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Playmobil USS Enterprise 1701 - 42 inch playset

TREK_GOD_1 said:
With Playmobil, they must be going after the mid Gen-Xers who grew up with Playmobil (which launched in 1974) in the 70s and 80s--and were the next generation (pun not intended) to discover TOS at at time when it was not only in heavy syndication, but the series was a major success on home video starting in the early 80s. It was everywhere, so for members of that end of Gen-Xers who grew up as TOS fans, the Playmobil 1701 might be right up their alley.
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Oops, you’re totally correct - I totally didn’t consider those 80s kids who would have coincided with both. Partially because where I lived in the 80s Star Trek wasn’t aired in syndication from about 1980-1985, so my goofy brain thinks it wasn’t on the air for anyone those years.
 
TREK_GOD_1 said:
Apparently, TNG is not held as high in the minds of those who produce items based on licensed properties. As I recall, even at the height of TNG merchandising in the 1990s, TOS items were still produced in what appeared to be greater volume, and always sold well. It would interesting to browse 1990s toy industry and other 90's business charts that itemized by subject to see how both subjects sold. Since that time, TNG has the most product visibility with model kits and die-cast ship replicas, while TOS is routinely turned into everything from the higher-end adult collectible (the Wand company's prop replicas, 1:350 scale models of the 1701, and now the Playmobil Enterprise, etc.) all the way down to Hot Wheels and reissued Mego figures at retail. TOS is in a merchandising world all its own.
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I would be curious as well to see TNG merchandise numbers. I think the Playmates line, Bridge set and ships probably did the best, while TOS seemed to just dominate in every other category in terms of availability and variety. TNG seemed to slow down, save for the Academy stuff Star Trek's official website would sell.
TREK_GOD_1 said:
With Playmobil, they must be going after the mid Gen-Xers who grew up with Playmobil (which launched in 1974) in the 70s and 80s--and were the next generation (pun not intended) to discover TOS at at time when it was not only in heavy syndication, but the series was a major success on home video starting in the early 80s. It was everywhere, so for members of that end of Gen-Xers who grew up as TOS fans, the Playmobil 1701 might be right up their alley.
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I mean, I grew up with TOS on VHS and renting from the local library and played with Playmobil as well as Lego and various action figures like Star Wars and Star Trek. I was born in 84 but really didn't get more in to Playmobil until the 90s. Still have many of my sets.
 
Merely watched some YouTube reviews. Got a good enough sense of the item that way.

One faeture I will admit I rather liked was the nacelle dome effect. Fully electronic (no spinning "blades" to replicate the 11 foot filming model effect). the "chasing" pattern is modest when the model just idles. but when a certain button is pressed to present the vessel flying ever faster, the "chasing" effect strobes ever faster until the illusion is a near "blur" within the domes. The sequence continues with the audio implying the ship slowing to a "stop" and the chasing sequence in the dome slows in sync until it reaches that "idling" effect.

It would be neat to see that lighting effect employed in other replicas, toys, etc., but I suspect PlayMobil has a patent on that exact circuit design.
 
I saw a couple videos as well. I prefer blu-ray sets, but it is a nice enough product. Kids in the 60s would have adored it.
 
I wish it had swappable saucers: one as a play set—-the other for swooshing. Now they sell the non-lined 1/350 TOS saucers from Round2 at about that size. I’d cut the bottom at top of the toy saucer and put it on Round2’s flatter one. Then put a clear dome on what remained and called the bridge a generic flying saucer.

A review:
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https://up-ship.com/blog/?p=49471
 
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Commishsleer said:
Did anyone get this?
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No, although I was thinking about it after a friend sent me a picture of the thing on display in our local toy store. I guess I'm something of a size queen when it comes to collectibles (love the life-size stuff, mostly for the Star Wars collecting I do, and just basically anything that's, you know, impressive), so what initially attracted me was simply the sheer size of the thing. And from the videos I saw, I think the lights and sound effects are lovely. If this was under my Christmas tree, I guess it would help make the holidays joyful what with the play options this offers. BUT I also know that with such things, once you've tried out all the functions and stuff (and if you're not a kid who actually play-plays with such things), it ends up being a display piece. And for that, it simply doesn't look accurate enough (nor is it supposed to be because it's still a Playmobil toy and should by all rights have that brand's specific aesthetic), but the bulky saucer just drives me nuts.

So what this did is make me do is find out about the Polar Lights 1/350-scale Enterprise models, which are also huge, and appeal more to my obsession with accuracy. So I ordered that one instead and I can't wait for it to arrive.
 
publiusr said:
Sale!
https://www.space.com/playmobil-star-strek-uss-enterprise-early-black-friday-deal
Playmobil's Star Trek Starship Enterprise model is $144 off at Amazon in this early Black Friday deal
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I clicked on the Amazon link in the article that you linked to. The price now is $474.99.
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The "head" part of the BoP doesn't look big enough to have much of a bridge playset inside it. It looks like it could contain two, maybe three, chairs and a control console at most, and would still be pretty cramped. Hopefully some official photos get released soon, showing more details.

Kor
 
Kor said:
More pictures released a few days ago, including the interior of the "bridge." It's even smaller than it seemed from the pics of the exterior... just one chair and a viewscreen.
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I noticed that the first time around, I had wondered if maybe there was another compartment in the back for the rest of the guys, but apparently not.
 
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