Peter Pan Records name, including the several 1979 STAR TREK
story records bearing photos from STAR TREK: The Motion Picture
