News TOMY/Prestige Select - TOS Enterprise Replica - 32.5" 20lbs Diecast & Lit

Everything looks nice, but I'm not keen on the saucer separation. It leaves a fairly large and noticeable seam on the neck that really shouldn't be there.

 

I don’t see the need for the feature at all. Despite having multiple iterations of the ship onscreen we’ve never seen it happen or heard it mentioned.

Plus it looks silly. It looks silly when the D does it.

 

^^^ Possibly debatable. In TOS episode "The Apple", Kirk instructs Scotty:

Also mentioned in "Savage Curtain":

Now, it could be argued here that only the warp engines would be jettisoned and the "main section" Kirk is referring to is the whole primary/secondary hull assembly. It is also possible that the "main section" is the primary hull along and that the nacelles are integral parts of the secondary hull with the intermix tubes running everywhere.

According to Memory Alpha on the subject:

The STB movie Enterprise had the separation capability built-in (during the Altamid attack) and it would be logical to surmise that any neck-like or connective structure on any ship could be severed by design for emergency/safety purposes.

 

Gebirg, the issue isn't whether or not the Enterprise can actually do a saucer separation. The issue is how this feature alters the look of the Enterprise with details that should not be there. The neck should be a very solid piece from the engineering section all the way up to the saucer just like it is in the show and on the filming model.

Now, this feature could very well be the result of a compromise the studio made with regard to how they were going to build and ship it. After all, it's far easier and cheaper to ship the Enterprise when it's in pieces than when it's fully built. To me, it's just so obvious that they added this 'separation feature' as a cover to the fact that this is going to be shipped in pieces. I just wish they were able to do it with a solid neck.

Even if the original Enterprise could separate its saucer, wouldn't the points of separation be at the base at the top of the neck instead of somewhere below it? Even in Star Trek Beyond, when the Enterprise's neck was destroyed in the middle, the crew still needed to perform a saucer separation that jettisoned the remaining neck structure that was still attached. Because the saucer section should just be the saucer!

 

FWIW, the Probert concept art showing the refit separation does leave a bit of the neck as a part of the saucer:


And, indeed, the TMP refit filming miniature retained the surface details indicating the existence of this feature, albeit never used on-screen:


So it is within the realm of possibility that the TOS neck could separate in a similar fashion but I also do agree that the scale of the gap vs the scale of the model makes it look absurdly huge and not a good representation of what should be there.

 

If they were making the refit version of the Enterprise that allowed the saucer to separate from the engineering section and it stemmed from those markings, that'd be fine. I just don't see any physical detail, markings or otherwise that would indicate that part of the neck would detach with the saucer.

 

I got an email that three tiny shuttlecraft would be included as a bonus.

 

An even larger model
https://www.ebay.com/itm/304237986785

This is the only metal starship I can afford:
https://projectswordtoys.blogspot.com/2022/06/to-go-where-no-meccano-has-gone-before.html

Anyboday got some scraps?

 

Deadline extended and minimum lowered!

 

Unfortunately, I still don't think it will make it with such a short extension. I was like backer #598 10 days or so in, they only added 450 more in the next 20 days, so the campaign probably needs something like three more months to get close to 2500.

 

I think a few more extensions and be satisfied at $1M, and that might be doable.

 

They should have run the campaign throughout convention season instead of hoping that social media would do the work. Their original campaign period missed FanExpo, SDCC and Star Trek Mission Vegas. Vegas arguably being the most important one to have a presence at! Major fumble.

The extension allows them to show off at FanExpo and let some orders roll in as a result afterward, but AFAIK they haven't said anything about being at SDCC and (unless they extend again) they'll completely miss the Star Trek convention. Which is...a baffling choice.

If they had kicked this thing off at FanExpo Chicago this weekend and let it run through Trek Mission Vegas, 8 weeks, they could have had a presence at all three conventions and gotten major attention. Adam Savage's channel loves to cover this sort of thing at conventions for example, they already have at least three videos on Enterprise replicas at conventions.

Here's hoping for another extension. It makes sense to try and sell this thing to star trek fans at the star trek convention, obviously.

 

The marketing for this was pretty poor imo. I think the price for this is fair, especailly when compared to the Playmobil Enterprise. I wish I could get it without the weathering, but I will take what I can get.

 

I think molding requires about a million investment...

Here's an idea---somebody contact this guy and have him talk about the TOMY.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/books...kstarter-novels-crowdfunding-record-millions/

He's the Joe Rogan of crowdfunding.

 

Impressive level of detail...!

I'd be more keen on a NCC-1701-D Dreadnought refit from "All Good Things..." but everyone has a favorite design for sure...

 

This made more sense:
https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lca...l/USS-Enterprise-Officers-Manual_Page_038.jpg

The triangular bits of the saucer were jacks like on the Luna from DESTINATION MOON leaving the dorsal pylon as a vertical stabilizer. Each level in the neck could have its guards so crawling up through the neck is a gauntlet.

This drawing shows lots of bits of play value and might hide the join better.

 

Or they might just open the thing up to international backers. I keep running into this issue as a continental European: my wallet is wiiiiiiiiide open and I scream to the world "Take my money for cool Star Trek collectibles, please!" but then there's some stupid geoblocking for some reason, where an American eBay seller has something cool, but won't ship here. Or Eaglemoss has a model I'm looking for in the UK or US store, but won't ship here or redirect me to the German store. Or of course this thing right here. I don't understand. Money is money, no?

 

At least for the eBay seller: no, it isn't. International shipping requires additional work and trips to the post office that domestic shipping doesn't.

 

I really want to get one but how could I possibly after my Enterprise D Eaglemoss experience? Twice bitten and all that… ironically I will probably see loads of pictures of everyone with this model in a year or so, and all I will have is ‘wreckage’. I just don’t trust buying expensive Star Trek things any more.

 

I still ordered it and I am (was) building the Enterprise D. I guess I will never learn because I bought Icon's Life Size Lost In Space robot in 1998 and they went bankrupt and I never got the Robot or my money back.