1984 Ertl Star Trek III Scotty Action Figure

/ Zach

It’s time to welcome the Chief Engineer of the Enterprise:

This action figure is just under 4 inches tall, and was one of a line of four action figures plus a couple of small model ships Ertl produced for Star Trek III.

Looking at the figure as a whole, it’s not really that impressive, with the joints not very well hidden, just pretty obvious hinges (but at least the pins are painted to blend in). However, this was from 1984, and it was a toy designed to be played with, not a collector’s item, so it was made for functionality. Beyond that, there’s a lot that I like about it. Considering the overall quality, it’s really not a bad likeness of Scotty, and the attention to detail on the uniform and the phaser are pretty good.

A couple of other thoughts:

  • In spite of the red uniforms being used for five out of the six original Star Trek movies, this is one of relatively few action figures featuring them.
  • Ironically, Scotty very rarely actually wore this uniform, almost always wearing an engineering uniform or some other variation.

Let’s take take a closer look:

Considering the size of the figure and the overall quality, this is not a bad representation of Scotty.
Some nice details. The gold belt buckle and insignia are things I could have imagined being done worse, and they probably could have left the red stripe off the pants off and hoped no one would notice.
The phaser is also pretty accurate.
The back shows the full selection of toys that Ertl made for Star Trek III.
I don’t know what planet this stardate is from.

About Ertl:

  • Founded in 1945, Ertl has gone through a number of mergers and acquisitions. Now owned by Tomy, they make diecast farm machinery toys, which is what they have always been best known for.
  • Ertl produced a couple of diecast ships for Star Trek V in 1989. The Enterprise model was repackaged for sale by the Smithsonian in 1991, and a gold-colored version was produced for Spencer Gifts in 1994.
  • Ertl owned model company AMT from 1983-2007 and sold plastic models (including many Star Trek models) under “AMT/Ertl” branding.

Next Week on Zach Trek: Next Tuesday, we’ll continue introducing members of the bridge crew. On Thursday we’ll have an item from the past, featuring the past. In the meantime, I’ll finally be adding category pages for some of the items featured thus far. I’ll post links to Facebook as I add them. Pages for characters will probably feature some thoughts on the characters, and maybe some “bonus” material as well.

3 thoughts on “1984 Ertl Star Trek III Scotty Action Figure”

  1. A better likeness than some action figures I’ve seen. Interesting that you could join the collectors club for only $5 a year…..probably $15 or $20 in today’s money?

    • According to an online inflation calculator, $5 in 1984 would translate to $12.95 in 2021. Unless that got you more than a quarterly newsletter, that kind of seems like a lot.

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