Star Trek figures (merged)

[JediTricks]

Actually, the Enterprise-A are going for around $45-50 due to this release.

Really? I'll have to check that out.

It feels heavier than the TOS Enterprise so I definitely won't be trusting that even more flimsy looking stand. I think I may get some of those Eagle stands and use fishing line to secure them as well as bolt down the stand. If I ever get a large display made, that is.

The TOS Enterprise's stand situation is partly about the wonky geometry from putting the stand on a pedestal under the ship instead of inside it. With the balance point so much lower, it meant it was harder for part of the ship to counterbalance other parts, so basically it was a much higher teeter-totter and the stand also had more to counter.

Honestly, I wish they didn't try to do sounds. I can understand the appeal of them but in cases like this, the sounds are such poor quality that I'd much rather see the money go towards paint, lighting and quality control. Sounds always turn out to be such a waste.

Yeah, so true, they put in too many lines and it's not fun for the ship itself IMO, so it's a waste of the budget. Plus on this one, you can't even cycle through the sounds, you have to wait till the sound ends which can be really annoying - the original didn't have this.

One thing that baffles me though is they reused the packaging design for the TOS Enterprises, but left the nacelles detached? Why? Since the packaging is designed for a ship with nacelles, the ship fits just fine when you place it in the box with the nacelles attached. So pointless.

It does fit in the box with the nacelles on, but it's snug and their crap twistie/tray design means if it slides at all, they'll wear the paint down or even snap off.


That reminds me of another annoyance or 2... first off, the nacelles don't fit as neatly on the pylons, there's an awkward gap at the base (it's on the AA version as well, but to a lesser degree). And second, the back of the engineering hull and the nacelles are separate pieces and their decos don't match the parts they're glued to that well.

Now that you mention it JT, that translucent plastic is very bothersome. They did drop the ball.

At least I still have 1701-A which I haven't pulled out of the package yet.

Yeah, I just went into the living room to get breakfast and saw the ambient morning light (very little actually) shining through the saucer, made me sad. Visually, the Ent-A's a rock and worth taking out.

I still think the sounds are a high selling point (it's the reason why I bought my BD Enterprise) but if they could figure out a way to use the sounds effectively and appropriately it would make them even more attractive to collectors. Companies like Mattel and Hasbro have developed interactive sound features. Maybe AA/DD is too small of a company and doesn't have the production facilities and resources that a larger company like Mattel or Hasbro have but these ships seem kind of half-assed (at least as far as the BD Enterprise is concerned).

AA basically doesn't exist, it's just design management, a handful of people really at this point. DST isn't a big company but they have all of Diamond's resources and they keep attaching themselves to remnants of quality firms like AA and Resaurus/Plan B to keep their work going (which is a bit questionable when you look at those failed firms and realize they budgeted themselves out of business alone). The thing is though, they could do better work like Mattel (#1) or Hasbro (#2) if they had the sales numbers to back it, the Chinese factories all seem to do about the same level of work as each other (they may even BE the same factories). But because DST knows the item won't sell many units, they have to budget cheaper to make the item happen - if they knew they'd sell 10 times as many, we'd be seeing bigger budgets, better paint, more features (but lower QC, if that's possible).

My Enterprise-E looks pretty good and my Classic Enterprise was OK.

The Ent-E is frustrating because it looks good, but lacks all subtlety that AA would have brought without DST. The TOS Ent looks alright but is too simplistic in its sculpt and deco (again, this is an area AA wouldn't have scrimped).

I'd just like to ask them why they didn't release a Reliant to tie into the 25th Anniversary? That seems like such an obvious choice.

Development costs, it's always that, that's the biggest cost and the Ent-A mold already existed, so they could revisit it without incurring huge development costs, but since there aren't guaranteed large number sales, they have to keep it on the cheap.

The starship combat was the highlight of the film. You MUST have a Reliant to display with a BD Enterprise. I'm really disappointed. They could always make one next year but that sort of defeats the purpose of celebrating the 25th Anniversary doesn't it? I'll still take one even if it is a year or two late. Better to have one than not have one.

That's what DST did with the 40th anniversary, nearly all the 40th anniversary product came out the year after, totally frustrating.

[decadentdave]

One thing that bugs me, why is the deflector dish painted matte black? The light behind it bleeds blue light through it but just sitting there it doesn't look right. In the film it has a warm amber glow. Also that one red painted photon torpedo bay is annoying. Makes me want to take it apart and run a small red LED light into it. I'd also like to take some model glue and make heaps of elevated hull damage where the burn marks are. This thing could use a serious custom job. Sigh...

[BountyHunterScum]

One thing that bugs me, why is the deflector dish painted matte black? The light behind it bleeds blue light through it but just sitting there it doesn't look right. In the film it has a warm amber glow. Also that one red painted photon torpedo bay is annoying. Makes me want to take it apart and run a small red LED light into it. I'd also like to take some model glue and make heaps of elevated hull damage where the burn marks are. This thing could use a serious custom job. Sigh...

They put heavy blue paint on it instead of leaving it as it was on 1701-A. The deflector is only amber for a short time until it warms up so making it yellow would be odd. It is possible to mimic the warm-up sequence, just put an amber LED in with the blue one and have a clear deflector lens. Like what they did with 1701 TOS the red and green lights inside the warp bussard. The torp launcher ports do emit a faint red glow. Usually when armed but I have seen them glow for spite.

http://www.trekmania.net/the_fleet/u...titution15.jpg
http://homepage.eircom.net/~watty/tc...f/cnstfrnt.jpg

[decadentdave]

The torp launcher ports do emit a faint red glow. Usually when armed but I have seen them glow for spite.

They don't glow at all on mine. It is just painted red.

And with regards to them not making a Reliant because of development costs: If they can't invest into making a new product, they might as well just close shop. Come on, you have to spend money to make money. You can't keep recycling and repainting everything you have already done like Hasbro does. They think they can keep selling us the same product to us six ways till Sunday. The ONLY reason I got the BD Enterprise was because of the sound samples and paint deco. They are going to have to make some more ships so I see a great amount of R&D in their future. I'd also like some more Classic aliens and how about Scotty in white Engineering suit from WOK and also Chekov and Terrell in EVA suits and a Ceti Alpha V Khan with turbin and visor. And since they are doing Kirk in Regula 1 jacket we need Bones and Saavik as well. And where's my Joachin?

[BountyHunterScum]

They don't glow at all on mine. It is just painted red.

And with regards to them not making a Reliant because of development costs: If they can't invest into making a new product, they might as well just close shop. Come on, you have to spend money to make money. You can't keep recycling and repainting everything you have already done like Hasbro does. They think they can keep selling us the same product to us six ways till Sunday. The ONLY reason I got the BD Enterprise was because of the sound samples and paint deco. They are going to have to make some more ships so I see a great amount of R&D in their future. I'd also like some more Classic aliens and how about Scotty in white Engineering suit from WOK and also Chekov and Terrell in EVA suits and a Ceti Alpha V Khan with turbin and visor. And since they are doing Kirk in Regula 1 jacket we need Bones and Saavik as well. And where's my Joachin?

I meant they glow in the movies, at random though.

[JediTricks]

One thing that bugs me, why is the deflector dish painted matte black? The light behind it bleeds blue light through it but just sitting there it doesn't look right. In the film it has a warm amber glow.

Yeah, I don't get why it's black either. I did want them to paint it matte blue as I thought the AA version being totally clear wasn't quite right, but this is much worse. My guess is they used the same black paint they had been using for the running lights or the nacelles.

Also that one red painted photon torpedo bay is annoying. Makes me want to take it apart and run a small red LED light into it. I'd also like to take some model glue and make heaps of elevated hull damage where the burn marks are. This thing could use a serious custom job. Sigh...

You mean the BD version? Because the regular WOK version has both torpedo bays painted red on mine.

The prob with a custom paint job is you have to start on the inside with a heavy primer coat, and it's not made to be disassembled.

And with regards to them not making a Reliant because of development costs: If they can't invest into making a new product, they might as well just close shop. Come on, you have to spend money to make money.

Companies don't like to take risks, a lot of smaller toy companies have invested huge amounts in quality tooling only to have it suck them under. DST is currently doing 1 new ship a year, and this year that was the TOS Enterprise.

You can't keep recycling and repainting everything you have already done like Hasbro does.

Hasbro's entire business model has always been about that, and it's made them the #2 toy company in the world. Unfortunately, with successes like that, it's not hard to see why DST would want that same type of business. There's not enough market anymore and we're not willing to pay $50 for these things - especially when some stores charge nearly that because they're greedy Diamond distribution-receiving scalper shops.

I meant they glow in the movies, at random though.

It's not meant to be random, it's meant to happen when the torpedo bays are at hot-standby status (not their term, but you get what I mean, right?). However, it sometimes is random when the f/x guys leave them on or when the footage is recycled.

[BountyHunterScum]

Yeah, I don't get why it's black either. I did want them to paint it matte blue as I thought the AA version being totally clear wasn't quite right, but this is much worse. My guess is they used the same black paint they had been using for the running lights or the nacelles.

You mean the BD version? Because the regular WOK version has both torpedo bays painted red on mine.

The prob with a custom paint job is you have to start on the inside with a heavy primer coat, and it's not made to be disassembled.


Companies don't like to take risks, a lot of smaller toy companies have invested huge amounts in quality tooling only to have it suck them under. DST is currently doing 1 new ship a year, and this year that was the TOS Enterprise.

Hasbro's entire business model has always been about that, and it's made them the #2 toy company in the world. Unfortunately, with successes like that, it's not hard to see why DST would want that same type of business. There's not enough market anymore and we're not willing to pay $50 for these things - especially when some stores charge nearly that because they're greedy Diamond distribution-receiving scalper shops.


It's not meant to be random, it's meant to happen when the torpedo bays are at hot-standby status (not their term, but you get what I mean, right?). However, it sometimes is random when the f/x guys leave them on or when the footage is recycled.

Yeah as in armed. Klingon battlecruiser torp launcher lights are way more obvious.

[Darth Duranium]

Blue2th :
Damn, the super-macro on my camera sees it as a major flaw. I advise not removing the STUPID phaser-torpedo effect. Looks like I'll be opening another. This one might sustain major battle-damage, like crushed under a giant foot!

Thanks for the pic, Blue...
Doesn't look that bad to me... better that way than with the SP-TE hangin' out of it. A bit of model putty or globby superglue and a dab of paint might help, I'd think. Then again, there's always your Bambi Versus Godzilla approach...

I might try using a dremel tool to cleanly cut it off, rather than tearing it out, though. I can't stand the freakin' thing... idiotic idea... radical surgery is definitely required, IMO. Why did JL do it? It doesn't match any other ship in the series.

I've got a little box full of stupid brightly coloured torpedoes from assorted ships... they will be joined in the box by their new amputee SP-TE friend.

Does the Defiant look like crap without the STUPID blue phaser effect (SBPE) attached? At least it's removable, (somewhat) in scale, and it's not shooting through the bottom of the saucer section.

[BountyHunterScum]

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w...amaged1701.flv

[JediTricks]

Nice job. Here's what's new there:

"Evasive: Starboard!" and the battle sounds that go with it.

"For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"


What kills me is that last line really demands to be with the previous line in the regular ship, "From hell's heart, I stab at thee." Those 2 intrinsically go together, even if they are taken from a longer passage in Moby Dick.