Spock's Marshmallow Dispenser

Spock's Marshmallow Dispenser (also known as the "Marsh Melon" Dispenser) is a tool Spock uses while camping with Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy during Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

In the scene, Spock uses a complicated gadget to dispense a marshmallow for himself to toast. In the scene, he mistakenly calls it a "Marsh Melon" to McCoy's amusement.

While the scene was a quick throwaway gag to lighten tension after an emotional speech by Kirk, the marshmallow dispenser was actually a tie-in with Kraft Foods, creator of the Jet-Puffed Marshmallows brand. For the film's release, a mail-in promotion and advertising campaign was ran by Kraft. Customers could mail-in a coupon to receive the marshmallow dispenser with purchase. The dispenser customers received was actually fairly smaller than the original prop, as shown in the advertising featuring the two side-by-side. It also wasn't very good as a dispenser, as it could at most hold four marshmallows, but in reality only 3 could really fit inside.

Design and Manufacturing

The Marshmallow Dispenser was actually designed in collaboration with Paramount Pictures, Kraft Foods, and an innovations manufacturer, Nottingham Spirk. The prop that Spock uses in the film is actually much bigger and more robust than the plastic toy counterpart. The design was created by Nottingham Spirk, and the final prop was also produced by them for the film. This appears to have been the only time Nottingham Spirk helped with the production of Star Trek.[citation needed]

The prop is barely seen in the film, and the only known version made was the hero prop delivered by NS. The prop is painted in a two-tone grey paint, with a black aperture for the dispensing action. features a half-hexagonal side and a flat rectangular side. The rectangular side is adorned with 3 buttons, 8 lights, and a set of rainbow stripes running down the length of the device. The stripes are the same found adorning Jet-Puffed Marshmallow branding, and there are two red and white circles that appear to resemble the Kraft logo, albeit without the text. The marshmallows

When functioning, it appears that the top and bottom buttons control the opening and closing of the aperture. The middle button may control the upward motion of the device, however this is unclear as of this time. It's unknown how many marshmallows can be fit in the device, or how the device internally operates.

The original prop appears to still be in the collection of Nottingham Spirk. It may still be available for public viewing at their location in Cleveland, Ohio.

Images

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  The dispenser, briefly seen in STV
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  An advertisement for the toy dispenser, shown next to it's prop counterpart.
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  A photo of the original prop, taken from a video by Nottingham Spirk.
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  Ditto; The aperture opened.
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  Ditto; The aperture fully opened.
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  Ditto; Behold, a "marsh melon".
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  Ditto; The dispenser closing.
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  Ditto; The dispenser almost fully closed and marshmallows fully lowered.
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  Original art from the promotion. Features the only known art of the original prop, not the toy.
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  Advertisement for the toy version.
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  Ditto.

External Links

• Nottingham Spirk
• Star Trek V: Spock’s Marshmallow Dispenser - A video by Nottingham Spirk in 2013, showing the hero prop in action
• Nottingham Spirk 50th Anniversary - A page featuring a short passage about the creation of the prop (see "1989" section)