Never underestimate the market value of Trekkie. A newly remastered next-gen edition of the classic series may just be the HD DVD camp’s secret weapon in its war against Blu-ray this holiday.

Meticulously remastered with newly-retooled state-of-the-art digital visual effects, Paramount’s HD DVD/DVD combo release of “Star Trek: The Original Series – The First Season” ($194.99) will mark the very first next-gen release from a major studio not to see a concurrent stand-alone DVD release.

In other words, if die-hard ‘Trek’ fans want to own this new edition of the classic series on disc, they’ll have no choice but to pick up the HD DVD.

We should stress that as an HD DVD/DVD combo release, each of the classic episodes on this ten-disc box set will still play on standard DVD players. Still, HD DVD format-backers are clearly hoping that a host of high-tech supplements only accessible by HD DVD players will entice at least a few Trekkies to make the leap to high-def.

To further sweeten the pot, Toshiba and CBS have joined forces to produce a limited-edition Phaser remote control for Toshiba HD DVD players (pictured below). The remote will only be available to consumers who purchase both the box set and a Toshiba HD DVD player after the title’s release date of November 20.