RTR Blog: Matt Remembers Star Trek The Exhibit

The year was 1996. Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were going strong. Star Trek First Contact was on its way. Star Trek: The Next Generation re-runs were on twice a day. It was a good time to be 13 years old and obsessed with Star Trek. In the summer of '96, it was even better to be 13 years old, obsessed with Star Trek and within striking distance of Toronto because ... dun dun dun ... Star Trek: The Exhibit descended on the McLaughlin Planetarium.

The commercials for Star Trek: The Exhibit played during the TNG re-runs on CityTV, a local network that showed TNG re-runs daily at 7pm in those times. I absolutely had to go. It promised sets from the show, costumes on display and so much more. I started badgering my dad shortly after the ads popped up and my persistence paid off.

In front of a headless Klingon costume slumped in a chair. Too much blood wine?

I seem to remember Star Trek: The Exhibit was nearing the end of its run when, on September 9, 1996, the day before school started, my dad and I drove the hour and twenty minutes or so to Yorkdale. We parked the car as we often did when going to see the Blue Jays at the SkyDome and took the subway downtown (a strategy I would never recommend now days).

Looking badass next to Geordi in front of .. Voyager's warp core?

Although I remember feeling a tad disappointed, it was quite a nice excursion. I recall that the ads seemed to promise all the sets from all the shows on display which is, of course, ridiculous. They were not all there which in my 13 year old head was an outrage. What was there were tons of costumes, props, replica sets and concept art on display. Fortunately I saved my allowance and brought a disposable camera with me that day. Unfortunately, either a) I only got my dad to take a handful of photos with that camera or b) only a handful of those photo prints have survived into the present period of time.

Working the transporter controls

I don't have a lot of specific memories of the exhibit itself, aside from having a ton of stuff to see and spending a good 4 or 5 hours soaking it all in. The photos don't really do the exhibit any justice as far as the size of it. The planetarium was completely filled with displays which I probably could have spent all day enjoying. What the photos do highlight is my curious sense of fashion what with the Oakland As ball cap and Detroit Tigers tshirt.

Acting frightened (?) by a bust showing the Talaxian makeup

Like most exhibits, it ended with a visit to the gift shop. Even though I was several years removed from collecting baseball cards, or trading cards of any kind, I opted to buy a few packs of cards from the Star Trek Reflections of the Future set (a brilliant title). I don't remember exactly which cards I got, but I do remember thinking that they were pretty cool, probably after ripping open the packs in the car on the way home. I came across these cards several months ago while going through some miscellaneous trading cards that had been sitting in a box for a decade or more and decided to complete the set. It helped jog my memory of the exhibit and led me to digging up the surviving photos.

The flash from the camera ruined this cool shot standing next to Picard in the ready room

I certainly miss those days when Star Trek was on top of the universe and had a bright future. With the franchise in the midst of a revival, I certainly do hope that in the near future, we will see Star Trek: The Exhibit return in some form to Toronto.



If you're looking for more great Star Trek content, come and listen to our most recent podcast from Star Trek: Enterprise: Silent Enemy here: https://bit.ly/2ZsKOlH