Mego Tricorder Cassette Tape

[Tallguy]

I don't know if I have asked this question before: Has anyone digitized / cataloged / documented whatever was on the cassette tape from the Mego Tricorder toy? I know that it's "just" audio from several episodes. IIRC it's at least Where No Man Has Gone Before and The Corbomite Maneuver. I remember being amazed and delighted when an episode would appear that I knew from my tricorder toy.

With all the ephemera that floats around these days from "time gone by" I would be slightly amazed if this wasn't anywhere.

Any help?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I'd like to have that tape digitized, too, even as I find out just now that it ever existed. If we aren't the Star Trek archaeologists, nobody will be.

There was another Star Trek related cassette tape I want, but I'm afraid it is truly lost forever.

My father was in charge of mobile two-way radios for a utility company, in the age before cell phones.

In the early to mid 1970s, a Motorola salesman was pushing a new car radio system called Micor. The pitch kit included a cassette tape of actors playing out a Star Trek story, in all but name. It opens with bridge sound effects and a Scottish engineer saying, "You'd better come up to the bridge, Sir. Something strange is happening."

And they play out a whole story in which the crew encounters the Micor system by Motorola, and marvel about how advanced it is. My dad gave me that tape and I loved it, but my cassette player ate it one day, and it's long gone now.

We have a much, much better chance of finding the Mego Tricorder tape. That must still exist somewhere, and that's where our duty lies.

 

[Redfern]

Learn something new every day. I had no idea the Mego "tricorder" included a cassette with media already recorded. Probably because I never owned one. The only "prop" in the mid 70s I got (asides from the AMT Exploration Set model kit, was the infamous Remco brand "phaser". I say "infamous" because the weapon's "zap" sound effect sounded far more like a chirping bird than the cicada like "thrilling". Would have been far more appropriate for the grid antenna "flip" of a communicator. My father would not let me return the toy for a refund, reasoning it a "buyer beware" life lesson.

 

[Ssosmcin]

The closest I ever got was a copy of the commercial where you can just hear a bit of one of Kirk's log entries from "Balance of Terror."

 

[Tallguy]

The closest I ever got was a copy of the commercial where you can just hear a bit of one of Kirk's log entries from "Balance of Terror."

I rather suspect if I ever get my mitts on this that I will be amazed at what is on there.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Just please digitize that thing if you do!

Here, a bit of WNMHGB

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Daddy Todd]

I have a cassette deck hooked up to my desktop machine, and I'm able to use Audacity to digitize cassette tapes.

I just need the Mego cassettes...

 

[The Lensman]

I had that as a kid!! Back in the pre-vcr days that thing was awesome! Got it for Christmas one year, don’t know if it made it to New Years. Listened to it over and over and can’t remember if the tape broke or if the thing just died, just remember it didn’t work for very long.

 

[Redfern]

Several years ago, I stumbled across a selection at Deviant Art in which the artist "thefirstfleet" paid homage to the Mego brand tape player, adapting its overall look to serve as a "real" tricorder, one that might have existed during the era of Pike (the 1964 version).

2220's Landing Party Gear

 

[Tallguy]

I have a cassette deck hooked up to my desktop machine, and I'm able to use Audacity to digitize cassette tapes.

I just need the Mego cassettes...

Nobody seems to have them "loose" and getting a tricorder is pricey.

IIRC, our tricorder busted pretty quickly and at that point my folks just bought us tape recorders. I don't know what happened to the tape but I know I played it on the regular tape recorder for a while at least.

Several years ago, I stumbled across a selection at Deviant Art in which the artist "thefirstfleet" paid homage to the Mego brand tape player, adapting its overall look to serve as a "real" tricorder, one that might have existed during the era of Pike (the 1964 version).

2220's Landing Party Gear

That's pretty cool.

It's funny, I know just how inaccurate the tricorder and the walkie talkie communicators were, but somehow they got the "essence" well enough that I still don't have a problem with them, looking at them even now.

 

[Vger23]

I had that as a kid. I broke the damn top hatch cover thing, which really made me upset if I recall correctly. The audio tape had a mash-up from WNMHGB, Corbomite, and Mudd's Women to sort of give the illusion of a unique audio story.

I wore that tape out.

 

[fireproof78]

Someone might reach out to Mego Museum and see if they have tapes?

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

There was another Star Trek related cassette tape I want, but I'm afraid it is truly lost forever.

Have you tried asking the company?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Have you tried asking the company?

No, I just assume they would have no institutional memory of this thing. Motorola split into two companies, which still exist today, but are not really related to the old company. I really should ask, just for the heck of it.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Even if they don't, if you ask them on social media, someone who does have/remember the tape might see your message.

 

[Commander Troi]

According to the Mego Museum: "The tape is 30 minutes of "The Menagerie" and on the other side, space sounds." https://www.megomuseum.com/startrek/tricorder.html

Here's a tiny bit of audio. https://youtube.com/shorts/Ylm2tuwd2Ms?feature=share

ETA: Found another one:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Tallguy]

According to the Mego Museum: "The tape is 30 minutes of "The Menagerie" and on the other side, space sounds." https://www.megomuseum.com/startrek/tricorder.html

That's flat out incorrect. (I know, messenger.) For one thing there's the clip up thread where we know it at least has Where No Man Has Gone Before.

But it had a blank side that you could record your own sounds on. One side of the tape had the "write protect" tab removed (the per-recorded side) and the other didn't.

 

[Commander Troi]

See my edit. There are a few recordings here and there.

 

[fireproof78]

According to the Mego Museum: "The tape is 30 minutes of "The Menagerie" and on the other side, space sounds." https://www.megomuseum.com/startrek/tricorder.html

Here's a tiny bit of audio. https://youtube.com/shorts/Ylm2tuwd2Ms?feature=share

ETA: Found another one:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

I saw that on their site. Do they have a working piece?

Might look for toy museums too.

 

[Commander Troi]

I saw that on their site. Do they have a working piece?

Not that I noticed. There are some on ebay but they're crazy expensive.