Mego Spotlight- Command Communications Console

Item Name: Command Communications Console
Manufacturer: Mego Toys Corp.



Mego released this fine toy back in the mid-1970's! Take a closer look at that awesome box art:



The Rundown: Okay... let's say a couple of your buddies own the awesome Mego Communicators. They head over to your tree house and start pretending to be Captain Kirk and Spock. You feel left out. Then all of a sudden you remember that Command Communications Console that granny bought you for Christmas. You run inside, rip open the box, and slap a few batteries in it. Suddenly your tree house has become the Enterprise, with Kirk and Spock down in the yard on a mission to the planet's surface. It's up to you and your console to keep the landing party in constant contact with the ship, just in case something goes wrong... and you know it will.



Well, at least that's what I'm assuming Mego had in mind when they created this guy. It's basically just a big walkie-talkie with a lighted screen, but kids didn't need to know that. Bigger means better, so the Command Communications Console must have been at least 3 times cooler than the regular Mego communicators. Plus it uses alliteration in its name. Bonus points.



As stated, this console is basically the big brother of the standard walkie-talkie. To your right is a large speaker area and a dial that acts as both a power and volume switch...



...and to the left are a couple of nice decorative stickers. The top sticker features Spock peering in at you through a tiny viewscreen. Quit looking at me Spock. The lower sticker is actually pretty useful, as it provides Morse code translations for you to use on the console's buttons.



Behind the stickered area you'll find the console's antenna. The antenna is REALLY long. So long, in fact, that I couldn't fully extend it in this pic. So don't be a Herbert- leave plenty of head room when positioning your Command Communications Console.



At the console's center is the "multicolor phaser light screen". Translation- It's a screen with four little lights inside. While it may seem tame by today's toy standards, this screen probably upped the coolness factor of the piece by about tenfold back in the 70's.



Arrayed along the base of the console are four colored buttons labeled Transmit, Code Key, Red Alert, and Stand By Alert. The transmit button allows you to send your voice to a receiver (like the Mego Communicators, standard walkie-talkies, or the CB of an annoyed truck driver). Pressing the code key allows you to make use of your handy Morse code sticker. The last 2 buttons send out alert signals... which you can hear by checking out this nifty video:



So there ya go. Do you need it? Probably not. It's a cool toy for it's time, and definitely has a Star Trek Animated feel to it, but I just don't put this one on the same level as some of Mego's other roleplay toys (like their Tricorder or their Phaser). The original owner of this toy must have felt the same way, since they felt the need to spice this one up by adding a little something extra to the back of it...



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