Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)
The Official Star Trek Fan Club logo
For the official fan club active in 1968-1969, please see Star Trek Interstellar: The Official Star Trek Fan Club.
For the official fan club in Australia, please see Star Trek: The Official Fan Club of Australia.
For the official fan club in Canada, please see Star Trek: The Official Fan Club of Canada.
For the official fan club in the UK, please see Star Trek: The Official Fan Club of the UK.

The Star Trek: The Official Fan Club was the officially authorized fan club for the Star Trek franchise, based in Aurora, Colorado. [1] At its peak, the group had more than 100,000 subscribers.

History[]

Originally founded by Dan Madsen as an unofficial Star Trek: The Motion Picture Fan Club in 1979, the organization began as fifteen members paying $15 a year, independently printing a bi-monthly club newsletter. [2] [3] With the release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the club was renamed Star Trek II: The Movie Fan Club, a registered nonprofit organization.

In 1983, an issue of the club's newsletter-fanzine found its way to Paramount Pictures, who then contacted Madsen that he did not have a license to publish the magazine. Instead of legal action, Paramount Pictures' licensing department offered Madsen a license and contract. [4]

Officially licensed[]

In 1986, Madsen founded FANtastic Media to run both the club and magazine. In 1995, the magazine became the Star Trek: Communicator.

On 9 February 2001, Decipher purchased the assets of FANtastic Media, including the Fan Club, and continued publication of Communicator until 2005, when the company announced the cancellation of the magazine after Star Trek: Communicator issue 155.

Paramount and CBS announced a new fan club in 2008, but nothing came of it. (citation needededit)

Starship replicas[]

A number of limited edition Star Trek starship miniatures were released by the fan club. These replicas were created from cold-cast resin, measured from eight to twelve inches in length, and were sold through the fan club's mail order and at retail inside Las Vegas' Star Trek: The Experience. Editions were limited to 2500 models of each ship. Dissimilar to the other releases, the Cousteau had an edition of 5000 pieces and was made of PVC.

The USS Enterprise, Deep Space 9, Klingon Bird-of-Prey, USS Enterprise-D, USS Voyager, and T'Plana-Hath were produced for the fan club by Legends in 3 Dimensions in 1996.

The fan club also produced the Captain's yacht Cousteau which was designed and mastered by John Eaves, who had also mastered the earlier T'Plana-Hath model. The Cousteau model came with a dedication plaque stand.

Rawcliffe also produced a small pewter FASA-sized gaming miniature of the USS Enterprise-E (RF16) that was issued in 1997 as a Star Trek: Communicator exclusive.

Advertisement