The hype around this week’s episode surrounds the cameo by Leonard Nimoy, but the Star Trek thespian only appears via audio, voicing Sheldon’s Mego Spock figure in a couple of dreams. It’s remarkably effective in conjunction with Sheldon’s conflict this episode: deciding whether or not to open a vintage mint in-box Mego Star Trek Transporter with real Transporter action (hot darn!). It’s a legitimate nerd problem, and one of the silliest. People preserve the original factory quality of a piece of memorabilia under the pretense of increasing its value, but is the collectors’ market really that lucrative nowadays?
By refusing to actually read a comic book or play with an action figure, the collector is avoiding what could be perceived as juvenile behavior, and the hobby takes on a bit more sophistication. It’s not about having every bit of Star Trek memorabilia because just you love it so much, it’s about an investment. I've never been able to embrace the collector mentality, largely for the reasons Dream-Spock brings up in this episode. It's simply illogical to buy something that is intended to be read or played with and to not do so.
Dream-Spock wants Sheldon to indulge his child side, but his influence garners disastrous consequences, putting Sheldon in an even more infantile position. Employing the use of Nimoy’s voice makes the entire plot work, because no one else could convince Sheldon to cross the line and open the Transporter. Director Mark Cendrowski’s attempts to get a Mego doll to emote with a limited range of motion lead to some amusing poses as Spock tries to convince Sheldon to do the right thing, and Nimoy’s voice carries such a sense of authority and grandeur that the gag never gets old. When Sheldon finally does opens his toy, the inevitable happens: He has a few moments of complete and utter joy, and then the toy completely falls apart because it’s almost 40 years old. I’m not much of a collector, but the Transporter breaking triggered a legitimate gasp from me.
The ever-conniving Sheldon decides to switch his toy with Leonard’s in a classic sitcom move, but he dreams of landing on what seems to be Tattooine where Dream-Spock returns to berate Sheldon’s behavior. (I'm no Trekkie, so if the backdrop is a legit Star Trek reference and not the only two-sunned planet I can think of, please let me know in comments.) Spock almost succeeds, and Sheldon switches back the toys, but then changes his mind just as Penny and Leonard walk through the door. What follows is an attack of Sheldon’s conscience, preventing him from lying to his friends and forcing him to confess the bizarre circumstance behind his betrayal. Leonard is fine with it and just asks for his toy back, and Spock teaches Sheldon a lesson he should have learned in kindergarten.