In the early to mid-1990s, Playmates Toys dominated the action figure aisles with their ever-expanding line of Star Trek collectibles. Having grown up enjoying the original Mego Corporation Star Trek figures, I was excited at the chance to collect a modern version of the franchise I had loved as a kid. When the first assortment was released, I was thrilled. I bought a complete set and felt perfectly satisfied. Then another assortment arrived, and I bought those as well. The characters were excellent, the likenesses impressive for the time, and I still remembered missing out on the second and third series of the Mego Star Trek figures years earlier. Soon it became assortment after assortment, wave after wave, and before long I had purchased nearly every figure Playmates produced.
At the time, I worked in retail and was one of the early collectors fortunate enough to see merchandise before it ever reached the sales floor. I became very familiar with shipment assortments, case packs, and the growing frenzy surrounding certain figures. Everything changed with the release of the “1701” Captain Picard figure. That was the moment I realized I might never be able to complete the line. The figure immediately became nearly impossible to find at retail, and prices on the secondary market exploded almost overnight. As a collector, it was frustrating to watch Playmates unintentionally create a feeding frenzy where completionist collectors were left scrambling while scalpers profited the most. It didn’t take long for the 1701 Picard to reach $500 and continue climbing. Eventually, I had to accept that it was simply out of reach.
Then came the infamous 1701 Yar figure — a figure I likely came incredibly close to owning. One day our store received several fresh cases of Playmates Star Trek figures. Naturally, I opened every one of them. One case immediately stood out. It had clearly been resealed with two neat strips of tape, and inside, one figure was missing from the assortment. Based on the case contents, I quickly concluded that the missing figure had almost certainly been the elusive 1701 Yar. I also realized the figure had probably been intercepted somewhere in the distribution chain — most likely at a national warehouse rather than at the local store level. I had personally helped unload the truck, and the tampering was obvious. It was both fascinating and aggravating to witness just how intense the hunt for these figures had become.
Despite the disappointment, I continued collecting. Then in 1995 came the figure that would become my greatest Playmates collecting memory: the “3000 Barclay.” Determined not to miss this one, I special ordered five sealed cases of figures in hopes that maybe — just maybe — one case would contain the rare Lt. Reginald Barclay figure from the Voyager episode Projections. I personally opened each case myself.
The first case contained no Barclay, which was disappointing but expected. Then I opened the second case. As I searched through the figures, my heart nearly stopped. There, in my hands, was a 16044 Lt. (JG) Reginald Barclay — the famous “3000 Barclay.” Excited and completely stunned, I continued opening the remaining cases. What happened next still feels unbelievable. One after another, I pulled another Barclay from each remaining case. Four of the five cases contained the rare figure.
Within only a few minutes, I was holding four of the supposedly scarce 3000 Barclay figures in my hands. I was absolutely shocked. What were the odds? Even if the production run of 3,000 figures had been distributed evenly across the United States, each state would have received only a tiny fraction of them. Yet somehow, one retail store had received four examples in a single shipment.
I held onto those figures for years, always hoping to eventually trade one or two of the Barclays for a 1701 Picard or, more realistically, a 1701 Yar. Unfortunately, that day never came. Over time, I gradually sold all but one of them, usually for somewhere between $59 and $99 each. Eventually, I sold most of the entire collection at close to a loss. Still, I kept a few favorite pieces, including the Barclay from Projections. Today, it serves less as a collectible investment and more as a reminder of a unique time in toy collecting — when the thrill of the hunt, the friendships, the frustrations, and the excitement of opening a fresh case of figures were every bit as memorable as the toys themselves.