2016 Preview: Upcoming Trek-themed Products

Star Trek will celebrate its big 50th anniversary in 2016 and a year's worth of events, celebrations, premieres, projects and products are in the offing. Today, New Year's Eve 2015, StarTrek.com is casting an eye toward 2016 with a preview of just a few of the many PRODUCTS to come.

Mega Bloks/Mattel will launch Mega Bloks Star Trek Collector Construction Sets in 2016, and it will all start with a remarkably detailed U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Signature Series, a Klingon D7 Battlecruiser and a Transporter Room. The Mega Bloks Star Trek Collector Construction Sets will be available in the Fall of 2016.

The Star Trek Encyclopedia: A Reference Guide for the Future, which has long been the go-to source for everything related to the Star Trek canon, will be updated for the first time since its release in 1999. Due out in autumn 2016 from Harper Collins, the updated The Star Trek Encyclopedia, by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, will include a completely new design, illustrations and exhaustively researched and detailed entries on the characters, ships and events from the last 15 years of Star Trek television shows and movies. In other words, the updated Encyclopedia -- with its 300 new pages -- will cover Star Trek: Voyager seasons 4-7, Star Trek: Enterprise seasons 1-4 and Star Trek Nemesis, and it will include material detailing the J.J. Abrams films.

Star Trek is set to receive the Mad Libs treatment courtesy of Penguin Books/Price Stern Sloa. Due out on April 5, it will include 21 stories written by Eric Luper and inspired by Star Trek: The Original Series and the TOS features.

Icon Heroes, which has introduced many memorable Star Trek-themed products office products in the recent past, is readying their next Trek item: a Captain Kirk bookend. The TOS-era Kirk will be featured in his command chair, posed in deep thought. Sculpted by Gentle Giant, cast in sturdy polystone and standing 10 inches tall, the Star Trek TOS Kirk on Chair Statue Bookend will be available in early 2016.

IDW has dozens of Star Trek comic books in the works for the new year, and StarTrek.com can reveal what'll be out in January. Among the titles will be Star Trek #53—Five-Year Mission, written by Mike Johnson, with art and a cover by Tony Shasteen. The all-new adventure begins as Kirk and the Enterprise crew face off with a renegade faction of Orions intent on disrupting the truce between their species and the Federation. Next is Vol. 11, which gathers stories by Mike Johnson, Scott Tipton and David Tipton, with art by Rachael Stott, Toney Shasteen and The Sharp Bros, as well a cover by Joe Corroney. Vol. 11 contains the stories “The Tholian Web” and “Deity,” from issues #46–49 of the ongoing series and the one-shot special “Flesh and Stone.” Also on tap: New Visions: Mister Chekov, written by and featuring photo-manipulation by John Byrne, and Starfleet Academy #2, written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott, with Derek Charm tackling art and cover duties. The latest chapter in the five-part miniseries asks What is the mystery at the heart of Starfleet that connects this new crew to Kirk, Spock and rest of the iconic cast?

The Wand Company’s Star Trek Original Series Universal Remote Phaser and Bluetooth Handset Communicator will be available this spring. The communicator and phaser are the most accurate replicas ever made, designed using the first-ever structured-light 3D scans taken of the Alpha Hero Prop and crammed full of advanced technology. The communicator is the first fully working wireless communicator with Bluetooth handset for pairing with Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. Together, the Phaser and Communicator will offer new levels of action and immersion for Star Trek fans of all ages.

Cross Cult will publish the first official Star Trek novels written by German authors. The trilogy of adventures, to be called Prometheus, will be penned by acknowledged Trek experts Bernd Perplies and Christian Humberg. They'll be released in June, August and September. Here's a synopsis of Prometheus, as translated by the publisher: In November 2385, the United Federation of the Planets is at a historic turning point: not only among the ranks of the Starfleet hope is risen but after the terrors of the recent past, to return to the peaceful discovery of space. However, just when the United Federation of the Planets and the Starfleet is in hope of finding peace, a new threat arises at the horizon. The Starfleet sends off the U.S.S. Prometheus, one of the most powerful ships, when just at the same time new tensions between the Federation and the Klingon empire arise.

Perfect for expanding a child's creativity, the Starfleet Logbook is written by Jake Black and will be published by Penguin Books/Price Stern Sloan on May 17, 2016. Here's the synopsis: Star Trek: The Original Series is the spark that launched a sci-fi phenomenon. Now, a younger generation of fans can move up the ranks at Starfleet, with help from Captain Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew of the starship USS Enterprise. Starfleet Logbook is filled with writing prompts, fun activities and creative games that will help kids' imaginations boldly go where no man has gone before."

What Would Captain Kirk Do?, written by Brandon T. Snider, will be published by Penguin Books/Price Stern Sloan on May 17, 2016. Fans can dig through the many pages of advice in this fun pop philosophy book as narrated by Captain Kirk, based on the characters from Star Trek: The Original Series. The cosmos is filled with a great many wonders—uncharted worlds, bizarre life forms, chaos and calm. Tread carefully as you navigate through this collection of scenarios as Captain Kirk teaches you how to handle even the most challenging situations. The possibilities are as limitless as the universe itself.

What are you most excited for in 2016?