What are the best Star Trek small scale ships?

[clone157]

I have a question to pose to all of you, my friends. What are the best small scale versions of the vehicles of Star Trek? I love the Furutas, but the Konamis are pretty cool, too. Then you've got the F-toys, which have the NX-01. As someone looking to start out making a new collection, but only of the best, which ones would you guys get and why?

[Darth Duranium]

MM has the largest variety but they're small and resin. Hallmark and Corgi have nice paint, as do some JLs. Some new F-Toys and Konami ships are very nice, too. Furuta has unique ships not done by anyone else...

It's really hard to choose because each line has some standouts, IMO.

Do you want diecast? Do you want lights? How big, exactly? Are you looking for individual ships and just want the best of the best?

Sorry, terrible pic. No Corgis or Ertls in it but many from the other lines are in there. I posted some close-up comparison pics a while back... could dig the link up again, if you want.

[Darth Windu]

Well in my collection, I have all of the Furuta's including the limited light-up Borg Cube and Borg Sphere. They're great, except for the third series which has very dodgy renditions of the Excelsior and Enterprise-A. The Defiant has some odd paint apps which are easily fixed, but honestly I don't like the Enterprise-D - it lacks a lot I think. Others like Voyager, the Prometheus and the Equinox are very nice.

The Konami's are nice, BUT they are made from VERY soft plastic as opposed to the very hard plastic of the Furuta's. Having said that, the sculpt and detailing on the Konami Enterprise-E are VERY good, better than Furuta with them both being about the same size. The Konami Klingon Battle Cruiser is also extremely well detailed.

The Romando's I only have one of - the Enterprise-E, and it is a SUPERB model especially if you want a good, detailed Micro Machines sized ship. It also splits in two which is a nice little feature.

As to the F-Toys, I only have the Defiant and have just purchased the Enterprise-D. The Defiant is quite small compared to the Furuta version, but the detailing and paintwork is much better, on par with the huge AMT model of the Defiant. Yes, it is that good. Plus you get a 'cloaked' Defiant too. The Enterprise-D looks good in pics, but I'll see when I get it.

Finally of course there are the Micro Machines. Very small, but awesome. The Defiant and Enterprise-E are terrible in terms of accurate sculpt and paint, but hey. It has by far the largest range and they are very nice and quite resilient. Not as good as the Furuta's and Konami's as display pieces though.

[Blue2th]

That's a tough question. Like DT said it depends on which particular ship.
You have to look at each one individually because some are better than others in each line.
Some of my top picks would be:

Johnny Lightning Enterprise Refit (it's hard to top this one anywhere IMO)
Johnny Lightning Enterprise D (the detail and size is way better than Furuta w/ see through engine nacelles, separating saucer, hard to top IMO)
Johnny Lightning Reliant (better than Furuta)
F-Toys NX-01 (more detail than the JL)

I don't have any Konami ST yet, but from close up picks, the Furuta Ent B looks better. Though Konami's Klingon Cruiser looks more detailed than JL's
It's hard to top Furuta's diversity of selection for obscurity, and ships you just can't get anywhere else.

I look at close up pics as much as I can. DT's got some comparison pics in the "Star Trek Figures" thread I think.

[Darth Windu]

Oh yeah, forgot about JL's. I only have a JL Enterprise NX-01 simply because they were the only ones who made one at the time. It's nice, functional. I haven't gotten any of the others though simply because distribution of the JL's was non-existent in Australia, and pricing from overseas was a killer.

[Blue2th]

That's a shame about no JL in Australia. My brother mentioned something about not finding any JL cars there when he went to see my Aunt.
Looks like JL may be on the skids, as they are not being carried in the retail stores here anymore.

Looks like JL lost out to Hot Wheels on the Star Trek ship franchise. If anyone buries the ship line It'll be HW. The new ships are pathetic. A kids toy approach.


I don't have any yet, but the F-Toys are looking pretty damn good.
I saw a close up pic of the NX-01, and it is amazing. It even has azteking detail. The chase ship "Mirror Darkly" NX-01 looks to be hard to get though.

[Darth Duranium]

There's some recent comparison pics in this thread... I could easily take more if anyone needs to see other ships.

http://forums.sirstevesguide.com/sho...t=academy+quiz

I'm finishing off a custom USS Dauntless and USS Relativity in this scale, built from garage kits. Just have to put the decals on and they're done.

I haven't seen the HW ones in person but the reviews have been almost universally hostile... what a drag, but not unexpected. I just might skip that new Ent until the Hallmark comes out next year.

The F-Toys are nice... their 1701 and NX are my favourites over the others, apart from Hallmark. Hallmark is pricier, but worth it, IMO.

Some nice aztecing on some of the JLs... I hated their torpedo thingeys hanging out, though. Scalpel required. Their D and Future D are very nice... and I like their Voyagers. JL also does a white and a Mirror Darkly NX... I like 'em.

The Konami 1701 refit's very good too... I give it a slight edge over the JL, but the Hallmark smokes 'em both, IMHO. Furuta's paint sucks on this one.

In the Klingon department, Furuta's Battlecruiser and Konami's TMP cruiser are fantastic standouts... and Hallmark's coming out with one this year ... pic below and 360 view at http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/s...1R4SO%7Cstores

But it's all down to personal taste, ultimately. I notice that some dudes focus on paint or shuttlebays or phasers or rollbars or stands... each to their own fetish!

[Blue2th]

I forgot about the Quiz thread. I never did see any of the Refits and A's in there. If I was Quiz Boy I'd be missing my hand for my guessing.
How is the size compare of the Hallmark Refit to the others? I'm missing it.

The Hallmark Klingon Cruiser looks awesome btw!

I got the F-Toys NX-01 confused with the smaller Konami which has jeweled engines right?.. that's cool, and azteking, which the F-Toys doesn't much.

The details and plating panels on the F-Toys NX-01 are sharper than the rest, even the little grates near the nose, and it's closer to the JL size.

[JediTricks]

I wish I had a good answer. I was impressed with Furuta, but not everything they did was as good as the Ent-E, for example. I was really underwhelmed by JL, and I never got into the others. Corgi's latest efforts were my favorite, the KBOP is damned near perfect and has wonderful paint, but the line was not priced to survive.

[clone157]

Thanx for the input guys. I have all of the MM line, but they are on the small side. The HW ones have good sculpts, but yes, the paint jobs do leave a lot to be desired. HW size is the biggest I want to go. On the JL's, are the blast effects removeable? Most look good but are hard to find and don't have the amount of different sculpts I'm looking for. Furutas are great, but if there is a better, more realistic paint job, I'm all about that.